[Web4lib] Interesting article about the future of thelibrarycatalog

[Pons, Lisa (ponslm)]

I think Larry is on not only the right track, but the more feasible
track.

Waiting for catalog vendors to update a huge text file of a database of
holdings so that it works like a relational database is a losing
approach, IMHO. 

One model that could be applied is for catalogs to be used as Larry
described for "...  a reasonably comprehensive 
database for the description, location, and circulation status of our
*physical* resources?" I would add that the direct catalog interface
should only be available to staff for maintenance of the physical
resources, circulation, etc... 

In addition, we would have databases (locally or hosted) for electronic
journals, digital collections, and more...

Our patron interfaces would be designed to interact with our various
source servers on the back end, but present a clear and consistent
presentation to users.

I still think Amazon.com is a model for libraries. A model that perhaps
should not be copied identically, but the basic interaction, that I can
simply search (in one box, or using advanced) for an item, and get
results returned based on ratings. Or, I can change the way those
results are displayed. Additionally, I can limit my results if I am only
looking for DVD's etc... Or, I could decide to ONLY search for DVD's....

I would be interested to hear from others why this approach wouldn't
work for libraries.

Lisa Pons-Haitz
Webmaster
University Libraries
University of Cincinnati

> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org 
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Larry Campbell
> Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 4:07 PM
> To: Lin Light
> Cc: lita-l at ala.org; web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Interesting article about the future 
> of thelibrarycatalog
> 
> 
> And/or, what if we didn't try to use a single database for 
> all of our information resources (which the catalog hasn't 
> been, isn't, and can't be anyway), but instead aimed for a 
> more flexible interface to unify user access to a variety of 
> resources -- reserving the catalog proper for what it was 
> originally designed to be: a reasonably comprehensive 
> database for the description, location, and circulation status of our
> *physical* resources?
> 
> Larry Campbell
> >
> >-snip
> >