“A Study for Improving Subject Access to OPAC: a Catalog use Survey Comparing an OPAC and a Card Catalog at a Private Univesity Library”

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Other Title
  • 主題検索と OPAC:司書課程の学生への目録利用調査から
  • 主題検索とOPAC--司書課程の学生への目録利用調査から〔含 資料〕
  • シュダイ ケンサク ト OPAC シショ カテイ ノ ガクセイ エ ノ モクロ

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In this study, the author compares the use of a new OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog)，and the card catalog, looking primarily at the area of subject access.<br> The author asked Library Science students to fill out a questionnaire containing 11 questions, including: <br> 1. The propotion of subject search (classification number searches, and keyword searches) to that of known-item searches on an OPAC and on a card catalog; <br> 2. The success rate of catalog searches; <br> 3. How to use an OPAC compared to the card catalog; <br> 4. Librarian assistance needed with catalog searches, and <br> 5. Knowledge of the Nippon Decimal Classification. <br> As a result, even among Library Science students, the ratio of classification number searches is only 2 percent in the OPAC, compared with 10 percent in the card catalog. Direct-stack searches also rapidly dropped, from 35 percent in the card catalog, to 19 percent in the OPAC. <br> The introduction of OPAC capabilities leads to an increase in the number of users. But the search method is no longer the classification number search; it is the keyword search. A keyword is defined as a word that appears anywhere in the description of an item including title. Therefore the keyword search can not adequately describe the subject contents of an item. <br> The author also examined the OPAC user's knowledge about the classification scheme: very few students fully understood the classification scheme, and less than 10 percent were able to transform a subject to the classification number. This tendency is even greater for general students (non-Library Science students). <br> The author strongly feels that the existing user-friendly OPAC still needs improvement, especially in the area of subject searches, in order to serve effectively.

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