Library OPACs and Next Gen Catalogs

This page contains articles and links to discussions concerning the current state of Library OPACs and the future of the library catalog.  For each entry, please include a URL and a brief description of the source.

• Queens Library Catalog, an AquaBrowser Library (http://aqua.queenslibrary.org/). The Queens Library OPAC is a marvelous, colorful and next-gen loaded example of the AquaBrowser catalog. It is replete with faceted searching, enhanced visual media such as photos of book and CD covers,  relevance ranking, a word cloud and the "Did you mean?" spelling suggestion. One can even personalize their OPAC experience with a My Queens Library account.

• A University Library Catalog powered by Endeca (http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4107 ). 

  Pace, Andrew K. “NCSU’s Faceted Catalog: 18 Months Later”, LC Ditigal Future and You webcast, July 16, 2007.  This is an hour of viewing time to be well spent, and I heartily recommends this webcast to fellow students.  Pace is enthusiastic and knows his product well.  What his catalog can do will amaze you.

• The University of Washington, a WorldCat Local Catalog (http://www.lib.washington.edu/). UW was one of the libraries chosen to pilot OCLC's WorldCat Local, and has been one of the first libraries to publish assessments on usage and impact of the new catalog in Library Technology Reports.

• The Birth of a New Generation of Library Interfaces (http://tinyurl.com/5vly9y). An article by Marshall Breeding at Vanderbilt University discussing the growing activity of library automation, including what's driving the changes, the emergence of open-source projects, and new interface features.

   

• Library Web Chic (http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress).  "Resources for librarians who are interested in the application of web design and technologies in libraries":  blogs, articles and presentations.

   

• Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (http://mblc.state.ma.us/books/catalogs/index.php). A site that has a statewide virtual catalog.  In Massachusetts, there are over 60 different online catalogs.  They have created 9 automated      Networks, of which 300 public libraries, 38 academic libraries, and a few school/special libraries belong.  This is a tremendous service to the library users in the state of Massachusetts and allows customers to maxium access to material statewide. 

• Library Technology Guides (http://www.librarytechnology.org). Key resources in the field of library automation.  Site maintained by Marshall Breeding on all facets of integrated library systems and library automation. 

   

• Koha - Open Source ILS (http://www.koha.org). Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha's impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base.