[Web4lib] How to label the OPAC (was: Role of the OPAC)

[Michael McCulley]

Just a few quick notes on this fascinating thread.. though, it seems we've
been down this road many times before. 

Rich makes a good point, to my mind: it is about usability, and as our
in-house traffic and usage may be declining, our online usage is growing,
and likely to continue in this "wired" world. Thus, we do need to keep at
this project --refining, fine-tuning, and improving our browsability,
searchability, and usability. It's the challenge ahead...

>From my work in high-technology companies with sites, and libraries, we
realized early on we were dealing with two (2) fundamentally unique (yet
intersecting) ways to "seek" and "discover" our resources -- 1) browse and
2) search. We always need both, given the user's behaviors, and the best
sites integrate them, seamlessly, and try and determine the
words/terminologies to use that are user-friendly, intelligible to the
largest number, and lead them to success.  There were sometimes POVs about
if you give them 100% search, they don't need browsing access points or aid;
and vice-versa, if you provide full-blown access by browsing to
"everything," you don't need to worry about search technologies and access
nodes. Neither camp really wins; it's a zero sum doubleheader, and must be.

A site-wide search covers some of the search dimension; a catalog search
with power covers the rest of this part.
For browsing, it appears in recent years I've noticed more and more Library
sites paying attention to what they provide as browsing "tools" and access
points. The trend appears to be many doors to many resources, scattered
within sites or pages or sections of sites, or working within a menu or
footer navigation area. "How Do I..." schemes fit this bill, seeded
liberally throughout a site where "research" and "finding" are primary
reasons for a visit to the pages.

One interesting link was to these library-focused usability studies; though
a bit dated now, some of the same terminology and links and branding
discussions have appeared before in studies, see
http://faculty.nhmccd.edu/lrosenberger/usability_libraries.htm

This Google search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=usability+%28library+AND+%28catalog+OR+
catalogs%29%29&btnG=Google+Search
provides some more focus for those wishing to delve deeper in the Library
site usability matters. Perhaps we need a wiki or discussion forum to
document the history of these matters; provide a best practices home for
"what we've found out" and "what we do,"; and, to help create the future for
the sites and "catalog" labels.

Best,
Michael
-- 
P. Michael McCulley aka DrWeb
mailto:drweb at san.rr.com
San Diego, CA 
http://drweb.typepad.com/

Quote of the Moment:
 Cat philosophy: It doesn't hurt to ask for what you want.
Monday, July 25, 2005 7:24:18 PM