Adding value to Web‐OPACs

Web‐OPACs not only offer simplified access to library holdings for end‐users but also enable librarians to add value to their catalogue data. One feature which has become almost a standard for new library software is including links to full‐text or multimedia documents corresponding to a particular citation. Other features which have not yet become common but will soon do so include: links to publishers, links to corporate sources, and links to journal titles. The latter usually provide tables of contents, and sometimes also offer direct access to full‐text documents for subscribers. Online database providers have acknowledged these new possibilities, librarians soon will. So when migrating library software to new products or new releases, such issues should be observed.