Exploratory Subject Searching in Library Catalogs: Reclaiming the Vision

Аннотация

Reading library literature from the early days of the OPAC era is simultaneously inspiring and depressing. The enthusiasm that some librarians felt in those days about the new possibilities that were being opened by online catalogs is infectious. Elaine Svenonius envisioned a catalog that could interactively guide users from a broad single-word search to the specific topic in which they were really interested.1 Pauline Cochrane conceived of a catalog that could group results on similar aspects of a given subject, showing the user a “systematic outline” of what was available on the subject and allowing the user to narrow their search easily.2 Marcia Bates even pondered whether “any indexing/access apparatus that does not stimulate, intrigue, and give pleasure in the hunt is defective,” since “people enjoy exploring knowledge