The Status of OPAC: A Survey of IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur and Kashmir University Ahmad Hilal* Allama Iqbal Library, University of Kashmir, Srinagar-190006, India *Corresponding author Email id: drhilal@kashmiruniversity.ac.in, joeme198@live.com
Online published on 28 May, 2014. Abstract The objective of this study is to assess the current status of OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) of Central Library, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi; P. K. Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur; and Allama Iqbal Library, Kashmir University. The study highlights the general as well as specific features of OPAC of the select libraries. The investigator was of the impression that OPACs of select IITs may be advanced as compared to Allama Iqbal Library. However, it is revealed that Allama Iqbal Library is ahead of both the select IIT libraries in terms of availability and utilization of features of its OPAC. Nevertheless, it is disappointing to point out that none of these libraries are using all the features of OPAC provided by their softwares. Furthermore, the access to OPACs of select IITs is restricted to the campus only, while as the OPAC of Allama Iqbal Library can be accessed anytime anywhere on the web. The results of this study clearly indicate that there is pressing need to improve the OPACs of these libraries and utilization of all the existing features. Besides having the practical implications for select libraries, the study will also be helpful to other libraries that wish to enhance the features and standard of their OPACs on modern lines. Top Keywords Library automation, OPAC, Web OPAC, India, Software packages, LibSys, Virtua, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, Kashmir University. Top |