Abstract
This paper analyzes the results of transaction logs at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and studies the effects of implementing a Web-based OPAC along with interface changes. The authors find that user success in subject searching remains problematic. A major increase in the frequency of searches that would have been more successful in resources other than the library catalog is noted over the time period 2000-2002. The authors attribute this increase to the prevalence of Web search engines and suggest that metasearching, relevance-ranked results, and relevance feedback ( "more like this") are now expected in user searching and should be integrated into online catalogs as search options.
Highlights
Literature ReviewMany studies have been published since the 1980s centering on the OPAC
The em piri cal study repo rted in this paper indicates th at progress has been made in terms of increasing search success by improv ing the OPAC search interfac e
The goal is to design Web-based OPAC systems for today's users who are likely to bring a mental model of Web search engin es to the library catalog
Summary
Many studies have been published since the 1980s centering on the OPAC. Seymour and Large and Beheshti provide in-depth overviews on OPAC research from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s.' Much of this research has addressed system design and user behavior including:. OPAC research has employed a number of data-collection methodologies: experiment, interviews, questionnaires, observation, think aloud, and transaction logs. ' Transaction logs have been used extensively to study the use of OPACs, and library literature reflects this. While the exact details of TLA vary greatly, Peters et al define it as "the study of electronically recorded interactions between online information retrieval systems and the persons who search for the information found in those systems."' This section reviews the TLA literature relevant to the study
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