SUL PSPC OPAC SUBCOMMITTEE
Charge and Activities
Revision approved by PSPC on March 20, 2006 Conference Call
[It was approved with the understanding that we can always return to the issue, if it needs tweaking. The group will consider the report (including the appendices – Charge & Activities, and SUL Web OPAC Development Process) as the guide to its activities. It will be refined as feedback from the PSPC or CSUL is received.]

CHARGE: Identify opportunities for designing the WebOPAC interfaces of the 11 State University Libraries (SUL) catalogs to be as easy as possible for library patrons and staff to use, and collaborate with FCLA staff and other appropriate groups as needed to implement changes.

Subcommittee Activities

I. RELATED TO CURRENT ALEPH OPAC INTERFACES IN THE SUL

  1. Examine user interface options provided by Ex Libris in the ALEPH system, and review current implementation of these options in the SUL catalogs.
    1. Identify areas of the interface for which decisions may be made by each of the SUL independently.
    2. Identify areas of the interface that need to be consistent in all of the SUL WebOPAC's for technical or technical support reasons.
    3. Discuss and recommend what areas of the interface are important to be consistent in all of the SUL WebOPAC's, and facilitate broader SUL discussion about these recommendations.
  2. When SUL-wide interface decisions are needed (or determined to be desirable), discuss and propose alternatives, and facilitate broad discussion throughout the SUL.
  3. Help insure that known SUL OPAC functional or presentation problems discovered are communicated throughout the SUL.
II. RELATED TO LONGER TERM ALEPH OPAC INTERFACES IN THE SUL
  1. Review other Aleph WebOPAC implementations to identify ideas for a possible longer-term re-design of the SUL WebOPAC's.
  2. As needed, participate in testing of and discussions about any new or existing Aleph OPAC functionality.
  3. Facilitate discussions about possible OPAC enhancement proposals that may be voted on annually by Aleph customers.
III. OTHER POSSIBLE OPAC INTERFACE ENHANCEMENTS
  1. Monitor evolving non-Aleph OPAC interface developments that may allow for enhanced presentation of library catalog information to SUL users. Facilitate broad discussions and make recommendations as appropriate. NOTE: This may include developments by Ex Libris and/or by any other vendor whose software might be able to work in conjunction with the Aleph system.
IV. OTHER ACTIVITIES
  1. Help identify and explore issues related to the loss of the WebLUIS SUS Union Catalog. As needed, participate in any other union catalog service discussions.
  2. Monitor other tools that allow for connecting from disparate systems to SUL catalog information, or otherwise retrieving data contained in the SUL catalog databases.
ROLE OF OPAC SC MEMBER LOCALLY
Each OPAC Subcommittee member is expected to play a primary role at his or her respective institution in communicating with colleagues about SUL WebOPAC issues, facilitating needed local discussions (e.g. to feed in to any decisions that will apply SUL-wide), testing system functionality, and reporting problems identified locally. They will also share local experiences, discoveries, and decisions with colleagues on the OPAC Subcommittee.
May 22, 2006