Many library users say that they do not use the library's catalog, when in
fact, they are using databases that the library subscribes to and provides
access to in some manner. The users don't think of this as library use, or
catalog use, because the linkage is relatively invisible to them, but it is.
janet
Janet Swan Hill, Professor
Associate Director for Technical Services
University of Colorado Libraries, CB184
Boulder, CO 80309
janet.hill_at_colorado.edu
*****
Tradition is the handing-on of Fire, and not the worship of Ashes.
- Gustav Mahler
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of B.G. Sloan
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 3:11 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: [NGC4LIB] Personal perspectives on catalog use
Inspired by the thread on the value of cataloging, I had an interesting
discussion recently with a colleague regarding library catalog use. This
person is a former instruction librarian and understands how to use library
catalogs. She is in academia now (but not in libraries). She makes extensive
use of books in her research and visits the library fairly regularly.
When asked about catalog use, this person indicated that she basically just
uses the catalog to see if the library holds a physical item she's learned
about elsewhere. (This person has developed multiple effective ways of
learning about items of interest that I won't go into here).
Anyway, this person's use of the catalog is pretty much limited to doing
known-item searches. If the book is available, she goes to the library and
picks it up. If it's not available she uses the catalog to initiate an ILL
request. That's about it as far as catalog use.
Upon further reflection, I have to admit that that's also pretty much how I
use the library catalog these days. And I was a librarian for 35 years.
Sure, I'll occasionally do some keyword searching on the catalog, but by and
large I've developed information-seeking behavior that requires minimal use
of the library's catalog. I wasn't always like this...I used to use the
catalog extensively. But my behavior evolved as increasingly more
information-seeking resources became available online.
I'm not saying that libraries are superfluous...I'm a big library supporter.
I guess I'm saying that library catalogs have failed to evolve much over the
years. Online catalogs were first developed back when libraries were still
pretty much the only game in town (or on campus) when it came to information
access. And library catalogs still seem to reflect that "only game in town"
mentality, in an age where many alternatives exist.
Bernie Sloan
Sora Associates
Bloomington, IN
Received on Mon Feb 16 2009 - 11:32:36 EST