BOPAC2: a new dimension in OPAC display

This article does not fully cover the background and philosophy behind BOPAC2. This is done by a number of published articles and reports. The present BOPAC2 which is available on the Internet and is being accessed from all over the world is the result of two Research Projects which were funded by the British Library. The first Project attempted to simulate the new type of OPAC which we believed could be the forerunner of a much more efficient and effective library catalogue than any of those presently in use. Our aim was to utilise some of the facilities that were becoming widely available on the computer desktop. Features of most GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) such as scrolling displays, highlighting text and pull down menus clearly offered improvements to many information systems of which OPACs are only one.