Hi Jeremy, Good to have you around!
The OPAC is the "Online Public Access Catalog" (which is a TERRIBLE name,
IMHO). This is the system that you use when you sit down to search the
library's collection of books, journals, DVDs, etc (but not journal
*articles*). Go into any library and you'll have a similar system designed
to search what the library owns or licenses.
And there are a whole bunch of reasons for wanting a major re-vamp of the
whole system, not the least of which is that it is currently one piece of
the so-called "Integrated Library System" (ILS), and this behemoth of a
system can't be changed and adapted very quickly. Currently it's such a
large and complex system that updates to existing features, even "critical"
updates such as XML-ifying data, can only happen at a snail's pace. It's
like trying to use a cruise liner to run an agility course... no fast turns
there!
The current system is very good at inventory control and management, and
it's very good at known-item location. But it's not very nimble when it
comes to information discovery and guiding users through a complex system in
the most intuitive way possible, and I think that's where librarians get
worried. Information discovery is the whole point!
Yours,
Iris
On 6/6/06, Jeremy Dunck <jdunck_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 6/6/06, Sloan, Bernie <bernies_at_uillinois.edu> 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! :-)
>
> I'm not a librarian. I'm mostly a wannabe-superpatron. As such, I
> don't have a good picture of where OPACs fit into overall library
> systems, or even what problems it tries to solve. All I see is the
> generally-poor UI over faceted search. But perhaps my ignorance will
> be a good way to draw out explanations and understanding of what an
> OPAC is, what a next gen catalog should be, and how to get from here
> to there.
>
> So, what's an OPAC do anyway? How's it used? What's in it? Why do
> passionate and technical librarians want to abandon what's come before
> and make a whole new thing, with a new (or no) acronym to boot?
>
--
Iris Jastram
The Pegasus Librarian
http://pegasuslibrarian.blogspot.com
Received on Wed Jun 07 2006 - 09:39:27 EDT