[DOWNLOAD] "Catalogue Use by the Petherick Readers of the National Library of Australia." by Australian Academic & Research Libraries # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Catalogue Use by the Petherick Readers of the National Library of Australia.
- Author : Australian Academic & Research Libraries
- Release Date : January 01, 2007
- Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 254 KB
Description
As Alan Danskin has recently pointed out, 'Cataloguing now faces a more dangerous challenge than the accusation that it costs too much. The very validity of what cataloguers do IS called into question. (1) We are constantly hearing that library users now use Google much more than they do the catalogue. There is no argument that Google provides access to much more material than does the biggest of library catalogues: some of the biggest library catalogues can now be accessed through Google in any case. Cataloguers who wish to remain in a job must hope that what they do is provide a database that adds value, and is seen to add value. There are two ways in which value may be added. First, the information resources to which the library catalogue directs the user may be of superior value to the average resource thrown up by Google (one hopes so, as a librarian has probably spent some time selecting them). Second, the metadata provided by the cataloguer leads to better search results. Conversely, if the metadata the cataloguer provides is barely understood by the user and rarely utilised, the validity of what cataloguers do becomes a major issue for libraries with ever-tightening budgets. Few studies have examined in much detail whether or not end-users do utilise the various elements of bibliographic data found in typical library catalogues, except to quantify use of certain search fields, linked to particular elements such as title, author and subject headings. The extent to which displayed data is used is rarely investigated; neither is the need for error-free records investigated. (2) Most catalogue use research has been based on holistic measures of user satisfaction and data derived from summary transaction logs; catalogue evaluations have thus been based on functionality and retrieval rates, rather than on the optimisation of content. (3) Studies that have focused more on content include a UKOLN research project which investigated the use and understanding of the Cambridge University Library catalogue, and a study of faculty's views on the usefulness of typical bibliographic elements in the library catalogue at the University of Florida. (4)