Jenny,
I don't think I have anywhere near enough runs on the board to predict
what might happen in the next 14 years. :-)
I'd be happy if I could accurately predict the next three years!!
Having said that, I'd love to hear some discussion of the newly
developing area of OPAC "front ends" (e.g., NC State's Endeca
implementation, ExLibris's new Primo offering, etc.).
How do these newer developments relate to federated search engines?
Seems like federated search was the greatest thing since sliced bread
not all that long ago, and already we are jumping to newer better
products that seem to be doing some of the same things to a certain
extent.
Just trying to provoke discussion... :-)
Bernie
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Jenny Warren
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 10:33 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: Food for thought (from 14 years ago)
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
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>
> You can also use this link to manage your subscription:
>
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>
> 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 Wed Jun 07 2006 - 06:19:54 EDT