Comparison of Keywords Freely Inputted by Users and the Compendium of “Keywords for Children,” Which is Programmed into the Book Searching System for Children

Abstract

When children look for a book to read, they usually ask an adult to recommend something suitable. In many of such cases, librarians or teachers play an important role. It could also be parents or adults close to the children. The objective of the OPAC system provided in libraries is to offer a tool to help users to find books by themselves but it is not an easy system for children to use. In this study, we aim to construct a book searching system that is easy for children to use. To this end, we studied cases in which children used the book search engine “Adventure in the Sea of Books” we developed in 2002 for “International Institute for Children’s Literature, Osaka.” This is installed with “Subject Heading Lists for Children,” a system we uniquely developed to enable users to search a book by the title, author, or any words they can think of. In this study we will make a comparison between the keywords installed in “Subject Heading Lists for Children” and the index items which the users themselves inputted. This comparison will show what kinds of keywords are most requested by children, and lead to the development of a more userfriendly book searching system.