A New Era for OPAC Research: Introduction to Special Topic lssue on Current Research in Online Public Access Systems

摘要

The first online catalogs, implemented in libraries in the mid-1970s, were extensions of circulation systems and had less functionality than card catalogs. By the early 1980s, most contained full catalog records and functionality was equal to or better than card catalogs. These systems became known as online public access catalogs (OPACs) to distinguish them from "online card catalogs" and to emphasize the public access/end user orientation. The first generation of true OPACs was the subject of a comprehensive, multi-agency, multi-method study conducted by the Council on Library Resources in the early 1980s. Reports of those studies highlighted the many problems encountered by users of these systems. In the ensuing decade, OPACs have become an established technology and have expanded in scope to become "online public access systems" that incorporate local and remote information resources in addition to catalogs. Despite the advances in technology, research continues to show that these systems are ineffective and hard to use. Thus it is time to reassess research in online public access systems in light of new developments in graphical user interfaces, client/server environments, network services, and digital libraries.