Re: opac review

[Paula Hammett <hammett@xxxxxxxxxx>]

>I was looking for either a list to make sure that we check or a list to watch
>out for.  Sinclair has reexamined the OPAC for a long time and basically went
>with the defaults.  It needs to be brought up-to-date and made more
>user-friendly and easier to search.

Here at Sonoma State University we just completed a redesign of our 
catalog using the beta release of phase 3. We found it very helpful 
to review the list of wwwoptions on csdirect to see what was new and 
what we would like to experiment with. There were many new ones that 
were interesting to play with, and some that we chose to ignore for 
now. Spend some time looking at other III catalogs to see which 
features you like and which you don't.

The new features in 2002 phase 3 make webopac management much easier, 
but there are a lot of complex interrelationships that require 
careful study and experimentation (fortunately this is much easier 
with phase 3). Read the documentation carefully (this was difficult 
during the beta, because the documentation was not always there; 
presumably it's better now that it's in general release.)

A few suggestions (to restate the obvious):
--test, test, test!  Especially if you offer remote access to your catalog.
--Test with as many browsers (IE, Netscape, Safari, text-based, etc.) 
and operating systems (PC, Mac OS9 & OSX, unix, etc.) as possible.
--test it with several different patron types (for example, we 
discovered different problems with the patron record when we tested 
with staff logins as opposed to faculty and student logins).
--we renamed some of the buttons, so it was particularly useful to 
test all functions and scopes to make sure the wording of the buttons 
made sense on all of the system-produced pages they appeared on.
--keep track of what you do, especially of additional pages, scopes, 
patron-specific pages or new buttons you create.  This is especially 
helpful the next time you redesign your catalog and try to remember 
what that opacmenu_p14.html page is for.
--remember that the keyword index behaves differently than the other 
indexes. For example, the wwwoptions controlling the browse screens 
don't work the same on keyword searches as they do on all the other 
indexes.
--be sure to give extra testing to any special features you may have 
in your catalog that may not be widely available elsewhere. For 
example, we have an Automated Storage and Retrieval System, so we 
needed to pay attention to make sure some unique features of the 
webopac interface were working properly.
--consult with other staff and users early and often, but also stand 
firm with deadlines. It can test the patience of the design team to 
hear, a week before the debut of the new catalog, "You know, I think 
square buttons would be better than oval ones."

It really helps to have a work group (all two of us) with lots of 
patience and good humor!

Good luck.
--Paula Hammett

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Paula Hammett
Head of Collection Development & Web Coordinator
University Library,Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928
hammett@xxxxxxxxxx 707-664-3912 (phone) 707-664-4095 (fax)