Lucinda D. Mazza mazzal1@southernct.edu Information Analysis & Organization, ILS-506-S70 Professor Eino Sierpe November 23, 2009 Comparative Analysis of OPACs Upon reviewing the two assignment choices, the comparative analysis of OPAC's would be of greater benefit and value given my current role as Reference and Adult Services Librarian in the Wadleigh Memorial Library, a public library serving a population of approximately 15,000. In my role I am always looking for new tools or enhancements to existing tools that simplify or expand the capabilities offered to our patrons. This can come in the form of. The OPAC we are currently using, Polaris, was installed about a year ago and we are still looking for ways to enhance the interface to provide ease of use for our patrons. We are also looking at ways to provide new collection listings for our library on our OPAC. When evaluating libraries for this analysis, I determined I wanted to come away with new ideas for my library. At first I considered large libraries in major metropolitan areas across the country, like Boston Public Library or Memphis Public Library. However with their numerous branch libraries and information technology teams, I felt my findings would be unrealistic when considered for the library where I work. I decided that looking at public libraries within the state of New Hampshire that were similar in size to each other would be more realistic. Looking at NH cities by population was the first step taken. I identified four cities that were within the top 15 largest in the state of NH, with populations ranging from 20,000 to 25,000; Hudson, Londonderry, Keene and Portsmouth. 1 Lucinda D. Mazza
The Londonderry, NH public library did not have an online catalog of any sort. I was completely surprised that a town with a population of 24,500 had not invested in this level of technology for their public library. Next I looked at the public library in Hudson, NH, which had just moved into a brand new building in June, 2009. Their catalog seemed too sterile, like they had not had enough time to add features and tools to expand its base functionality. The public library in Keene, NH was more established and robust, providing a traditional feel to their catalog and servicing a college town; Keene State College is located in Keene, NH. Finally I looked at the public library in Portsmouth, NH which seemed to provide a newer, fresher catalog to a seacoast community immersed in the arts and tourism. My final decision was the public library in Keene, NH and the public library in Portsmouth, NH. Both libraries were well established but served different communities. Both libraries were very easy to find on the internet and provided quick access to their OPAC's from their home page. Portsmouth Public Library had a "search the catalog..." box at the top left hand corner of their webpage. They also provided a link to the catalog in the left column on the 3rd and 4th line down. There were two entries which I suspect would be confusing for some patrons. The first entry reads, "Library Catalog - Classic" and the second one reads, "Library Catalog - Encore". When looking at Keene Public Libraries webpage, at the top of the left hand column was the link to the catalog. They also provide a quick search of the catalog at the bottom of the web page but unlike Portsmouth their quick search provides a pull down menu to offer, title, author, subject and keyword search along with a collection pull down menu allowing searching by specific collections such as adult collection, DVD or videos as well as access to Keene State College collections. 2 Lucinda D. Mazza
When first logging into the catalog for each library the formats on the first page are very different. Keene Public Library has a lot of options presented to the patron, the page is full. There are six search tabs offered; keyword, title, author, subject, call# and advanced. For the first five tabs the screen includes the search box for the word or phrase to be searched along with two additional pull down menus providing sorting options and collection choices. The advanced tab provides a more extensive keyword search than the other screens, including more limited to choices. Collections included the whole Keene Public Library collection or sub-collections such as adult, youth, and audio books. Patrons can also search the Keene State College Library and its various sub-collections. Search examples are provided on each of the six screens. Help and search tips are provided on the first tab, keyword search, but not provided on the remaining 5 search screens. The Portsmouth Public Library has two catalog links to use, the first one is the link called "library catalog - classic". This logs you into a page with a simple format with no tabs, just a search box and two pull down menus. The first pull down menu provides searching by; keyword, title, author, subject, journal title, call number and ISBN/ISSN. After the search box there is another pull down menu that provides choosing a collection. Patrons can choose from the whole Portsmouth Library collection or sub-collections such as adult or youth & teen. They also can search the libraries at the local public schools, elementary through high school. The Portsmouth Public Library does not provide advance searching from this first page. When you log into the Portsmouth Public Libraries second catalog link called "library catalog - encore" the page has even simpler. All that is on the page is the word "search" and the search box to enter your term or phrase. At first glance it seemed like the search results would be much larger than required and difficult to narrow down to the precise item of interest. Once 3 Lucinda D. Mazza
you put in the search term the next page is full of great information in a format that utilizes Web 2.0 technology and style. On the left side of the screen there is a column entitled "Refine by" and there are numerous categories to refine the search by. This reminded me of the "narrow your search" options when searching online databases. The search could be refined by title or subject, format, collection, location, language and publish date. On the right hand side there was a column entitled "Refine by Tag" and "Popular Choices". The refine by tag used the tag or cloud concept of search terms related to the search topic, that one sees used when searching on the web. "Popular Choices" provides links to the top 2 or 3 most popular items from within the search results. Personally I found this format very "familiar" to me and the results were found quickly. When evaluating these two OPAC's I defined a set of test searches to determine the effectiveness and ease of use when searching for an item. One of the first items I searched for was "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer. I searched for the book and also the movie (DVD) to see how easy or difficult it was to narrow the search. Using Portsmouth Public's encore catalog, I typed "Twilight" into the search box and it turned up 159 hits sorted by relevance. By refining the search by choosing printed material, I now had 121 hits, refined by title narrowed the search to 69 hits and the 16th item listed was the book "Twilight". I also searched using the Tags and found it was much faster. After typing Twilight into the search box it turned up 159 hits, I clicked on the vampire tag in the tag cloud and narrowed it down to 11 hits, when I refined by printed material I had 6 hits and "Twilight" was the third item listed. It was much faster and more accurate to use the tags. When searching for the DVD it was very fast. After the initial search for twilight showing 159 hits, I refined by format of DVD which took it down to 7 hits and "Twilight" the movie was first on the list. 4 Lucinda D. Mazza
When using Keene Public Libraries OPAC to find "Twilight" I entered twilight into the keyword search, it pulled up 138 entries and I did not have an easy way to narrow the search. When I used the title search it provided me with the title Twilight and 13 entries found. The layout resembled the format used for the LOC authority files. When I clicked on the 13 entries, I found "Twilight" the book and the DVD. The next search I did was looking for the Warriors Series written by Erin Hunter. Very often we are asked by patrons how many books are in a series, what number is the one I am reading, what book comes next, etc. So I tried searching for the series title "Warriors" to see if I could find it. Using Keene Public Libraries OPAC I typed Warriors in the keyword and had 152 hits. I tried a title search for Warriors and had 40 hits but they were in the LOC authority files format with Warriors at the top. It listed 7 books 4 or 5 were Erin Hunters but nothing in the description mentioned what series they were a part of or what book in the series. However further down the list I found an entry for Warriors ; Bk. 1 and when I opened the record it showed a book by Erin Hunter, but nowhere in the description of the book did it confirm the series or book number. Even when I searched by author, Hunter, Erin, and I had 46 hits there was no way to tell the series name or book number sequencing. So I went to the Portsmouth Public Library OPAC and typed in Warriors in the search box, there were 203 hits. I was unable to refine the search by series or author unless I clicked on the hyperlink to one of the books by Erin Hunter and then that narrowed the search to 45 hits. When scanning the entries there is no way to determine what series each book is in, except for the graphic novels she wrote where the book number is in the title. If I open the entry for one of the books the detail provided is significant. Under the details it tells you the series the book is 5 Lucinda D. Mazza
part of and what number in the series. Unfortunately the series name does not have a hyperlink to the list of books in the series. When reviewing the amount of information supplied for each entry the two libraries were very different. Keene Public Library provides the Author, Title, Publisher and Edition. It also provides the location of the book, call number and status of the item. At the top of the record screen there is a box labeled MARC display, which will provide you with the full MARC record. A hold can be placed on the item by clicking the "place a hold" button on the top of the record screen. Portsmouth Public Library provides more information on the item than Keene does. The information provided includes Edition, Description, Series Information, Notes, List of actors if a movie, MPAA rating for movies, Summary (usually a long paragraph), Subjects, Alternate Authors, Uniform Title and ISBN. The record also includes the items availability, call number, option to add a rating or add a tag, request the item, put it in a cart and EXTRAS, like first chapter, author note and table of contents. However, I was unable to find the MARC record anywhere in the Portsmouth Public Library OPAC. One other search that can be difficult to find in an OPAC is a TV series like "Lost" or "House". I searched Keene Public Library for "Lost" and "House" by title and keyword and turned up thousands of hits, unable to find anything. I tried using the advanced search, searching by type of media, in this case DVD, and that narrowed it down to 163 hits. In fairness I am not sure if Keene Public Library has the "Lost" or "House" TV series in their collection, but I was unable to locate them if they did exist. 6 Lucinda D. Mazza
When searching the Portsmouth Public Library encore catalog, I was able to type in the name of the show, "Lost" and it comes up with 1955 hits. Then I am able to refine the search by clicking on DVD which narrows the search to 144 hits and then use the tag "television programs" to narrow it to 11 hits and Lost is the second item on the list. Looking for "House" was equally successful, again using the refinement tools and tags I was able to locate House in three search steps. Even when I used the Portsmouth Public Library - classic catalog I was able to locate "lost" very quickly using the title search. Finally I looked at the additional resources and tools provided on the OPAC sites to compliment the patron's catalog searching. The Portsmouth Public Libraries - Classic Catalog provided access to a list of additional resources in the right column of the webpage. The items listed were; Library Website, Events Calendar, Suggest a Purchase, Ask a Librarian and Encore. They also listed access to other resources such as online databases, downloadable audio books, New Item Lists (DVD's, audio books, music, fiction, etc), Other NH libraries and request an ILL. They listed Amazon's Top 100 books for 2009 and provided links to the books they owned. None of these extra features are available from the Encore Catalog. When logging into the Keene Public Library OPAC, there is a box on the right hand side of the search screen with a list of actions. The patron can view their record, suggest a purchase, request an ILL, Place a hold, view New titles (very extensive, monthly lists by various categories), New Title RSS feeds, access Other Library Catalogs (28 Universities and consortiums), and Contact the Library. After spending a great deal of time with these two different OPAC's I have concluded that the Portsmouth Public Library OPAC is more user friendly and the searching capabilities 7 Lucinda D. Mazza
much more intuitive and therefore more effective. At first I thought having the two library catalogs would be confusing, but Encore should be viewed as strictly the search tool, it has no other patron resources like the Classic catalog has. Encore utilizes Web 2.0 technology in its format which will appeal to a younger generation of users and technically comfortable patrons. I believe the searching is much more intuitive for the patron. However, I was surprised by the effectiveness of the Classic catalog searches they produced almost all the same results without much more effort. The Keene Public Library OPAC has a very traditional format and requires more search expertise to successfully navigate through the collection. Patrons don't have the patience to try numerous times to find something, if they cannot succeed in the first of second attempt they will give up. Instead of their OPAC being designed for the patron's use, it seems to be designed more for librarians to use to assist their patrons. The Keene Public Library did provide a MARC record for each item, which Portsmouth Public Library did not, but few patrons really need to use that. MARC records would only be of use to the library staff. In this day and age I believe librarians need to empower our patrons to find the information or resources they need if libraries are going to remain a vital part of the communities we support. The easier it is for patrons to find information, the more information patrons will find. The more information patrons find, the greater their appreciation for their libraries and the resources they offer. 8 Lucinda D. Mazza