On Monday, May 03, 2010 3:33 PM, Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
>If you have any notes on specifics of what your users like/need about browse search, they would be very useful to me.  We are currently engaging in that exersize of "determine what those things are, and then figure out if we can achieve them through methods other than browse search."<

I can't speak for other users (particularly the generic patron user type), but as a cataloger/librarian user, I find the browse option very useful while creating records to be used by end-users (as you've likely heard from me in the past on various electronic discussion lists--I apologize for my repetition).

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Some examples:

1. Attempting to find the authorized heading for a relatively common name or relative (even if not directly related) of a prolific name. For example, determining the heading for "Shakespeare, William, 1843-1930" or "Shakespeare, William, 1849-1931" or any others, without having to wade through any (or many) false hits for "Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616."

2. Determining whether the library has anything by or about a specific person/identity mentioned above.

3. Database maintenance, attempting to make sure the authorized headings match up with the form of name used in the bibliographic records. For example, on NGC4Lib, on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 12:47 PM, Eric Lease Morgan offered a link to "Name Finder - http://zoia.library.nd.edu/sandbox/name-finder/" which had "Albert" and "Einstein" filled in as first and last names. Among the names on the list:
Einstein, Albert (1879-1955) (Subjects)
Einstein Albert (Subjects)
Einstein, Albert (1979-1955) (Subjects)
Einstein, Albert (1879-1995) (Subjects)
Einstein,Albert (1879-1955) (Subjects)

Looking at these in a browse list like the one offered at <http://authorities.loc.gov>, which includes a button for Authorized headings and no button for unauthorized headings, one can see that some headings are in need of repair.

4. When cataloging at QBI (materials vendor), we work on records in groups of boxes, downloading records to a file, cataloging, then uploading the finished records to our database. While working on the records, it is useful to have a sortable directory to more easily match the record on the disk with the item in hand. While not exactly "browse" in the traditional OPAC/search sense, it is a form of browsing. It is also a case for a brief spreadsheet-like row/column display with brief information about the title, 1st author, and various other options, one record per line, easily selected and brought up for full-record (MARC-view) display. Even better in this view is the option to sort by any of the columns (alphabetically, and, if by title, accounting for skip characters according to the indicator).

5. Examples cited in the various papers of Thomas Mann ([1]), including "The Peloponnesian War and the Future of Reference, Cataloging, and Scholarship in Research Libraries"; "Will Google's Keyword Searching Eliminate the Need for LC Cataloging and Classification?"

Also related, LC's report, "Library of Congress Subject Headings: Pre- vs. Post-Coordination and Related Issues" [2] 

6.+ [to be added later if they come to mind].

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[1] Several of Mann's are mentioned and linked at <http://www.guild2910.org/future.htm>.
[2] <http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/pre_vs_post.html>

Thank you for your time,

Bryan Baldus
Cataloger
Quality Books Inc.
The Best of America's Independent Presses
1-800-323-4241x402
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