The Knuckle-Cracker's Dilemma: A Transaction Log Study of OPAC Subject Searching.

Abstract

This report presents the results of an online survey of users who access the University of California's computerized union catalog, the MELVYL* Library system, from public access terminals in the libraries of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). The report includes descriptive statistics on user status, affiliation, anticipated focus of system usage, judgment on ease of system use, and need for assistance. The transaction logs of respondents to the survey are analyzed and cross-tabulated with demographic data on the same group of users. Particular attention is given to subject searching and to the dilemmas that confront users ofa system in which heuristics are largely absent. Comparisons with data collected by the investigators in an earlier study of users who accessed the MELVYL Library system from remote sites are also included.

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