Elephants – Description and travel (Producing a new OPAC using existing MARC data) Lloyd Sokvitne Senior Manager (Digital Strategies), State Library of Tasmania

What is a new OPAC? Easy, powerful, client focused Expanded content, (capacity for interactivity) Single search box Easy browsing and refinement capabilities - FACETS

Our Project: TALIS Plus To replace legacy OPAC called TALIS –purchased Verity K2 mid-2006 –designed and implemented 2006/2007 Alpha launch, client/staff feedback – April 07 Beta launch, open use, client feedback –June 07 Full scale promotion – September 07

New demands on underlying data Facets – to be effective they had to be: consistent and correct fit for purpose, clear understandable concepts Single box searching Ranking and sorting

Facets for search term “chess” Fiction/Non-fiction –Non-fiction (135) –Fiction (14) Format –Audio (6) –DVD and video(14) –Images (2) –Software (5) –Text (135) Genre –Crime (1) Audience –Adults (116) –Children (33) –Youth (1) Series –McKay chess library (2) – -- for Dummies (2) Availability –Lending (103) –Reference (47) –Online (2) Topic –History (14) –Chess (98) –Chess players (13) –Chess problems (7) Tasmanian –About Tasmania (7) –By a Tasmanian (6) –Published in Tasmania (6)

Format Had to create an effective browsable hierarchy e.g. subtitled video as a subset of video MARC record doesn’t provide a hierarchy –conversion scripts create our hierarchy after ILMS export Used a local tag (590$a) leader not used (didn’t handle mixed media items, multiple formats, didn’t fit hierarchy) Issues clean up (146 down to 40 terms) changed/corrected terms, added terms e.g. cd- rom, cd-rom, cd-rom compact disc, cd-rom dvd, cd-rom no isbn, cd-rom serial, compact disc, compact disk cd-rom, compact disc cd-rom dvd, compact disc, computer disc, cd-rom

Genre There were 14 genre terms in use fairly easy to produce – used LCSH only available for Fiction/Adult books but we were lucky, we had started adding in 2000 demand for more/new genre terms – ‘chick lit’ Issues –not used for non-print (e.g. audio, DVDs) –not used for Junior and Youth Fiction

Fiction/Non-fiction Added local tag (592$a) based on a statistical categories in holdings record –non-fiction are items without 592 fiction tag –music/realia went to non-fiction –bulk change Issues –Literature items in Reference Non-fiction – current project to clean up ( to add 592 tag)

Audience – Adult/Youth/Children Used a local tag (591$a) –Records assumed to be Adult unless other rules apply Youth – new term –created via statistical categories in holdings record Issues –Some items need multiple audiences (e.g. music CDs) –MARC fixed fields no use often absent, terms too granular, only one code could be applied (not repeatable)

Series Variable data –corrections required –missing data being added over time Issues –when you offer clients a facet, the implication is that you have all the data

Availability Complex concept –on shelf, or lending/reference, or online On shelf –done via real time query at full record display Lending/reference –from holdings, summarized on results display, updated daily Online –complex translation of 856 (which otherwise yielded false positives for TOCs, etc) to 007 ‘cr’ – added in bulk

Subjects: topic/region/era Deconstructed LCSH –topic (6XX $a $x $v) topic and subfields became independent facets –region worked well (6XX$z, 651$a) worked well but still needed to clean up data –era data (6XX $y) chronological data available but not user friendly 17,000 unique date ranges found, reduced to 1600 instances no easy way to control into future

Subjects: topic/region/era Issues –subfields as topics allows sensible/non-sensible facet choices –components that start out as a hierarchy now don’t always make sense when offered as recombine-able facets –e. g: India – Description and Travel and Elephants – India for same book allow a browse path Elephants ; Description and Travel –looked at Dewey but 082$a tag too inconsistent only ca 50% of non-fiction had Dewey number present

Tasmania – About, By, Published In Completely new access point –difficult and complex, still in progress Published in –searched for strings in 260 field, then added tma to 008/15-17 About Tasmania –used Tasmaniana holdings to add 043 $a u-at-tm By Tasmanian –‘Tasmanian’ authors list generated from Tasmaniana holdings, reviewed

Other data issues Searching (the single box) –e.g. serials became ‘Magazines and journals’ as a facet, retained ‘serials’ in bib record, both places searched Sorting –e.g. date had to be modified to produce sensible sorts 10% missing or incorrect in 008/07-10; we used 260$c to fill in and correct 008 Ranking –e.g. popularity algorithm based on circulation/holds ratio, had to get from circulation and holdings data

Summary - issues The MARC record is exposed like never before –what is missing or inconsistent really hurts The ‘new generation catalogue’ access points –aren’t simple outputs from your MARC catalogue Your catalogue is not the only source of data

Conclusions There are significant costs –to develop and maintain data There are real benefits –our users like it –an engaged cataloguing staff what they do really matters New catalogues, facets, etc are an evolving science (art)

Thank you for your attention Please try it, learn from it (don’t make our mistakes), send us your comments, etc Lloyd Sokvitne Manager (Digital Strategies) State Library of Tasmania