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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1994

Siân Walters and Shirley Cousins

Company information is of considerable importance to the business community, but finding the right information is not easy. There are many possible information sources in a…

40

Abstract

Company information is of considerable importance to the business community, but finding the right information is not easy. There are many possible information sources in a variety of formats which are often difficult to identify and control. Accurate and current guides to information sources are important and a prototype hypertext guide to sources of company information has been developed to examine the feasibility of utilising this technology to overcome some of the limitations of paper‐based guides. COMPInfo has been developed using GUIDE software. The structure of the system and the way in which this attempts to fulfil the requirements of a good company information guide are discussed. The advantages and problems of the prototype are considered, along with areas in which further development of the structure would be beneficial. In spite of its limitations, COMPInfo indicates that hypertext technology could provide a viable solution to the problems of producing an effective guide to the complex field of company information.

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The Electronic Library, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1993

Having been around in one form or another for some years, decades almost, the term OPAC and the corresponding concept will be familiar to most librarians/information workers. The…

127

Abstract

Having been around in one form or another for some years, decades almost, the term OPAC and the corresponding concept will be familiar to most librarians/information workers. The earliest OPACs can probably be ascribed to the first true online circulation systems, heralded by the arrival of Geac in the United Kingdom around 1980. Prior to that time the quantity of bibliographic information held for the purposes of circulation control ranged from inadequate to non‐existent.

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VINE, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-5728

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1999

Shirley Cousins

Z39.50 is often put forward as a means of providing a virtual union catalogue without the need for a physical union database. This paper considers some of the major technical and…

521

Abstract

Z39.50 is often put forward as a means of providing a virtual union catalogue without the need for a physical union database. This paper considers some of the major technical and organisational issues involved in virtual catalogue production, contrasting them with the traditional union catalogue approach exemplified by COPAC. A way of integrating these two models of the union catalogue is suggested, which would allow effective service provision in the immediate future.

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The Electronic Library, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1997

Shirley Anne Cousins

COPAC is the new OPAC providing a unified interface to the consolidated database of the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL). This paper provides a brief overview of…

852

Abstract

COPAC is the new OPAC providing a unified interface to the consolidated database of the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL). This paper provides a brief overview of the background to CURL and the COPAC project, describing the main content of the COPAC database. Having multiple contributors to the database inevitably results in some record duplication. Deduplication and record consolidation are being carried out in the production of the COPAC database and the general procedures involved are described. COPAC is accessible via a Text interface and a Web interface. Each interface is discussed using example screens to illustrate the search process. Now that the initial COPAC service is in operation, further developments are taking place across several fronts and these are described briefly.

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Program, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0033-0337

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1997

Shirley Cousins

COPAC is a new union OPAC which provides free access to the information contained in the main online catalogues of a number of important academic research library collections. At…

231

Abstract

COPAC is a new union OPAC which provides free access to the information contained in the main online catalogues of a number of important academic research library collections. At the moment records are contributed by the university libraries of Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Oxford and Trinity College Dublin. All these libraries are members of the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL). At the time of writing, records from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine and London University Library (Senate House) are being loaded and the online databases of the remaining twelve CURL member libraries will be added in due course.

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The Electronic Library, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

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Article
Publication date: 15 February 2016

Shirley Cousins and Diana Massam

This paper aims to describe major developments at Copac, including changes that facilitate use for interlibrary loan activity, introduce the Copac Collections Management project…

255

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe major developments at Copac, including changes that facilitate use for interlibrary loan activity, introduce the Copac Collections Management project and look toward future developments in the context of the UK’s National Monograph Strategy. The Copac service gives access to the merged catalogues of 95 UK and Irish national, academic and specialist libraries, and is still growing.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a descriptive account.

Findings

This paper identifies and describes some of the implications of the reengineering of Copac; addresses the role and benefits of the Copac Collections Management project; and looks ahead to forthcoming development areas.

Originality/value

This paper is a valuable update on the service provided by Copac, as well an overview of the forthcoming Copac Collections Management tools service, and an introduction to future developments within the National Monograph Strategy context.

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Interlending & Document Supply, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-1615

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1992

SHIRLEY ANNE COUSINS

Experimental evidence suggests that enhancing the subject content of OPAC records can improve retrieval performance. This is based on the use of natural language index terms…

693

Abstract

Experimental evidence suggests that enhancing the subject content of OPAC records can improve retrieval performance. This is based on the use of natural language index terms derived from the table of contents and back‐of‐the‐book index of documents. The research reported here investigates the alternative approach of translating these natural language terms into controlled vocabulary. Subject queries were collected by interview at the catalogue, and indexing of the queries demonstrated the impressive ability of PRECIS, and to a lesser extent LCSH, to represent users' information needs. DDC performed poorly in this respect. The assumption was made that an index language adequately specific to represent users' queries should be adequate to represent document contents. Searches were carried out on three test databases, and both natural language and PRECIS enhancement of MARC records increased the number of relevant documents found, with PRECIS showing the better performance. However, with weak stemming the advantage of PRECIS was lost. Consideration must also be given to the potential advantages of controlled vocabulary, over and above basic retrieval performance measures.

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Journal of Documentation, vol. 48 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

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Article
Publication date: 15 November 2011

Lisa Jeskins and Shirley Cousins

This paper's aim is to describe recent developments at Copac – the service that gives access to the merged catalogues of many online catalogues of major university, specialist and…

319

Abstract

Purpose

This paper's aim is to describe recent developments at Copac – the service that gives access to the merged catalogues of many online catalogues of major university, specialist and national libraries in the UK and Ireland, including the British Library.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a descriptive account.

Findings

The paper identifies and describes some major improvements that are being made to Copac.

Originality/value

The paper is a valuable update on the service provided by Copac.

Details

Interlending & Document Supply, vol. 39 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-1615

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Shirley Cousins and Ashley Sanders

To explore the use of middleware to provide access to a virtual catalogue via Z39.50, allowing its integration with other services. To consider issues arising from the…

840

Abstract

Purpose

To explore the use of middleware to provide access to a virtual catalogue via Z39.50, allowing its integration with other services. To consider issues arising from the cross‐database search process and the problem of interoperability between systems.

Design/methodology/approach

Middleware was used to establish a Z39.50 server for an existing virtual union catalogue, InforM25. The Copac physical union catalogue was used to carry out cross‐database search tests, investigating the value of query transformation by the middleware and illustrating many of the issues associated with interoperability in cross‐database searching.

Findings

The test results demonstrate the viability and benefits of using middleware to allow the integration of virtual catalogues with other services. The results also illustrate the range of issues affecting the performance of the virtual catalogue, with supporting evidence from the use of the Copac physical union catalogue for cross‐database searching via Z39.50. In particular the discussion highlights the issue of semantic interoperability, as well as emphasising the value of centralised virtual catalogue support.

Research limitations/implications

The research was limited to work on a specific virtual union catalogue, that is InforM25, but the results highlight issues with general relevance in the development of any virtual catalogue. The need for more work on response times in the virtual union catalogue is apparent, along with the related issue of result set post processing.

Originality/value

This paper provides a practical demonstration of the issues important to those involved in making their local catalogue accessible to services, and individuals, outside their own institution, as well as those working on virtual union catalogue development.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 62 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1993

Rosemary Dansey

Automating for the first time, Isle College chose IME's TINlib library management system on the evidence of its ease of use for end‐users. After almost six months of live use a…

44

Abstract

Automating for the first time, Isle College chose IME's TINlib library management system on the evidence of its ease of use for end‐users. After almost six months of live use a questionnaire was distributed to student and staff users of the OPAC in order to assess the effectiveness of the system and its user friendliness; a series of face‐to‐face interviews supplemented the questionnaire data. The results showed a substantial increase in borrowing since automation and gave some pointers as to how the effectiveness of the system could be improved still further.

Details

VINE, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-5728

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