A Comparative Study of Searching Korean Scripts in OPACs: The Impact of Spaces Miree Ku Duke University

Introduction Overview Purpose Issues Pros and Cons Conclusion

Overview Transition of cataloging practice for Korean scripts Integration of RLIN records into OCLC WorldCat Proposal to change the CONSER policy on transcription of Korean characters to include spaces between words Discussion regarding the spacing issues RLIN cataloging practice: Input space between words OCLC cataloging practice: Input without space Input space as appears in the book

Purpose Consistency Standardization Efficiency User consideration

Two different cataloging practices regarding spaces With Space Without Space

Issues Display: Two different indexing records in library catalog With space Without space Retrieval: Technical issues for retrieval depending on the indexing system Only searchable as indexed in word search system: ex) Voyager Searchable regardless of space in character search system: ex) Aleph Other issues regarding Hancha Spacing in combined Hancha / Hangul Hancha / Hangul cross mapping

Pros and Cons Space matters: Voyager & RLIN Relevant search result when searching for the exact keyword or title as indexed No search result when searching for the keyword or title with different spacing Space doesnt matter: Aleph & OCLC Consistent search result regardless of spaces Irrelevant search results or less relevant search results due to character by character searching

Voyager: (without space) / (with space) (without space) No Result (with space) 20 Results

Voyager: (without space) / (with space) Indexed with spaces

Pros and Cons Space matters: Voyager & RLIN Relevant search result when searching for the exact keyword or title as indexed No search result when searching for the keyword or title with different spacing Space doesnt matter: Aleph & OCLC Consistent search result regardless of spaces Irrelevant search results or less relevant search results due to character by character searching

Aleph: (without space) / (with space) Indexed with spaces

Aleph: (without space) / (with space)

Indexed without space

Comparison of Search Results in Korean Scripts vs Romanization

Comparative Search Results of Korean Scripts vs Romanization All Relevant Records

Relevant Search Results at Voyager System

Conclusion Indexing issue Consistent, efficient and standard cataloging practice based on users standpoint Retrieval issue Consistent and relevant search results based on users search behavior

Thanks! Miree Ku