Comparison of OPAC and GeoWeb

OPAC better: searching by library only (OPAC parms), shelfmark search, hidden holdings, order of display of holdings, lack of limits, journal display.

GeoWeb better: search history, combined searching, emailing & printing of references.

Problems with Serials in GeoWeb

There are problems with viewing serials in GeoWeb. These problems are set out below. These are from my course notes, so I hope you can follow them.

Problems with Serials in GeoWeb

13 Serials display

Do an Advanced keyword search for jw=comparative commonwealth politics. (Want Commonwealth & comparative politics from 2 titles shown.)

Compare the GeoWeb display with the OPAC OHP:

· Unclear last received display

· Cannot access the piece record to look at availability.

· Also confusion of issues checked in using the serial module and block items.

OPAC Serials Display

Online Catalogue - BRIEF DISPLAY (1 of 1 titles)

TITLE :Commonwealth & comparative politics.

SUBJECT :Commonwealth countries -- Politics and government –-

Periodicals

PLACE :London :

PUBLISHER :Frank Cass,

DATE :c1998-

ISBN/ISSN :0306-3631

EARLIER TITLE :Journal of Commonwealth & comparative politics

Select a line number to see the status of each issue/volume no.

LIBRARY LOCATION SHELFMARK

------- ------------- ----------------------------

1. Nuffld NUF OpenShelf Per J

Issues: (v. 36- , 1998- )

Last rec'd: v.39 no.1(2001:MAR) on APR 20, 2001

Options: Move forward

Relatively clear statement of the last received issue (and when it was received)

Relatively clear statement of the range of issues held by the Library (i.e. from volume 36 onwards)

# item Forward Previous screen Extend search Full display

Limit list Output Reservations Review search OPAC parms

Use to access piece record and therefore information about the availability of copies

New search Quit search

Cannot go beyond this screen to find the Status for individual items and no Last received statement.

Do a Simple keyword search for ISSN=0037-9484 (Mémoire de la Société mathématique de France). Shows apparently closed copyset – only one volume.

Compare the GeoWeb display with the OPAC copyset OHP. Shows open copyset, so subscription is still active.

Example of a Copyset on OPAC

Although this is clearly an open entry when Telnet OPAC is consulted it looks like a closed entry on GeoWeb comprising only one volume.

14 Journal title search

Browse search for t=geology

Show Browse List and point out the one labelled (Journal)

Geology (Uniform Title) (1)

Geology (41)

Geology (Journal Title) (1)

Geology (Uniform Title) (1)

Geology (Pre20 Title) (12)

Click on that and show that the journal title links into a list of generic items, not just the journal. It is therefore best to use jt= at the moment not t= (the opposite of the OPAC).

Demonstrate j=geology

Former title should be very useful, but can cause the system to loop.

j=Progress in Human Geography: an international review of geographical work in the social sciences and humanities

This has a link in the record display to the former title Progress in Geography. Clicking on this link should, ideally, display the former title Progress in geography: international reviews of current research. However, as this is not quite the same as the former title that has been entered in cataloguing the system just loops back to the original search.

Problems encountered while searching for journals on GeoWeb

1. If one does a browse search of the title index for a serial with a generic type name, so that books also appear under the same browse heading (i.e. Nature, or Geology, or Geomorphology), the two types of material appear separated in the results list. However, clicking on the link for the serial title details results in both the books and the journals being displayed. So it is necessary to scroll through looking for the correct heading. In the example of Geology, fifty-four titles are displayed at this point.

This can be avoided by browse searching just the journal title index. However, readers are used to using the title index on the ADVANCE OPAC as much as possible. It is more comprehensive and produces a browse list with intelligible headings, from which the journal heading can be selected.

2. The Extend Search function on the ADVANCE OPAC allows one to send a related works search term which acts as a browse search, whereas, the analogous related works hyperlink search in GeoWeb effectively prompts a search for an exact match. This is fine if there is an exact match for the link, but in some cases there isn't. For example, the journal Progress in Human Geography: an international review of geographical work in the social sciences and humanities has a link in the record display to the former title Progress in Geography. If one clicks on this link, ideally the former title Progress in geography: international reviews of current research, should be retrieved but because this is not quite the same as the former title as it has been entered in cataloguing the continuation, a results list in fact displays containing only this single item Progress in Human Geography: an international review of geographical work in the social sciences and humanities again. On the ADVANCE OPAC, Extend Search just about enables one to dodge this problem because it displays a browse of items in alphabetical proximity, and so will thus display headings for both Progress in Geography (i.e. Progress in Human Geography: ...) and Progress in geography: international reviews of current research.

3. Uniform titles entered in MARC field 130 currently appear in the "Author" box in the record display. Authors as such are in fact far more commonly found in MARC fields 100 or 110. It would be preferable if they could display as Uniform titles. The curious result for instance in the case of the journal Geography: journal of the Geographical association, is that "Geography (Sheffield, England)" displays as the author of the item in both the results list and the record display. The related works hyperlink again throws up an anomaly in this case, since no hits are found, presumably because this sends an Author search for "Geography (Sheffield, England)", and, not surprisingly, there are no such items.