Social Catalogues: The New Face of the Public Library Catalogue

Social Catalogues: the New Face of the Public Library Catalogue
Laurel Tarulli
Collection Access Librarian
Halifax Public Libraries
tarulll@halifax.ca

Social Catalogues: the New Face of the Public Library Catalogue
The catalogue: present and future
OCLC Report: Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want
Features of social catalogues
Purchasing a social catalogue/discovery tool
Enhancing the features in our existing library catalogues
Examples

Library Catalogues: The PresentOur Catalogues Today
Part of the larger package of an ILS
A single component among many components
No emphasis by vendor to excel at this component regardless of the fact this it is the only component that patrons use
Complex search interface
Not consistent with well-established user conventions.
Google vs. The library catalogue
Amazon vs. The library catalogue

GOOGLE VS. THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE
Google – Ability to personalize homepage

AMAZON VS. THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE
Amazon – Standard Record

The Library Catalogue – Basic homepage

The Library Catalogue – Standard Record

Our Catalogues Today cont...

Unable to rank results according to relevancy or interest
Limited in scope
Tied to print materials and are less able to address electronic content
Unable to deliver online content to user
Lack social network features to engage library users
Lack enriched content in bibliographic records.

Library Technology Report, July/August 2007 vol. 43/no.4

Online Catalogues: What Users and Librarians Want

Users – “Seamless discovery through delivery”
Delivery is more important than discovery
Where is it? Is it available? Format? How soon can I have it?
Simple search box with option for advanced searching
Easier access to online content and links

Enriched content such as summaries, tables of contents and excerpts are expected and highly desirable
Reviews
Ratings
Cover art
Relevant search results that are obvious
Related subjects and subject categories
Ability to narrow results is important
Faceted searching

Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want
An OCLC Report March 2009

Librarians
Merge duplicate records. One record rather than multiple records of an item due to format or edition
Like users, they would like to see more enriched content, such as summaries, tables of contents and excerpts
Reviews
Ratings
Cover art
While librarians desire other features, these are the two that ranked the highest. Other features depended on the area of librarianship.

Key Findings for Librarians and Users

High priority on delivery
Users place more value on access to online content and links than librarians
While librarians believe that standard access points are essential (ex. ISBN), users place more value on enriched content (ex. summaries, tables of contents) for identifying items they want
Enriched content is a priority for both users and librarians – “more subject information”

Social Catalogues:Next-Generation Library Catalogues

Why were they created?
User expectations
Competition with web-based software such as LibraryThing, Amazon, Google and social networking sites such as Facebook
Limitations of cataloguing module delivered by ILS vendors
Access to larger bodies of content
Access to more advanced search technologies
Freedom to personalize appearance
Freedom to change or update software more frequently, rather than being tied to the development cycle of an ILS vendor

Features of Social Catalogues

Single sign on
Federated search interface
Expanded scope
Discovery and display of all types of content in the collection and beyond
Allows for easier customization and additional software options and enhancements
Ranked results
User intuitive interfaces
Did you mean? Feature
No dead ends
Search suggestions

Features cont...

More cover art images, tables of contents and summaries
More reviews
RSS feed/Twitter
New items in the collections
New reading lists
Mobile interface/Integration with hand-held devices
User generated contributions
Writing reviews
Rating items
Creating booklists
Tagging
Adding reading suggestions

Features of Social Catalogues cont...
Faceted navigation
Narrowing down search results
Clustering software
Example: Vivisimo
Recommendations
Related materials
Reading suggestions

How do Social Catalogues Work?
Overlays the existing catalogue
Pulls content out of the different components of the ILS including bibliographic records and circulation information
Requires accurate and uniform records and access points
Will find your “bare-bones” records and expose them
Imports content from other sources
LibraryThing Tags
Full-text

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL CATALOGUES:DISCOVERY TOOLS
Open Source
Evergreen
Georgia Library
http://gapines.org/opac/en-US/skin/default/xml/index.xml
Salt Spring Island Public Library
http://saltspring.bclibrary.ca
*Natural Resources Canada (13 libraries)
Polaris
Brampton Library
http://catalogue.bramlib.on.ca/polaris
Koha
Nelsonville Public Library
http://search.athenscounty.lib.oh.us

Examples of Social Catalogues/Discovery Tools
Vendor - Discovery Tools
Bibliocommons
Oakville Public Library
http://opl.bibliocommons.com/dashboard
Worldcat
University of Washington
http://uwashington.worldcat.org/account/?page=searchItems
AquaBrowser
Queens Borough Public Library
http://aqua.queenslibrary.org
*Halifax Public Libraries (coming soon!)
Endecca
North Carolina State University Libraries
www.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog
McMaster University Library
http://libcat.mcmaster.ca/index.jsp
Encore
Scottsdale Public Library System
http://encore.scottsdaleaz.gov/iii/encore/home?lang=eng

THE FACE OF A SOCIAL CATALOGUE
AquaBrowser – Main Page

AquaBrowser – Short bib display

Encore – Record display

Purchasing a Discovery Tool
Look at what your competitors are doing. Check out other libraries, play with Amazon, LibraryThing, Facebook and other social catalogues, networks and software. What are they doing? Has it been successful? Why?
Research. Make it broad. What are people saying about social catalogues? Are there surveys to look at? Stories of successes and failures? What about lessons learned on blog posts of first-hand experiences?

Purchasing a Discovery Tool
Consider the following:
Proprietary vs. Open Source
System requirements
Users
Budget, staff resources and time-line
Call vendors and libraries to ask them about their product.
Ask for sample RFPs (Requests for proposals)
Ask about special customized features
Address concerns

“Using What You’ve Got”:Implementing Social Features into Your Existing Catalogue

Enriched content from vendors
Cover Art
Search Inside Features
Additional tags, reviews, recommendations
Syndetic Solutions
Amazon
LibraryThing for Libraries

Implementing Social Features into Your Existing Catalogue

Adding enriched content on your own
Summaries
Tables of contents
Additional general notes (500s field)
Reviews
RSS Feeds
Recommended titles
Embedded live reference chat in the catalogue
Edmonton Public Library http://www.epl.ca
David Lee King’s post: Fun with Meebo Widget and the Library Catalogue http://davidleeking.com/2007/11/30/fun-with-our-meebo-widget-and-the-library-catalog/

Working With Your Existing Catalogue
Partnering with teams within the library
Collection Access and Readers’ Services
Halifax Public Libraries
Personalized summaries created by the RST that address appeals and read-a-likes
Embedded reading lists
Reading suggestions found within bibliographic records
Local genre headings/access points
Coming soon – AquaBrowser!

Halifax Public Libraries:
Collection Access and Readers Services Team working together

Working With Your Existing Catalogue

Edmonton Public Library
Live Reference Chat in catalogue
RSS Feeds
http://www.epl.ca/RSSFeeds/EPLRSSFeeds.cfm
http://www.epl.ca/eplnewincatalogue.cfm
Book reviews by EPL customers
Add to my list (add to your account)
Recommend this title (send titles/reading suggestions to via email to friends)

Edmonton Public Library:
RSS Feed for New Items in the Catalogue

Ask Us located in the Catalogue

Write a Book Review

Edmonton Public Library cont...

Catalogue-Lite

What others are reading
Personalized book lists – “You tell us who, what and why you like to read your favourites and we will come up with a list of other titles and others for you to try” – EPL website
Coming soon –BiblioCommons!

Conclusion - Social Catalogues
Increases collaboration among cataloguing and other library services
Allows libraries to enter the “playing field” with all of the other web-based social catalogues and software available
Assists in Collection Development and catering our services to our users
The library catalogue becomes the user’s catalogue and personal information space

Conclusion
We can implement social features without social catalogues
Promote user interaction and online social communities
Social catalogues are in our future – “The future is so bright, we’ll have to wear shades” – Karen Calhoun