 |
 |
Eric Hellman wrote: > Let's consider another function of a library catalog- resource > discovery for users. > > Does anyone here really believe that in TEN years Google and/or > competitors (maybe even mine) won't be able to hook into an inventory > control system and deliver full-text, faceted, clustered, instantly > relevant, translated search results out the wazoo from all the > content in your library? If today's catalogs did an acceptable job of > search we might be able to start a discussion. So, the argument is-- basically, very watered down-- that because the current OPACs suck, we need to abandon them, and make $global_vendor_catalog our default search entry point... which won't suck, and will also allow greater access to global resources? (and not worry our pretty little heads about it) I have always taken this problem from the other side of the equation-- (perhaps because it is the side I know I can have an effect on). Because local OPACs suck, we need to replace/improve them, not abandon them. This is part of our motivation in the Evergreen ILS project (open-ils.org). I believe we're doing a decent job, and our public and staff useability surveys back that up. I think NCSU also has the right idea. Who knows-- various vendors may come out with much-improved catalogs in response to the competition? One of our project goals is to push innovation in the larger library world. Let me be clear: I am not saying that a global catalog is not useful or shouldn't have a prominent role, but I think it should be secondary to the local, /at-fingertips collection/ and catalog (which doesn't suck). The local catalog should access the larger global resources when appropriate. We do this within our consortium-- we show the user what is immediately available on the shelf, what is up the street at the library in the next town, and then what is available throughout the state. There are going to be materials that local libraries will only want to make visible/accessible to their local users. One good example we're wrestling with here is one of our library systems has a subscription to an e-book service that only its patrons can "check out". These are the kind of materials that should only show up in that library system's "local" catalog. The uber-cat would need to know about these rules and associated boundries. (and that's just one simple example) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Brad LaJeunesse PINES System Administrator Georgia Public Library Service