Impact of Enhanced Records on Identifying and Selecting Behavior to Library Catalog Users

An online catalog is the most important tool for seekinginformation about a library’s collection. Traditionally, standard catalogrecords have provided bibliographic data about the basic features oflibrary resources. Users expect the library catalog to be capable ofproviding more information such as a table of contents.This study utilizes observation and interview to explore the way inwhich online catalog users make use of the enhanced elements, and theirpriority when selecting the records. The study also analyses the impactof enhanced records on users in terms of identification and selection ofneeded resources, and users’ overall opinion on value-added catalog.The results show that in certain circumstances, intervieweestend to mix general (such as title, publication year etc.) and enhancedbibliographic elements to assist in their selection and identification ofneeded resources. The result also shows that the information needs to bechanged during the seeking process. Thus the process fully validates thetheory of information-seeking behavior. Although the preference orderof the enhanced elements depends on information needs and systeminterface, the interviewees held an overall affirmative and positiveattitude toward the enhanced bibliographic records, and stronglyrecommended that libraries should proceed with record enhancement.This study found that the major demands of enhanced bibliographicelements from users are valued in the order of: “table of contents,”“content synopsis,” “excerpted content,” “book cover,” and “about theauthor.” The study suggests libraries to consider the manpower andbudget available in order to determine the type of resources needed andthe priorities of bibliographic elements when constructing the valueaddedcatalog.