Next Generation Catalog

Andrea Peterson, Western Washington University Libraries

"In two sentences, this catalog is not really a catalog at all but more like a tool designed to make it easier for students to learn, teachers to instruct, and scholars to do research. It provides its intended audience with a more effective means for finding and using data and information."
-- Eric Lease Morgan, A "Next generation" library catalog June 2006

Summary / Agenda

The relevance of libraries
Why are people going elsewhere?
What are people using instead, and why?
Related developments in the Library World
How do we move forward?

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Relevance of libraries

Recent Reports of importance:

Coyle / Hillman's article in D-Lib (Opinion Piece). Libraries have lost their place as primary information providers, surpassed by more agile (and in many cases wealthier) purveyors of digital information delivery services. Although libraries still manage materials that are not available elsewhere, the library's approach to user service and the user interface is not competing successfully against services like Amazon or Google. If libraries are to avoid further marginalization, they need to make a fundamental change in their approach to user services.
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Relevance of libraries

Recent Reports of importance:

Karen Calhoun's report. Today, a large and growing number of students and scholars routinely bypass library catalogs in favor of other discovery tools, and the catalog represents a shrinking proportion of the universe of scholarly information. The catalog is in decline, its processes and structures are unsustainable, and change needs to be swift.
University of California Libraries, Report from the bibliographic services task force . Catalog is poorly designed for finding, discovery.

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Relevance of libraries

Statistics (From Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005))

Please indicate if you have used the following electronic information sources, even if you have used them only once (all participants):
72% used websearch engine. 30% used library catalog
Where do you typically begin your search for information on a particular topic (all participants)?
84% web search engine. 1% library

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Why are people going elsewhere?

Easier to find relevant info: better ranking, tolerance, drill-down or faceted search options.
Consolidation of information: one search for books, videos, websites, etc.
Easier discovery: clustering, visualization, multiple paths of metadata to follow
Desire for participation
The need to reuse, remix, personalize data in creative ways

"Libraries dont need a next generation ILS; they need a current generation system. " -- Andrew Pace as reported by Terry Reese in his blog

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What are people using instead?

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Developments in the Library World

A new interface layer

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Developments in the Library World

New Systems or add-on functionality

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How do we move forward?

"If libraries are to avoid further marginalization, they need to make a fundamental change in their approach to user services."

Understanding and incorporating some of these changes in our environments will help libraries stay relevant

We have a lot to offer in this market; we know more about and have more metadata; our profession is about finding and using information

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How do we move forward?

Not just a systems thing
Usability: Increasingly important
Incorporating these new concepts into our environment requires understanding the technology, the metadata, and our users
Encourage attitude changes at your library:

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Online Northwest, 2007