Yocalcat's JISC LMS Blog

Yocalcat project 1. Aims, Objectives and Final outputs

The aims and objectives of the project are to implement OCLC WorldCat Local as the interface to the Library OPAC (SirsiDynix iBistro), thus making searching of the catalogue and federated resources a less complex and more user-responsive experience, and to produce a case study report of that implementation.  OCLC WorldCat Local is in use in over 600 installations in North America and is now being introduced to the UK and Europe, so York St John is an early adopter of the product.  It operates on an annual subscription basis with an implementation fee.  It is necessary to be cataloguing members of  OCLC WorldCat to upload resources so that they are searchable by WorldCat libraries worldwide as well as locally, so decisions about changing the way cataloguing is done and records downloaded have to be made, as well as reviewing other processes in Library and Information Services upon which the implementation will impact.   The project is already underway, beginning with the export of data to OCLC and re-import of OCLC numbers into the catalogue records.   Technical implementation involves setting up Z39.50 access to the underlying LMS, a task largely performed by OCLC but with input on the systems side from York St John.  We are currently  in the process of configuring the web interface, and the next stage will be to configure a web search box for insertion into library web pages and the university VLE (Moodle).    Once the web interface is set up we intend to run both the OPAC and the WorldCat Local interface side by side in order to give access to all local resources, and gain user feedback on WorldCat Local.  The case study will pay particular attention to usability evaluation and review the implementation process. This will be a single iteration evaluation, and a variety of methods will be employed: personas, use cases, task analysis and interaction scenarios in the pre-testing phase; followed by heuristic evaluation in the form of focus groups and videoed think-aloud usability sessions. Data analysis will be informed largely by the Critical Incident Technique, although some quantitative data may also be analysed. It is intended that this study will provide a reference for other institutions considering implementing WorldCat Local. 

The final output will be a report that details the technical implementation, including the challenges faced by a small systems team; interoperability with the LIS OPAC and other systems; usability testing of the interface; contribution to a showcase event to report on findings; dissemination to students, staff, and the wider community via web pages, blogs or other media.  Future plans for developing the system include the potential move to and integration with an open source library management system.  The output for OCLC will be  a contribution to OCLC’s product improvement processes.  OCLC has an ongoing programme of usability testing since it was launched in 2007 and the case study will provide valuable insight into the needs and behaviours of users in the UK academic community, a new market for WorldCat Local.