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James Farmer writes:
"I was browsing through my Uni's library catalogue today(http://www.deakin.edu.au) when it struck me that I wasn't really getting as much out of it as I wanted at all... I wanted the 'blurb' - or at least a summary.
"I quite wanted to see the front cover too and I felt desperately in need of some peer comments / reviews. I mean, 'Making adult education interesting' could be the best or the worst book in the world very easily... and when it's one of a 100 new ed books... I haven't got time! In short, I wanted to be at Amazon."
"So I thought, why not? Adding a comments tool isn't that hard. The 'blurb' and covers could be an issue.. but surely publishers would supply them (as they no doubt do to Amazon)... hey, they could even supply sample pages. Am I totally off the mark here or has this / is this being done?"
I mentioned to James that my library system (Innovative) has summaries and reviews built into the catalog, plus a picture of the book cover for most items. I don't think that comments from the community would be a good idea, due to the possible problems that could take place (too many comments, etc.). Anybody want to chime in here?
Posted by Steven at June 7, 2003 09:40 AMI think community commentary is great, but not incorporated directly into the catalog. Too much potential for misuse and abuse. Would be very high maintenance to ensure a G-rated catalog.
On the other hand, I would still want to give voice to patron opinion. Maybe there could be a separate forum (a blog?) for comments. Then perhaps you add an option from the catalog item page that searches the community forum archives for relevant comments. Maybe its not much different than direct incorporation, but gives the patron at least an opportunity to consult peer opinion (at their own risk) without presenting it as an integral part of the OPAC.
But then again, maybe that does nothing to mitigate the library's responsibility for cases of misuse. Just thinking out loud...
Posted by: Greg on June 7, 2003 12:14 PMHiya Greg (& thanks for posting Stephen!)
I appreciate the misuse problems... howabout IP logging or barriers to entry (such as a valid email address) to avoid issues tho'?
Alternatively, I guess review could be screened as they come in (less work than the impossible task of mopderating a community)... They could even be screened by a ton of people in the library itself... there's a way to get in touch with your users!
I think if terms or use are made clear enough - and there's a good 'reporting' system for misuse - it could really kick off... and it'd be a great way to win back some users who just access the texts on their booklist and have stopped 'researching' as they now necer set foot in a library?
Whaddya reckon?
Cheers, James
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