Understanding Information Retrieval Systems

    38 Online Public Access        Catalogs (OPACs)

 

Kevin Butterfield

CONTENTS

Introduction

Historical Development

What Do OPACs Do?

How Effective Are OPACs?

Conclusion

References

INTRODUCTION

As long as there have been libraries there have been catalogs. In one form or another, from a mental list in the mind of the librarian, to book catalogs, card indexes, and online information retrieval systems, some type of meta access has existed to guide library users through collections. Over the last 40 years, these constructs of paper and wood evolved into Online Public Access Catalogs (OPAC0). When the catalog shifted out of drawers and off of three ...