Now, Bernie, we need you to tell us what's going to happen in the NEXT
14 years - I think you have the "runs on the board" (Australian
cricketing expression).
Jenny Warren
Sloan, Bernie wrote:
> This new list reminds me of a note I posted to the PACS-L listserv
> nearly 14 years ago. In that note I talked about the idea of a post-OPAC
> era. Maybe we are finally ready to embrace that concept? :-)
>
> The text of my 1992 posting follows...comments welcomed! :-)
>
> Bernie Sloan
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1992 08:46:01 CDT
> Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum
> Sender: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum
> From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum
> Subject: Post-OPAC Era
>
> FROM: AXPBBGS --UICVMC
>
> From: Bernie Sloan
>
> Subject: The post-OPAC era
>
> I've been following the discussion of "third generation OPACs" with
> interest, and thought I might contribute my two-cents-worth.
>
> The idea probably isn't original or novel, but it struck me that perhaps
> we might want to start thinking in terms of a post-OPAC age. Many people
> have commented on the paradigm shift that will be put in motion by
> expanded and enhanced access to electronic information resources. I'm
> not sure that we can fully make that shift if we continue to think
> (whether consciously or subconsciously) of an information universe that
> revolves around the OPAC.
>
> I don't think that anyone would argue too strongly with the contention
> that OPACs started out as automated card catalogs. Granted, OPACs were a
> vast improvement over manual card catalogs, but they were still an
> extension of a manual system that was established to manage or control a
> library's in-house resources. OPACs (and their card catalog
> predecessors) were not designed to cope with the myriad of networked
> electronic resources that people are confronted with today. Should we
> try, for example, to force the electronic journal to fit into a format
> and way of thinking that were designed for the printed word?
>
> We all need to start thinking of OPACs as a PART of the solution, rather
> than as THE solution. More and more, information will be represented and
> presented in ways that were largely not considered when OPACs started to
> be developed. Does it really make sense to try to manage access to
> images, non-bibliographic data, etc., through the OPAC?
>
> There will always be OPACs (or their equivalents) to help people manage
> the flow of information. But efforts in the post-OPAC era should be
> aimed at developing gateways to information resources, of which the OPAC
> is only a part.
>
> One of the program titles at the upcoming ALA conference is "Images in
> the OPAC: a program on how image databases can be mounted as part of the
> online catalog". The description for another program notes that the
> program "will stimulate discussion regarding the nature of the catalog
> as it changes from a tool for finding local holdings to one that
> provides the patron a 'one stop information store'".
>
> It may be semi-iconoclastic, but should we be trying to retool the OPAC
> to play a broader role that might perhaps be better filled by developing
> gateway technologies (WAIS, Internet gopher, etc)?
>
> Bernie Sloan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces_at_webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces_at_webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Eric Lease Morgan
> Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 3:25 PM
> To: Web4Lib
> Subject: [Web4lib] a mailing list called ngc4lib has been created
>
>
> A mailing list has been created called NGC4Lib -- Next Generation
> Catalogs for Libraries. See:
>
> http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mailing-lists/ngc4lib/
>
>
> NGC4Lib is open to anybody in the world, and its purpose is to
> discuss things including but not limited to:
>
> * Who are the primary intended audiences for a library's
> "card catalog"?
>
> * Considering the changing nature of information access in an
> Internet environment, how is an electronic "card catalog" of
> today different from the one designed ten or fifteen years ago?
>
> * What kind of content should these "card catalogs" contain?
>
> * To what degree are these things "catalogs" (as in inventory
> lists), and to what degree are they finding aids?
>
> * To what degree should traditional cataloging practices be
> used in such a thing, or to what degree should new and upcoming
> practices such as FRBR be exploited?
>
> * How would such a thing get created and by whom?
>
> * What are some of the functionalities of "next generation"
> catalog?
>
>
> Mailing list functions
>
> To subscribe send an email message to listserv_at_listserv.nd.edu, and
> in the body of your message enter "subscribe ngc4lib Your Name" where
> "Your Name" is... your name.
>
> To send a message to the list, send it to ngc4lib_at_listserv.nd.edu.
>
> To unsubscribe send a message to listserv_at_listserv.nd.edu, and send
> "unsubscribe ngc4lib".
>
> You can also use this link to manage your subscription:
>
> http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?LMGT1=ngc4lib
>
> An archive of the mailing list's postings are available from these
> two URL's:
>
> 1. http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mailing-lists/ngc4lib/archive/
> 2. http://listserv.nd.edu/archives/ngc4lib.html
>
>
> --
> Eric "I Hope Something Doesn't Go Wrong" Morgan
> Head, Digital Access and Information Architecture Department
> University Libraries of Notre Dame
>
> (574) 631-8604
>
> I'm hiring a Senior Programmer Analyst.
> See http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/programmer/.
>
>
>
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--
Jenny Warren
Information Resources Division
Monash University Library
(03)9905-9108
Received on Tue Jun 06 2006 - 23:34:45 EDT