Will there be a library catalogue in the future and, if so, what will it look like? In the last 25 years, the library catalogue has undergone an evolution, from card catalogues to OPACs, discovery systems and even linked data applications making library bibliographic data accessible on the web. At the same time, users expectations of what catalogues will be able to offer in the way of discovery have never been higher. This groundbreaking edited collection brings together some of the foremost international cataloguing practitioners and thought leaders, including Lorcan Dempsey, Emmanuelle Bermès, Marshall Breeding and Karen Calhoun, to provide an overview of the current state of the art of the library catalogue and look ahead to see what the library catalogue might become. Practical projects and cutting edge concepts are showcased in discussions of: - linked data and the Semantic Web - user expectations and needs - bibliographic control - the FRBRization of the catalogue - innovations in search and retrieval - next-generation discovery products and mobile catalogues. Readership: Cataloguers and metadata specialists, library adminstrators and managers responsible for planning and strategy, systems librarians, user services managers, electronic resources librarians, and digital library project managers, students on cataloguing, information management and digital library courses.

Discovery tools are now becoming more common in the academic library landscape, and more products are now available from vendors. While librarians are advocating and promoting their use by students and faculty, they are also evaluating their searching capabilities, their usefulness, and on-going maintenance requirements. This work is geared to librarians considering the implementation of a discovery tool. As a result, it addresses the selection and implementation of such a tool, its relationship to information literacy and catalog maintenance, usability testing, and assessment. Issues such as database and catalog searching and the quality of searching queries are also addressed. A comprehensive review of the literature serves as a valuable resource. Librarians will appreciate the highly practical nature of the volume as it is enriched by a number of varied case studies. This book was published as a special triple issue of College & Undergraduate Libraries.

Library Technology Reports October 2011 vol.47 no. 7 Libraries have entered a highly competitive marketplace for providing content to their constitutents. Researchers are finding convenience in paying for material from highly accessible websites over assessing materials for free from a library. Web searach engines and crowd-source content portals have shifted the value of a library dramatically. However, libraries have begun a transformation from the physical space anc collections to the electronic medium. This issue of Library Technology Reports analyzes five different academic libraries to better understand why they have made an investment in a next-generation catalog and wht the outcome of this investment has been.

This concise guide will help you choose and implement the techniques and best practices used by today's forward-thinking libraries to create the best possible patron experiences.

To help individual libraries evaluate which service will best meet the needs of the library and its community, this report provides detailed evaluation questions and concludes with a section providing additional background information on each service.

Emphasizing the advantages of working together and exploring the future of library services in an online, socially connected world, this exciting book shows how all public library professionals can take advantage of our strongest community and information tool—the library catalogue. This book is a guide to the library catalogue that all public library professionals will find enlightening and useful. Its technical services perspective provides a different point of view as compared to traditional public library literature, which is often written by frontline professionals. For example, it poses and examines this thought-provoking question: should library catalogues be considered the primary gateway to the library's information, rather than the library website? Author and collection access librarian Laurel Tarulli examines next-generation or "social" catalogues, discussing the theories and concepts behind them, their impact on core library services, and their potential in shaping future libraries and library services. Geared toward frontline and backroom staff, this book helps readers understand next-generation catalogues and see the collaborative opportunities that are possible between the frontline and backroom. Written to be much more than a "one-time" read, this resource book provides practical ideas for beneficial collaboration and implementation of social features in library catalogues.