Re: Zoomi and your library OPAC

> Date:    Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:59:43 -0400
> From:    Chris Thiessen <chris_at_ZOOMII.COM>
> Subject: Re: Zoomi and your library OPAC
>
> Hi, I'm the creator of Zoomii.  A pair of helpful people referred me to this
> thread.  It's been a very interesting discussion to read.
>
> I suppose my main response to Tim Spalding and others would be that covers
> *are* good for discovery, because they're designed to communicate something
> about the book, not just grab random attention.  (like Audrey Laplante
> described for music)  Their easy recognition, which Tim pointed out, also
> aids discovery, because when you see a book you recognize and love on the
> shelf, you tend to look at the ones around it to, which are most often
> similar in subject or author.
>
> Library patrons don't spend all their time searching at a terminal and then
> going to the specific books, or exploring the area near a found book, or
> browsing a favorite section, or just browsing randomly.  In fact, I'd guess
> most patrons do all these things.
>   
As a Reference Librarian (public library) who deals with all levels of 
patrons, and who also teaches classes on how to use the OPAC, I will 
attest to this.  In my experience, more people want to know "where are 
the books on ___" than want to know where a specific book is (probably 
because they can't remember the exact title, but remember what it's 
about).  This is also true of fiction - "I liked this book; are there 
other books like it?  Don't you put them in the same area?" (Can't count 
the number of times I've heard "Why don't you arrange these the way 
Barnes and Noble does? It's a lot easier to find things there.")

Also, IME (when teaching the OPAC), people really like the visuals (icon 
cues, book covers, etc.).  I think a zoomii type interface would require 
even more help and training for most of the people I teach about the 
OPAC, but I think they'd like it.  And the people I don't have to teach 
about the OPAC would probably be thrilled.
> That means they're voting with their feet.  The books on shelves satisfy a
> need the conventional electronic catalogs do not, and vice versa.
>
> I don't think remote access changes that.
>
> (Not to say that something like Zoomii satisfies as much as a real
> bookshelf; it doesn't... yet. :)
>
>   
-- 
Carol Bean
Computer Center Manager
North County Regional Library
Palm Beach County Library System
11303 Campus Drive
Palm Beach Gardens, FL  33410
561-626-6133
beanc_at_pbclibrary.org