- Providing a simpler, one-stop-shop for information discovery and delivery will benefit the user.
An embedded OPAC would help meet this expectation. The following quotes are from Daniel Forsman, Push and Pull of the OPAC, 73-84, in Library 2.0 Initiatives in Academic Libraries, ed. Laura B. Cohen, 2007
“In many ways, library catalogs are isolated from the rest of the Internet. It is difficult to link in to catalog data and to continue your search out to the web from within the OPAC. Often the catalog has its own graphical interface, distinct from the library Web site. This gives it the impression of being a dead end for the user.” p. 83
“From the Weblog “Self-plagiarism is style” Dave Pattern conducted an OPAC survey in 2007. 729 people related to libraries took part in the survey and there were some interesting results. One of the questions asked about features people would like to see in their OPAC. The embedded OPAC scored the highest. Offering an integrated OPAC is important and gives the library the chance to present its tools to users in a seamless way.” P.76
Embedded OPAC examples:
http://julia.hj.se/ Jonkoping University Library Catalog, need to click on the English link at the left menu
http://www.aadl.org/catalog/ Ann Arbor District Library Catalog
3 comments:
Keep in mind that we currently have a "one-stop-shop for information discovery and delivery". It's called OneSearch. OneSearch searches the Voyager catalog along with a lot of other resources, so it satisfies the condition of having an "Embedded OPAC".
I am interpreting "one-stop-shop for information discovery and delivery" as a design or site navigation issue. From the OPAC examples listed in this post, the OPAC is displayed in a template that is persistent throughout the library website. When they get redirected to an OPAC page or OneSearch page that is different from the rest of the library website, they often choose something familiar (google). The point is to keep users from getting frustrated and leaving the library site completely.
Yes, I see your point. As y'all (hopefully) can tell, I am playing the Devil's advocate, at least initially, on this strategic plan. The reason for that is so that we can really analyze what it is that 1) will fit the needs of our library users, and 2) is a viable option for implementation.
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