Role of OPAC and Digital Library Services By Reena Singh (Research Scholar, Dr.Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra), (22/11/2022)

ROLE OF OPAC AND DIGITAL LIBRARY SERVICES

Reena Singh

Research Scholar(Library And information Science)
Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University
E.mail id- reenathakur710231@gmail.com

Abstract-

This paper aims to look at online public access catalogues (OPAC) and digital library services operations in the light of the Philosophy of information, communication theory and semiotics, and to revisit fundamental questions about the nature of library OPACs and the ways in which they function.online public access catalogues (OPACs) began to appear in the late 1990s and many libraries are currently considering implementation. As catalogues, they demonstrate advances on traditional OPACs, especially in terms of remote access by users and their potential to integrate many document types and sources via a single interface. As yet, very little evaluation of systems and users has taken place and until more such literature appears, a general approach to products available is considered to be of value. A checklist has been developed as an indicator of the important features and functions offered. Findings of focused-group interviews conducted for OCLC study of library users and online public access catalogs (OPACs) indicate users like OPACs, have problems finding right subject heading, envision features to improve subject access, want access to more than books, and want OPACs to provide new services.

Digital libraries are complex systems that stretch institutional resources and capabilities, but also offer unparalleled opportunities for new and improved user services. An overview of the basic components of a digital library looks at the challenges and the potentials. With the introduction of digital library services, the quality of service (QoS) has become paramount importance for evaluating the performance of the digital library service provisioning. In this paper, we address the same research problem from a different dimension which is from the perspective of the digital service providers. To this end, we propose a new model suitable for evaluating the performance of digital library services. We argue that the level of QoS provided by the digital service providers have direct impact on the perception and satisfaction of the digital service end-users.

INTRODUCATION-:

Online catalogs first became an item in the 1960s, but the first notable and large scale catalogs weren't developed until the 1970s (specifically at Ohio State University in 1975 and Dallas Public Library in 1978). In the 1980s, more and more online catalogs were developed with the introduction of the first commercial systems. After that, however, interest waned, and the popularity of the online public access catalog all but disappeared during the 1990s. Keep in mind that this was all prior to widespread use of the Internet and any of the search engines we have available to us today. New systems and new technologies have put a recent spotlight back on OPAC development with online catalogs now being offered at most libraries across the country.

Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) is a catalog of a library's collection that isopen and accessible to the public through the internet. It is an online open accessbibliography of a library holding. A library catalog provides users a platform tosearch and locate books and other materials available at the library. A librarycatalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library. A bibliographicitem can be any information entity (e.g., books, journals, computer files, graphics,maps, etc.) that is considered library material. Today, a great number of libraries haveautomated their technical operations and servicesimplementing this technology to fulfil their user’srequirements. OPAC is one of these technologiesfacilitate access to any of the information restricted in the documentation for an item in the library. Thelibrarians endeavour to equip the library with rightkind of collections and other reading materials tosatisfy the requirements of the users. The Library isa trinity made up of different types of publications,readers, and staff so it will not function without anyone of these components. OPAC is a device of changein today’s libraries as it helps users search for libraryresources and to find out the availability of such documents in the library at a given point in Time.

The History of OPAC -:

Automating library systems began in the 1960s with circulation and then expanded to the card catalog. The goal was to help users access the books they needed without the help of a librarian. In 1967, Frederick Kilgour began developing an online searchable database for the library materials at Ohio State University. Northwestern University and Stanford University were developing similar systems. The Library of Congress was also working on Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) through the work of Henriette Davidson Avram. Machine-readable means that a computer can process the information in the database. At first, these databases were only used by trained library professionals at university libraries, The Library of Congress, and specialized libraries such as The US National Library of Medicine.

In 1975, Ohio State University unveiled the first public-facing OPAC system that library patrons could use to search for materials using the title, author, or call number. They were able to see the location and availability of the library item. The database was not user-friendly because exact wording and spelling were necessary to find the titles. However, OPACs became widely used by universities. Each university developed their own computer database and software. Eventually, software was created centrally and adopted by public libraries as well. During this transitional time, both the card catalog and the new OPAC system were used together in the library.

In the 1980s, the second generation of OPAC was developed. Boolean logic was added to improve searching efficacy. Help screens made the system more user-friendly. However, the OPAC still provided limited information. Although materials might be located, very little information about the item was provided. In the 1990s, interest in OPAC systems declined until the internet and search engines were introduced. OPAC systems adopted internet search engine functions to allow partial word matches and more natural language. The list of matches could now be organized by relevance. Interest in OPAC systems increased dramatically.

By 2004, with web 2.0, the OPAC database became more interactive. Users were able to leave comments about books and save book lists. The search engines continued to improve, creating an easy-to-use interface that did not require any training. When cloud-based systems were developed, OPAC and circulation connected. Patrons could check their account for overdue books, place holds, and receive email notifications. OPAC systems expanded and combined with other organizations. The single university library or local library branch was connected to the entire system. Later it expanded even further to include multiple organizations. The materials were no longer confined to the library itself. Online databases, e-books, and even websites were connected and referenced through an OPAC search. Today, next-generation OPAC systems are connected nationwide. Some systems are even available worldwide. In 2015, with OPAC's improved stability and functionality, the card catalog ceased to exist in the library system.

Definitions of OPAC-

The Hildreth (1985) defines Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) as follows:

“It is time to start thinking of the online public access catalogue as an intelligent gateway to diverse, integrated information specialist and the library patron or and user; a gateway accessible not only in libraries but at places of work. Study; leisure, and the home. Perhaps someday the online catalogue will just be called ‘my online library”.

The ALA GLOSSARY defines Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) as follows:

“A computer-based and supported library catalogue (bibliographic database) designed to be accessed via terminal so that library users may directly effectively search for retrieve bibliographic records without the assistance of a human intermediary such as a specially trained member of the library staff’.

Simon Smith defines as:

“An OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) is an online bibliography of a library collection that is available to the public. OPAC developed as stand alone catalogues often form VT100 terminals to main-frame. Library catalogue with arrival of the interest most libraries have made their OPAC accessible from a server to users all over the world”.

According to Harold Glossary defines as:

“The catalogue of a library or information centre made available to users online and generally providing a varied of additional facilities such a loan information, online reservations and library news with the demise of the card catalogue the need for stressing the ‘online public access’ part has disappeared and they are new frequently just catalogues”.

Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (ODLIS) defines as:

“An acronym for online public access catalogue a database composed of bibliographic records describing the books and other material owned by a library or library system, accessible via public terminals or workstations usually concentrated near the reference desk to make it easy for user to request the assistance of a trained reference librarian. Most online catalogs are searchable by author, title subject and keywords and allow users to print, download or export records to an e-mail account”.

SIRSI GLOSSARY of terms defines OPAC as:

“A computer workstation used to search a library’s catalogue can refer to either the actual workstation in the library, or to the interface provided by the library that is accessible from anywhere”.

Advantages Of Online Public Access Catalogue-

 The web based cataloguing software is highly interactive, easy-to-navigate, and simple-to-understand or user-friendly in nature.
 The library OPAC system provides easy & remote access to a vast number of library materials across world-wide libraries.
 Patrons get the option to perform an in-depth search for required files.
 The library material can be updated from time-to-time and speedily.
 The library patrons’ time gets saved as they don’t need to move from one place to another in order to find books.
 The library management system can be accessed regardless of whether the library is open or not.To enable a person to find a book of which another, the title or the subject is known.
 The library patrons need not wander from one place to other to follow see and see also reference.
 The patrons need not wear out pencils copying the bibliographic information, printers or down loading software provide convenience and ensure accuracy in the transfer of information.
 It is no longer necessary for a person to come to the library to use the catalog. The catalog can be wherever they are, and they can use it whether or not library itself is open.
 It addition to that, the catalog can be as up-to-date, as the holdings it represents.
 The contents for the catalog are no longer restricted to the holdings of the particular library. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of libraries the online catalog can represent.

Disadvantage of OPAC -:

• They may limit the number of actual visitors to the library.
• Their ease of use may actually hamper more thorough searches.
• Spelling errors or keying mistakes can cause frustration with missed searches.
• When technology is unavailable, as in an Internet outage, for example, searches will be halted.

Introduction of Digital library- The digital library need not be networked. A digitallibrary is a library which has all the information in electronic form and having electronicdevices to have access to the digitized information. Thus digital library is a librarywhich has number of machine-readable publications and facilities for remote accessto several databases. The American Digital Library Federation has defined the digital library as “Digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve theintegrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collection of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities.”. It is marked by three distinct features: abundance, currency and easy access of information. This has brought about a change in the concept of libraries, their collection and services. Many new terms viz., ‘digital libraries’, libraries without walls’, ‘virtual libraries’ are emerging to describe the libraries of present day age.

The term ‘digital library’ is a shift from the earlier term electronic library which was used for the last two decades to describe the book-less library which relies on telecommunication and computers to provide users with whatever information they need. A digital library is popularly viewed as an electronic version of a library where storage is in digital form, allowing direct communication to obtain material and copying it from a master version.Digital libraries in future will not be a standalone version. The explosive growth in networked connectivity and rapid advances in computing power are replacing the older notions of standalone information utilities with newer notions of integrated digital libraries. The integrated digital library creates a shared environment linking everything from personal collection, collection of conventional libraries and large databases spread all over the world.Google, the most successful commercial internet search engine, entered a keyword “digital library” in the internet, and then Wikipedia and various other sources define “digital library” as a “library in which collections are stored in digital formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media) and accessible by computers.” There are many definitions of a "digital library." Terms such as "electronic library" and "virtual library" are often used synonymously. The elements that have been identified as common to these definitions are: Digital Library is a "Collection of digital object (text, video and audio) along with method for access and retrieval, [as far as users are concerned] and also for selection, organization, and maintenance.

The definition of a digital library can be given as a set of characteristics as follows: The digital library is :

 a collection of services
 a collection of information objects
 a supporting users with information objects
 organization and presentation of those objects
 available directly or indirectly
 electronic/digital availability

CHARACTERISTICS OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES-

The structured information in the digital library is called digital object which includes text, audio, video, image, computer programmes, graphics, and multimedia components in digital form. The digital library requires lots of digital technologies.

The digital library :

— Provides access to a very large information collection, both primary and secondary
— Support multimedia components
— Provides links to different digital objects
— Supports and provides search and retrieval interface

Important characteristics of a digital library are :

i) Digital collection – In the digital environment a digital library is expected to develop document collection in a digital format.

ii) Technology – It is understood that a digital library will have digital material in its collection. But in the present day context, both digital and non-digital information belonging to a digital library are to be handled using digital technologies.

iii) Work and Service – The professionals supposed to work in a digital library should have necessary training in handling digital information in order to provide the optimum level of effective service.

Digital Library Services- Every library followed different type’s services to users. In this age of Information ICT changes the concept of traditional library work as well as service. Now days many reference books like dictionaries, hand-books,encyclopedias, directories, abstracting and indexing services etc are published in electronic form. Digital libraries have been focused mainly on providing access to current digital information resources.

1.Web-based Services - Libraries provide Web-based real-time reference services using specific software, BBS, interactivecommunication tools, call centre management software.

library catalogue and union catalogue
bibliographic databases
subject gate ways in specific discipline
Remote information services
CD-ROM databases
Providing link to websites
Accessing and procuring e-reference sources
Document delivery service .

CAS, SDI services-

1. Content pages services from commercial publishers, e.g. Elsevier’s Content Digital Service.
2. Notification service- information of availability of new books by publishers and vendors, e.g. Wiley &Amazon.com.
3. Current contents and ISI Alerting services from ISI.
4. SDI services from online search service providers such as Dialog

3. Search Engine Services-

The useful search engine services are as follows

5. www.askjeeves.co.uk : It is useful for complex questions and is a good choice for searchers who lackBoolean or other searching skills.
6. The Electric Library helps the researchers providing various online reference sources.
7. www.help.com: that claims to offer real time search assistance any time in 24 hours.
8. www.about.com: It is a service that shows a number of pre-defined categories related to a search topic givenby the user .

4 .Co-operative digital Library Services - The Library ofCongress, USA has launched the collaborative digital reference services with a mission to provide the users,anywhere, anytime in corner of world through an interactional digital network of libraries. In June, 2002 thelibrary of congress and OCLC have developed a cooperative ‘Question Point’ the advanced generation of CDTSwhich integrates local as well as global electronic reference networks .

Some Digital Library Services – Digital Library Services provides a wide array of services to assist members of the library with organizing collections of materials or making them more widely available. the following services offered by the Digital Libraries.

Catalogue Databases,
Current Awareness Bulletins,
Externally Purchased Databases,
CD-ROM Databases,
Remote Information Services,
Internally Published Newsletters, Reports & Journals,
Internet Information Sources Mirroring & Cataloguing,
¾ E-mail,
¾ Bulletin Board Service,
¾ Netnews system,
¾ Audio and Video Communication,
¾ Electronic Table of Contents,
¾ Electronic Document Delivery Service,
¾ Electronic Theses and Dissertations,
¾ Reference Service,
¾ Electronic Publishing,
¾ Discussion groups and forums
¾ Central storage facilities for Hosting digital collections and indexes
¾ Tools for loading, storing, searching, and displaying digital objects
¾ Special Collections service

Conclusion-

OPAC is an instrument of change in today’slibraries. Automated library system in generalandspecifically online catalogues will continueto be productive and enhance the usage of librarycollections. New OPACs are appearing almost weekly, as part of integrated library systems. Since the market is highly competitive, and the OPAC has only recently become one of system purchasers' requirements, many of the suppliers add "public access" to their systems hastily and almost as an afterthought. If library management, from national libraries downwards, would come to realise the increase in the use of library materials which would result from the introduction of catalogues which actually help most users to find what they are seeking, and that the systems they are buying now may well be totally obsolete in five years' time, it might be that automation suppliers and national or international bodies would cooperate in helping to fund research into the development of the catalogues of the future.

Libraries have always played a significant role in society, and digital libraries with the promise of breaking the barriers of geographical distance, language and culture, have a potentially even more significant social role. Digital libraries will not only change our reading and information use habits, they are also going to bring major changes in the economic models of information generation, distribution and management functions.Information technology has changed the world and has become one important tool for retrieving information a new days. Library collections are not only limited to printed documents but also electronic resources increases by their use and therefore it is important to develop digital library. People realized the importance of digital libraries no matter what their feelings towards them were before.

REFERENCE - Click Here

Share Your Article

Now you can share your article or any information related to library science in Hindi/English Language. Just send your article in word/PDF format to lisworld20@gmail.com with your Details.