On 6/12/06, Karen Coyle <kcoyle_at_kcoyle.net> wrote:
> We really should be careful about extrapolating from a system that works
> well to sell things that it would also work well as a library. As a good
> example of this, click on "help" on Amazon. It's all about order,
> shipping options, passwords ... not a word about searching.
>
Right... they talk about GETTING WHAT YOU WANT TO YOU... frankly, we
could learn learn something from that. There is an assumption you
have found what you want, which is generally true.
And to say that Amazon is only 'known item searches' is completely
baseless. In the case of books, music or videos... possibly. In the
myriad of other crap that Amazon sells... I check Amazon to see what
/exists/ in the arena of electronics or home appliances, because I
don't assume that they have the same distribution limitations as sears
or best buy or /insert traditional vendor here/.
In the same vein... how many catalog searches can you prove /aren't/
known item searches?
-Ross.
> kc
> > Their search tools are so good that they
> > even provide snippets of content to assist "readers" in making
> > selections.
> >
> > Amazon's user interface and multi-format bibliographic databases are
> > essential tools for me when I assist a patron. My search might only be
> > to determine that a book exists or a future publication date, but it is
> > as broad in scope as my local ILS is limited to our own collection.
> >
> > WorldCat and amazon.com do a remarkably similar job of locating
> > materials. WorldCat provides richer metadata in MARC format (good for
> > us), while amazon.com seems to function well with publisher-provided
> > data (good for patron). Both systems provide a customer/patron access
> > to desired materials, but only amazon.com provides the same interface
> > anywhere in the world.
> >
> > An experienced patron can use his or her library's ILS to locate and
> > request materials. A really experienced patron can perform the same
> > function in a neighboring agency's library with a different ILS.
> > Anybody with a keyboard and a web browser can use amazon.com. And so,
> > the librarians have already been locked out of the best search engine.
> > And patrons have their books delivered to their homes.
> >
> > As we look to the next generation catalog and library, we should be
> > looking at material delivery methods as well.
> >
> > John Marquette
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> -----------------------------------
> Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
> kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
> ph.: 510-540-7596
> fx.: 510-848-3913
> mo.: 510-435-8234
> ------------------------------------
>
Received on Tue Jun 13 2006 - 10:15:01 EDT