[348] in ad-lib
GeoPAC response
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (ganderso@MIT.EDU)
Tue Apr 18 09:33:23 1995
From: ganderso@MIT.EDU
To: s.kendall@geac.com, m.ridgeway@geac.com
Cc: bog-lib@MIT.EDU, opac-lib@MIT.EDU
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 09:33:08 EDT
Simon and Michael,
Below is the report of the MIT OPAC implementation group on
GeoPAC. The intent of this response is to provide feedback in order
for these requirements, changes, and suggestions to be incorporated
into the programming for GeoPAC 2.
I want to note and applaud the tight focus of this group, their
hard work, and their shared desire that GeoPAC 2 will become the
predominant OPAC client in the library marketplace.
I'm also faxing you a paper copy.
Please let me know if you need additional information.
Thanks,
Greg
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GEOPAC CONCERNS
MIT LIBRARIES OPAC Implementation Group
4/14/95
********************************
RFP items indicated as "Geac complies" but which this release does not
perform:
*11.1.1 Bibliographic records must be indexed and retrieved by
multiple access points, including personal and corporate author,
proper, uniform, or variant, title, etc.
We have experienced problems with the corporate author search.
*11.1.2 Boolean searching.
This does not always work properly; searches do not reliably
pull up relevant records.
+11.1.6 System should be capable of receiving commands from mouse or
keyboard.
+11.2.2.2 Barcode
*11.2.2.3 Call number
*11.2.2.4 External database control number (eg OCLC, RLIN)
*11.2.2.5 ISBN
*11.2.2.6 ISSN
+11.2.2.7 LCCN
*11.2.2.10 SuDoc number
*11.2.2.11 Technical report number
*11.2.2.13 Imprint
*11.2.2.15 Music publisher's number
11.2.3.9 Combined search which includes a search in the call number
*11.2.3.3 Combined search of any two or more indexed fields in the
bibliographic record.
This was hard to test, because so many of the fields we want
do not appear to be indexed. Apparently it is possible to do this
using Advance command search keys. However, we consider this to be so
obscure as to be virtually unavailable to the user.
+11.2.4 Truncation
*11.2.5.2 Qualify search by date, or range of dates
*11.2.5.3 Qualify search by format
+11.2.5.4 Qualify search by government publication
*11.2.5.5 Qualify search by language
*11.2.5.7 Qualify search by library location and sublocation
+11.3.7 System should be capable of displaying lists of records in
call number sequence by Dewey, LC, or SuDoc number
TECHNICAL ISSUES:
I. Server issues
A. The server doesn't release sockets used for the Gala
protocol when the client disconnects ungracefully. This eventually
results in tying up all the available pipes and refusal to allow
further connections.
B. The scripts to bring the servers up and down are awkward
and cause problems with terminal's display characteristics.
C. Suggestion: Is there a better way to handle network
connections dynamically, rather than depending on pipes?
II. Installation issues:
A. This client should lend itself to a file copy installation
(rather than a Windows install) so we can distribute it to our campus
network.
B. Better installation documentation would allow us to plan
our install strategies.
C. Network installations: It should have configurable and
settable temporary directories (in the *.ini files) so that you can
install the program code in a network directory and direct workstation
disk activity to workstation specific disk space. This would allow us
to install GeoPac easily on a server and simply configure each
workstation to use a local hard disk for temporary files. Such an
approach would require moving the user-defined geopac.ini file
somewhere other than the c:\windows directory, since that might be
shared by a number of workstations. Suggestion: should it be in the
startup directory instead?
D. For installation in public terminals, we would like the
ability to limit user file saving to specified disk drives (ie only
floppy drives). In the present release we are concerned about users
using or accessing hard disk space. This would also simplify the task
for users, by eliminating the need to specify where to put their
downloads.
E. It appears that searches resulting in a large number of
hits cause the system to crash ("Out of string space".) This is
unacceptable.
DESIGN ISSUES:
A. We are very concerned about the number of windows that
this application causes to open. When a number of bibliographic
records are selected for detailed display, we would prefer to have
them all appear in one window and then be able to scroll down within
that window. At present multiple windows are layered above one
another; the naive user will not find them, and even sophisticated
users find managing so many windows frustrating and time consuming.
B. We find the Basket feature difficult to manage. The
ability to create and name specific baskets is not readily visible,
nor is the ability to define Basket displays. Further, we would opt
for doing away with the basket icon and substituting the work "file"
or "save". We have found no way to add items to the end of a Basket
list; the system appears to automatically alphabetize by title. We
would prefer to allow users to sort theirs lists when they are ready.
C. We find the need to invoke entirely different search query
options for keyword vs browse searches problematic. We would like to
see some option which would alert users to all the search options
(comparable to the Advance main menu). Other suggestions: include
other keyword searches in the initial search query screen, or
incorporate browse search commands in the Search Query Builder.
D. So far we have found no way to have more than the $a of
130 or 240 uniform title fields display in the full bibliographic
record. (Other subfields are present in the MARC display.) We
suspect that this can be done by editing the USMARC paragraph of the
GEOPAC.CFG file, but have no documentation on this. We must be able
to display all subfields of these tags, and conveniently.
E. Help screens do not explain the command searches. It's
not apparent what these searches are, nor which commands work. Help
screens do not explain the search mechanism, which fields are indexed
in which search, etc.
F. Searches cannot be re-executed from the Session History.
G. We would like to see an option to hide all icons. At the
very least, all icons should be labelled.
H. In the Generalized Query, it is misleading that the first
option is a keyword search while the others (although not labelled as
such) are browse searches.
I. For public installations, it would be important to have a
time-out feature for session history. Otherwise, we may have privacy
concerns to deal with.
J. We should be able to turn off "balloon help" without
losing all help. Suggestion: keep helpful messages flowing to the
status bar at the bottoom of the screen even if balloon help is turned
off.
K. Printing: we found no way to print multiple citations on
one page. Using one sheet for each title will be extremely costly.
L. We need to be able to go back and forth in a list; it is
too clumsy to click Detail, Close, highlight the next item, and repeat
the sequence for each citation in a list.
M. Highlighting problems: When you have a list of titles,
you cannot skip around and highlight selectively. Once a title is
highlighted in a basket, you can't get rid of the highlighting except
to close and select again.
N. Very unclear what all the options listed under "other" in
the "Generalized Query" screen are. Help messages should be provided
for these.
O. When the call number search is operative, it should appear
on the initial search query screen.
P. Suggestion: Could the search screen windows appear to the
left, and display windows appear to the right? This would still allow
users comfortable with Windows to shift the windows, but still avoid
the layering/overlap we're seeing at present.
Q. The headings window should have a scroll bar rather than
the single and double arrow buttons.
R. We do not find the Boolean Tree Builder useful.
S. Keyboarding issues: From the headings list, the up and
down arrow keys move you up and down the list but do not affect what
heading is highlighted. We would prefer the arrow keys to move the
highlight up and down the list. Also, within the headings or titles
lists, the pressing the Enter key gives unpredictable results.
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