Libraries, like other organizations, have been eager to adopt computer
technology to improve the quality of their services and to make their business
operations more efficient. Replacing card catalogs with online systems is an
obvious application where both objectives can be achieved. Online public
access catalogs offer faster, more flexible search and retrieval mechanisms
than card catalogs, are better able to incorporate the vastly expanded amount
and variety of information sources that modern libraries manage, and do not
require the user to be at the same physical location as the catalog. At the
same time, the automated systems allow libraries to share cataloging data
efficiently while eliminating the labor-intensive task of filing cards. Online
catalogs offer the same numerous advantages that automated information
systems typically have over their manual predecessors.
However, online catalogs can be much more than simple replacements
for card catalogs. Libraries have adopted computer systems as integral parts
of their organizations, making it increasingly important to assure that full
advantage is taken of the powerful capabilities that such systems can provide.
Several different models of online public access catalogs for libraries
have been and continue to be developed. The differences are based on the
types of services to be provided, the particular circumstances of the libraries
involved, and the technology available at the time system development began.
Attention has not been focused systematically on the basic issues of how