This presentation was given at the Canadian Library Association Conference in Montreal (2009) as well as the Atlantic Provinces Library Association in Halifax (2009).

1. Social Catalogues: the New Face of the Public Library Catalogue Laurel Tarulli Collection Access Librarian Halifax Public Libraries tarulll@halifax.ca

2. Social Catalogues: the New Face of the Public Library Catalogue The catalogue: present and future OCLC Report: Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want Features of social catalogues Purchasing a social catalogue/discovery tool Enhancing the features in our existing library catalogues Examples

3. Library Catalogues: The PresentOur Catalogues Today Part of the larger package of an ILS A single component among many components No emphasis by vendor to excel at this component regardless of the fact this it is the only component that patrons use Complex search interface Not consistent with well-established user conventions. Google vs. The library catalogue Amazon vs. The library catalogue

4. GOOGLE VS. THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE Google – Ability to personalize homepage

5. AMAZON VS. THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE Amazon – Standard Record

6. AMAZON VS. THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE Amazon – Standard Record

7. AMAZON VS. THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE Amazon – Standard Record

8. The Library Catalogue – Basic homepage

9. The Library Catalogue – Basic homepage

10. The Library Catalogue – Basic homepage

11. The Library Catalogue – Standard Record

12. The Library Catalogue – Standard Record

14. Limited in scope

15. Tied to print materials and are less able to address electronic content

16. Unable to deliver online content to user

17. Lack social network features to engage library users

18. Lack enriched content in bibliographic records.Library Technology Report, July/August 2007 vol. 43/no.4

20. Delivery is more important than discovery

21. Where is it? Is it available? Format? How soon can I have it?

22. Simple search box with option for advanced searching

24. Reviews

25. Ratings

26. Cover art

27. Relevant search results that are obvious

28. Related subjects and subject categories

29. Ability to narrow results is important

30. Faceted searchingOnline Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want An OCLC Report March 2009

32. Merge duplicate records. One record rather than multiple records of an item due to format or edition

33. Like users, they would like to see more enriched content, such as summaries, tables of contents and excerpts

34. Reviews

35. Ratings

36. Cover art

37. While librarians desire other features, these are the two that ranked the highest. Other features depended on the area of librarianship. Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want An OCLC Report March 2009

39. Users place more value on access to online content and links than librarians

40. While librarians believe that standard access points are essential (ex. ISBN), users place more value on enriched content (ex. summaries, tables of contents) for identifying items they want

41. Enriched content is a priority for both users and librarians – “more subject information”Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want An OCLC Report March 2009

43. User expectations

44. Competition with web-based software such as LibraryThing, Amazon, Google and social networking sites such as Facebook

45. Limitations of cataloguing module delivered by ILS vendors

46. Access to larger bodies of content

47. Access to more advanced search technologies

48. Freedom to personalize appearance

50. Federated search interface

51. Expanded scope

52. Discovery and display of all types of content in the collection and beyond

53. Allows for easier customization and additional software options and enhancements

54. Ranked results

55. User intuitive interfaces

56. Did you mean? Feature

57. No dead ends

59. More reviews

60. RSS feed/Twitter

61. New items in the collections

62. New reading lists

63. Mobile interface/Integration with hand-held devices

64. User generated contributions

65. Writing reviews

66. Rating items

67. Creating booklists

68. Tagging

70. How do Social Catalogues Work? Overlays the existing catalogue Pulls content out of the different components of the ILS including bibliographic records and circulation information Requires accurate and uniform records and access points Will find your “bare-bones” records and expose them Imports content from other sources LibraryThing Tags Full-text

71. EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL CATALOGUES:DISCOVERY TOOLS Open Source Evergreen Georgia Library http://gapines.org/opac/en-US/skin/default/xml/index.xml Salt Spring Island Public Library http://saltspring.bclibrary.ca *Natural Resources Canada (13 libraries) Polaris Brampton Library http://catalogue.bramlib.on.ca/polaris Koha Nelsonville Public Library http://search.athenscounty.lib.oh.us

72. Examples of Social Catalogues/Discovery Tools Vendor - Discovery Tools Bibliocommons Oakville Public Library http://opl.bibliocommons.com/dashboard Worldcat University of Washington http://uwashington.worldcat.org/account/?page=searchItems AquaBrowser Queens Borough Public Library http://aqua.queenslibrary.org *Halifax Public Libraries (coming soon!) Endecca North Carolina State University Libraries www.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog McMaster University Library http://libcat.mcmaster.ca/index.jsp Encore Scottsdale Public Library System http://encore.scottsdaleaz.gov/iii/encore/home?lang=eng

73. THE FACE OF A SOCIAL CATALOGUE AquaBrowser – Main Page

74. AquaBrowser – Short bib display

75. Encore – Record display

76. Encore – Record display

77. Purchasing a Discovery Tool Look at what your competitors are doing. Check out other libraries, play with Amazon, LibraryThing, Facebook and other social catalogues, networks and software. What are they doing? Has it been successful? Why? Research. Make it broad. What are people saying about social catalogues? Are there surveys to look at? Stories of successes and failures? What about lessons learned on blog posts of first-hand experiences?

78. Purchasing a Discovery Tool Consider the following: Proprietary vs. Open Source System requirements Users Budget, staff resources and time-line Call vendors and libraries to ask them about their product. Ask for sample RFPs (Requests for proposals) Ask about special customized features Address concerns

80. Cover Art

81. Search Inside Features

82. Additional tags, reviews, recommendations

83. Syndetic Solutions

84. Amazon

86. Summaries

87. Tables of contents

88. Additional general notes (500s field)

89. Reviews

90. RSS Feeds

91. Recommended titles

92. Embedded live reference chat in the catalogue

93. Edmonton Public Library http://www.epl.ca

95. Halifax Public Libraries: Collection Access and Readers Services Team working together

96. Halifax Public Libraries: Collection Access and Readers Services Team working together

98. Live Reference Chat in catalogue

99. RSS Feeds

100. http://www.epl.ca/RSSFeeds/EPLRSSFeeds.cfm

101. http://www.epl.ca/eplnewincatalogue.cfm

102. Book reviews by EPL customers

103. Add to my list (add to your account)

105. Edmonton Public Library: Ask Us located in the Catalogue

106. Edmonton Public Library: Write a Book Review

108. Conclusion - Social Catalogues Increases collaboration among cataloguing and other library services Allows libraries to enter the “playing field” with all of the other web-based social catalogues and software available Assists in Collection Development and catering our services to our users The library catalogue becomes the user’s catalogue and personal information space

109. Conclusion We can implement social features without social catalogues Promote user interaction and online social communities Social catalogues are in our future – “The future is so bright, we’ll have to wear shades” – Karen Calhoun