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WebPac Implementation Team : Main Menu Subgroup

Final Report

Subgroup Membership

  • Heather Blunt
  • Jim Fries
  • Paul Merchant
  • Mark Mounts
  • Miguel Valladares

First two points of the charge

  1. Examine pros/cons of a two-layer approach to the Web Opac verses having a one-layer approach with a single entry page. Currently at the top level, the main menu, is a web page <https://inno.dartmouth.edu/screens/mainmenu.html> having the sections Library Services and Staff Functions. At the next level, the opac menu, is the web page for searching the catalog <https://inno.dartmouth.edu/screens/opacmenu.html>.

    Investigating what other libraries have done with their main menu and their opac menu will be a necessary step in this process as is consideration of the purpose of the main menu and the opac menu in the context of the whole library website.

  2. Recommend which approach, one or two layer, should be taken. Examples from other library opacs of their approaches to the main menu and the opac menu can help to demonstrate the logic of the recommendation.

    Recommendation

    The Main Menu Subgroup recommends using the opacmenu.html screen as the catalog's point of entry and not using the mainmenu.html screen. The subgroup sampled several Innovative Interfaces (III) web opacs in production and found the following trends:

    1. Institutions who were using III's web opac as their only library web presence used the mainmenu.html screen. They were using the mainmenu.html screen as their library homepage.
    2. Institutions who already had a library web presence outside of III's web opac were using only the opacmenu.html screen and bypassing the mainmenu.html screen.

    Rationale

    Dartmouth College Library already has a library web presence external to the web opac. The subgroup concluded that using the opacmenu.html screen was adequate for presenting the library catalog to the library user. Avoiding the requirement for drilling down several screens before searching the catalog was an important factor in our decision. A user will most likely encounter the catalog by first entering the library web, then selecting a link to the catalog. Using the opacmenu.html screen as the point of entry to the catalog allows the user to see searching choices, author, title, keyword, etc, with-in one mouse click from the library web. This would be true if entering from DCIS as well. Using the mainmenu.html screen would add a layer requiring two mouse clicks before search options are presented.

Third point of Charge

Develop a functional design for the recommended approach focusing on content.

Recommendation

The subgroup recommends the following list of items for the opacmenu.html screen:

  1. Quick search option (a search box with a pull-down menu having the selections, author, title, subject, call number, and keyword; no help is provided with this search)
  2. Grouped together:
    • Author (sends user to author search screen with help)
    • Title (sends user to title search screen with help)
    • Author/Title (sends user to author/title search screen with help)
    • Subject (sends user to subject search screen with help)
    • Numbers (sends user to a screen for selecting a type of call number search)
    • Keyword (sends user to the advanced keyword search screen with help and pre-search limits; the choice was made not to give the basic keyword search option - the subgroup concluded that the library user should see the pre-search limits, since in keyword searching, post-searching limits are not available. The quick search option does have the basic keyword search)
  3. Grouped together:
    • Interlibrary Loan (sends user to the Interlibrary loan Form)
    • Maps and Hours [Needs to be created]
      -separate screen with links to hours of libraries and to maps (where libraries are on campus and stack arrangements)
    • View your record
    • Help [Needs to be created]
      -screen with help information: to be decided by Help Subgroup
  4. Grouped together:
    • DCIS databases (sends user to DCIS)
    • Course reserves
    • New books
    • Library home (sends user to the library web)

A visual presentation of what the subgroup had in mind can be found at:
/library/infosys/opacmenu/main/main4.html

A final decision for inclusion could not be made for a few items. These items will need further study and/or development:

  1. Journal Title Search
  2. AltaVista Style Search