I have the distinct privilege of working in a library with a generic OPAC system. This means that any time I order books from a vendor, the processing I get will be rather minimal--there's only so much that is clear with the system we use. I did not choose this software, and after one year, am considering shifting softwares since the yearly upkeep cost is close to $1800 (a good part of any budget) and we don't get that many bells and whistles for that price.
I LOVE looking at what other schools find. I LovE looking at the Open Source products from LibLime, like YakPak. I love seeing how other libraries make their cataloging work. It makes me believe that such a thing is possible, even if it doesn't happen in our school (at the moment). Joyce Valenza's virtual school page is certainly made for the user, though the actual OPAC seems a bit more confusing in its access... Queens Library is so...pretty please can I have that instead? I'd be much happier if mine looked anything like that. During the next year, the library work in is scheduled to move, I hope that when that happens I will also be able to change the OPAC to one that is more accessible and user friendly. This may be a larger goal that I hope for, but perhaps something better can come of it. I want to get the book in the students' hands, with as few roadblocks as possible.
I'm a closet cataloger, I really like a lot of this things about it. So I often get caught, when looking at OPACs at the cataloging side of things...can I organize sets of users? How do I export or import files into the program. In our class discussion, this isn't the stuff we talked about. And Linda even warns us to steer clear of thinking about us as the user. To an certain extent, she is totally right. To another extent, as a librarian, the OPAC holds lots of information, and users (in this case the librarian) should be able to easily access information like circulation for the month or recent acquisitions. Again, the OPAC we use is filled with logic statements, the support staff I call always seem a bit befuddled themselves. I guess I just want to put in my two sense for the ability for the Librarians to use the program as well. Perhaps there is a correlation between usability for Librarians and accessibility for patrons.
As a final thought, I don't know if sites like LibraryThing, GoodReads, and Shelfari are the answers for libraries and their users. They have their own set of problems, including the social aspect and tagging,though perhaps those problems are also assets and are certainly refreshing. In the virtual world they help some see the books, but do they help on actually GET the book? On this part, I think I need to think more...
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But, for way too long the library world has only focused - or primarily focused on the librarian use of the tools. So, the shift ends up needing to be big. It's really not totally an either or here but at this point it's pretty close to it. That is until things even out.
I'm all for a big shift with the OPACs and I continue to be interested in the research about catalogs for children. In many ways I think creating usable OPACs for that age could filter up into the other groups.
Also, if the OPAC is easy for the patron, I think a lot of the "data" librarians are looking for will be created more naturally or seamlessly. It seems like it's easier to add a counter or Report into a patron focused program than the other way around, since web pages can give their creators that type of information via widgets and such.
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