Ann Arbor District Library

Ann Arbor District Library OPAC is my choice for this week's delightful OPAC tour. Unlike any other OPAC I have previously examined, what really caught my eyes is the library OPAC in several different languages (i.e., Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, etc). Since my mother tongue is Korean, I clicked "Korean" and the translation brilliantly offers the OPAC in Korean. I was very pleased to read the OPAC in Korean, which seems to serve the population of that language group its purpose very well. Besides, the library seems to actively engage its diverse population within the community with a variety of activities as well. The main page of the AADL provides the information on the featured communal events such as inviting the folks for movies, games, social issues, etc.

The main menus conveniently located right below the library banner image consist of the main page (about us), catalog, events, services, research, contact us, and my account. My primary interest was in the library catalog that I clicked the catalog. Users can search items by keywords, title, author, and subject as well as by location meaning different branches, all age groups, and any material type meaning formats (i.e., book on CD, book on Tape, DVD, VHS, etc). The OPAC also provides the convenient way to browsing catalog by listing "types" under three different lists such as new items, hot items, and by media. In terms of the top 10 tags, the list goes on as follows: 1. Fiction 2. Science Fiction 3. Animie 4. Fantasy 5. Cooking 6. Manga 7. Recipes 8. rap 9. rock 10. comedy. Clicking "fiction" directed me to another page that lists a large number of books; each book was tagged by users.

The most user-friendly, third-order of order way of accommodating users' needs was the several blogs (i.e., audio blog, books blog, and video blog) listed on the left column and three different top 10 tags with which the folks seem to label their interests. I was very curious of audio blog and chose to see what it looks like. The blog was made up of the image jacket of each CD and brief introduction to its music, singers, and interesting scoop of information pertaining to surrounding influence or historical facts relevant to the band, group, or individual singer. Users can post comments by logging in or registering.

Just briefly examining the intriguing aspects of the OPAC, I came to realize the library has been actively engaging e-users who appear to be actively tagging items, posting comments, and sharing information over all. I am not sure whether I should be happy or astonished with the rapid change that the library OPAC is evolving into. One thing for sure though is the library is not what it used to be. Its system is not built only by informational specialists but also by users themselves as it involves the third order of order in the digital (virtual space) library. The AADL users are not just browsing and searching information but also classifying and sharing.