Theoretical Framework for Restructuring Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) for the New Generation of Users

Abstract

Library catalogues have embarked into a new world of chaos and begun to lose its value in information dissemination because of the profound impact of various factors which have taken place outside the library world. In this day, providing only bibliographic information is insufficient to meet the current demands of the users. OPACs should be able to give information, and also should be a vibrant and interactive tool. It should consist of many new components to raise the level of its patrons’ expectations. This paper is the authors’ final part of the research study. General features of OPACs were contemplated in the first part of analysis. In the second part of analysis, OPACs were compared with the features of Amazon and Google. Based on these two research studies, this paper proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework for restructuring the library catalogue to make it as a user centred tool and to fulfil present pressing demands.The suggested framework covers both the cataloguing standards and the computer technology to uplift the proficiency of OPACs for the new generation of users.