Page 134 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Unit 7: Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)

Self Assessment Notes

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. Since the mid-1990s, Web-based interfaces are being replaced by character-based OPAC
interfaces.

2. The OPAC has many advantages over card catalogues.
3. Most OPACs are Boolean retrieval systems that perform exact matching and require the
search query to be specified as a Boolean expression.
4. OPAC users are homogenous.

7.2 History of Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)

In this section we will discuss the history of Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC).

7.2.1 Early Online Catalogues

Although a handful of experimental systems existed as early as the 1960s, the first large-scale
online catalogues were developed at Ohio State University in 1975 and the Dallas Public Library
in 1978.
These and other early online catalogue systems tended to closely reflect the card catalogues that
they were intended to replace. Using a dedicated terminal or telnet client, users could search a
handful of pre-coordinate indexes and browse the resulting display in much the same way they
had previously navigated the card catalogue.
Throughout the 1980s, the number and sophistication of online catalogues grew. The first
commercial systems appeared, and would by the end of the decade largely replace systems built
by libraries themselves. Library catalogues began providing improved search mechanisms,
including Boolean and keyword searching, as well as ancillary functions, such as the ability to
place holds on items that had been checked-out.
At the same time, libraries began to develop applications to automate the purchase, cataloguing,
and circulation of books and other library materials. These applications, collectively known as
an integrated library system (ILS) or library management system, included an online catalogue
as the public interface to the system’s inventory. Most library catalogues are closely tied to their
underlying ILS system.

7.2.2 Stagnation and Dissatisfaction

The 1990s saw a relative stagnation in the development of online catalogues. Although the
earlier character-based interfaces were replaced with ones for the Web, both the design and the
underlying search technology of most systems did not advance much beyond that developed in
the late 1980s.
At the same time, organizations outside of libraries began developing more sophisticated
information retrieval systems. Web search engines like Google and popular e-commerce websites
such as Amazon.com provided simpler to use (yet more powerful) systems that could provide
relevancy ranked search results using probabilistic and vector-based queries.
Prior to the widespread use of the Internet, the online catalogue was often the first information
retrieval system library users ever encountered. Now accustomed to web search engines, newer
generations of library users have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the complex (and often
arcane) search mechanisms of older online catalogue systems.

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