1 / 15

Comparative Analysis of Search Interfaces of Online Public Access Catalogs

Comparative Analysis of Search Interfaces of Online Public Access Catalogs. Huma Shafiq Research Scholar, Department of Library & Information Science University of Kashmir, Hazratbal , Srinagar-190006 Email: huma.msgr14@gmail.com & Shazia Rasool

brit
Download Presentation

Comparative Analysis of Search Interfaces of Online Public Access Catalogs

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Comparative Analysis of Search Interfaces of Online Public Access Catalogs Huma Shafiq Research Scholar, Department of Library & Information Science University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar-190006 Email: huma.msgr14@gmail.com & ShaziaRasool Student, Department of Library & Information ScienceUniversity of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar-190006 Email: shazia.rasool22@gmail.com

  2. introduction Search interface is part of the application which enables the users to interact with a system. Dumas (1988) defines the interface as a group of elements visible on the screen, their organization and the necessary procedures to work with these elements. The basic goal of an interface is to enable users to successfully and effectively interact with the system. The final goal of this interaction is, of course, a successful completion of their search task, i.e. Finding relevant information (as cited by Vilar & Zumer, 2008).

  3. PROBLEM of the study Information explosion is posing great challenges to the management and retrieval of information. An effective and efficient information retrieval is the outcome of knowledge of search interfaces of information resources and their use in an appropriate way. Search interfaces simply provide the path for interacting with information resources and retrieving the relevant information. The present research, thus, is an attempt to explore and compare the search interfaces of select Online Public Access Catalogs.

  4. The scope of the study is restricted to the evaluation and comparison of search interfaces of three categories of online resources viz online public access catalogs (WorldCat, NLM’s LocatorPlus,and Library of Congress Online Catalog).

  5. OBJECTIVES The paper aims to explore and compare the search interfaces of select Online Public Access Catalogs.

  6. METHODOLOGY The three prominent online public access catalogs (OPACs) from United States of America are selected for the study (WorldCat, Library of Congress Online Catalog and NLM’s LocatorPlus). Search interfaces of the select resources are explored and compared on the basis of six parameters viz Query Formulation, Search Limits, Help Mechanism, Alerting Services, Result Manipulation and Additional Search Features.

  7. DATA ANALYSIS Query Formulation

  8. Search Limits

  9. Help Mechanism

  10. Alerting Services

  11. Result Manipulation

  12. Additional Search Features

  13. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The major findings are enumerated as follows: • Online public access catalogs are providing the facility of both the levels of searching and most of the search techniques. • Most of the search limiting options can be seen in all the three online public access catalogs. • Park and Lim (1999) suggest that information feedback, guidance and support should be provided to help the user understand and use the system. While analyzing the help mechanism, it is not too assuring except for the Library of Congress Online Catalog. • Alerting services are also not too promising except for the Library of Congress Online Catalog again. • Result manipulation options can be seen in all the three catalogs. • These fully support both the identified additional search facilities. Islam (2013) suggests that designing interface signs intuitive for the users is essential for boosting the application’s usability. Usability is here understood to be the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use. On the basis of this statement, it is obvious that there is a need to make more improvements in the search interfaces of almost all the resources under study. Analyzing each resource on various parameters of search, it is found that Library of Congress Online Catalog provides many of the search features as compared to the rest.

  14. REFERENCES • Islam, M.N. (2013). A systematic literature review of semiotics perception in user interfaces.Journal of systems and information technology, 15(1), 45-77. Doi: 10.1108/13287261311322585 • Park, K.S., & Lim, C.H. (1999). A structured methodology for comparative evaluation ofuser interface designs using usability criteria and measures. International journal of industrial ergonomics, 23(5-6), 379-389. Retrieved from: http://ac.Els-cdn.Com/S0169814197000590/1-s2.0-s0169814197000590-main.Pdf?_Tid=622575ba-b482-11e2-8366 00000aab0f01&acdnat=1367648466_02ab7aebb51b8350b86caa7a82e9cb40 • Vilar, P., & Zumer, M. (2008). Comparison and evaluation of the user interfaces of e-journalsII: Perceptions of the users. Journal of documentation, 64(6), 816-841. Doi:10.1108/00220410810912415

More Related