About The OPAC Project

I began thinking about the OPAC Project when I started doing user instruction at the library where I work. The goal was to help patrons to learn how to conduct successful searches for materials using our catalog. What I learned, was that unless you were trained to do specific searches, chances were that you would not find what you were looking for.

I’m still uncertain whether this lack of successful searching is more frustrating to me or to the patrons that are searching for materials. I believe that providing materials to patrons is an essential part of each library’s mission. Patrons should not have to learn special search techniques in order to find materials if they already know the title or author. Rather than deciding that patrons should adapt to OPAC shortcomings, I decided that OPACs should adapt to patrons.

I am aware that some OPACs are better than others. Recently, I have noticed a wide variety of bibliographic search technologies that have improved greatly as compared to the last generation of comparable tools. I would like to see these technologies continue to improve. If OPACs are compared to commercial bibliographic search tools, OPACs fall short. While the mega-vendors don’t use authority control and their databases are often a mess, it is still simple to find a title such as “The Secret” without any other fancy search techniques.

I’ve written about my feelings concerning OPACs before. After I wrote “The Library: Where Patrons and OPACS Meet”, I decided to prove that there are solutions to the problems that face us. This has been a more productive way to answer many of the questions that have come up regarding electronic catalogs and their use.

When I began to ask questions about OPACs and the work that was necessary to improve them, I quickly realized that most vendors who sell this sort of software do not allow access to all of the data and code that would be needed to make changes. This is a common business model, but the more that I thought it over, the more I contemplated where bibliographic information comes from, and who owns it. There has been some dispute over that very question. I decided that for many reasons, it would be best to use open source technologies in order to have full control over the search and display of bibliographic data. The choice was clear that the OPAC Project would focus on open source OPACs.

Don’t Be Afraid

I plan to use this project to encourage librarians to take OPACs into their own hands. OPACs can work better, increase patron satisfaction, and cost very little. I will include interviews and demonstrations with people who have used a unique perspective to improve their OPACs.