Utilising Web 2.0 in the OPAC lipstick, cowbells and serendipity

Utilising Web 2.0 in the OPAC lipstick, cowbells and serendipity Dave Pattern, Library Systems ManagerUniversity of Huddersfield d.c.pattern@hud.ac.uk http://slideshare.net/daveyp Transformational Technologies

Contents • does your OPAC suck? • OPAC survey findings • experiences at Huddersfield • other libraries • OPAC 2.0 • further OPAC survey findings Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Transformational Technologies

Does Your OPAC “Suck”? Transformational Technologies

Transformational Technologies

“More Cowbell” …huh? “Used to express that something is deeply lacking oomph... to express that something is far from perfect, needs repair, fixing, rectifying.” (everything2.com) Transformational Technologies

The OPAC as a Pig • “After all, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still very much a pig.” (Roy Tennant discussing the OPAC,Library Journal, 2005) • “Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” (attrib. Robert Heinlein, author) Transformational Technologies

Pig Ugly? Transformational Technologies

“Kissy, Kissy?” Transformational Technologies

OPAC Survey (2007) • On a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is extremely unhappy and 10 is extremely happy), how happy are you with your OPAC? 5.1  Transformational Technologies

OPAC Survey (2007) • One criticism of OPACs is that they rarely have cutting edge features that our users expect from a modern web site. On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you think your OPAC meets the needs and expectations of your users? 4.5 Transformational Technologies

OPAC Survey (2007) • On a scale of 1 to 10, how easy do you think one of your average users finds your OPAC is to use? 4.6 • On a scale of 1 to 10, how important do you think it is that an OPAC is easy & intuitive to use? 9.2 Transformational Technologies

Experiences at Huddersfield • definitely not OPAC 2.0 • enhancements to the existing OPAC • user suggestions from surveys • “2.0” inspired features • borrowing good ideas from other web sites • new features launched with no/low publicity • “perpetual beta” • required staff buy-in and a willingness to experiment and take risks Transformational Technologies

Spell Checker • we monitored keyword searches over a six month period and discovered approx 23% of searches gave zero results • most OPACs present the user with a “dead end” page • a good search engine should still give the user options on a failed search (“did you mean?”) Transformational Technologies

Spell Checker Transformational Technologies

Keyword Suggestions • failed keyword searches are cross referenced with www.answers.com to provide new search suggestions Transformational Technologies

Keyword Suggestions Transformational Technologies

Borrowing Suggestions • we had details of over 2,000,000 CKOs spanning 10 years stored in the library management system and gathering virtual dust • Web 2.0 – “Data is the Next Intel Inside1” • historic circulation data can be mined2 to uncover the hidden trends and links between potentially disparate library items Transformational Technologies

Borrowing Suggestions Transformational Technologies

Ratings and Comments Transformational Technologies

Other Editions • uses FRBR-y web services provided by OCLC and LibraryThing to locate other editions and related works within local holdings • OCLC’s xISBN1 • LibraryThing’s thingISBN2 Transformational Technologies

Other Editions Transformational Technologies

Email Alerts Transformational Technologies

RSS feeds Transformational Technologies

“If you build it, will they come?” Transformational Technologies

Increase in Usage Transformational Technologies

Lipstick on the Pig “We need to focus more energy on important, systemic changes rather than cosmetic ones. If your system is more difficult to search and less effective than Amazon.com, then you have work to do. After all, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still very much a pig.” (Roy Tennant, Library Journal, 2005) Transformational Technologies

Problems ...Challenges! • there was no formal process for discussing and agreeing new OPAC features • so we organised a web/library 2.0 afternoon for staff • some initial scepticism from staff • would users think borrowing suggestions were formal recommendations from the library? • aren’t borrowing suggestions just for selling books? • how relevant will the suggestions be? • would sudden changes confuse users? Transformational Technologies

Solutions • encourage suggestions from staff • include users in decision making process • encourage play and experimentation • don’t be afraid to make mistakes! • look widely for ideas • “build crappy prototypes fast” • monitor usage • if usage is poor then remove it Transformational Technologies

Searching for books by colour Transformational Technologies

Search visualisations Transformational Technologies

CKO visualisations Transformational Technologies

Other Libraries • Ann Arbor District Library • North Carolina State University (Endeca) • LibraryThing for Libraries • Open Source OPACs Transformational Technologies

Ann Arbor District Library • early adopter of “2.0” (John Blyberg) • OPAC deeply embedded in Library portal • virtual catalogue cards (with graffiti!) • user tagging, ratings, and reviews • borrowing suggestions • RSS feeds • http://www.aadl.org/catalog/ Transformational Technologies

North Carolina State University • facetted browsing • http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog/ • http://endeca.com Transformational Technologies

LibraryThing for Libraries • integrates LibraryThing data into the OPAC • tags • borrowing suggestions • other editions • www.librarything.com/forlibraries/ Transformational Technologies

Utilising Web 2.0 in the OPAC lipstick, cowbells and serendipity

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