The Library Catalog Does it have a future?

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The Library CatalogDoes it have a future?

• Gary R. Houk
• OCLC

NYC June 10, 2003
SLA Conference
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Overview

• Where did we come from?
• Where are we going?
• Metadata and Standards
• Propelling discovery
• Enabling retrieval
• HELPING PATRONS FIND IT ? GET IT

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Where did we come from?

• Started with an inventory of physical items
• Metadata on sealed clay tablet tax records
• Pinakes, a catalog in 120 books (Alexandria)
• The card catalog
• COM (Computer Output Microfiche)
• MARC format arrives
• Shared online catalogs and ILL (OCLC, RLIN)
• OPACs (Online Public Access Catalogs)
• We added electronic resource descriptions
• We add links to those electronic resources
• We put the catalogs on the Web but the indices
  are not visible outside the library portal

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Where are we going?Changing library collections
collected
high
low
low
uniqueness
uniqueness
high
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Managing metadata (present)

• For the last century, a significant emphasis on
  describing and organizing physical collections at
  the item level
• Leveraging cooperative metadata resources
• Strengthened cooperative programs
• PCC (BIBCO, CONSER, NACO, SACO)
• Better interoperability within the library space
• Various interfaces of ILS vendors bib.
  Utilities
• Use of Z39.50
• Always the push for better, faster, cheaper
• Shelf-ready services
• Cataloging of widely held non-unique items are
  more and more automated
• Numerous standards evolving
• METS, MODS, XML, Dublin Core, EAD, etc.

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MetaMap
http//mapageweb.umontreal.ca/turner/meta/english/
metamap.html
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There is life beyond MARC21!

• Metadata landscape evolving
• Plethora of standards, but converging on common
  base layers (XML, Unicode)
• Interoperability gaining favor (e.g., Dublin
  Core)
• Capturing upstream metadata from authors,
  publishers and distributors (non print
  non-English)
• Evaluative metadata no longer optional as users
  expect to see cover art, annotations, reviews,
  etc.
• New modes for metadata publishing transfer
• OAI (Open Archives Initiative)
• A new conceptual model
• Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
• FRBR implementations nascent, but promising
• Grouping of related records could lead to
  economies for creating new records

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Propelling discovery (present)

• Library catalogs facilitate both known item and
  more general subject, etc. searches
• Scope of discovery shifting
• Traditionally emphasized physical holdings
• Increasingly including records for remotely held
  resources, and/or,
• Serving as portals to facilitate searching remote
  databases
• Consortia/group catalogs increasingly favored
  search/show all holdings popular with a set of
  users
• Library catalogs just one option against many
• Users use search engines, Amazon, other sources
  for initial discovery, then searching library
  catalog for known items

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Why Library Catalogs Fail as Information Finding
Tools

• They are unable to search the entire universe of
  information
• Local catalogs often lack books that can be
  requested
• They have too little information about items
• Most are unable to accept multiple metadata
  formats
• Many have hostile user interfaces
• Union catalogs often have multiple records for
  the same item (which to request?)
• There are too many to consult and no way for
  users to figure out which one to search

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Propelling discovery (forward)

• The library catalog is rich in content but we
  need better finding aids (Google, Amazon)
• Only librarians like to search, everyone else
  likes to find (Roy Tennant)
• Custom local views of collections within the
  larger union catalog (OCLC Group Services)
• By state, region, library type, format type,
  topic, ..
• Digital Collections
• ILS vendors adding digital object modules to
  support management, searching of digitized
  materials, electronic finding aids
• OCLC also active in this space
• Harvesting of ContentDM records into WorldCat
• Increase the visibility of library collections
• OCLC Library Access Cooperative Pilot test

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Propelling greater visibility

• OCLC will be testing a cooperative service that
  integrates libraries into the Web services used
  by information seekers.
• Public view of WorldCat
• Access from heavily used web services
• Links to libraries and their services

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EXAMPLE
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EXAMPLE
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What Better Case for FRBR?

• Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
  / IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements
  for Bibliographic Records
• Defines a bibliographic model independent of
  cataloging rules
• Clusters bibliographic items into a four-level
  structure
• Work (distinct intellectual or artistic creation)
• Expression (intellectual or artistic realization
  of a work)
• Manifestation (the physical embodiment of an
  expression of a work)
• Item (a single exemplar of a manifestation)

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OCLC FRBR

• OCLC Office of Research has developed an
  algorithm to FRBRize WorldCat
• Sample use Researchs Fiction Finder prototype
• Research team mined record content from a subset
  (all records for fiction materials) of WorldCat
  and applied FRBR algorithm and additional
  processing to yield
• A best-of-related-records-content enriched
  record view for every work of fiction represented
  in WorldCat
• Better searching, browsing (esp. genre), and
  search results displays for WorldCat fiction
  records
• An optimized work-set record display that
  combines the enriched record view with a
  user-friendly, presentation of links to groups of
  related WorldCat records (e.g., a list of links
  with one link per language to all editions of the
  work published in language x, language y, etc.)

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Fiction Finder result set display
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Fiction Finder record display
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Record display example
WorldCat record
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Enabling retrieval (present)

• Beyond discovery - find and retrieve landscape
• Traditional call numberbased retrieval
• Many innovations in ILL/document delivery
• Circulation-based ILL (esp. consortial ILS)
• Patron-initiated ILL (e.g., OCLC FirstSearch)
• ILL management software (e.g., ILLIAD)
• Multiple choices among doc supplier vendors
• Strong trend towards e-resource delivery
• E-journals (often linked to AI dbs)
• E-books (e.g., netLibrary)
• E-reserves (often supported by ILS, but also done
  through reserve pak vendors)
• Standards bodies, associations, technical
  publishers, govt. agencies routinely issuing
  materials in e-format

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Enabling retrieval (forward)

• On the horizon
• FRBR could aid ILL and Acquisitions
• Experimental OCLC xISBN service, similar
• Standard patron data format (NCIP)
• Will facilitate easier patron authentication
  across systems suppliers
• Should make system migration easier
• Persistent identifiers
• Still a problematic area
• New tools like Open URLs will help
• Improved rights and resolution
• Difficult to solve, but work progressing
• Useful systems now (e.g., SFX), better soon
• OCLC working on Rights Resolution service

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So does the Library Catalog have a future?
DefinitelyBut will your Mother recognize it!
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Questions?