I completely agree with this statement. As both a librarian and a library
user I am consistently frustrated using the library catalogs versus the
usability I have with a standard website look up. The blending of the user
experience with the back-office operations still isn't where it ought to be
- at least from my perspective.
Deborah York
On 3/6/09 4:17 PM, "David M Guion DMGUION" <dmguion_at_UNCG.EDU> wrote:
> Bernie Sloan wrote on 03/06/2009 03:55:07 PM:
>
>
>> 2. One of my pet peeves about library technology is that library
>> systems seem to be designed BY librarians FOR librarians, with the
>> implication that a system that works for librarians will also work
>> for the general public. I think that implicit assumption lurks just
>> below the surface in a lot of our discussions.
>>
> Is it really? I think that is or was a slogan of one of the big ILS
> companies, but if this stuff is really designed by librarians for
> librarians, how come so much of it gets in the way of librarians doing
> their work. I think the company that had that slogan is the same company
> that provided the ILS I worked for at my last job. I won't mention it,
> because I'm not sure that I'm remembering right. But anyway, that ILS
> seemed to have very little that was configurable by local IT people.
> Everything had to be done at headquarters for a hefty fee.
>
> The company that markets the ILS I'm using now apparently hasn't done what
> seems to me like routine code maintenance for more than a decade. We still
> have to click to answer the question, "Is the diskette ready?" There is so
> much extra clicking and going back and forth that I can't imagine anyone
> who has ever used it has ever worked on the design team.
>
> And one complaint that I have heard almost universally is how badly OPACs
> actually work--both in terms of searching, display, and the sheer amount
> of information in the MARC records that is apparently not used for
> anything. If it's designed by librarians for librarians, how come there
> seem to be so few librarians who are happy with it? It seems to be
> designed by computer programmers who think they know librarians' needs
> better than librarians do and turn a deaf ear to all the protesting. A
> system that worked better for librarians would work better for the general
> public, but it would take a lot of work to get it better for librarians
> and more still to make any improvements specifically for the general
> public.
>
> ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
> David Guion
> Music Cataloger
> University of North Carolina, Greensboro
> Jackson Library
> 320 College Ave.
> Greensboro, NC 27412
> (336) 334-5781
> dmguion_at_uncg.edu
>
> The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
>
> Bernie Sloan wrote on 03/06/2009 03:55:07 PM:
>
>
>> 2. One of my pet peeves about library technology is that library
>> systems seem to be designed BY librarians FOR librarians, with the
>> implication that a system that works for librarians will also work
>> for the general public. I think that implicit assumption lurks just
>> below the surface in a lot of our discussions.
>>
>
Deborah York
Chief Information Officer
Information International Associates
1055 Commerce Park Dr. Suite 110
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Office: (865) 298-1223
Cell: (865) 789-1504
Fax: (865) 481-0390
EMAIL: dyork_at_iiaweb.com
--
Received on Fri Mar 06 2009 - 16:26:43 EST