Session 4 B User Experience The Catalogue and

Session 4 B – User Experience (The Catalogue and You) New display models of bibliographic data and resources: cataloguing/resource description and search results Rome, 28 February 2014 Antonella Trombone University of Basilicata – Central Library University of Rome «La Sapienza» – Ph. D student

Where are we starting from? A few years ago, the catalogue cards handwritten, typewritten. • • • A descriptive, plain cataloguing with no hidden data for users. Unmediated communication between cataloguer and user. The cards order was fixed, only changing for new library acquisitions. Université catholique de Louvain. Fichier numérisé de l’ancienne bibliothèque centrale (pré-1986)

Since 1987 International Standard Bibliographic Description has been a model for bibliographic description for every kind of catalogue. • ISBD is also a model of bibliographic data communication which allows identifying the function of the elements regardless of the language comprehension of their meaning, only through their position in sentences and punctuation. • ISBD structure can be considered a knowledge pattern. • It has in fact been already replaced by communication models considered easier for non-expert users, based on the use of descriptors, tags, of bibliographic elements which explicitly state their function. • In Italy the online catalogue of the National Central Library of Florence adopts the ISBD format of record visualization.

An Aleph record in Harvard’s HOLLIS Classic catalogue. • • The integrated library systems break up the ISBD knowledge pattern. The areas and the other elements are descripted by tags. Some fields give access to heading lists, giving rise to the first forms of navigation among data. The relationship cataloguer-user is definitively mediated by the software: not every cataloguing element is shown to end user.

HOLLIS: the Harvard catalogue web interface, by Aquabrowser. A next generation catalogue, a new kind of interface of the catalogue for end-users in the Google era. • Single search box. • Relevance ranking of results. • Direct access to full text owned. • Faceted search capabilities. • Enhanced visual displays.

OCLC World. Cat: first forms of clustering of similar records inspired by Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records • Groupings of similar records for author, title, format. • Records are not grouped through uniform title. • An expression of the work Romeo and Juliet. • Records are grouped by author, title, format criteria. • A different work: the movie Romeo and Juliet. • Records are grouped by author, title, format criteria. • The same work, different title of manifestations. • Groups 1 and 4 could converge into a single group if every record conveyed a uniform title. • Would this be useful with this kind of search results list?

• A sample list of resources contained in “Editions and formats”.

British Library, Primo by Ex. Libris. The grouping of similar records. Criteria: • Author • Title • Uniform title (if existing) • Format. The first record shown is a vector identifying the group.

British Library, Primo by Ex. Libris. The expanded list of related resources. • The vector record and those shown below it at the top of the list (among 207) seemingly share these features: ØAuthor ØFormat ØWords ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in title field ØWords ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in uniform title field. • Records containing the words ‘Romeo and Juliet’ only in title field (no uniform title in the record) or only in uniform title field (like translations) are listed under the first group. • Working differently with uniform titles in cataloguing phase, as differentiating works from expressions, could give raise to more specific groups of related resources. • Would this be useful with this kind of search results list?

A different case: not only grouping by sort, but also cataloguing with different criteria The library consortium of four Belgian Universities Académie Louvain has been experimenting an FRBR implementation of the traditional catalogue since 2006. Virtua is the full-function library management system used together with its web interface Chamo. Cataloguing based on FRBR criteria is reserved to classical works existing in the database in many versions and items. Searching a title and sorting titles by relevance criteria produces a list in this order: work, expressions, manifestations.

Work Expressions Manifestations

The work The expression expandable nodes The uniform title as a MARC record. The semantic entrances are all connected to the work level.

The selected manifestation

• Every title selected in the list leads to the tree graph and to the single record description. • The nodes of the graph are all expandable and navigable from here. • Here FRBR is a cataloguing method that does originate a navigation model. • The tree organization of the display allows users to mantain a visual map of the data they are scrolling through. • The format is always clearly displayed.

The same thing or a different tool? The hybrid catalogue, a dinamic discovery system built by librarians and users. • • Integration of search across all products provided by an institution. Contemporary search through metadata and full texts. Users encouraged to interact and participate with the catalogue through social technologies. Use and opinions can change the display of the resources, creating new relevance criteria. New York Public Library catalogue, Bibliocommons. The same search done in three consecutive days.

First day result list. Sycamore row / John Grisham • Book • Audiobook • Large print • e. Book

Second day result list. Sycamore row / John Grisham • Book • Audiobook • Large print • Downloadable audiobook • e. Book

Third day result list Sycamore row / John Grisham • Book • Audiobook Downloadable audiobook • e. Book • Large print

Another context: Stanford University Libraries, Blacklight. The next day the same research produces a different result list of the same titles. Second day

“Conversations about catalogues indicate that the boundaries of this terrain are currently in a state of flux”. Kathryn La Barre • Changing bibliographic codes • Changing institutional priorities • Changing user expectations • Catalogues are websites allowing direct interaction among users and librarians in very different ways. Accuracy and authority control in cataloguing phases of every kind of resource are the only guarantee for navigating through a catalogue/website: the identification of the authorized controlled form for all works would be a simple and not anachonistic goal to reach. Thanks for your attention