I can envision flipping through a virtual card catalog using the new
Microsoft $10K coffee table technology.
On 8/1/07, Chris Gray <cpgray_at_library.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
> I like your description of physical browsing through a card catalog. If
> we offer browsing we should try to emulate
> this sort of thing as a computer interface. There are other ways to
> implement a browse than scrolls and links. Think of slide shows or
> rotating menus or dynamic interfaces that respond to mouse gestures.
>
> Chris Gray
> Library Systems
> University of Waterloo
>
> Karen Coyle wrote:
> > Martha,
> >
> > I think you have to look at the realities of the different physicalities
> > of card catalogs (where browsing originated) and the computer. The card
> > catalog is three-dimensional and doesn't require an "interface."
> > Basically, humans manipulate it with their hands, using their eyes as
> > guides. If you want to jump ahead you merely reach forward a few inches
> > and continue from that point. If you've gone too far you can very
> > quickly hop backwards some amount. The computer screen is
> > two-dimensional and has to have an artificial interface mediated with
> > the keyboard and mouse.
> >
> > These are not insignificant differences. I don't know if we did any
> > studies in the card catalog that would describe a user's physical
> > behavior, but we know in the computer environment that people 1) often
> > fail to scroll, since scrolling means taking the mouse and positioning
> > the cursor in a fairly small area of the screen, then clicking and 2)
> > rarely view more than two screens before giving up. (Even on google,
> > apparently.) So browsing in the computer environment will be hindered by
> > its physicality. When I go into a browse in a large catalog I find that
> > I may have begun my search many screens from where I would like to be.
> > That is a deterrent, because I do not want to have to click "next
> > screen" 20 or more times (and I also have no visual clue or physical
> > ability that would allow me to jump to a better starting point).
> >
> > Our solutions have to be matched to the technology we are employing.
> > There were solutions that worked well in the card catalog that may
> > appear very different to users when effected through a computer
> > connection. I personally have not seen a really good implementation of
> > an alphabetical browse that minimized scrolling and clicking and
> > maximized the user's navigational ability. We would need to develop one
> > in order to make your idea here feasible.
> >
> > kc
> >
> > Martha Yee wrote:
> >> I have always thought users of libraries were pretty smart, smart
> >> enough to
> >> be able to tell us whether they were doing a search for a known work
> >> or a
> >> search for works on a particular subject, thus enabling us to provide
> >> them
> >> with more precise searching. However, if most of you violently disagree
> >> (especially those of you who are fans of Google's single search box),
> >> perhaps a compromise could be reached by reviving what used to be
> >> called the
> >> "dictionary catalog," that is an A to Z listing of all headings
> >> (authors,
> >> works and subjects). In other words, if we could combine all browse
> >> (i.e.,
> >> headings) indexes into one (and include TITLES AND WORK HEADINGS,
> >> which have
> >> been left out in most systems), we could offer a keyword in heading
> >> search
> >> of that dictionary browse file in a single search box as the default
> >> beginning search (with a keyword in record search with faceted browse
> >> a la
> >> Endeca offered as a back-up if the user indicates dissatisfaction
> >> with the
> >> results of the initial search). The results of the dictionary browse
> >> would
> >> be a list of headings and see references labelled as to type, e.g.:
> >>
> >> (personal creator) [used for 100 (bib.), 700 (bib.), 400 (auth.)]
> >> (corporate/institutional creator) [used for 110 (bib.), 710 (bib.), 410
> >> (auth.)]
> >> (conference proceedings) [used for 111 (bib.), 711 (bib.), 411 (auth.)]
> >> (person as topic) [used for 600]
> >> (corporation/institution as topic) [used for 610]
> >> (conference or event as topic) [used for 611]
> >> (work) [used for 1XX/245 (bib.), 1XX/240 (bib.), 130 (bib. and
> >> authority),
> >> 730 02 (bib.), 430 (auth.), 4xx/$t subfield (auth.)]
> >> (title) [used for 24X (bib.), 740 (bib.)]
> >> (series title) [used for 440 (bib.), 830 (bib.), 130 series authority
> >> records]
> >> (topic) [used for 650/651 (bib.), 150/151 (auth.), 450/451 (auth.)]
> >> (genre/form) [used for 655 (bib.), 155 (auth.), 455 (auth.)]
> >>
> >> These labels could begin the process of educating users about our
> >> categories, so that they could conceivably use them in more complex
> >> boolean
> >> searching. The results screen should also offer a prominent hot link
> >> to be
> >> used "if these results are not yet satisfactory" or some such language
> >> (which, as stated above, would re-do the search as a keyword in record
> >> search with facetted browsing display a la Endeca).
> >>
> >> When any given heading is chosen from the dictionary browse, the user
> >> should
> >> be offered hot links to:
> >>
> >> (under personal creators), other bibliographic identities
> >> (under corporate/institutional creators), earlier and later names
> >> (under works), related works (730 _0, 7XX 1_/$t subfield)
> >> (under topics), broader, narrower and related terms
> >> (under genre/form), broader, narrower and related genre/forms
> >>
> >> What do you think?
> >>
> >> Martha
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> >> Martha M. Yee
> >> Cataloging Supervisor
> >> UCLA Film & Television Archive
> >> 1015 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
> >> Los Angeles, CA 90038-2616
> >> 323-462-4921 x27
> >> 323-469-9055 (fax)
> >> myee_at_ucla.edu (Email)
> >> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> >>
> >> "The good ended happily and the bad ended unhappily. That is what
> >> fiction
> >> means"--Miss Prism in The importance of being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > --
> > -----------------------------------
> > Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
> > kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
> > ph.: 510-540-7596 skype: kcoylenet
> > fx.: 510-848-3913
> > mo.: 510-435-8234
> > ------------------------------------
>
--
Sharon M. Foster, B.S., J.D., 0.5 * (MLS)
F/OSS Evangelist
Cheshire Public Library
104 Main Street
Cheshire, CT 06410
http://www.cheshirelibrary.org
My library school portfolio: http://home.southernct.edu/~fosters4/
My final project for ILS655, Digital Libraries:
http://www.vsa-software.com/ils655
Any opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Received on Wed Aug 01 2007 - 12:13:39 EDT