Library Web Chic

The Evergreen project blog has an interesting list of
functionalities that web being included in the OPAC portion of that
open source library system.

There are some specific OPAC functionalities that I’d like to point
out. Note that we designed this OPAC using the focus group notes as
guidelines, and the vast majority of this functionality comes directly
from those notes:

• Ability to see call numbers and information for local copies as soon as possible.
• Grouping
  of various editions, formats, and versions of a title together under a
  single “meta-title”. This functionality, as you may imagine, is
  particularly difficult to manage, and it isn’t working as well as we
  would like. It does work most of the time, but it fails in some cases.
  Typically, this is because of incorrect or incomplete MARC data. With
  more database cleanup and further refinement of our matching algorithm,
  this will get better.
• Forgiving misspellings. This functionality is available in a rudimentary form now, and we plan to further tweak and enhance it.
• Ability to use the browser back and forward buttons.
• Added
  content such as cover art. We are examining 3rd party offerings of
  cover art and book reviews. In this demo, there is cover art available.
• The libraries are listed in alphabetical order.
• The OPAC is browser independent.
• There
  are no session timeouts. However, we are considering adding session
  timeouts in the future to sensitive areas such as the “My Account” area.
• The OPAC ignores Boolean operators by default to avoid patron confusion.

I found this list fascinating because many of these
features are not included in most OPACs today. Many of the features are
included in web search engines though. One thing that is missing from
this list that I think many library users would like to see is the
integration of ONIX data such as book summaries. Also, links to book
reviews might not be a bad idea as well. These additions would make the
OPAC operate very much like an online bookstore which is probably what
most users are familiar with.