OPACs+Observed

List of OPACs (include the name of the site, the URL and the last date you accessed it)

 * // OPACs Observed //**Lexi Kroeker and Ronda Heit

February 28, 2008
 * 1) Alvin Buckwold – Elementary school**
 * //Destiny by Follett (Saskatoon Public School Division)//**

http://sps36s/cataloging/servlet/presentadvancedsearchredirectorform.do?l2m=Library%20Search&tm=Catalog

a. Library Search: Catalogue

- **Basic** search: keyword, title, author, subject, series - Each search feature has a visual icon/button ex. “Keyword”- a magnifying glass - in the “find” bar, the user types in the word/phrase, then selects the appropriate search button feature (keyword, subject, etc.) - a help link - “How do I…” – has FAQs which appear in a new window with hyperlinks on each question - “Top 10” link – shows the 10 most circulated books/items at the school

- **Power** search: similar to an advanced search o there are 3 search bars, linked with and/or/not limiters o //material type// can be selected (17 types – ex. Book, kit, video, music, etc.) o //publication year// – 4 options o //circulation type//

- **Visual** search: 8 icons with picture and words (ex. Animals, Famous People, Science, etc.) o Each links to an additional set of icons which are more specific to the subject selected o After selecting the sub-subjects, it produces the results list by title, etc.

b. Layout / Visual Appearance

- School Division Logo and school name in top left corner - centered on page – search features (bar, icons, buttons, etc.) bordered by green bar which has a “file folder tab” appearance - copyright and company name, date, time appear on bottom green bar in white font - colour: white background, black font - very simple, clean looking design - everything is easily identifiable because not cluttered with abundance of words or images


 * c. Sample Search: __I Spy Treasure Hunt__** (title search)

1. after clicking on book title, the following appears: o title of book o Image of book cover appears next to description o Authors, illustrators, designers, photographers o Shows copy number and availability o Series, if applicable o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Call number o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Brief description of book o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Publication Info – place, publisher, year, format (instead of physical description), ISBN

2. after clicking on the “See All” link o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> title, author, series reappears o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> call number, bar code, status, description, sublocation

3. after clicking on the “Show More” link o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> subject headings – one to two words with “Find it” hyperlinks (for collocating purposes, because it links to other titles in the same subject) o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> additional titles hyperlinked by the same author, illustrator, etc. o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">  series is hyperlinked for additional titles o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> “Additional Info” – appears to be a note, but in this example, ??

4. after clicking on “My List” o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> gives a record of your library materials if you want to keep track of titles o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> at bottom of page, offers “Create” – you can select “Citation List” or “Bibliography” for your title(s) o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> you can sort your bibliography by call number/author, author/title, title/author o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> it appears that when selecting the citation list, it produces a reference in the form of : Wick, Walter, and Jean Marzollo. __I spy treasure hunt : a book of picture riddles.__ New York: Scholastic, 1999.

http://www.grandviewlibrary.org/
 * //2) Grandview Elementary School – Monsey, New York//**


 * //OPALS//** – “A cooperatively developed, Web-based, open source program providing Internet access to information databases and library collections. There is no need to install software or purchase expensive computer hardware for this powerful Internet accessed system.” (Retrieved from: http://www.mediaflex.net/showcase.jsp?record_id=52 )

a. Library Search Page

- has a search bar : “I am looking for” to be filled in by user - offers keyword, author, title, subject searches - call select one of 12 visual subject searches (ex. Health, holidays, sports, machines, etc.) - offers Standard, Subject, Advanced, Beginner searches

b. Layout / Visual Appearance

- school name, mission statement in top left - date in top right - colour – light green background, darker green visual map with coloured icons/images of categories, moving mouse over search features makes it highlight in yellow - very “busy” with lots of colours – becomes overwhelming after a few minutes of working with it - a lot of variety of font styles, becomes too much – eye is drawn too many places

c. Sample Search: “Treasure Hunt” – keyword search

- bibliographic display: - spreadsheet – includes call number, title, author, date, number available, status, hold/reserve - selecting one title pulls up the record information in a spreadsheet type of appearance - colour of background changed to blue and white - includes – title, author (hyperlinked), copyright year, ISBN, publisher, material type, call number, bar code, due date (if applicable) - keywords are highlighted blue - material type is indicated by an image of a book - clicking on “help” link – brings up a reference for how to use the system (OPALS)

3. **Cook Memorial Library** ([|http://tamworthlibrary.org/for-kids)]
 * Created by Scriblio - an interactive and new model for libraries (Jeannette, March 2, 2008)

- library name, picture at the top of the page - gray and blue theme page - library hours and upcoming events on left side bar

Sample search: munsch Menu on the right side of the page displays results (all linking to next page): Scope: blog & pages, catalog, or entire site Format: books, classroom material Subject: (or tags) Author: Location: Publication year: Call number:

Center of page displays results (complete with pictures) and a place to leave a comment about the book.

4. **Aquabrowser - a visual faceted OPAC** Example: Queens Library - http://aqua.queenslibrary.org/ (Jeannette, March 2, 2008)

Simple page, white with blue and orange Sorting choices: relevance, year, title, author Includes a tag cloud (with colours to highlight translations, associations, spelling variants, discovery trail) Cover pages are included Links for all subject or tag terms

5. **Plymouth State University (uses Wpopac)** http://library.plymouth.edu/ (Jeannette, March 2, 2008)

Noteworthy additions: search history, book cart, location codes (upper level, for example), icons for material type, additional information (table of contents, bibliographical information, publisher description), links to related websites

6. **Endeca - used by Phoenix Public Library** (Jeannette, March 2, 2008) http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/kids/default.jsp?N=7105

Noteworthy additions: keywords search the catalog but also the entire website, various result formats (books, music, downloadable materials, movies, government documents, maps, newspapers, magazines, historical images) sort options (relevancy, author, availability, call number, picked, publication year), 'more like this' link, ratings and reviews link, notes about the resource, pictures of the resource, record saving, includes most borrowed, staff picks, customer picks, award winners

7. **Destiny by Follett - Latimer Road Elementary** (Andrea, March 18, 2008)

Noteworthy Additions: clean and clear search page, search results 10 per page, search results listed with call number, "sneak peak" of cover, author and illustrator name(s) and availability, path taken is recorded at top of page for ease of going "back" to previous pages viewed, webpath express feature includes previously approved websites in search results, basic, visual, advanced, number searches available

8. **SPYDUS KIDS by Sanderson -** **Bayside Library: Kids' Catalogue** **(Jillian, March 4, 2008)**

http://bayside.spydus.com/kids.html

a. Library Search Page

- has a search button which leads to a Quick Find using the author, title, or subject - includes nine subject tabs with visuals under the headings: History, Places, Famous People, Science, Technology, Arts & Crafts, Sports & Recreation, Tales, and Jokes & Comics. Clicking on each of these leads you to a narrower search of each topic and more specific buttons to choose from

b. Layout / Visual Appearance

- library name is top left - page is for basic and labelled Kids' Catalogue - there is a link which goes back to the main catalogue - colour – white background with three reddish buttons along the left (Home, Search, Back to Library) - in the middle of the page, their is an orange square with nine subject buttons and their images) - very effective colours chosen - simple and plain design - the images chosen for the nine subject buttons are not at all appealing and lead to a whole bunch of other unappealing buttons - while the search does get narrower with each click, the design is not eye-catching

c. Sample Search: “Treasure Hunt” – subject search

- includes the names of the items that match the subject search as well as the subject heading that goes with it (no other info is provided) - when you click on one of the items it provides a bibliographic display which includes the call number, title, author, date, publishing info, number available, status, hold/reserve - keywords are highlighted blue

9. **DESTINY by Follett -** **Northern Lebanon Middle/High School** **(Jillian, March 4, 2008)**

[|http://destiny.norleb.k12.pa.us/cataloging/servlet/presentadvancedsearchredirectorform.do?l2m=Library%20Search&tm=Catalog&l2m=Library Search]

Noteworthy Additions: clean and clear search page, search results 10 per page, search results listed with call number, "sneak peak" of cover, author and illustrator name(s) and availability, path taken is recorded at top of page for ease of going "back" to previous pages viewed, webpath express feature includes previously approved websites in search results, basic, visual, advanced, number searches available, provides information on reading level and interest level using Follet's numbering.

10. **Horizon -** **Regina Public School Division** **(Jillian, February 17, 2008)**

-no public access for students and staff (can only access on system computer)

a. Library Search Page - has five search bars which can be filled in by the user (title, author, subject, series, and general keyword searches) - allows the user to select location, language of the resource, and type of print/AV resource - offers Keyword and Power searches -also has Search History capabilities

b. Layout / Visual Appearance

- school name is at the top; students can only access their school's catalogue - colour – white background with navy tabs and black type - very "plain" -consistent font size and colour

c. Sample Search: “Treasure Hunt” – keyword search

- bibliographic display: - spreadsheet – includes call number, title, author, date, number available, status, hold/reserve - selecting one title pulls up the record information in a spreadsheet type of appearance - includes – title, author (hyperlinked), copyright year, ISBN, publisher, material type, call number, bar code, due date (if applicable) - keywords are highlighted blue -distinguishes the type of material it is in brackets right after the title ie. [DVD]


 * 11. Edmonton Public Library (Jillian, March 10, 2008)**

Noteworthy Additions: clean and clear search page, search results 10 per page, search results listed with call number, "sneak peak" of cover, author and illustrator name(s) and availability, includes graphic to show what "type" of resource each item is: book, DVD, VHS, audio book, web-based link, etc.