David N. Wells

What is a library OPAC

– This paper aims to look at online public access catalogues (OPAC) 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., – This exercise is pursued through examination of the multiple tensions implicit in any cataloguing or indexing system: the competing requirements of organisation and retrieval, description and classification., – The paper finds that for an OPAC to be practicably usable the potential complexity of the information it contains must be reduced to a manageable level of simplicity. OPACs purport to allow complete retrieval, even though data structures and index definitions are not transparent. They necessarily impose a framework of retrieval that conceals information at the same time as it presents it, and therefore to an extent they undermine the very concept of information literacy. In an online environment catalogues have been able easily to move beyond the scope of individual library collections and to incorporate an increasing range of non‐traditional types of information, thus introducing further tensions between their roles as indexes and as information sources in their own right., – The multiple tensions involved can be conceptualised in terms of indeterminacy of the communication code and indeterminacy of the linguistic sign. A clear theoretically‐based understanding of these issues is essential to ensuring optimal OPAC design.

Books and ebooks in an academic library

This article tests ALIAs statement that ‘library print and ebook collections will establish a 50:50 equilibrium by 2020’ against the experience and likely trajectory of Curtin University Library. It identifies features of the higher education landscape that have led to the development of epreferred strategies, outlines current collection principles, and describes the current state of the Librarys holdings. Looking ahead, the article charts the likely impact of the current collection development framework over the next six years, considering questions relating to budget, use of space, client experience and treatment of the legacy print collection.

Library Discovery Systems and their Users: a Case Study from Curtin University Library

AbstractDiscovery systems are now increasingly the dominant technology through which clients discover and access the information resources held by academic and research libraries. However, as yet, little work has been done to explore the use and impact of discovery systems on user behaviour. This article examines transactional logs from the Ex Libris Primo installation of Curtin University Library sampled between 2013 and 2015, together with the results of a user survey conducted in 2014, to investigate actual patterns of use and perceptions of value in the available discovery system functionality. The evidence collected supports the original contention of discovery system designers that the single-search box approach adopted by Google and other internet search engines is an appropriate form for library catalogue design. On the other hand, discovery system users clearly value functionality corresponding to traditional library tasks over attempts to locate the catalogue in the conceptual framework of socia...

The Curtin Materials Availability Survey 2017

Purpose The research extends the principles of earlier print-based availability surveys to the context of today’s electronic library, and explores the question of an appropriate methodology. The ability of clients to find what they want remains a central question, as does the library’s ability to identify and address the reasons that clients fail to find what they are looking for. Design/methodology/approach Catalogue users at Curtin University Library were invited to complete an online survey indicating whether they had found the electronic item they were looking for, and if not to nominate the reason why. Responses were then verified and analysed by library staff. Findings The survey attracted a low number of usable responses, though the proportion of respondents who stated they were able to find what they were looking for was consistent with the findings of earlier studies. It was possible to identify a small number of cases were the library did not hold the item required, though most failures were eit...

Information cultures in the digital age: a festschrift in honor of Rafael Capurro

The Uruguayan-born philosopher Rafael Capurro has spent the majority of his working life in Germany, where he retired as Professor of Information Science and Information Ethics at Stuttgart Media U...

Innovations in information retrieval: Perspectives for theory and practice [Book Review]

Review(s) of: Innovations in information retrieval: Perspectives for theory and practice, Ed. by Allen Foster and Pauline Rafferty. London: Facet Publishing, 2011, 156 pp. 44.95 pounds soft cover ISBN 9781856046978 (available from Inbooks).

Thank you to former Editor, Bob Pymm, and Book Reviews Editor, Ian Morrison, the immediate past editorial team

As, with some excitement and some trepidation, we take on the role of Co-Editors and Book Review Editor of AARL, we would like to formally acknowledge the work of the editorial team immediately preceding us, Bob Pymm as Editor, and Ian Morrison as Book Reviews Editor. Both Bob and Ian were very generous in sharing their knowledge about the Journal and the art of editorship as they passed the mantle on to us. We are now in the process of absorbing that learning and putting it into action.

International Students and Academic Libraries: A Survey of Issues and Annotated Bibliography. By Diane E. Peters. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2010. 213 pp. US

Review(s) of: International Students and Academic Libraries: A Survey of Issues and Annotated Bibliography, by Diane E. Peters, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2010. 213 pp. US

34.95 soft cover ISBN 9780810874299

34.95 soft cover ISBN 9780810874299.

A Companion to the History of the Book

Review(s) of: A Companion to the History of the Book, by Simon Eliot and Jonathan Rose (eds) Malden MA Wiley-Blackwell 2009 599p ISBN 9781405192781 (pbk) AUD