One reason to provide information such as is suggested below is that people
looking for information don't look in only one place. If Discovery Tool #1
(maybe your library's discovery layer) gives the kind of information
suggested, then when you go to Discovery Tool #2 (some Internet search
engine) you may have the smarts to try searches under BOTH forms, or (more
likely) if you don't find much under the term you have tried, you may go
"ah-hah" maybe this alternate term will pull up what I want.
I know .... I know .... here I am expecting people actually to use a few
neurons for rational thought. But, in fact, some DO.
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 Sharon Foster
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 2:51 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Leveraging Authority Data in Keyword Searches
So why can't the catalog just say it in plain English?
"Here are some items about "Nat Turner's Rebellion."
Nat Turner's Rebellion is also know as the "Southampton Insurrection"
in some sources.
Would you like to see what we have under "Southampton Insurrection"?"
The response to the question--whether the patron clicks it or
not--might be useful for improving both the user's experience and the
catalog content, as Tim suggests. Of course, a library catalog can't
be that friendly, so we'd have to change the language into libraryese.
(That was a joke.) Basically, I'm just echoing what Mike Rylander said
several messages ago. We have the technology to phrase this any way we
like. Or, I should say, any way the patron likes.
Sharon
Sharon M. Foster, 91.7% Librarian
Speaker-to-Computers
http://www.vsa-software.com/mlsportfolio/
Received on Wed May 06 2009 - 10:55:25 EDT