OPAC 2.0 …and beyond! Dave Pattern, Library Systems Manager University of Huddersfield [email_address]

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Presentation available at:

www.slideshare.net/daveyp/

Please remix and reuse this presentation

creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Have you remembered to switch your phone on?

please feel free take photos, record audio, blog, tweet (@daveyp), etc

Contents Before the OPAC OPAC 1.0 OPAC 2.0 Beyond the OPAC

Before the OPAC

OPAC 1.0

OPAC 2.0

Beyond the OPAC

Once upon a time…

Warning The following sides may contain library porn…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdot/535440373/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/domesticat/2111747772/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/underpuppy/4703228/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tryingyouth/2456237/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bfurlong/3190926784/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterlibrary/2981624987/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamthebestartist/2329267266/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/851933622/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathansnider/442667205/

1980s…

http://www.college.library.wisc.edu/about/faq/history.shtml

1990s…

Library Hi Tech Journal, 2002

Library Hi Tech Journal, 2002

Library Hi Tech Journal, 2002

21 st Century

MARC21 “…designed to redefine the original MARC record format for the 21st century…” And yet, the primary purpose of the complex punctuation rules in MARC21 seems to be to ensure that you can still produce perfect catalogue cards… Conspiracy theory #1

“…designed to redefine the original MARC record format for the 21st century…”

And yet, the primary purpose of the complex punctuation rules in MARC21 seems to be to ensure that you can still produce perfect catalogue cards… Conspiracy theory #1

What we think our users want…

Conspiracy Theory #2 Are we trying to turn our users into mini librarians? Thou shalt not use yonder library catalogue or resources until thou hast understanding of: Dewey Classification Shelfmarks & Shelf Order Boolean Logic and Advanced Set Theory the difference between accruing & outstanding fines

Are we trying to turn our users into mini librarians?

Thou shalt not use yonder library catalogue or resources until thou hast understanding of:

Dewey Classification

Shelfmarks & Shelf Order

Boolean Logic and Advanced Set Theory

the difference between accruing & outstanding fines

What our users want expect...

S. R. Ranganathan Five laws of library science (1931) Fourth Law: Save the time of the Reader …if readers find what they are looking for in a timely manner they will be more satisfied, and more likely to feel like their needs have been met ENLITE Journal, circa 1969

Five laws of library science (1931)

Fourth Law: Save the time of the Reader

…if readers find what they are looking for in a timely manner they will be more satisfied, and more likely to feel like their needs have been met

Roy Tennant “ I wish I had known that the solution for needing to teach our users how to search our catalog was to create a system that didn't need to be taught … I wish I had known that we would come to pay the price of our folly by seeing our users flock to commercial companies like Google and Amazon.” - Library Journal, 2005

“ I wish I had known that the solution for needing to teach our users how to search our catalog was to create a system that didn't need to be taught … I wish I had known that we would come to pay the price of our folly by seeing our users flock to commercial companies like Google and Amazon.” - Library Journal, 2005

With hindsight…

Where we went wrong… Just an online card catalogue? Just a stock inventory system? Poor search & refine functionality …but, aren’t libraries supposed to be experts on “search”? ;-)

Just an online card catalogue?

Just a stock inventory system?

Poor search & refine functionality …but, aren’t libraries supposed to be experts on “search”? ;-)

… does your OPAC suck?

“The OPAC Sucks” song The OPAC sucks, that's all I gotta say You're outta luck if you can't spell “Hemingway” ... The OPAC sucks, a sad calamity Like it's stuck in 8 million B.C. The title that I seek Is buried very deep (lyrics by Brian Smith , Chicago Librarian)

The OPAC sucks, that's all I gotta say

You're outta luck if you can't spell “Hemingway”

...

The OPAC sucks, a sad calamity

Like it's stuck in 8 million B.C.

The title that I seek

Is buried very deep

(lyrics by Brian Smith , Chicago Librarian)

2007 OPAC survey On a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is extremely unhappy and 10 is extremely happy), how happy are you with your OPAC? 5.1 

On a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is extremely unhappy and 10 is extremely happy), how happy are you with your OPAC?

5.1



2007 OPAC survey One criticism of OPACs is that they rarely have cutting edge features that our users expect from a modern web site. On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you think your OPAC meets the needs and expectations of your users? 4.5

One criticism of OPACs is that they rarely have cutting edge features that our users expect from a modern web site.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you think your OPAC meets the needs and expectations of your users?

4.5

2009 OPAC survey Follow up survey, run by Bowker Due to the high number of responses, Bowker are donating an entire library via the Oxfam Unwrapped scheme  … the findings should be announced soon!

Follow up survey, run by Bowker

Due to the high number of responses, Bowker are donating an entire library via the Oxfam Unwrapped scheme 

… the findings should be announced soon!

The OPAC as a “pig” “After all, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still very much a pig.” (Roy Tennant discussing the OPAC, Library Journal , 2005) “Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” (attrib. Robert Heinlein, author)

“After all, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still very much a pig.” (Roy Tennant discussing the OPAC, Library Journal , 2005)

“Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” (attrib. Robert Heinlein, author)

pig ugly?

“kissy, kissy?”

Web 2.0

Ann Arbor District Library

Huddersfield

Background General unhappiness with vendor product “In-house” enhancements to the existing OPAC… user suggestions from surveys “ Web 2.0” inspired features borrowing good ideas from other web sites new features launched with no/low publicity “ perpetual beta” Required staff buy-in and a willingness to experiment and take risks!

General unhappiness with vendor product

“In-house” enhancements to the existing OPAC…

user suggestions from surveys

“ Web 2.0” inspired features

borrowing good ideas from other web sites

new features launched with no/low publicity

“ perpetual beta”

Required staff buy-in and a willingness to experiment and take risks!

Spell checker All OPAC keyword searches were monitored over a six month period Approx 23% of searches gave zero results 74 people entered “renew” as a keyword(!) Users expect suggestions and prompts, not “dead end” pages

All OPAC keyword searches were monitored over a six month period

Approx 23% of searches gave zero results

74 people entered “renew” as a keyword(!)

Users expect suggestions and prompts, not “dead end” pages

Spell checker

Keyword suggestions (1) Failed keyword searches are cross referenced with answers.com to provide new search suggestions

Failed keyword searches are cross referenced with answers.com to provide new search suggestions

Keyword suggestions (2)

Keyword cloud

Borrowing suggestions

Personalised suggestions

Ratings and comments

Other editions Uses web services provided by OCLC and LibraryThing to locate other editions and related works within local holdings www.oclc.org/research/projects/xisbn/ www.librarything.com/api

Uses web services provided by OCLC and LibraryThing to locate other editions and related works within local holdings

www.oclc.org/research/projects/xisbn/

www.librarything.com/api

Other editions

Email alerts

RSS feeds

RSS feeds

RSS feeds

Google Book Search

Virtual shelf browser

Was it worth doing?

Borrowing profile Average book loans per month (2002-2008)

“Did you mean” spellchecker Average number of clicks per month

Borrowing suggestions Average number of clicks per month

Virtual shelf browser Average number of clicks per month

Keyword cloud Average number of clicks per month

Borrowing range profile Number of unique titles (bib#) borrowed per calendar year recommendation features added to OPAC at start of 2006

Other libraries…

North Carolina State University

LibraryThing for Libraries

Plymouth State University

Topeka and Shawnee County

University of Warwick

Hennepin County Library

doing it yourself Encourage suggestions from staff Include users in decision making process Encourage play and experimentation Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! Look widely for ideas “Build crappy prototypes fast” Monitor usage if usage is poor, rethink it or get rid of it!

Encourage suggestions from staff

Include users in decision making process

Encourage play and experimentation

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes!

Look widely for ideas

“Build crappy prototypes fast”

Monitor usage

if usage is poor, rethink it or get rid of it!

Back to the pig… “ We need to focus more energy on important, systemic changes rather than cosmetic ones. If your system is more difficult to search and less effective than Amazon.com, then you have work to do. After all, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still very much a pig.” (Roy Tennant, Library Journal , 2005)

“ We need to focus more energy on important, systemic changes rather than cosmetic ones. If your system is more difficult to search and less effective than Amazon.com, then you have work to do.

After all, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still very much a pig.” (Roy Tennant, Library Journal , 2005)

OPAC 2.0

OPAC 2.0 Second generation web OPACs Feature list… relevancy ranking by default faceted browsing / limiting spellcheck RSS feeds, OpenSearch, etc Marking MARC work harder! importance of high quality, rich records

Second generation web OPACs

Feature list…

relevancy ranking by default

faceted browsing / limiting

spellcheck

RSS feeds, OpenSearch, etc

Marking MARC work harder!

importance of high quality, rich records

OPAC 2.0 However, Web 2.0 seems only to have made a partial impact on OPAC 2.0… tagging ratings reviews social bookmarking

However, Web 2.0 seems only to have made a partial impact on OPAC 2.0…

tagging

ratings

reviews

social bookmarking

What’s missing from OPAC 2.0? We need more serendipity! borrowing suggestions “just in time” recommendations Social features create links between borrowers Web services and APIs encourage users to remix our data

We need more serendipity!

borrowing suggestions

“just in time” recommendations

Social features

create links between borrowers

Web services and APIs

encourage users to remix our data

Commerical products AquaBrowser Ex Libris : Primo Innovative Interfaces: Encore SirsiDynix: Enterprise Talis Platform: Prism 3 DS: DSArena

AquaBrowser

Ex Libris : Primo

Innovative Interfaces: Encore

SirsiDynix: Enterprise

Talis Platform: Prism 3

DS: DSArena

Open Source

Open Source OPACs Scriblio Plymouth State University uses WordPress blog software VuFind Falvey Memorial Library, Villanova University Uses PHP & MySQL LibraryFind Oregon State University Libraries uses Ruby on Rails

Scriblio

Plymouth State University

uses WordPress blog software

VuFind

Falvey Memorial Library, Villanova University

Uses PHP & MySQL

LibraryFind

Oregon State University Libraries

uses Ruby on Rails

Open Source OPACs fac-back-opac Laurentian University Library uses Lucene & Solr Project Blacklight University of Virginia Libraries uses Lucene & Solr The Social OPAC Darien Library (John Blyberg)

fac-back-opac

Laurentian University Library

uses Lucene & Solr

Project Blacklight

University of Virginia Libraries

uses Lucene & Solr

The Social OPAC

Darien Library (John Blyberg)

Open Source OPACs Open Source LMS OPACs Koha Evergreen

Open Source LMS OPACs

Koha

Evergreen

Lucene Begun in 1997, became OS in 2000 Apache Software Foundation fast, full text indexer powerful search engine ranking, proximity, etc text analysers stemming, soundex matching, etc

Begun in 1997, became OS in 2000

Apache Software Foundation

fast, full text indexer

powerful search engine

ranking, proximity, etc

text analysers

stemming, soundex matching, etc

Lucene Sites using Lucene: AOL CNET Blackwell’s Online Bookshop Monster.com & Guardian Jobs job search websites DiVA: Academic Archive On-line Norwegian digital repository for 22 universities see http://wiki.apache.org/lucene-java/PoweredBy

Sites using Lucene:

AOL

CNET

Blackwell’s Online Bookshop

Monster.com & Guardian Jobs

job search websites

DiVA: Academic Archive On-line

Norwegian digital repository for 22 universities

Solr Begun in 2004, became OS in 2006 Extends Lucene functionality… facets highly scalable stopwords, synonym lists, etc spellchecker “ more like this”

Begun in 2004, became OS in 2006

Extends Lucene functionality…

facets

highly scalable

stopwords, synonym lists, etc

spellchecker

“ more like this”

VuFind

fac-back-opac

Web services

Web services & APIs Talis Platform LibraryThing thingISBN, thingTitle, thingLang, data feeds OCLC WorldCat Grid Services Amazon Web Services rebranded as “Amazon Associates Web Service” with new conditions of use Google Book Search API

Talis Platform

LibraryThing

thingISBN, thingTitle, thingLang, data feeds

OCLC WorldCat Grid Services

Amazon Web Services

rebranded as “Amazon Associates Web Service” with new conditions of use

Google Book Search API

Google Book Search API Launched March 2008 Client-side implementation (rather than the more typical server-side) Link to GBS content: via ISBN, LCCN and OCLC numbers front cover thumbnails preview pages embeddable book preview “in book” search

Launched March 2008

Client-side implementation (rather than the more typical server-side)

Link to GBS content:

via ISBN, LCCN and OCLC numbers

front cover thumbnails

preview pages

embeddable book preview

“in book” search

Beyond the OPAC

More than just books Single search for multiple silos: library stock (books, journals, etc) electronic content (ebooks, ejournals, etc) digital repositories archive collections multimedia collections (audio, video photos, etc) Many users are now format agnostic

Single search for multiple silos:

library stock (books, journals, etc)

electronic content (ebooks, ejournals, etc)

digital repositories

archive collections

multimedia collections (audio, video photos, etc)

Many users are now format agnostic

Local indexes Traditional meta-searching too slow Local indexes = fast searches Serial Solutions: Summon web content crawled and indexed in advance uses Lucene & Solr Some existing products also support local indexes… Primo, VuFind, LibraryFind, etc

Traditional meta-searching too slow

Local indexes = fast searches

Serial Solutions: Summon

web content crawled and indexed in advance

uses Lucene & Solr

Some existing products also support local indexes…

Primo, VuFind, LibraryFind, etc

Getting personal Data-mining of usage data JISC TILE+ Project (2009) aggregation of usage data from many libraries Let’s share our data! 12/Dec/2008: University of Huddersfield releases aggregated circulation & recommendation data into the Public Domain 14/Dec/2008: University of Mary Washington creates Semantic Web version of the data

Data-mining of usage data

JISC TILE+ Project (2009)

aggregation of usage data from many libraries

Let’s share our data!

12/Dec/2008: University of Huddersfield releases aggregated circulation & recommendation data into the Public Domain

14/Dec/2008: University of Mary Washington creates Semantic Web version of the data

Potential benefits? Students higher quality recommendations and suggestions borrowing profiles per course / year of study Librarians collection development Academics improved reading lists

Students

higher quality recommendations and suggestions

borrowing profiles per course / year of study

Librarians

collection development

Academics

improved reading lists

…and the OPAC? Will it return to just being an inventory of physical stock? just one of many silos What goes around, comes around… give it a few more years and we’ll probably go back to using card catalogues! ;-)

Will it return to just being an inventory of physical stock?

just one of many silos

What goes around, comes around…

give it a few more years and we’ll probably go back to using card catalogues! ;-)

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