William Denton wrote:
> Will the next generation catalogue be called a catalogue? What do you
> call your conception of what should replace your OPAC?
>
OPAC used to be the preferred term for online catalogs in Germany. A few
years ago, however, this changed. Libraries realized that the OAPC is
now THE catalog, as card catalogs began to disappear altogether. So,
there was no need any more for a neologism, and "Katalog" re-emerged.
Today, you find "OPAC" on hardly any library homepage, sitemap, or
catalog entry page. This change took place even at the Deutsche
Bibliothek Frankfurt. I mean, we _are_ fond of American neologisms, but
this one has found its way out.
> My short form for this is "catalogue." But where I work, when I talk
> about a catalogue, people take it as the OPAC. (And we don't have a very
> good one.) The OPAC is separate from the online journals and electronic
> resources, so there's some confusion. In my head, it's all the same big
> crazy goddamn thing, but the word means something different to other
> folks.
>
While we now _do_ all have a "Katalog" again, it has gobbled up all
sorts of stuff electronic, plus enrichment matter and increasing amounts
of analytics like journal articles. Bickerings over what to call this
beast have subsided. Ceci est partout un catalogue!
B.Eversberg
Received on Wed Aug 15 2007 - 04:19:30 EDT