In July 2009 the Library launched a new Catalogue interface that provides users with a different way to search and explore the contents of our library collections. This new interface searches the same data that is searched through the Classic catalogue, but is designed to work more like popular Internet websites and search engines. It provides a cleaner interface to better fit user expectations and incorporates modern web features such as a spell checker.
The new Catalogue is based on Endeca, a commercial software, with local customizations.
The new Catalogue has become the primary catalogue for the Library.
No, we have no plans or timeline to eliminate our previous catalogue, now called Classic catalogue. The new and the Classic catalogue each have different strengths as catalogue interfaces to our collections. The systems will exist side by side, allowing searchers to choose their preferred interface, for the foreseeable future.
The new Catalogue provides a different approach to searching. It is designed to function similarly to the way popular Internet websites and search engines do. The new Catalogue allows you to search our entire collection from a single search box, retrieving many potentially relevant titles, and then to quickly narrow down the results by choosing refinements or facets presented on the right side of the screen. Faceted searching helps you focus your search results based on the terms that are most relevant to your needs.
The new Catalogue has become the primary catalogue for the Library but the Classic catalogue will remain available to you. It will continue to provide traditional searching and includes a variety of options to build very specific and/or complex searches.
A faceted search allows you to quickly refine a search set based on a variety of criteria, such as language, subject or format. Facets (grouped in the section "Refine your search" in the new Catalogue) are generated dynamically, based on the most frequently occurring terms in the search results.
Unlike in a traditional library catalogue, initial searches are made as broadly as possible. Facets display relationships between items, letting you discover useful results in an intuitive way. Facets allow you to quickly narrow a potentially large result set by selecting a few criteria.
The new Catalogue is designed to facilitate discovery by providing access to the widest-possible set of potentially relevant results. The system looks for the words you entered in the search box in a variety of ways (as an exact phrase, by looking for items in which all the words you entered are present, etc.) and then presents a set of results that is ranked by relevance. The system also uses a feature called "stemming" which allows retrieval of multiple forms of a search term (for example, the term 'bicycle' would retrieve 'bicycle', 'bicycles', 'bicycling', etc.). This inclusive approach to searching, coupled with availability of dynamic facets makes it easier to browse the collections.
When searching for a small set of known items or a single item, the large number of results may appear overwhelming at first, but in most cases there will be no need to look past the first few titles on the list to find the relevant materials. When needed, clicking an appropriate facet will quickly narrow the search and reduce the size of the results set.
The new Catalogue is intended to provide a different approach to searching. In many cases, when a simple search, with relevance-ranked results, is combined with the use of facets, it provides quick access to desired materials without requiring the use of the complex specialized search options that a comparable search might require in the Classic catalogue.
Please keep in mind that there are no plans to eliminate the Classic catalogue - it will remain available for those who prefer that style of searching.
Adapted from
MLibrary | University of Michigan