I couldn't agree more. Yes, there are much larger issues than simply
finding books on a shelf, but if that's so simple, why is it that most
proprietary ILS web interfaces still require the user to enter the
title or the author's name *exactly* or else get a "no results"
screen? If that were fixed--if the user got a "did you mean?" or a
list of close matches, that would probably solve 90% of the problems
that users in the public library have with using the catalog.
Sharon M. Foster, 91.7% Librarian
Speaker-to-Computers
http://www.vsa-software.com/mlsportfolio/
On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 9:09 AM, Lundgren,Jimmie Harrell
<jimlund_at_uflib.ufl.edu> wrote:
> So many times we hear that library catalogs fail in the imagined popularity contest against Google or Amazon.com. We are encouraged to believe that is explained by their greater comprehensiveness or superiority as discovery tools.
>
> Please take a moment to question those assumptions. What obvious differences exist between library catalogs and those systems some would have us emulate? One significant difference may lie in the outcomes of searches in those tools.
[...]
> Better catalogs will be great, and I encourage everyone to keep working on them. Can we also improve the situation of helping users "Get It" more easily?
>
> Thanks and have a great day,
> Jimmie
>
Received on Tue Feb 17 2009 - 09:16:41 EST