Rationale+notes

Consise Summary of what the research/literature says
We may need to consider the impact of Web 2.0 tools. Interesting articles/blogs about today's users have me considering a complete overhaul of the traditional OPAC. Today's users are online, often not in the library and want to participate - not just click links but add to the available information. (Jeannette) David Leeking ([|http://www.davidleeking.com/2007/11/20/ignoring-our-digital-community/)]

Wikispaces ([|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPAC)] describes the 'next-generation catalog'. Some of its features not found in traditional OPACs are faceted search and browse functions, relevance rankings, tag clouds, reviews, persistent URLs (for redirection) and 'more like this' suggestions (like Amazon online book store). (Jeannette)

(from Ronda's articles)

Standardized subject headings (controlled vocabulary) may be too difficult for elementary school children searching for print materials with the OPAC. Young children do not understand the vocabulary until their cognitive abilities are further developed. Standardized subject headings should be supplemented with subject heading vocabulary which reflects that which is used in school. Teacher-librarians should add user-friendly terms to the curriculum field (658 tag) of the MARC record.
 * 1) Everhart &amp; Hatcher article**

Innovations in library automation have expanded the resources available to the user. The ability to index fields and sub-fields in a MARC record provide for extensive keyword searching. The goal of new sophisticated OPAC systems is to allow for accessing a variety of media types: local and wide area networks (including the Internet). Library automation should allow students convenient access to information in a variety of formats, from a number of different sources.
 * 2) Anderson article**

Her study would suggest our OPAC: - use a different typeface in labels and text (bold, italic, colors.. but no more than two or three different techniques) - should not include the ISBN or LCCN numbers (considered unnecessary by most users) - display the availability of the resource at the top (so that users will only read on if the book is in fact available) - consist of an interface that puts the user in control - refrain from using an indentation in the text - include additional bibliographic information, such as Summary - should take into consideration the opinions and needs of the users - should have blank lines between the different sets of information (30% of the screen should be used for content, the text in each line should occupy no more than 60 to 65 characters) - should have an orderly, clean and clutter-free screen - should have readable and attractive displays - should allow for rapid location of necessary information - should have a single screen with all the appropriate information
 * 3) Annie T. Luk of the University of Toronto**, Faculty of Information Studies, led a focus group study to evaluate bibliographic displays. (www.fis.utoronto.ca/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=733&amp;ltemid=379)

(Page 113 of the complete study shows a bibliographic display that I (Jeannette) find interesting and attractive.)

Quote: “I wish I had known that the solution for needing to teach our users how to search our catalog was to create a system that didn’t need to be taught…” Roy Tennant, Library Journal, November 15, 2005

Enrich the catalog display with non-inventory information (author biographies, readers’ guides, subject information) (“Designing an OPAC for Web 2.0” by Casey Bisson) [|http://MaisonBisson.com]


 * 4) Marshall Breeding Article** (Jillian)

"One of the most biting indictments of all is that I hear stories about users who find library OPACs so unfriendly that they often go to places like Amazon.com to look for books of interest, and then flip over to the catalog to see if those titles are owned by their libraries."

"It's clear that today's typical library users are Web-sawy and have very high expectations. If we want to draw these folks in, we need to offer interfaces on our Web sites that match or exceed those found on the commercial Web. Paired with high-quality content that's selected and created by librarians, a state-of-the-art Web interface is a compelling destination for users."

"I think it's urgent that libraries move quickly to implement more up-to-date interfaces. We just can't afford to offer stale, unattractive, and ineffective catalogs and search tools on our Web sites. I'm afraid that users will drift away to other alternatives unless they find interesting interfaces and compelling content at their libraries' Web sites."


 * 5) Schneider Article** (Jillian)

"But here's a rule of thumb: in general, if the 800-pound gorillas, such as [|Google] and [|Ask.com], offer a feature (like default setting), you should mimic the gorillas and offer the same feature—and give that feature priority in your considerations. Furthermore, it's common-sense usability practice that you should offer that big-gorilla search-engine feature the way the gorillas offer it—because users will come to your catalog with user behavior learned from such search engines as Google and Ask.com."


 * Features Your OPAC Wishes It Had**


 * Stemming
 * Relevance Ranking
 * Field weighting
 * Spell-checking
 * Refining original queries
 * Support for popular query operators
 * The Boolean bag o' goods
 * Flexible default query processing
 * In-line query limiters
 * Duplicate detection
 * Sort flexibility
 * Character sets
 * Faceting
 * Advanced search
 * Easily customized search-result pages
 * Human suggestions (also called "best bets," etc.)
 * Search logging and reports
 * Well-rounded administrative interface


 * 6) Schrock Article** (Jillian)

1. Does the System Use Standardized Formats for Importing and Exporting Data? 2. Is It SIF-Compliant? 3. What Type of Database Is Used? 4. How Does Data Conversion Work? 5. Can Other Applications Besides Library Software Run on the Workstations? 6. Can the Online Public Access Catalog Be Accessed from Other Computers in the School? 7. What Reports Does the Software Generate? 8. Can You Metasearch Both the OPAC and the Web with a Single Search? 9. What Types of Support Agreements Are Available? 10. What Type of Training Is Offered? 11. What Are the Technical and Infrastructure Set-ups?. 12. Can the System Be Accessed from Outside of the Firewall? 13. Is There a Power-out Feature Included? 14. What's the Total Price of the System?


 * 7) Minkel Article** (Jillian)


 * Will the system give our district the ability to meet state report criteria, such as age-of-collection reports or any other statistical document we need?
 * How is the importing of MARC records handled? Will extra software, such as MARC Magician or EZCat, be necessary to make cataloging smooth?
 * Will a few people be able to handle the cataloging in a timely manner?
 * How easy is it to password-protect catalog records, so that only approved staff members can edit MARC records?
 * Is there a broad-based search feature that lets users search the catalog, subscription databases, and a collection of Web sites?
 * Do error messages appear in simple English, or in an inscrutable mix of numbers and letters?
 * Is it easy to create databases of nonprint items, such as laptops and audiovisual equipment?
 * Does the system handle the circulation of textbooks? Do we want the textbook database and the library catalog to be able to share data?
 * Are users able to handle things themselves as much as possible, without making a lot of calls to tech support?
 * Can help files be tailored to the individual district's procedures? Can I write my own custom PDF files, so they can be printed out as "cheat sheets"?
 * Is there an interface available that's appropriate for primary-grade students?
 * Does the database utilize a Structured Query Language format that allows staff members to customize reports, overdue letters, and other documents?