I was interested to see a university implementation of Aqua Browser--we just purchased it for our school district. We were impressed with the multiple search options, the ability to include multiple databases, and we're *hoping* that its snazzy look will catch our decidedly (most of them, anyway) naïve users. While I personally don't use the word cloud much (you can hide it if you want), I think it's going to be great to attract kids and to help them when they misspell a word or can't think of what to call whatever it is they're searching.
I especially like the ability to remove elements from my refinements list, wherever they are in the list. It makes it so easy to refine, expand, refine, till I've got the items I really want. When I can refine by call number range and by author, title, subject, etc., etc., I don't see how this is less 'scholarly' than a traditional catalog.
A couple of constructive criticisms: I would love to see a search history list (didn't find it if it's there)--so I don't have to remember what I did to get that list before I blew it away with something else. Also, I was confused by the advanced search options for results to match "all fields" or "one or more fields." Maybe it's because, as a cataloger, I have a specific frame of reference for 'fields', but to me that didn't make sense.
Overall, great job!
Kathy Mitchell
Cataloger, Jeffcat
Jeffco Public Schools
1829 Denver West Dr.
Golden, CO 80401
303/982-5934
kaamitch_at_jeffco.k12.co.us
Received on Thu Dec 20 2007 - 17:51:31 EST