This paper provides the documentation for the program that provides access to the University of Illinois Online Catalog (OLC), together with a script to be used with 17 slides explaining the development of the program. Advantages of connecting a database to a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) system are outlined and sources of additional…

Describes a study conducted to investigate patron use of the online catalog at New York's Nassau Community College. Provides findings related to the number and types of patrons using information terminals, time required for searches, preferred methods for learning to use the terminal, and the most common searches. (MAB)

Marking the 25th anniversary (August 26, 1996) of WorldCat (the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Online Union Catalog) OCLC and the U.S. regional networks sponsored an essay contest for librarians and library users to write essays describing their impressions of the OCLC Online Union Catalog. Four prize-winning essays from Michigan, Kentucky,…

Discusses the benefits of mounting commercial and local databases to provide online access and describes the approach taken by the University of Pennsylvania. The issues discussed include database, local data file, and software selection; agreements with online vendors; cost effectiveness; and actual use of the online files at the university. (CLB)

A study investigated the relationship between the completeness of end users' mental models of an online system and their ability to use the system effectively. Although all of the study subjects were relatively successful, those with more complete mental models tended to have better search results than subjects with incomplete or poor mental…

Describes the design of a prototype adaptive online catalog that was implemented as a transparent workstation-based front end system to MELVYL, the online catalog for the University of California libraries. Problems with searching bibliographic retrieval systems are reviewed, including irrelevant retrievals and the inexperience of most users.…

This guide begins by describing the OCLC database, including ways in which it is used by librarians and library patrons; countries reached by OCLC; programs intended to enrich the database, e.g. retrospective conversion projects; cataloging formats (books, serials, sound recordings, musical scores, audiovisual media, maps, archives and…

Discusses the Science Library Catalog, an online catalog intended for use by children at the Los Angeles Public Library, and describes the process of reorganizing the MARC-based database by using clustering algorithms to extend the Dewey Decimal Classification. Examples of screen displays are included. (18 references) (LRW)

This report on options for developing the University of California (UC) MELVYL online library system discusses the system in relationship to the current environment, including national and network information resources, electronic publishing, campus libraries, and changing user expectations; and places the growth of the MELVYL system in the…

Reports on a longitudinal study of the adoption of technology by 11 humanists. The study corroborates the tendency of humanists to adopt technology more slowly and provides insight into why. The distinctiveness of the primary evidence used by humanists--i.e., the documents and artifacts created by others--is emphasized. (32 references) (KRN)

A distributed union catalog is a network of bibliographic systems that cooperate to enable their users to discover sites that hold copies of known items. Some participating systems will be traditional union catalogs, others will be single sites with comprehensive collections, and others will be local or regional resource sharing systems. A…

Electronic databases have grown tremendously in both number and popularity since their development during the 1960s. Access to electronic databases in academic libraries was originally offered primarily through mediated search services by trained librarians; however, the advent of CD-ROM and end-user interfaces for online databases has shifted the…