[Web4lib] Role of the OPAC (was: library automation vendors)

Jim Campbell campbell at virginia.edu
Thu Jul 21 15:05:59 EDT 2005 

We're having a fun summer redesigning our Web site, bringing up a new
interface to our OPAC (Sirsi's ILInk with book reviews, etc), and bringing
up a metasearch engine. I wouldn't recommend the experience but it does make
you think about integration.

As Dave suggests, we're going at it functionally. Everything has the same
banner with a row of tabs that lead to pull down menus. The menus are
organized by function, so one focuses on finding big stuff - books, videos,
etc, another on articles, another on reference works, another on library
services - renewals, off campus access, etc and so on. There is a link to
the OPAC for people who want that, but there are also Find books, Find
journals, Find videos, etc. links that go to opac searches for those kinds
of things.  It needs a lot of tinkering still and in fact we've decided to
offer in the fall as an alternative to the existing stuff and then go live
in January after a lot of testing.

Emphasizing functions was what a lot of our users said they wanted, but of
course we also know what they really want is a system that will magically
provide the information they need from whatever source, i.e., what they
think Google does (and what in fact it does do sometimes).  But Google
Scholar is living proof that even Google has a very hard time bringing off
that miracle when dealing with books and articles. They can't find that
commonality that page rank gives them for ordering Web sites.

In taxonomy people talk about lumpers and splitters. Right now I can see how
to split and I think that's needed, but I'm also trying to figure out how to
lump. We're trying to use metasearch boxes on our existing subject guides to
make a bunch of little discipline specific lumps that will bring together
different types of data, but those discipline boundaries are less solid than
ever and that's got problems too.

It's a mess out there. Maybe NISO's efforts on metasearch standards will
help, but I won't hold my breath waiting for say Dyabola or L'annee
philologique to adopt them.
 
- Jim Campbell
 
Digital Access Coordinator and Librarian for German
E-Mail: Campbell at Virginia.Edu | Voice: 434-924-4985
 
Digital Access Services, University of Virginia Library
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/digital/das/
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org 
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Ross Singer
> Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 2:10 PM
> To: David Walker
> Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Role of the OPAC (was: library 
> automation vendors)
> 
> What's even sadder about these examples is that they're 
> relatively easy fixes.  Book reviews especially so.  But 
> you're right.  The "integrated library system" makes little 
> effort to actually "integrate" into the library system.
> 
> As far as reserves, you should take a look at Emory's 
> Reserves Direct (http://www.reservesdirect.org/).  The entire 
> motivation for creating Reserves Direct was because I thought 
> it was silly (and unacceptable,
> really) that "circulating" reserves were found in a 
> completely different interface than "electronic reserves" and 
> that the faculty member had no control over the list.
> 
> I think you are right, though.  Maybe the opac should be the 
> "local book database", the "local govdoc database", the 
> "physically held music database", etc. that integrate into 
> "search our collections".
> 
> -Ross.
> 
> David Walker wrote:
> 
> >Great question, Ross.
> >
> >I think the essential mistake we make with the OPAC, or library 
> >catalog, is to treat it as a single system.  This is 
> problematic on two levels:
> >
> >(1) Our users don't know what a "library catalog" is.
> >
> >How do I find books in a library?  Through the library catalog, of 
> >course.  But you can only say "of course" because you 
> already know that.
> >The freshman walking thru the doors of our library this fall 
> don't have 
> >that knowledge. (It's amazing to me that the word "books" doesn't 
> >appear on many library home pages.  If it's not easy to find 
> books in a 
> >library, you know you're in trouble!)
> >
> >How about book reviews?  Those should be in the catalog too, right?
> >Nope, those are in a totally different part of our site.  Journals?
> >Catalog.  Unless you're looking for an 'electronic' journal, 
> which in 
> >many libraries is in a separate journal list.  Journal 
> articles?  Not 
> >in the catalog.  Print reserves are in our catalog, but 'electronic'
> >reserves are in a different system, both of which are different from 
> >the online video system we'll be using for those types of 
> reserves this 
> >next year.  But other types of videos are in the catalog.
> >
> >Oh, yeah, if you're looking for books beyond our library -- that is, 
> >books that are available via delivery -- those aren't in the catalog.
> >
> >
> >In my mind, what we need to do is basically get rid of the catalog.  
> >Not the system itself, but the whole idea of a "library 
> catalog."  We 
> >should nix any reference to it from our web sites, and just 
> group like 
> >content together regardless of what system contains that content.
> >
> >Print journals, electronic journals, and journal articles should be 
> >searchable and browse-able from a single place in the web site -- 
> >probably called "journals" or something like that.  Print reserves, 
> >electronic reserves, and online video reserves should be 
> searchable and 
> >browse-able from a single point -- lets call that 
> "reserves".  Books, 
> >regardless of where they are, should be searchable from one place, 
> >called "Socrates."  No, I'm just kidding, call it "books."  
> And so on.
> >
> >We can achieve this by:
> >
> >(1) Scoping our catalogs to treat things like journals and media 
> >differently.
> >(2) Use metasearch to group the catalog with other book 
> databases when 
> >giving people book search options.
> >(3) Create 'harvesters' to extract content, like reserves, 
> out of the 
> >catalog and combine that with the content of other systems.
> >
> >Metasearching also lets us get beyond format to also present library 
> >resources around subjects -- in my mind a much more useful 
> view.  But 
> >most metasearch systems only "integrate" the catalog via Z39.50 -- 
> >which does make it easy, as Jim said -- but essentially treats the 
> >catalog again as a single system.  Many OPAC Z39.50 servers simply 
> >don't allow you to take advantage of scoped searches and 
> other limits 
> >that would be useful.  And so I think we need to do more 
> beyond Z39.50.
> >
> >In that way, the catalog is nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
> >But what it is not is a system unto itself, because our users don't 
> >want to search a bunch of different systems, each unto itself.  They 
> >just want to "search the library."
> >
> >That was way too long.  I'll get back to point two later. :-)
> >
> >--Dave
> >
> >=================
> >David Walker
> >Web Development Librarian
> >Library
> >Cal State San Marcos
> >760-750-4379
> >=================
> >
> > 
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> >[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Ross Singer
> >Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 7:30 AM
> >To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> >Subject: [Web4lib] Role of the OPAC (was: library automation vendors)
> >
> >I think Jim Campbell and David Walker have raised an extremely good 
> >point.
> >
> >In the context of the modern library (and this includes all types of 
> >libraries), what /is/ the role of the OPAC?  What is its 
> purpose?  Is 
> >there a reason it is segregated from other electronic resources?
> >
> >I'm very curious to hear from various corners of the 
> profession on this 
> >one because, honestly, I have having an extremely hard time figuring 
> >out the utility of the catalog as a public interface.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >-Ross.
> >
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> >
> >  
> >
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