The author of this article suggests that to refresh Web pages and online library catalogs in a more pleasing way, Ajax, an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, should be used. Ajax is the way to use Web technologies that work together to refresh sections of Web pages to allow almost instant responses to user input. This article describes…

Academic libraries customize, support, and provide access to myriad information systems, each with complex graphical user interfaces. The number of possible information entry points on an academic library Web site is both daunting to the end-user and consistently challenging to library Web site designers. Faced with the challenges inherent in…

This article presents a case study in user-centered design that explores the needs and preferences of undergraduate users. An analysis of LibQual+ and other user surveys, interviews with public service staff, and a formal American with Disabilities Act accessibility review served as the basis for planning a redesign of the Brown University…

The non-standard practice at Cowles Library at Drake University has been to display electronic journals and some print journals in the Knowledge Base while simultaneously listing print journals and some electronic journals in the online public access catalog (OPAC). The result was a system that made it difficult for patrons to determine our…

Asserts that despite growing awareness of frontline public service concerns in accommodating Spanish speakers, little care is invested in the technical processing side of the library's responsibility to Spanish speakers. Examines the usefulness and accessibility of online public access catalogs for monolingual Spanish readers, focusing on records…

This third in a series of research reports on the topic of bibliographic relationships highlights linking devices used in library catalogs that connect bibliographic records for related items. Devices examined include catalog entries, i.e., main entry headings, analytical entries, cross-references, and added entries; uniform titles; and other…

Describes minimal-level, or provisional, authority records that are constructed from headings in bibliographic records as part of a computer validation process. Two types of references that can be generated automatically for authority records are explained: (1) those based on other data in the bibliographic record, and (2) those derived from the…

This experiment searches an online library catalog employing author surnames, plus one or two title words of books in citations of eight scholarly works whose authors selected the title words as being recallable. Results of searches yielded a single-screen miniature catalog (minicat) 99% of the time. (Author/LRW)

"SourceOECD," the online/print subscription service of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, is examined. Solutions for providing access in library online catalogs are described, as are recent technical improvements to the online subscription service.

Research library catalogs serve as authoritative sources of access. The increasing practice of including Web sites in the catalog, resources not under the library's control, raises new issues of the catalog's accuracy and reliability. An analysis of ARL libraries' catalogs examined the persistence of cataloged URLs. Error rates ranged from a low…

Given the recent spate of library system vendor acquisitions and consolidations, integrated library system (ILS) migrations have become a hot topic again. Although ILS migrations happen all the time, they tend to be cyclical in nature. Today, people are thinking broadly about what options might be available to them. These include changing vendors,…

Describes OCLC's CORC (Cooperative Online Resource Catalog) that is being developed to explore the cooperative creation of a catalog of Internet resources that will support both MARC and less formal metadata. Explains the catalog design which will allow dynamic generation of Web pages with resources for integration with libraries' portal pages.…

Describes research that examined the feasibility of automatically deriving name access points from machine readable title pages of English language monographs. An algorithm for automatic derivation is presented and results using the algorithm are compared to traditionally cataloged name access points. The implications for bibliographic standards…

Analyzes four descriptive cataloging orthodoxies of the past (corporate authorship, uniform personal headings, the main entry, and the dominance of the card catalog) and contends that each has been overthrown. The influence of the MARC format on descriptive cataloging is examined and the need for the application of utilitarian principles is…

Reviews five CD-ROM catalogs: (1) Auto-Graphics Impact; (2) Brodart LePac; (3) GRC LaserGuide; (4) Library Corporation Intelligent Catalog; and (5) MARCIVE Pac. General guidelines for selecting a CD-ROM catalog are discussed, and vendor addresses and telephone numbers are listed. (MES)