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Selected papers from the ALIA 2006 Biennial Conference
Introduction
Even though the online public access catalogue (OPAC) now functions against a background of alternative information-gathering technologies it is likely to remain at the centre of library operations for the foreseeable future as the primary automated point of connection between library users and those information resources which the library owns or otherwise wishes to promote. In the context of mass digitisation, internet search engines may be many people's research instrument of choice ([6] Haigh, 2006), and the development of electronic journal publishing may have provided easier access than ever before to journal content through federated search interfaces and link resolvers, but OPACs still have a necessary role in preserving access to library collections, maintaining a consistent and authoritative form of bibliographic control and providing a targeted information environment for specific client groups ([2] Calhoun, 2006). The OPAC is thus a crucial site of mediation, but how does this mediation actually work? What is the nature of the act of communication in which the library user engages when interrogating the OPAC? What are the structural limits of this act of communication and how can they be minimised or avoided? What, in short, from a theoretical point of view is a library OPAC?
The present paper looks at these and related questions using perspectives from the fields of semiotics, communication theory and the philosophy of information. It suggests that far from being a simple conduit of data from database to user, the OPAC, like any communication device, is in fact a contested site, a space in which multiple discourses co-exist and serve to interrupt and dislocate the process of communication. The paper falls into three main parts. First, the act of questioning the OPAC from the point of view of the theory of communication is traced. Second, some of the major areas of indeterminacy that influence and undermine the communication process are highlighted. And third, some practical ways in which these indeterminacies can be in some degree overcome are suggested. Asking fundamental questions about the nature of the OPAC is not merely a topic of theoretical interest: it should create a grounded basis for ensuring effective OPAC development and design, and at the same time help define clear...