Error and Information Messages in Online Public Access Catalogues
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2008.v31.i1.412Keywords:
error messages, information messages, online help, OPAC, online access public catalog, evaluationAbstract
The following is an investigation of the Web OPAC information and error message system. This study is a part of a greater research project involving the Web OPAC online help system and the use of online help. In the subsequent pages, we propose a classification of error messages: those related to the OPAC connection operation, related to the OPAC searching data entry, related to the result pages access, and finally, those messages related to the results navigation task. Both the coexistence of messages caused by the basic operations of information retrieval and the presence of additional and enriched OPAC messages are evaluated. The adequacy of the error messages to the recommended guidelines and standards in relation to their structure, contents and display are also studied. To conclude, some observations, such as the identification of the error messages that the OPAC offered to the user, as well as their major and minor frequencies, together with comments about the persistent problems found in the error identification and information messages generation systems, along with some useful recommendations for future studies, are included.
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