The OPAC Has Arrived!
Finally! The OPAC is getting the recognition it deserves. The ILS is being reinvigorated with a next generation software with the latest Web 2.0 technologies. Library catalogs are the most important publicity and enhanced service a library can offer to its patrons, so it makes sense that upgrades and ILS mania is sweeping LibraryLand.
The library catalog is now meeting the technological skills and needs of its patrons to provide a more interactive OPAC. Library catalogs are expanding their search results to includes non-library web resources, allowing networking and personalization in its ILS, and implementing popular user-end Web 2.0 technologies to simplify the library catalog while enhancing its search support.
Here are a few articles that put Web 2.0 and the OPAC in perspective:
- “Recasting Library Catalogs” by Marshall Breeding. In American Libraries, October 2007, page 43.
- “What is Social Software?” Chapter 1 from Social Software in Libraries by Meredith Farkas.
- “LibraryThing and the Library Catalog: Adding Collective Intelligence to the OPAC” by John Wenzler.
Here are a few library catalogs implementing Library 2.0 catalogs:
Thanks for including InfoSoup in your listing of Library 2.0 catalogs. We’re pleased to be listed with some other great OPACs.
Rick
December 4, 2007