John,
Ooh, I just had an historical flashback
Back in 1995 we switched from a VT-100 OPAC to a graphical interface.
In anticipation, we were running VT-100 terminal emulation on a PC and
we had the graphical software preloaded. On the evening of the big
switch we started turning on the graphical interface when a machine
became available. There were situations where a patron would do a
search on the text interface then come back to find a graphical
interface. Anticipating panic and confusion, we had staff standing by
to assist in searching and calm the hysterical. When asked if we could
help them search, most of the patrons looked annoyed and indicated that
it wasn't hard to figure out that you type your search here then click
this button here. We had scheduled staff to be on the floor for a
couple of weeks but quickly discovered that it wasn't necessary after a
couple of days.
Mack
JOHN MARQUETTE wrote:
> Our library may be an anomaly in 2006 with its VT-100 OPAC terminals and
> no Web access. (This is going to change by year’s end or the first
> quarter of 2007 when we implement a new ILS.) I find it puzzling to
> figure out how to teach a non-graphical interface to people who have
> grown up with amazoogle or other browser-based ILS front ends. We don’t
> do bibliographic instruction these days, although we did it in the past.
>
>
>
> Once we switch over, I’m certain that we will be offering classes to
> people to teach them how to use the ILS to locate items. We will
> probably also include about 20 minutes on how to search our magazine,
> newspaper, and business subscription databases, just to ensure that they
> are aware that they exist and that they have remote access to them. I
> do not expect that the time we would spend training our patrons would be
> longer than a few months, with a session or two a week each
> accommodating 10 patrons. People who are accustomed to using
> neighboring agencies’ catalogs (Los Angeles PL and County of Los Angeles
> PL) will need no training.
>
>
>
> In this period before the conversion, I have found it easier to spin the
> monitor around so that the patron can see it, do the search myself, and
> explain what I’m doing as I do so. It’s our library’s policy to take
> the patron to the book/item and present it to him/her anyway, so I work
> to get through the search component in order to concentrate on the
> interaction with the patron. A new ILS won’t change the way we work
> with the patron, but it is likely that more patrons will be able to
> locate materials on their own.
>
>
>
> John Marquette
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* Next generation catalogs for libraries
> [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] *On Behalf Of *Steven Carr
> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 14, 2006 7:26 AM
> *To:* NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> *Subject:* [NGC4LIB] Thanks Karen
>
>
>
> I think Karen has really captured the essence of what's been said so
> far...Thank you!
>
>
>
> I also have a question:
>
>
>
> For public libraries: Do any of you have a mission/plan/interest in
> "teaching" the catalog or searching to customers any more? Or do you do
> this more in terms of finding what you want on the net?
>
>
>
> <snip>
>
>
>
>
>
--
Mack Lundy
Systems Librarian
College of William and Mary, Swem Library
malund_at_wm.edu
Office: 757-221-3114
Cell: 757-817-4069
Received on Wed Jun 14 2006 - 17:01:51 EDT