Discusses features of online public access catalogs: (1) demonstration of relationships between records; (2) provision of entry vocabularies; (3) arrangement of multiple entries on the screen; (4) provision of access points; (5) display of single records; and (6) division of catalogs into separate files or indexes. User studies and other research…

Discusses the graphical user interface (GUI) online public access catalog (OPAC), a user interface that uses images to represent options. Topics include user interface design for information retrieval; designing effective bibliographic displays, including subject headings; two design principles; and what GUIs can bring to OPACs. (LRW)

Discussion of problems with retrieval of records in library online public access catalogs (OPACs) focuses on an ongoing research project at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) that has been trying to improve subject retrieval vocabulary control using natural and thesaural language and on the design of a good graphical user interface.…

Describes a study that examined the search behavior of remote users of the University of California MELVYL online public access catalog by analyzing the transaction logs. Highlights include the number of searches, databases searched, number of retrievals, constructing search commands, problems with search terms, and effectiveness of searches.…

E-Referencer is an expert intermediary system for searching library online public access catalogs (OPACs) on the World Wide Web. It is implemented as a proxy server that mediates the interaction between the user and Boolean OPACs. It transforms a Boolean OPAC into a retrieval system with many of the search capabilities of Web search engines.…

This report presents the results of a study which explored how patron perceptions and demographics related to keyword/Boolean searching on Indiana State University's (ISU) Library User Information System (LUIS), the online public access catalog (OPAC). Two general theses guide the study: (1) whether the use or non-use of keyword searching on LUIS…

Precoordination of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), in both the LCSH thesaurus and online public access catalog (OPAC) browse displays, continues to be necessary for several reasons: (1) the meaning of thousands of LCSH headings depends on their word order in ways that cannot be captured by postcoordinate Boolean combinations or by…

In this research project, subject terms from the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) Schedules and Relative Index were incorporated into an online catalog as searcher's tools for subject access, browsing, and display. Four features of the DDC were employed to help searchers browse for and match their own subject terms with the online catalog's…

Identifies factors that reduce the effectiveness of computers as intermediaries and discusses possible negative effects on user satisfaction and the interaction between users and librarians. A set of guidelines for the improvement of online catalogs, based on user needs and abilities, is presented. (41 references) (CLB)

Compares traditional cataloging to Web-based. Discusses intellectual-access issues as they apply to reference services today, and outlines deficiencies in traditional cataloging, and corresponding attributes of Web-based intellectual access. Notes ways that catalogers and public-service librarians can address these issues. (Author/AEF)