SOPAC: The Social OPAC

The Social OPACJohn Blyberg, Darien Library, CT

jblyberg@darienlibrary.orgblyberg.net

Why a Social OPAC?

• Serendipity

• Stewardship

• Community footprint

• Adds value to existing record data

• Attracts users

• Improves the library experience (fun??)

The Network Effect

(Dion Hinchcliffe, web2.wsj2.com)

The Three Social Catalogs

• Pseudo/Semi-Social

• Authority presented as collaborative (ie Encore)

• Syndicated Social

• User-indirect, Third-party data (ie LibraryThing)

• Individually Social

• User-direct (ie Hennepin, SOPAC, XC)

What is a Social OPAC?

• Web 2.0-like social software layer over the existing catalog

• Tags

• Ratings

• Reviews

• Comments

Authority Contrib.Distinction

Think of it as:

ILS DB Social DBMerge

Not:

ILS DBSocial Crap

Social Crap

The front door

The hit list

TagsNo reviews yet

34 catalog card mark-ups

RSS = ubiquitous

The item record

A subtle presence

The item record

Taken from opt-in reading

history

Card catalog?

Add to your personal collection Deface the card

Personal card collection

Back to the tags

Catalog tags

Personal tag collections

Ratings & Reviews

Ratings & Reviews

Helpful?

Naughty?

More reviews from this person?

Respond to this review?

Ratings & Reviews

Personal Review Management

Personal Review Management

Personal Review Management

Issues

• “The chicken or the egg”

• Authority

• Longevity

• Implications for future search interfaces

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jblyberg@darienlibrary.org