The Golden Retriever bites back: using the catalogue for user surveying

Reviews the development of the catalogue in the light of changing needs and changing technology. Current development of the interactive catalogue coincides with an increased need to test user reaction to library services in the academic sector because of the growing emphasis on quality assessment. The coincidence has been exploited at the Universities of Hull and Newcastle, using Geac online catalogues to survey library users electronically. Describes the two experiments and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the approach.