S554 Blog Posting #6 Maywin A. Jackson
Hopefully the current Next Gen student think-tank will result in a fantastic and practical catalog that will bring our IT into the 21st century. Of course, picking student brains such as in the Next Gen Catalog process through IOLUG is one excellent way toward finalizing the best quality of Next Gen catalogs.
The next generation catalog is a necessity and I wonder how the classic tendency for libraries to very slowly embrace change will mix with the urgent (and rapid) need for catalog upgrades? How is that going to be addressed? I wonder who will test the new catalogs. How long will it take to present the final product to U.S. public libraries and how long will it take to get approval to put this catalog in place? Will libraries eagerly accept the new system or will they take forever to decide?
Thankfully I am getting better and more comfortable with technology and will continue to keep abreast of the ongoing changes with Next Gen. I plan to follow the Next Gen progress and hope to be able to be involved in the process.
In addition to the need for Next Gen Catalogs, librarians will have to champion other much needed changes that will bring our library system into the 21st century. These changes include maintaining current and updated library policies and missions, continuing education and training in technical skills, which will improve the library users’ experience.
Throughout my SLIS experience I have come to understand that from now on, the library profession has a lot on their plate. I have also realized that both practicing and future librarians have their work cut out for them, and for that reason I’m hoping that librarians will learn to support each other and promote themselves to the public that they serve.
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I'd been thinking that the Next Gen catalogs where somewhere on the horizon. I was surprised to see Polaris on our NGC draft list. I've been working with cutting edge technology at work for four years and didn't even know it. I can vouch for the effectiveness of Polaris in our library setting. The only patron complaint I've heard has been from my husband who thinks it ridiculously hard to use.
ReplyDeleteUh oh, it sounds like Polaris people may need to work on the 'user friendly' aspect.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it's difficult to use?
I am so thrilled that libraries are headed towards the awesome-ness that Amazon.com has made popular. User tags, reviews, suggestions...all things that we take for granted as Amazon.com shoppers. These items are crucial to our shopping experience and these are the very items that are missing from our library catalogs. In today's world, we have to present to our users what they expect and want, otherwise they won't come back.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the Illustrated Librarian (at least when it comes to certain types of catalogues). In the world of scholarship I am not sure if user tags will be helpful or harmful, especially considering the way people behave in large groups, often exhibiting the Band Wagon Effect to a negative outcome. I still think that there needs to be an authority when it comes to subject headings. For me the Next Gen catalogue isn't about new features, but a new way to structure knowledge. Until that comes about (if ever) the best thing that can be done for the improvement of catalogues, is improve the LCSH, and to a large extent the effectiveness in the way it is implemented by cataloguers. Now that would provide for a more useful catalogue!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to tags, I swear I read an article somewhere about how LibraryThing is overlaying their user-tag based system onto a library's existing catalogue. I think that there might be some benefit (in terms of ease-of-use for a patron) in not only keeping the structure of the LCSH, but also making the books accessible through a vocabulary based on user tags.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge that everyone, librarians included, is facing is that information is proliferating so rapidly. That's why user-generated tags, for all their faults and flaws, are so useful. Controlled vocabularies just can't be changed quickly enough to keep up.
ReplyDelete