OPAC vs. card catalogue: a comparative study of user behaviour

Sridhar, M. S. OPAC vs. card catalogue: a comparative study of user behaviour. The Electronic Library, 2004, vol. 22, n. 2, pp. 175-183. [Journal article (Paginated)]

[thumbnail of OPACUSE.pdf]
Preview
PDF
OPACUSE.pdf

Download (161kB) | Preview

English abstract

Even though use studies of card catalogue are quite rare, use of OPAC has been extensively investigated since early 1980s. Yet there are not many attempts to conduct comparative studies highlighting the differences in use of card catalogue and OPAC of the same library (i.e., user population). This paper reports an attempt made to study use of OPAC of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) library and compare the results with the findings of the study of use of card catalogue of the same library conducted 17 years ago. The paper not only brings various aspects of user behaviour about OPAC but also depicts the differences in user behaviour as well as the effects of technological changes from card catalogue (manual system) to OPAC (automated system).

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: catalogues, online catalogues, user studies
Subjects: C. Users, literacy and reading. > CB. User studies.
Depositing user: Dr. M S Sridhar
Date deposited: 01 Mar 2007
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:06
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/9043

References

Alzofon, Sammy R and Van Pulis, Noelle (1984). Patterns of searching and succcess rates in an online public access catalog. College & Research Libraries. March; 45(2), 110-115

B

anks, Julie (2000). Are transactions log useful? A ten-year study. Journal of Southern Academic & Special Librarianship, February; Vol. 1, No. 3

Borgman, Christine L. (1986). Why are online catalogs hard to use? Lessons learned from

information retrieval studies. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 37(6), 387-400.

Borgman, Christine L. (1996). Why are online catalogs still hard to use? Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47(7), 493-503.

Drone, Jeanette M. (1984), "A use study of the card catalogue in the University of Illinois Music Library", Library resources and technical services, Vol. 28 No.3, July/September, pp. 253.

Ferguson, Douglas et al (1982). The CLR public online catalog study: an overview. Information Technology & Libraries. June, 1(2),84-97

Gorman, Michael and Jami Hotsinpiller. (1979), "ISBD: Aid or barrier to understanding?", College and research libraries, Vol. 40 No. 6, November, pp. 251.

Gouke, Mary Noel and Pease, Sue (1982). Title searches in an online catalog and a card catalog: a comparative study of patron success in two libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship. July, 8(3), 137-143

Hildreth, Charles R.(1985). Online Public Access Catalogs. In: Martha E. Williams (Ed.) Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST), NY: Knowledge Industrial Inc. Vol. 20, pp. 232-285.

Hirst, S.J.(1998). Hyperlib deliverable 1.2: In-depth survey of OPAC usage. Part of Hyperlib electronic document store, University of Antwerp - University of Loughborough www.lia.ua.ac.be/MAN/P12/root.html

Kaske, Neal K. (1988a). The variability and intensity over time of subject searching in an online public access catalog. Information Technology & Libraries 7(3),273-287

Kaske, Neal K. (1988b). The comparative study of subject searching in an OPAC among branch libraries of a University Library system. Information Technology & Libraries 7(4),359-372

Larson, Ray R. (1991). Between Scylla and Charybdis: Subject searching in the online catalog. Advances in Librarianship, edited by Irene P. Godden, San Diego Academic Press, Vol.15, 175-236.

Matthews, Joseph R., Gary S. Lawrence and Douglas K. Ferguson (1983). Using online catalogs: A nationwide survey. A report of a study sponsored by the Council on Library Resources. In: Matthews, Joseph R. (Editor) The impact of online catalogs. New York: Neal-Schuman.

McCarthy, Cavan. (1975), "Colonial cataloguing", New Library World, Vol. 76 No.897, March, pp. 55-56. (Quoted from Ken Jones, conflict and change in library organizations: people, power and service, Longdon: Clive Bingley. 1984, pp.29).

Norden, David J. and Lawrence, Gail herndon (1981). Public terminal use in an online catalog: some preliminary results. College & Research Libraries. July,42(2),308-316.

O’Brien, A. (1994). Online catalogs: Enhancements and developments, in Martha E. Williams (Ed.) Annual review of information science and technology, 29, 219-242. Medford, NJ: Learned Information.

Oduwole, A.A et.al. (2002), "On-line public access catalogue (OPAC) use in Nigerian academic libraries: a case study from the university of agriculture, Abeokuta", Library Herald, Vol. 40 No. 1, March, pp. 20-27.

Sridhar, M.S. (1982), "A study of library visits and in-house use of library documents by Indian space technologists", Journal of Library and Information Science, Vol. 7 No. 2, December, pp. 146-158.

Sridhar, M.S. (1983), "User participation in collection building in a special library: a case study", IASLIC Bulletin, Vol. 28 No. 3, September, pp. 117-122.

Sridhar, M.S. (1985), "A case study of lent-out use of a special library", Library Science with a slant to Documentation, Vol. 22 No. 1, March, pp. 19-34.

Sridhar, M.S. (1986), "Pattern of card catalogue consultation in a special library", IASLIC Bulletin, Vol. 31 No. 1, March, pp. 9-16.

Sridhar, M.S. (1988), "Library-use index and library-interaction index as measures of effectiveness of a special library: a case study", Proceedings of XXXIV All India Library Conference on Library and Information Services: Assessment and Effectiveness, Calcutta: ILA, pp. 449-465.

Sridhar, M.S. (1989), "Information-seeking behaviour of the Indian space technologists", Library Science with a slant to Documentation and Information Studies, Vol. 26 No. 2, June, pp. 127-165.

Sridhar, M. S. (1989), "Patterns of user-visit, movement and length of stay in a special library: a case study." Annals of Library Science and Documentation, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 134-138.

Sridhar, M. S. (1994), "Non-users and non-use of libraries", Library Science with a slant to Documentation and Information Studies, Vol. 31 No. 3, September, pp. 115-128.

Sridhar, M. S. (1995a), " Understanding the user - why, what and how?", Library Science with a slant to Documentation and Information Studies, Vol. 32 No. 4, December, pp. 151- 164.

Sridhar, M. S. (1995b), Information behaviour of scientists and engineers, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi.

Sridhar, M. S. (2002), Library use and user research: with twenty case studies, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi.

Wilson, Patrik. (1983), "The catalog as access mechanism: background and concepts", Library resources and technical services, Vol. 27 No. 1, Jan/Mar, pp. 6-16.

Yuan, W. (1997). End-user searching behavior in information retrieval: a longitudinal study. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 48(3), 218-234.


Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item