Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 16:12:53 -0600 From: Susan Nielsen <mailto:susann@OFFICE.SIRSI.COM> Subject: Evaluate New SIRSI WebCat Interface at www.sirsi.com To: mailto:WEBCAT-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU
Web4Lib and WebCat-L:PLEASE EXCUSE DUPLICATE MAILINGS.
To coincide with the first Beta release of the new Frames-based WebCat (Unicorn'98.1), a demonstration system and questionnaire has been posted on SIRSI's corporate website at http://www.sirsi.com. In addition to a product specific evaluation, SIRSI hopes this review process will serve as a mechanism for community-wide brainstorming on the future of web catalogs. Community discussion on topics such as ADA workstation elements, encryption of user data, discussion of outsourcing vs. convergence, and html-bookmarks to catalog records is being encouraged. It is our hope that this endeavor will result in an in-depth profile of the ideal interface for a library web catalog, and will confirm WebCat development efforts into the next release.
The information gathered through the questionnaire will be presented as the conclusion to the paper "Observation and Anticipation: SIRSI's Development of the WebCat Interface", at the Integrated Online Library Systems (IOLS98) conference this May. Results will also be available post-conference on SIRSI's website.
Please take a few moments to browse our new Frames-based WebCat for either or all three of our Unicorn systems (Ecole for K-12 Libraries; Oasis for Public Libraries). Your FEEDBACK can be sent through a button of the same name from within the WebCat(s), or by following the link to the "Survey".
FEATURES OF WEBCAT, UNICORN98:
http://www.sirsi.com/Demos/demos.html
*A Framed OPAC with navigational Table of Contents, ToolBar, and Search Results frames. *Preferences for the user to dynamically customize the opac display (to turn of the individual frames and change various image sets). *Limit Search capabilities to provide the user with the original search form, with string, at the bottom of a keyword hitlist. *A flattened search interface with a more web-inherent design, including tabbed access tabs to alternate search forms and a quick search-as form. *Target Window functionality to load web resources in an opac-child browser window. *Four new image groups (toolbar, table of contents, and search buttons; each with their own variety of image sets)to accomodate personal user preference.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * Susan Nielsen, Product Analyst and Librarian mailto:susann@sirsi.com * * SIRSI Corporation tel 205/922-9820 * * 689 Discovery Drive fax 800/239-3239 * * Huntsville AL 35806 fax 205/922-9818 * =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=