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ERIC Number: EJ867023
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1522-8959
EISSN: N/A
We Never Have to Say Goodbye: Finding a Place for OPACS in Discovery Environments
Matthews, J. Greg
Public Services Quarterly, v5 n1 p55-58 2009
It is easy to lament the shortcomings of traditional online public access catalogs (OPACs) in the Google Age. Users cannot, for example, usually input a snippet of a long-forgotten pop song's chorus into an online library catalog and almost instantly retrieve a relevant result along with hundreds of other options. On the other hand, should OPACs be expected to compete with this kind of functionality and utility? The articles examined in this installment of "Best of the Literature" explore what OPACs do well and ways in which they need to improve. All of the essays agree that OPACs need to provide users with better means of discovering resources, but each approaches the matter from diverse and compelling angles. In addition, the articles considered here distinguish between catalogs and discovery tools, and discuss how these different technologies can most effectively work together to benefit users.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A