Toward a twenty-first century library catalog

• Published in: Information technology and libraries Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 128 - 138
• Main Authors: ANTELMAN, Kristin, LYNEMA, Emily, PACE, Andrew K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL American Library Association 01.09.2006
• Subjects: Access to information; Algorithms; Automation; Boolean; Browsing; Case studies; Colleges & universities; Computer architecture; Computer platforms; Computer Software; Computer software industry; Contract agreement; Contracts; Cultural Influences; Discovery tools; Evaluation; Exact sciences and technology; Forecasts and trends; Gates, Bill; Indexing; Information and communication sciences; Information dissemination; Information management software; Information retrieval; Information retrieval systems; Information retrieval systems. Information and document management system; Information science. Documentation; Information Services; Integrated library systems-ILS; Keywords; Libraries; Library Automation; Library cataloging; Library catalogs; Library catalogues; Library Networks; Library Services; Market trend/market analysis; Metadata; North Carolina State University; Online Catalogs; Online catalogues; Online information retrieval; Product development; Queries; Relevance; Sciences and techniques of general use; Software; Software industry; Spelling; Technology application; University libraries; United States; North America; America; United States > US; Performance evaluation; System architecture; Questionnaire; Higher education library; Information retrieval; Implementation; Information browsing; Functionality; Document retrieval software; User interface; System description; User study; Integrated system; Log file; Subject access; Usability; Automated catalog
• ISSN: 0730-9295
• DOI: 10.6017/ital.v25i3.3342

Library catalogs have represented stagnant technology for close to twenty years. Moving toward a next-generation catalog, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries purchased Endeca's Information Access Platform to give its users relevance-ranked keyword search results and to leverage the rich metadata trapped in the MARC record to enhance collection browsing. This paper discusses the new functionality that has been enabled, the implementation process and system architecture, assessment of the new catalog's performance, and future directions. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]