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Web-based
Web-based online public access catalogues of IIT
catalogues of IIT libraries in libraries
India: an evaluative study
415
Margam Madhusudhan and Shalini Aggarwal
Department of Library and Information Science, University of Delhi, Delhi, India Received March 2011
Revised August 2011
Accepted August 2011
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine the various features and components of web-based
online public access catalogues (OPACs) of IIT libraries in India with the help of a specially designed
evaluation checklist.
Design/methodology/approach – The various features of the web-based OPACs in six IIT
libraries (IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Guwahati, and IIT Roorkee) are
evaluated. The evaluation approach taken was similar to that of Luong and Liew with minor
modifications, comprising 122 dichotomous questions with 174 features and categorized as 11 broad
categories.
Findings – The study explored different features of web-based OPACs, of which page layout
received the highest average scores with 93.33 percent, followed by the general features category with
90 percent. In contrast, session filters was the weakest category with only 40.47 percent. The results
indicated that some web-based OPACs reached the maximum scores for some categories. The results
also indicated that VTLS-based and LibSys-based OPACs had the higher score on average (74.7
percent) and the iitKlas-based OPAC of IITK received the lowest score of 44.2 percent. None were rated
excellent. Only 50 percent of the web-based OPACs studied achieved an above average ranking, of
which Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) had the highest total score (131), and the Indian
Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) had the lowest total score (77). Almost all of the web OPACs
studied lacked federated search, adjunct thesaurus help and spell check facilities, which seems to raise
many questions regarding the facilities provided in the OPAC 2.0 environment of today and hence
needs to be addressed as a priority in the subsequent generations of the web-based OPACs and their
development.
Practical implications – It is hoped that the libraries at the IITs will attend to the lacunae and soon
develop fully functional web-based OPACs with Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies.
Originality/value – The findings of the study will not only guide study librarians and other newly
established institutions but also ILMS vendors, so that they can overcome the limitations faced by
users and improve their products as OPAC 2.0. This will also help the in-house web-based OPACs of
IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee to compete with other reputed ILMS-based OPACs.
Keywords Web-based OPAC, Evaluation, IIT libraries, India, Academic libraries, Online catalogues
Paper type General review

1. Introduction
An online public access catalogue (OPAC) is a major retrieval tool in libraries that help
the user to access machine-readable records for books, audio-visual material, with an Program: electronic library and
information systems
Vol. 45 No. 4, 2011
This is an extended version of the paper presented at the Second International Conference of Asia pp. 415-438
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Special Libraries (ICoASL2011), held at United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan, February 0033-0337
10-12, 2011. DOI 10.1108/00330331111182102
PROG indication of their circulation status. The OPAC has revolutionized library services for
45,4 three reasons:
(1) it offers up-to-date information;
(2) it offers multi-access points to information held in the library; and
(3) it enables access to information in local, regional, or national networks.
416 The various advantages of using an OPAC are:
.
it offers a greater number of access points for a single record;
.
it provides access to a wide coverage of information quickly;
.
it provides information which is not available in printed form;
.
it connects to current information since online databases are updated speedily
and more frequently;
.
it removes the irksome clerical work of typing and arranging catalogue cards; and
.
it offers faster search facilities and the capability of Boolean searching.

Some libraries allow patrons to request items from another library on inter-library loan
via the OPAC and this as a “consistent step is improving the availability of information
and services” (Malak, 2008).

1.1 Web-based OPAC

Connecting the web with the online catalogue is a natural and unavoidable goal for
libraries today. OPACs have improved significantly over the years to strengthen the
fourth law of library science, i.e. “Save the time of the reader”. Due to this reason,
currently library resources are made accessible remotely through a web-based OPAC
via a graphical browser. The third generation OPAC incorporates features
characterized by the facilities of the worldwide web (WWW) and is called the
web-based OPAC (sometimes referred to as Web OPAC or Web PAC). It is similar to
OPAC in searching and browsing, but the main difference between the two is that in
web OPAC usage is global and can be searched from any corner of the globe. Web
OPAC uses HTML files that provide hyperlinks to subject areas or disciplines. There
are basically two types in the library world:
(1) the traditional public catalogue converted into a web interface; and
(2) a catalogue that incorporates the Z39.50 protocol, which is a powerful
communication tool based on the client-server interaction search interface to the
catalogue and other resources on the net.

It allows multi-dimensional searches providing as many access points as the data

elements depending on the underlying integrated library management system (ILMS)
used which is “an advantage over the linear search provisions in the earlier form of
catalogue”(Ansari and Amita, 2008). It provides pre-coordinated as well as
post-coordinated phrase options. The amalgamation of different utilities and
features clearly suggests that “the OPAC was probably the inspiration for many of
the cutting edge services we find on the Internet today” (Fox, 2007). The impending
evolution of the OPAC is undoubtedly the result of the evolution of web and internet
services.
2. Review of related literature Web-based
An OPAC is considered to be the heart of the library operations and gateway of library catalogues of IIT
services as it facilitates the patrons to the various services of the library and acts as “an
instrument of change in today’s libraries” (Mulla and Chandrashekara, 2009). libraries
A number of studies have indicated that users have very poor understanding of
OPAC use (Millsap and Ferl, 1993; Cherry, 1994; Hildreth, 1997). Hildreth (1997) studied
ten OPACs from the user perspective and provided a uniform, systematic conceptual 417
framework and terminology for analyzing and comparing OPACs’ functional
capabilities and interface characteristics. He also identified crucial interface design
alternatives. Issues of designing user-friendly online catalogues were discussed at the
23rd Annual Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing at Urbana-Champaign in
1986 (Fayen, 1987). Several suggestions were made on how to make systems easier to use
and more attractive. Matthews (1987) suggested guidelines for screen layout according to
current understanding of how online catalogues are used. His guidelines include
consistent display formats, consistent labeling of information, and brevity. An
interesting study of the friendliness of online ‘help” in interactive systems was done by
Trenner (1989). User interfaces were reviewed by Yee (1991). The features discussed are:
. the demonstration of relationships between records;
.
the provision of entry vocabularies;
.
the arrangement of multiple entries on the screen;
.
the provision of access points;
.
the display of single records; and
.
the division of the catalog into separate files or indexes.

Issues of effective user interfaces are identified and implications for system design are
listed. Shaw (1991) also gives a review of research in interface design for information
retrieval. Many researchers have addressed the problem of subject access searching
and display mechanisms in online catalogs, including Markey and Demeyer (1986),
Bates (1989), McGarry and Svenonius (1991), Micco (1991), Tillett (1991), Ensor (1992),
Rosenberg and Borgman (1992), Leazer (1994), and Borgman et al. (1995). Shires and
Olszak (1992) discussed the general principles of screen layout design, menus and
commands and provided the basic principles and practical checklists. Borgman (1996)
argues that online catalogs remain difficult to use because their design does not
incorporate sufficient understanding of searching behavior. The above design
principles suggested by various studies have been used as a basis for evaluation of
web OPACs under present study.
The real transformation of OPAC started in the late 1990s when OPACs embraced
the internet technologies and integrated library management systems started using the
internet as a main medium of access to the catalogue.
Evaluation studies on OPACs are numerous and have appeared in the literature from
as early as 1998. However, most of these studies pertain to academic libraries, their most
frequent users. Cherry (1998) developed guidelines to evaluate OPAC display designs for
web-based OPACs in Canadian academic and public libraries. The checklist was limited
to four aspects of display design and covered only labels, layout, text and instructional
information. Babu and O’Brien (2000) developed a checklist more pertinent to the
functions and capabilities of present day web-based OPACs. This checklist covers
PROG interface and searching capabilities such as search types, search strategies, access points,
45,4 display options, entry structure, external links, services/facilities, output capabilities, and
layout. Surprisingly, this checklist pays no attention to display aspects such as labels,
text, and instruction. With the merger of Cherry’s (1998) and Babu and O’Brien’s (2000)
checklists, Ibrahim (2005) reproduced a rather comprehensive checklist useful for
evaluating not only display designs, but also features of web-based catalogues and with
418 minor modifications Kapoor and Goyal (2007) redesigned the checklist. Mahmood (2008)
developed a comprehensive checklist to assess the features of web-based OPAC with the
help of previous studies and by incorporating IFLA’s (The International Federation of
Library Associations and Institution) guidelines for OPAC display. Further, Luong and
Liew (2009) developed a comprehensive checklist based on the previous checklists. The
evaluation approach taken in this study is similar to that of Luong and Liew (2009) with
minor modifications.
Furthermore, previous studies have identified relatively new features such as
adjunct thesaurus help, limiting devices with a filtering effect, along with “relevance
feedback and ranking of retrieval references to reduce search failures” (Sridhar, 2004).
It would be interesting to examine if the web-based OPACs under study have
embedded such features and components.

2.1 Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT)

The IITs are a group of 15 autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institutes
of higher education established and declared as Institutes of National Importance by
the Parliament of India. In order of establishment, they are located in Kharagpur (1951),
Mumbai (1958), Chennai (1959), Kanpur (1959), Delhi (1963), Guwahati (1994), Roorkee
(2001), Ropar (2008), Bhubaneswar (2008), Gandhinagar (2008), Hyderabad (2008),
Patna (2008), Jodhpur (2008), Mandi (2009) and Indore (2009). The IITs were created to
train scientists and engineers, with the aim of developing a skilled workforce to
support the economic and social development of India.

3. Objectives of the study

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the web-based OPACs of IIT libraries
in India. In particular to:
.
determine the different features of web-based OPACs of IIT libraries in India;
.
identify the criteria for evaluation of web-based OPACs;
.
evaluate the web-based OPACs with the help of specially designed criteria; and
.
compare the features of the different web-based OPACs of the libraries under
study.

The present study is confined to six web-based OPACs of IIT libraries in India – those
of IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, and IIT Roorkee.
The selection of the sample was done on the basis that these IITs had a functional
web-based OPAC facility provided to their respective users at the time of the study.
In India, IIT libraries use a variety of ILMSs, such as LibSys, Libsuite, VTLS,
Troodon, iitKlas, etc. The present study aims to evaluate and compare the web-based
OPACs of the study libraries on different ILMSs. It also investigates how study
libraries are customizing their OPAC interfaces to make them user friendly. Table I Web-based
presents the web-based OPACs of selected IIT Libraries in India. catalogues of IIT
The structured evaluation checklist was designed keeping in view the stated
objectives and literature available so as to examine the various features and components libraries
of web-based OPACs of libraries under study. It comprises of 122 dichotomous questions
with 174 features, categorized as eleven broad categories, namely:
(1) searching features; 419
(2) search limits and strategies;
(3) access points;
(4) bibliographic display;
(5) output/services/facilities/external links;
(6) user assistance;
(7) page layout;
(8) labels;
(9) text;
(10) session filters; and
(11) general features.

4. Data analysis and interpretation

Testing of the checklist took place from 8 October to 8 November 2010. During this
period, a total of 30 hours were spent on evaluation of web-based OPACs of IIT
libraries with the help of the checklist and consistent results were obtained for a month
followed by their manual evaluation.
The responses were received from the evaluation checklist to 122 dichotomous
questions with 174 features in 11 major categories. Each time a cell (i.e. specific feature
in the checklist) was checked (marked “ £ ”), one point was assigned to the web-based
OPAC concerned. The score for a system is the total number of cells checked for that
web-based OPAC. Each category has a set of related questions and the responses of the
each category were analyzed with the help of tables followed by interpretation of data.

4.1 Searching features

The search (or query) function is the central and most important function for an OPAC
user. It includes logical or matching operations on specified search terms for
identifying and isolating relevant document descriptions (records). This function

IIT/library Library automation software

IIT Delhi (IITD), Central Library LibSys

IIT Bombay (IITB), Central Library Libsuite
IIT Madras (IITM), Central Library VTLS
IIT Kanpur (IITK), P.K. Kelkar Library iitKlas (in-house library automation package) Table I.
IIT Guwahati (IITG), Central Library LibSys Web-based OPACs of
IIT Roorkee (IITR), Mahatma Gandhi Central Troodon (with in-house web interface) selected IIT libraries in
Library India (n ¼6)
PROG enables the user to formulate his/her information request and the way the function is
45,4 implemented affects profoundly the user’s success in fulfilling the information needs.
This is a rich and developing area in web-based OPAC. Most new ILMS offer a wide
range of search types from basic to advance. Searching functionality makes up the
largest group of evaluation criteria in this study, consisting of 22 questions and 48
features. However, the scores depend not only on the software ability but also on the
420 customization undertaken by the libraries evaluated in their web-based OPACs.
Features of the search function for the OPACs studied are tabulated in Table II.
From Table II it is clear that all of the web-based OPACs under study are providing
basic or simple search (i.e. search anywhere or phrase from any bibliographic field of
the OPAC) and 50 percent are providing advance or complex search (i.e. searching by
more than one field of bibliographic elements of the OPAC record).
Searching by subject is a kind of phrase search, where the user is expected to either
provide the complete subject heading or the left part of the phrase or a search
expression. Searching by author, title, call number and ISBN are basically string or
phrase search options and consequently the user has to provide either the exact key or
first few letters (words) of the search key. The user may be able to combine search
terms using Boolean or proximity operators. A keyword search is not limited to a
specific field.
Most of the web-based OPACs received high scores on assessment of their
searching capabilities as they allowed users to search through 15 conventional access
points, of which, IITB got 10 points, followed by IITD and IITG with 9 points, IITM 7
points and IITK 5 points, while IITR scored lowest with 4 points in this area.
The primary function of an ideal web-based OPAC is to facilitate different search
methods, such as Boolean logic, truncation, word proximity, phrase searching and
exact searching. These methods are related to an ILMS being used. The term exact
search means to search with a word or phrase without any additions or deletions or
modifications by the way of truncation. In other words, this type of search requires the
user to frame a word or phrase exactly according to the vocabulary of the web-based
OPAC records, and any slight deviation from the nomenclature or spelling or spacing
would result in search failure.
From the Table II, it is clear that almost all of the web-based OPACs provide search
facilities using Boolean, truncation, exact, phrase and proximity searching. “Proximity
operators are powerful information retrieval features and are usually a factor in
relevance ranking” (Smith, 2000). It is quite surprising to find that IITR’s web-based
OPAC does not offer a phrase search facility; similarly the in-house iitKlas system of
IITK does not offer a truncation search facility.
The checklist identifies five sources of hyperlinks, of which author and subject are
commonly found with variation, but call number, series and location maps are not
found in any of the web-based OPACs studied. Moreover, the in-house web-based
OPACs like those of IITK and IITR totally lacked in providing the facility for hyperlink
sources in bibliographic display.
All the web-based OPACs studied provide field-directed search. This kind of search
is quite useful in searching for a term or number within a particular data field of a
document (or in a limited portion of a database); thus it saves the effort required to
search the entire summary of every document.
 IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR
Web-based
Searching features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon catalogues of IIT
1. Offers types of searches:
libraries
(a) Basic search £ £ £ £ £ £
(b) Advanced search £ £ £
2. Full search capability on conventional
access points:
421
(a) Title £ £ £ £ £
(b) Keyword anywhere £ £ £ £ £
(c)Keyword (using and, or, not) £ £ £ £ £
(d) Publisher name £ £ £ £
(e) Publish place £ £
(f) Publish date
(g) Series £ £ £
(h) Author or editor or organization £ £ £ £ £ £
(i) Subject £ £ £ £
( j) Class number (or call number) £ £ £
(k) ISBN/ISSN £ £ £ £
(l) Theses £
(m) Notes £
(n) Abstract £
(p) Table of content
3. Provision for Boolean search £ £ £ £ £ £
4. Provision for truncation £ £ £ £ £
5. Provision for exact matching £ £ £ £ £ £
6. Provision for phrase searching £ £ £ £ £
7. Word proximity operators £ £ £ £ £ £
8. Hypertext links in full bibliographic record
display:
(a) Authors £ £ £ £
(b) Subject £ £ £
(c) Call number
(d) Series
(e) Location map
9. Provision for field directed searching £ £ £ £ £ £
10. Provision of browsing capabilities
(a) Browsing by authors £ £ £
(b) Browsing by subjects £ £ £
(c) Browsing by series
(d) Browsing by publishers £ £ £
(e) Browsing by call number £ £ £
(f) Browsing for new titles
(g) Browsing by type £ £
(h) Browsing by title £ £ £
11. Multimedia searching £ £ £
12. The user can start a search anywhere £ £ £ £ £ £
13. The user can select return to a previous
screen and change a selection £ £ £ £ £
14. Search for new items £ £ £ £
15. Language translation
16. Related items £ £ Table II.
(continued) Searching features
PROG IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR
45,4 Searching features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

17. Provision for single search interface £ £ £ £ £ £

18. Meta search functionality £ £ £ £
19. Provision for a visual map £ £
422 20. Course reserves £ £
21. Faceted navigation ability £ £ £
22. Thesaurus search
Score (maximum 48) 31 25 28 18 31 15
Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati;
Table II. IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software

Browsing and searching are two main paradigms for finding information online.
Browsing makes the content come alive and therefore proves more satisfying for users
who get positive reinforcement as they proceed. However, browsing is very slow, time
consuming and users often tend to get distracted and lose original goals in the world of
documents. Surprisingly, only 50 percent of the web-based OPACs studied – IITD,
IITM and IITG – offered browsing capabilities, but none of them provided browsing
for series and new titles.
Multimedia searching is gaining popularity with multimode search interfaces,
which allow the submission of search queries both as text requests and through other
media, but was found in only 33 percent of the web-based OPACs – i.e. IITM and IITK.
Interestingly, all the web-based OPACs studied, provided the facility for “start a search
anywhere” and the user can select return to a previous screen and change a selection,
except IITR.
Four of the web-based OPACs from the study sample offered relatively new features
that can be found in search engines and some other OPAC software products. For
example, web-based OPAC at PK Kelkar library at IITK offered links to miscellaneous
search, which included search for new arrivals, issue details and overdue details of a user
along with the facility to operate the account, based on the roll number of the student. It
is worth noting that these new features have been found in the literature recently and it is
the first time they have been mentioned in the usability evaluation of web-based OPAC.
A meta search engine is a search tool that sends user requests to several other search
engines and databases and aggregates the results into a single list or displays them
according to their source and 66.66 percent web-based OPACs are providing this facility.
Presentation and visualization techniques are supplementary way to transform the
web-based OPAC and augment user experience. New interfaces and new ways of
presentation of information can be appealing. Only two out of six web-based OPACs
studied have incorporated a visual map facility.
Course reserves usually have a short check out time varying from two hours to one
day, as they need to be available to every student in the institute. Being the institution
of academic excellence, IIT libraries are very good in providing the course reserves for
their users, but, surprisingly, only 33.33 percent of the IIT library web-based OPACs
are providing this facility.
Federated search, which allows for simultaneous search of multiple online
databases or web resources gives output after “merging the results collected from the
databases” ( Jacso, 2004). It is an emerging feature of automated web-based library and Web-based
information retrieval systems. Being the advanced and cutting edge searching feature, catalogues of IIT
50 percent web-based OPACs of IIT libraries are yet to be explored by this feature.
However, none of the surveyed web-based OPACs provided features such as libraries
thesaurus search and language translation. According to Breeding (2007), today’s
typical library users are web-savvy and have very high expectations. Therefore,
libraries surveyed should explore such relatively new features in their web-based 423
OPACs and improve their web-based OPAC usability.
The searching category indicated that most LibSys-based OPACs such as IITD and
IITG scored higher i.e. 31 out of 48 in search features, followed by VTLS of IITM with
28, while Libsuite of IITB lagged behind with 25 points. IITK and IITR scored very less
in this category with 18 and 15 points, respectively.

4.2 Search limits and strategies

Table III shows that the mean percentage of scores each web-based OPAC received is
50 percent. IITB and IITM scored maximum points, i.e. 10, followed by IITD and IITG
with 9 points, while IITK and IITR scored 6 and 4 points, respectively. The provision
for comprehensive search limits in serials and theses was not found in any of the
surveyed web-based OPACs, except in IITR, though “provision of a search limit should
be an essential feature in OPACs” (Babu and Tamizhchelvan, 2003).

4.3 Access points

The choice of access points is one of the most important features of OPAC. Currently
many researchers are investigating this problem, particularly the subject access.

IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR

Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

1.Displays search strategy £ £ £ £

2.Refining of initial search £ £ £ £ £ £
3.Entire previous queries could be combined £ £ £ £ £
4.Option for search history £ £
5.Search strategy can be saved £ £
6.Provision for comprehensive search limits:
(a) Specific year of publication £ £ £ £ £
(b) Year publication (before, after, between) £ £
(c) Publication status £ £
(d) Library location £ £ £ £
(e) Publisher £ £ £ £
(f) Place of publication £ £
(g) Medium £ £ £
(h) Item type £ £ £ £ £
(i) Language £
( j) Serials
(k) Theses £
Score (maximum 16) 9 10 10 6 9 4
Table III.
Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati; Search limits and
IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software strategies
PROG Table IV reveals that the mean percentage of access points is very high, with 71.87
45,4 percent. The Libsuite-based OPAC of IITB occupied the top position with 93.75 percent of
all features, followed by the LibSys-based OPACs of IITD and IITG receiving 75 percent
points. The VTLS-based OPAC of IITM received 68.75 percent, while the iitKLas-based
OPAC received 62.5 percent. The IITR web-based OPAC received only 56.25 percent.
The poorest frequency was found to be in provision of series and notes.
424 Surprisingly, none of the web-based OPACs under the survey offered search by
barcode number. Although, access points such as ISBN/ISSN and class number are
provided by some of the OPACs, but, “how useful these are in practice is questionable”
(Babu and Tamizhchelvan, 2003).
“Bibliographic display” refers to the provision for long/brief bibliographic display
along with the provision of a customized display screen. Most of the web-based OPACs
first display a brief record, which can be expanded to show more details such as MARC
record and holding/availability of information.
Table V clearly indicates that four out of six web-based OPACs offered
bibliographic display features ranging from 72.7 percent to 91 percent. The results
showed that the overall average for the web-based OPACs studied was 74.24 percent.
The lowest scoring web-based OPAC was IITK, with 54.5 percent features. All
web-based OPACs except that of the IITR library reported the circulation status and
the number of records retrieved. None of the web-based OPACs had options for
displaying image files of book covers. Almost all the web-based OPACs studied offered
output control, while IITR had no limitation or control of the number of outputs
displayed. For example, on searching the topic of biochemistry, 185 records were
reported on the single screen. Nearly 83.33 percent of the web-based OPACs displayed
the circulation status on the same screen with the call number, while at IITD and IITG,

IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR

Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

1. Author £ £ £ £ £ £
2. Keyword in author £ £ £ £ £ £
3. Title £ £ £ £ £ £
4. Keyword in the title £ £ £ £ £ £
5. Subject heading £ £ £ £ £ £
6. Keyword in subject heading £ £ £ £ £ £
7. Publisher £ £ £ £ £ £
8. Class number £ £
9. ISBN/ISSN £ £ £
10. Series £
11. Barcode number
12. Provides name authority control £ £ £ £ £ £
13. Provides subject authority control £ £ £ £ £
14. Supports cross-references £ £ £ £
15. Provision for the copy location £ £ £ £ £
16. Notes £
Score (maximum 16) 12 15 11 10 12 9
Table IV. Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati;
Access points IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software
 Web-based
IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR
Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon catalogues of IIT
1. Provision for bibliographic displays:
libraries
(a) Short display £ £ £ £
(b) Long display £ £ £ £ £
2. The display text use both upper and lower 425
case £ £ £ £ £ £
3. Presenting bibliographic records with
image files of book covers
4. Limiting the number for the display of
records (output control) £ £ £ £ £
5. Support for MARC formats £ £ £ £ £
6. Provision for library structured format £ £ £ £ £
7. Both MARC format and library structured
format £ £ £ £ £
8. The number of hits retrieved is reported £ £ £ £ £ £
9. The circulation status is shown on the
same screen with a call number £ £ £ £ £
10. Items in a set are numbered successively
when there are more items than can be
displayed on one screen £ £ £
Score (maximum 11) 9 8 10 6 9 7
Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati; Table V.
IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software Bibliographic display

the availability of the documents on the shelf was depicted by the symbol “s” before the
name of the document. Almost all the web-based OPACs studied, except that of IITB,
numbered the items in a set successively when there were more items reported than
could be displayed on one screen, since “users do not want large output on the same
screen” (Saracevic et al., 1990), while “the maximum number of items in the upper
bound were in the range of 150 items (þ /2 ) 50” (Cherry, 1994). So the study showed
that all web-based OPACs displayed variable output in results display.

4.4 Output/services/facilities/external links

Output provision is usually a list of bibliographic records with some holding information,
which may be listed alphabetically, or by publication date, so that the user can able to
determine the usefulness of individual items without consulting the items physically. On
average only 50.5 percent of the various conversion features were provided by the
surveyed web-based OPAC interfaces, of which the maximum were supported by the
IITD, IITG, and IITM based web OPACs; i.e. in general the gap between the studied
web-based OPACs was large. The difference in the features supported by the highest
scoring web-based OPAC with 80 percent, and the lowest scoring web-based OPAC with
16.6 percent, is quite large. One of the most important elements of a successful search
interface is the order in which results are displayed. “A search interface must have an
exceptional relevance ranking to be successful” (Breeding, 2007). Surprisingly, only 50
percent of the studied web-based OPACs used relevance ranking. It is worth noting that
the Amazon site provides a facility for sorting records by best sellers by taking advantage
of the statistics of the number of books that have been sold. Similarly, Encarta has
PROG recently offered web-based OPAC products with a facility for sorting by most popular by
45,4 exploiting circulation data (Fox, 2007). None of the surveyed web-based OPACs allowed
users to sort records by format and ranks output by popularity, while multiple records
were retrieved in a single search, all the web-based OPACs except IITK allowed users to
select any single record for display. However, only the LibSys- and VTLS-based OPACs
allowed users to select “several records not in sequence” for display.
426 On the other hand, some web-based OPAC interfaces only provide for a fixed
number of records being displayed, while some web-based OPACs also have other
features such as command-driven menus, drop-down boxes or pull-down menus, stop
word facility, suggestion or e-mail-boxes, etc.
Libraries have been value adding bibliographic records with links to external
sources (example: Table of Contents; TOC). “As TOC have been found useful in helping
users to better determine the relevance of a particular title to their information needs”
(Byrum, 2006). Also, the words in TOCs greatly improve the search effectiveness and
provide a means to overcome the traditional limitations of subject searching. However,
the results show that only four out of the six web-based OPACs studied supported the
display of TOCs. “Links to other resources” is the ability to search other databases or
library catalogues, using a federated search.

4.5 User assistance

Web-based OPACs are not self-explanatory, and help for searching them should be a
standard feature – i.e. access to library information should not be an adventure game.
Web-based OPACs have to provide online assistance to the users by inbuilt help
messages or direct staff assistance or both, in order to enhance the optimum use of
web-based OPACs. The average percentage of user assistance features provided by the
six web-based OPACs was 71.6 percent. Among the ten features, only three features
including display system messages (like error messages) by using contrasting display
features, abbreviations avoided in textual information and instructional information free
of jargon were found in all the studied web-based OPACs. Fifty percent of the web-based
OPACs evaluated indicated where remote users can get additional help by providing
them with contact information such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
Additionally most web-based OPACs offered help messages, but some of them were not
very useful because the help information was very simple. The help messages in IITD
and IITG were the same, as they did not customize them for their users. These help
messages might be provided by the software vendors. In particular, they listed help
messages about Boolean operators and gave two examples. In addition to help messages,
online tutorials were found in four web-based OPACs. Some tutorials are built in detail;
the tutorial of the LibSys-based OPAC is good example. No online tutorial was found in
the Libsuite-based OPAC of IITB and the in-house iitKlas OPAC of IITK.
Most of the web-based OPACs studied were found to be lacking such help systems,
which help users overcome problems in searching that relate to orthographical and
typographical errors, due to lack of knowledge of the subject headings used in the
systems and the absence of cross references.

4.6 Page layout

The layout of the web-based OPAC screen structure should be simple and pleasant,
with aesthetic appeal. The services provided by the web-based OPACs, however, are
not always geared to the users’ real needs. This is especially true when the catalogues Web-based
are not backed up by an ILMS with a special module designed for the web connection. catalogues of IIT
It is clear from Table VI that almost all the web-based OPACs studied received high
scores in the category – i.e. 80 percent or more. On average they possessed 93.3 percent libraries
of the ideal web-based OPAC layout features. Three out of six web-based OPACs
scored 100 percent, while the lowest scoring web-based OPAC was the iitKLas
based-OPAC with 80 percent. Highlighting techniques are applied in all systems. 427
Moreover, all the libraries studied except IITR provided a facility to help users to check
results in the next and previous pages. In particular, some libraries used icons for this
function, while other libraries (e.g. LibSys OPAC of IITD) used hyperlinks.

4.7 Labels
Labels are used to identify parts of the bibliographic display as opposed to the
traditional main entry card format (Zumer and Zeng, 1995). A web-based OPAC
interface normally provides various conversion features such as support for converting
to MARC format or to a local format, an exporting and downloading facility for
records, and the transmission of retrieved records through e-mail. This may be related
to the fact that these IIT libraries have good internet facilities. Not all labels are free of
library jargon, since some of the web-based OPACs provided the terms “Circ.”, etc., and
all web-based OPACs provided drop-down or pull-down menus.
Table VII reveals that only two of the six web-based OPACs formatted labels right
justified, as recommended in the checklist, while IITD, IITG, and IITR based web

IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR

Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

1. Instructions on the screen are simple, clear

and inviting? £ £ £ £ £ £
2. Less use of technical jargon and codes £ £ £ £ £ £
3. Wording/terminology consistent £ £ £ £ £ £
4. Is there at least one blank line between the
page title and the body of the display? £ £ £ £ £ £
5. Search strategy is displayed near the top of
the page? £ £ £ £
6. Is the search request always displayed on
the screen, so that the user can see what
was typed while viewing the hits? £ £ £ £ £
7. Related fields in the bibliographic data
grouped together and separated from other
data £ £ £ £ £ £
8. Highlighting techniques used (bolding, font
size and underline) £ £ £ £ £ £
9. Labels, text and instructional information
displayed in consistent locations and
formats throughout the display £ £ £ £ £ £
10. Provision of next/previous £ £ £ £ £
Score (maximum 10) 10 9 10 8 10 9
Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati; Table VI.
IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software Page layout
PROG
IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR
45,4 Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

1. All variable fields labeled £ £ £ £ £

2. All labels full words (not abbreviated) £ £ £
3. All labels free of library jargon £ £ £ £
428 4. Labels accurate, appropriate, meaningful £ £ £ £ £
5. Provision for drop-down or pull-down menu £ £ £ £ £ £
6. Other highlighting techniques used (e.g.
color, bold) £ £ £ £ £ £
7. For bibliographic information:
(a) Labels are right-justified £ £
(b) Each label begins on a new line £ £ £ £
(c) Labels are located to left of the
corresponding fields and on the same line £ £ £ £ £
(d) All labels separated from corresponding
fields by a colon and followed by at least £ £ £ £
Score (maximum 10) 9 2 8 7 9 9
Table VII. Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati;
Labels IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software

OPACs got highest scores with 90 percent. The lowest scoring scored web-based
OPAC was IITB with 20 percent. Interestingly, it was noted that the iitKlas-based
OPAC of IITK has the call number and location listed on the same line instead of on
two separate lines.

4.8 Text display

The text display as output should be in standard format such as text should be
vertically aligned and left justified so that it is not only convenient for the users to see,
but also it should be free from abbreviation so that one does not feel helpless while
making use of it (Table VIII).
The average overall text display percentage was 72.7 percent. Most text features are
found in these web-based OPACs, except text arrangement and abbreviation in text.
The guidelines stated that text should be arranged logically with related fields like
author, added author entries, title and series should be grouped together as there
should be some systematization in the arrangement of the entries. Also there are some
redundant/repeated texts that must be avoided. For example, the LibSys-based OPACs
of IITD and IITG used “classification number” field twice in full displays as “class” for
the first field and classification for the second field, although the content of the two
fields were almost the same. In some cases, author’s name though displayed under
“author” field was still repeated in title field as well, these “redundancies are not
necessary and they should be avoided” (Cherry, 1998). None of the studied web-based
OPACs had limits to the number of hits which can be displayed equal to 50, but the
maximum number was found to be up to 10 hits per page, while many had this feature
as optional, given to user for personal customization. Under text section, VTLS-based
OPAC of IITM achieved the maximum score, i.e. 10 points (100 percent), followed by
the LibSys-based OPAC of IITD and IITG with nine points each, while IITK’s and
 Web-based
IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR
Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon catalogues of IIT
1. The limit to the number of hits which can
libraries
be displayed equal to 50
2. Text arranged logically with related fields
(author and added author) £ £ £ £ £ £ 429
3. Text vertically aligned and left justified £ £ £ £ £ £
4. Redundant/repeated text avoided £ £ £ £
5. Circulation status information included in
the full display £ £ £ £
6. Copies listed in recognizable order £ £ £ £
7. Provision of hypertext links in the record
through £ £ £ £ £ £
8. The total number of items to be displayed
is identified in the display of each item (e.g.
item 1 of 100) £ £ £
9. Items in a set are numbered successively
(e.g. 1-8, 9-18, etc.) when there are more
items than can be displayed on one screen £ £ £ £
10. Call number display £ £ £ £ £ £
11. The text is in full words, not abbreviation
(commonly used abbreviation such as “cm”
for centimeter and “p” for page are OK, but
“c” for copyright is not OK) £ £ £ £ £
Score (maximum 11) 9 6 10 7 9 7
Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati; Table VIII.
IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software Text display

IITR’s web-based OPACs scored just seven points each. The lowest-scoring web-based
OPAC was Libsuite of IITB, with six points.

4.9 Session filters

Filters are mainly used to limit or narrow down the searches. One can use from the
widely available filters like nature of content, language, publication date, location and
context date filters to restrict the results of search.
Table IX reveals that VTLS based OPAC at IITM helped in narrowing down the
search results by providing all seven different types of filters, as provided in the
checklist. On the other hand, LibSys and Libsuite based OPACs showed only three out
of seven filters and web-based OPAC of IITR supported only one filter, i.e. the format
filter. Surprisingly, no filter was found in theiitKlas-based OPAC of IITK.

4.10 General features

General features include those discussed by Cherry (1998), such as explanations of the
average and focus of the library collection and resources, as well as instructions for
logging in/out (Table X).
Most of the web-based OPACs (85 percent) show in every display the names of the
catalogue and the owning library. Time out and log in/log out features are very common.
Five web-based OPACs scored 96 percent, while the average score was 90 percent.
PROG
IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR
45,4 Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

1. Nature of content, e.g. catalogues,

dictionaries £ £ £ £
2. Format filters, e.g. manuscript, music £ £
430 3. Language filters £
4. Place of publication filter £ £
5. Publication date £ £ £ £
6. Location filters (collection within library) £ £ £
7. Context date £
Score (maximum 7) 3 3 7 0 3 1
Table IX. Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati;
Session filters IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software

IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR

Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

1. Show in every display the name of the

catalog and the owning library or other
organization £ £ £ £ £ £
2. Customization of the features as per the
library requirements £ £ £ £ £ £
3. Explains the contents and coverage in the
OPAC £ £ £ £
4. Provides log in/log out instruction, if desired £ £ £ £ £
5. Remote access is unrestricted in terms of
time of day £ £ £ £ £ £
Score (maximum 5) 5 3 5 4 5 5
Table X. Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati;
General features IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software

4.11 Comparative statement of evaluation of surveyed web-OPACs

The comparative scores of the different features of the web-based OPACs under study
as per the evaluation checklist were compiled from Tables II and XII and are presented
in Table XIII.
The maximum score each web-based OPAC could receive was 174 points (100
percent). Table XIII shows that the average score of the web-based OPACs is 61.30
percent. The VTLS-based OPAC of IITM got the highest score of 131 (75.3 percent)
features, followed by the LibSys-based OPACs of IITD and IITG obtaining 130 (74.7
percent) each, while the iitKlas-based OPAC of IITK got the lowest score of 77 (44.25
percent). The results also indicated that the VTLS-based and LibSys-based OPACs had
higher scores on an average.

4.12 Feature-wise statement of studied web-OPACs

The study has explored different features of web-based OPACs in 11 broad categories
(Table XIV), of which page layout received the highest average score with 93.33
 Web-based
IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR
Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon catalogues of IIT
1. Facility for sorting records
libraries
(a) Author £ £ £ £
(b) Title £ £ £ £
(c) Relevance £ £ £ 431
(d) Classification £ £ £
(e) Date of publication £ £ £
(f) Format
(g) Ranks output by popularity
(g) Subject heading £
2. When multiple records are retrieved in a
single search, the user can select:
(a) Any single record for display £ £ £ £ £
(b) Several records not in sequence for
display(e.g. record #2, #5, etc.) £ £ £ £
(c) A range of records for display (i.e. by
specifying the first and last records, e.g.
from record#5 to #9) £ £ £
3. The user can select specific field(s) for
display £ £ £ £
4. The user can specify fields to include when
printing or downloading results £ £
5. The user can select which records from
search results to print or download £ £ £
6. Access to Z39.50 £ £ £ £
7. Results can be printed £ £ £
8. Search results can be saved £ £ £ £ £
9. Search results can be added to the user’s
list £ £ £
10. Interface with the circulation system £ £ £ £ £
11. Provision for exporting/downloading of
retrieved records £ £ £ £
12. Provision for the transmission of retrieved
records through e-mail £ £ £
13. The user’s details £ £ £
14. Provision for options such as ILL, renewal,
reservations, etc. £ £ £ £
15. Provision of online mailboxes for user
comments or suggestions £ £
16. The user can send messages to a specific
library staff member or department £ £ £
17. Links to external sources:
(a) Free sources selected on the internet £ £ £ £
(b) Links to book review £ £
(c) Links to table of contents, companion
and supplementary materials £ £ £ £
(d) Links to e-journals and e-books £
18. Purchase recommendation £ £
Score: (maximum 30) 24 8 23 7 24 5 Table XI.
Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati; Output/services/facilities/
IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software external links
PROG
IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR
45,4 Features LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

1. There is an online tutorial £ £ £ £

2. Help messages are provided £ £ £ £
3. User-friendly, requires little staff assistance £ £ £ £ £
432 4. Abbreviations avoided in textual
information? £ £ £ £
5. Instructional information free of jargon £ £ £ £ £ £
6. Display system messages (such as error
messages) by using contrasting display
features (e.g.) bolding, color £ £ £ £ £ £
7. The system indicates where the remote
user can get additional help £ £ £
8. Spell check software is available to the user
9. Provide options to the user listed near both
the top and bottom of page £ £ £ £ £
10. Provide options clearly separated from the
information round them £ £ £ £ £ £
Score: (maximum 10) 9 5 9 4 9 7
Table XII. Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati;
User assistance IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software

IITD IITB IITM IITK IITG IITR

Tableno. Library OPAC category LibSysa Libsuite VTLS iitKlas LibSys Troodon

II Searching features 31 25 28 18 31 15
III Search limits and strategies 9 10 10 6 9 4
IV Access points 12 15 11 10 12 9
V Bibliographic display 9 8 10 6 9 7
VI Output/services/facilities/external
links 24 8 23 7 24 5
VII User assistance 9 5 9 4 9 7
VIII Page layout 10 9 10 8 10 9
IX Labels 9 2 8 7 9 9
X Text 9 6 10 7 9 7
XI Session filters 3 3 7 0 3 1
XII General 5 3 5 4 5 5
Scoreb: (maximum 174) 130 94 131 77 130 78
(74.7) (54.0) (75.3) (44.2) (74.7) (44.8)
Table XIII.
Comparative statement of Notes: IITD, IIT Delhi; IITB, IIT Bombay; IITM, IIT Madras; IITK, IIT Kanpur; IITG, IIT Guwahati;
study web-based OPACs IITR, IIT Roorkee. aIntegrated library management software. bPercentages are shown in parentheses

percent, followed by the general features category with 90 percent. In contrast, session
filters was the weakest category with only 40.47 percent.

4.13 Mean, minimum and maximum percentage of desirable features

In general, the mean percentage of features related to page layout, general features,
bibliographic display, labels, text, access points, and user assistance features are high
 Web-based
Table no. Library OPAC category Total score Percentage
catalogues of IIT
VIII Page layout 56/60 93.33 libraries
XII General 27/30 90.00
V Bibliographic display 49/66 74.24
IX Labels 44/60 73.33
X Text display 48/66 72.72 433
IV Access points 69/96 71.87
VII User assistance 43/60 71.66
II Searching features 148/288 51.38
VI Output/services/facilities/external links 91/180 50.55 Table XIV.
III Search limits and strategies 48/96 50.00 Feature-wise comparative
XI Session filters 17/42 40.47 statement of IIT library
Score (maximum 1,044) 640/1,044 61.30 web-based OPACs

(above 71.66 percent). In contrast, the features related to searching, search limits and
strategy, Output/services/facilities/external links, and session filters are below average.

4.14 Rating scale for studied web-based OPACs

The rating scale was designed to range from “excellent” to “needs improvement” to
rank the web-based OPACs under study. The five point rating scale was fixed equally
based on the maximum score of 174 points. The range for the rating scale was as
follows:
.
141-174: excellent;
.
106-140: above average;
.
71-105: average;
.
36-70: below average; and
.
01-35: needs improvement.

4.15 Ranking of web-based OPACs surveyed

The ranking of the web-based OPACs surveyed, on the basis of the five-point rating
scale and points taken from Table XIII, is presented in Table XV.
The rating system proved to be an efficient and effective means of representing the
data collected in each part of the instrument. The ranking table was especially helpful
in bringing together all of the individual web-based OPAC feature scores and then in

Name of the IIT ILMS Score (maximum 174) Percentage of features Rank
a
IIT Madras VTLS 131 75.28 Above average
IIT Delhi LibSys 130 74.71 Above average
IIT Guwahati LibSys 130 74.71 Above average
IIT Bombay Libsuite 94 54.02 Average
IIT Roorkee Troodon 78 46.55 Average Table XV.
IIT Kanpur iitKlas 77 44.25 Average Ranking of
web-based-OPACs of IIT
Note: aIntegrated library management software libraries in India
PROG generating a final composite rating. The system performed extremely well in
45,4 accomplishing its original two goals, i.e.:
(1) to provide quantitative indicators of quality; and
(2) to serve as a means of justification for qualitative data.

It can be seen from Table XV that the rankings are based on the points assigned to the
434 web-based OPACs studied, and a cursory glance at the table reveals that of the
six web-based OPACs, none was rated “excellent”. Only 50 per cent of the surveyed
web-based OPACs achieved a rating of “above average” – i.e. the Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras (IITM), which had the highest total score (131), followed by the
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD) and the Indian Institute of Technology,
Guwahati (IITG) with 130 each. Interestingly, 50 per cent of the web-based OPACs
studied got an “average” ranking, of which the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
(IITK) got the lowest total score (77).
The ranks also indicate that the VTLS-based web-based OPAC of IITM got a higher
score with 75.28 per cent, followed by the LibSys-based web-based OPACs of IITD and
IITG with 74.71 per cent each, while the iitKlas-based web-based OPAC got only 45.25
per cent.
These ranks clearly indicate that there is a need to develop IIT libraries’ web-based
OPACs for the features mentioned above. It is generally true that the libraries ranking
higher on the web-based OPAC features tend to have a reputed ILMS, whereas lower
ranked libraries tend to have home grown ILMS with local web interface to OPAC.

5. Suggestions
The evaluation and the subsequent analysis of the study have enabled the researchers
to provide some practical suggestions for improving the web-based OPACs, expected
from the IIT libraries under survey. These include:
.
Web-based OPACs of IIT libraries and their ILMS vendors should explore the
possibility of integrating features such as thesaurus search, language
translation, federated search, meta search functionality, faceted navigation,
visual map, the most popular ranking, word cloud and refine menu.
.
Web-based OPACs of IIT libraries will by default have an offering of a vertical
portal where the results are given as relevancy ranking by default, faceted
browsing, spell-check (using the catalogue database contents and
community/user reviewing or tagging), RSS feeds, more serendipity in the
form of tailored borrowing suggestions and “just in time” recommendations, and
social features to allow users to build a community.
.
Incorporating short message service (SMS) in the web-based OPACs studied to
facilitate the searching of library books on mobile phones.
.
There is an urgent need to improve the session filters, such as the nature of
content, language, place of publication, publication date, location and context
date filters to restrict the results of the search and limit or narrow down searches.
.
Web-based OPACs of IIT libraries must improve features related to searching,
search limits and strategy, and output/services/facilities/external links to other
sources.
 .
Google is also offering its “Library Links” programme, which enables libraries Web-based
using an OpenURL link resolver to include a link from Google Scholar to their catalogues of IIT
local resources as part of the Google Scholar search results. Google Scholar users
can personalise their searching by selecting their “home” library as a preference. libraries
IIT Libraries can link their collections to Google Scholar to ensure that users are
directed to locally held copies of resources. The OCLC World Cat database has
already been harvested by Google Scholar, so that all the records in this database 435
(a large Union Catalogue) are searchable via Google Scholar.

6. Conclusion
The evaluation has revealed that the web-based OPACs of IIT libraries in India that
were studied are lagging behind in exploiting the full potential of the Web 2.0
technologies. However, none of the surveyed web-based OPACs received the excellent
rank. Moreover, the level of customisation that each library had done for each category
was very different. The ranks clearly indicate that there is a need to further
develop/customise the web-based OPACs studied in searching, search limits and
strategy, output/services/facilities/external links, and session filters. Otherwise, users
will prefer to go to web search engines rather than to library OPACs. This is a matter of
concern for librarians and they must work to bring users back to the library for their
immediate information needs.
It is seen that the web-based OPACs under study here are moving towards the next
stage of OPAC development, such as distributed searching over different systems and
permitting the searcher to view the abstract. Already, IIT Madras is moving in this
direction, wherein the abstract of a thesis can be viewed through the web-based OPAC.
The popularity of Web 2.0 has made the OPAC more user-friendly as libraries place
interactive interfaces on their traditional catalogues. These OPAC interfaces result in
better searching, specifically when used in combination with folksonomies and tags.
For example, “University of Pennsylvania library (PennTag) allows users to tag the
items they found in library OPAC. The University of Texas allows for searching their
library catalog within the Facebook web interface” (Harinarayana and Raju, 2010).
Darien Library’s online presence has become an interactive space that runs in
collaboration with its users and enables patron tagging, ratings, and reviews in the
catalog (Sheehan, 2009).
It is hoped that the libraries at the IITs will attend to the lacunae and develop a fully
functional web-based OPAC with Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies. Although the journey
towards the next generation of OPAC seems arduous, inevitably user interaction and
input along with the innovations in technology will trigger a wave of meaningful
additions to the existing OPAC propelled towards the next generation of OPACs.

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About the authors

Margam Madhusudhan is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Library and Information Science, University of Delhi, India. Prior to this he worked as an
PROG Assistant Librarian and Lecturer at Goa University, Goa. He obtained his MCom, PGDLAN, and
PhD in Library and Information Science in 2004 from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. He
45,4 has 12 years of teaching and research experience at university level. He has published one book,
12 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, and quite a few popular international conference
papers. His current research interests include e-resources, evaluation of websites and
Web-OPACs. Margam Madhusudhan is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
mmadhu@libinfosci.du.ac.in
438 Shalini Aggarwal is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Library and Information
Science, University of Delhi, Delhi. She obtained her MLIS and MPhil and is pursuing her PhD in
Library and Information Science from University of Delhi, India. As a part of her dissertation she
evaluated the web OPACs of IIT Libraries in India. Her research interest is in the area of OPACs.

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