OPAC Interview

IMAGE: Generated by Bing Image Creator, https://www.bing.com/images/create, prompt: "An online library catalog system being used by students to search for a book".

I was informally interviewed about my experience using OPALS for my school's OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) system. Not many school systems use OPALS, in fact, all schools directly surrounding me use Follett's Destiny Library Manager. So why do we use OPALS?

A Smidge of History

Way back before my Director of Libraries and Innovation became as such my school did use Follett's Destiny. And somewhere down the line one of the librarians met someone at OPALS and started a connection. Fast forward, who knows how long, and the then Director decided to change the entire system from Follett Destiny over to OPALS (OPen-source Automated Library System). 

My Director of Libraries and Innovation said when she came into the position, she saw how much OPALS saved on money that she didn't see the need to change it back. Actually, two people I asked about OPALS gave me the same analogy which is "Destiny is the Cadillac of OPACs and OPALS is the Toyota Corolla. One is nicer looking and more expensive and the other is economical, but both get you where you need to go."

I was also told by the librarian, "I would rather spend money on books for students than spend it all on the catalog." This really resonated with me.

IMAGE: Generated by Bing Image Creator, https://www.bing.com/images/create, prompt: "An online library catalog system being used by students to search for a book".

Informal Interview

I was interviewed by Alison Berlin, and here are my answers.

• How would you describe your current OPAC system’s ease of use for both students and staff?

• Students and staff can search the catalog easily. The search bar is right on the front page of OPALS. That being said, they don’t know about our Pathfinders for dedicated lists unless we show them where it is. They also do not use the filter features (search by title, author, keyword, etc.) to narrow down their search. They just type it in and scroll through all the results. They also assume their result will show up at the top and a few students will assume this means we don’t have the book until we show them that they have to scroll. I don’t think this is a problem of the OPAC, but a problem that students assume what they need will always be exactly where they think it will be.

• What are the most frequently used features you use in your OPAC?

• Overdue lists: I check them every day and send out notices when applicable. The overdue notice is not automated and we can choose from numerous customized messages that can go out. It also gives us the ability to choose to send to students or parents and to include titles, prices, etc.

• Loans: Not only do we use the loan feature for loaning books, but we also use it for patron look-up. The library creates replacement student IDs and even though we can get student barcode, grade, and spelling information from the user search, the loan section is nicely designed and we’re used to using it for checking books out that we just go there automatically for other needs.

• Pathfinders: While students have access and have been guided to use Pathfinders, we like to use them as curated lists for easy pulling. For example, we have a mythology pathfinder. Each year we use this list to pull all the Greek Mythology books we have for the class. We also have a sports pathfinder that we use to pull books for certain sports displays. When new books come in, we add it to its respective Pathfinder, if applicable.

•  What are the most frequently used features your students use in your OPAC?

• Search bar: Students are only interested in searching for what they want. They do not use the OPAC to "explore" the catalog. 
• Item Request: Students are using this more now than they have in the past. If they need a book they can request the item. We receive the request and either get it off the shelves (like a hold in a public library) or when the item is returned they are notified. In either instance, they can pick up their requested item at the library circulation desk.

• Are there any features you wish your OPAC had?

• I do wish the homepage and site in general was more attractive (this could also be because of my design background). It feels very business-like and straight to the point, which is not a bad thing, but having a graphic designer and UX designer look at it would be beneficial not just in how things look but in how things work together overall.
• I also wish it had easier access to genres or our Pathfinder groups which would make searching easier for students who were looking for a category instead of a specific book. You can find Pathfinders, but it's in the menu dropdown which no student goes to unless you show them. You can also search by genre, but the genre is not a search filter so you need to conduct it under a general search which does not necessarily mean all Horror books will show up — all will, but you will get results that use the word "Horror", as well.
• I also wish there was a better way to add Makerspace items to OPALS. Right now, we have puzzles available for check out under the MARC record call number as PUZ. It would be great if we could add crochet hooks, a sewing / embroidery machine, Cricut, and more to the OPAC. Adding the puzzles is kind of like putting a square peg in a round hole. We make it work, but it's not the greatest, which I think is why we do not do this for other Makerspace items.

• Do patrons (especially students) find the OPAC visually appealing and intuitive?

• Students and teachers do not comment on the look of the OPAC, but students do find it challenging. Although, I do not think this is a user interface issue so much as students today seem to expect to have information exactly when they need it. When they run into a small setback, such as maybe they misspelled the title, have to scroll for the result they are looking for, etc. they immediately give up and decide the library does not have it, or they expect you to do the search for them instead of retrying. Once students are shown how to search, they are more likely to use the OPAC system again in the future rather than rely on the librarian to give them the answers. The questions we receive are about where an item is located in the library, or if the "0 Availability" means we do not have the item rather than how features in the catalog are used.

• Can users easily access the OPAC from mobile devices or off-campus?

• Students can access the OPALS catalog — desktop, tablet, mobile — anywhere they have internet access. The domain name for the catalog is something horribly long and unmemorable so it does need to be Googled. Even I Google it each time I need to get to it. We wanted a personal domain name, but have been told it is too expensive so we keep the long one.
• There is an option for students to create their own accounts where they could see their loans, but we don't advertise it and students don't explore the OPAC so they don't know or ask about it either. Students receive overdue notices at the beginning and middle of each month and the day the materials become overdue. Students can also request materials without having an account, and renew books by coming in person, emailing us, or even calling us. They do not need to have their library material with them to renew. So since they can do a lot without an account, it is one less thing we would need to train them on or troubleshoot if a problem arose.

• How accessible is the OPAC for students with learning differences (e.g., dyslexia, low vision)?

• Students with dyslexia or low vision would probably have a hard time. While there is contrast between the background and the text, the font and thumbnails can be small and I do not think students could change that feature if they needed it. As far as I know there are also no screen reading abilities unless a student has that feature on their personal computers.
• That being said, OPALS does say they have font size selection on their website so it is probably a feature in the back-end that we have not yet explored.

• How effective is the search tool—do users typically find what they’re looking for on the first try?

• I typically find what I’m looking for on the first try doing a general search. Mind you the search results are not necessarily at the top, they are 9 times out of 10 on the first result page. If the title I’m searching has very general words, I can do a title search or author search that will usually find the book. You just have to be careful because the search does not handle misspellings. It does not guess like Google would at what you are trying to search for.
• Once students become accustomed to searching the catalog they have an easier time finding what they are looking for on the first try. Some students almost seem scared to interact with it and will say they have trouble using it, but it is more of an excuse for you to tell them the answer.

• Can users search by genre, reading level, or tags like “award-winning” or “new arrivals”?

• Users can search by genre (under general search), awards (although we do not personally add award tags so unless it comes in with the MARC record it won’t show anything), title, author, keyword, barcode, publication date, etc. We do not have a search feature for “new arrivals” but the home page does have a column where new materials are listed automatically when new MARC records have been uploaded.

• Does the system offer suggestions or autocomplete when searching?

• If you start typing the search bar will offer suggestions for what it thinks you want. It won’t try to guess misspellings, but it will try autocompleting by giving you a list of options below the search. For example, if you type “Once” it gives suggestions for “Be Cool for Once”, “Ironhead, or Once a Young Lady”, “Once there were Wolves”, “Once Upon a Childhood”, and more.

• How easy is it to update or edit records in the OPAC?

• Once you understand the parts of the MARC record, it is easy to update or edit records. Once you are logged in, you just hit the "edit" button for the item you wish to update and it brings you right into the MARC record. I am frequently adding prices, locations, series titles, and sometimes summaries to MARC records old and new. 

• Does the OPAC integrate well with your library’s circulation system and digital resources (like eBooks or databases)?

• Yes and no. Databases are in a separate location from the OPAC on the library’s general website. That being said, Gale eBooks are integrated into the OPAC search results which allows users to directly access the eBook from the OPAC. But with Sora, students need to have an account in both OPALS and Sora in order to see Sora eBooks and audiobooks show up in search results.

• Are there any challenges with syncing OPAC data with curriculum tools or learning platforms?

• I do not know, I don’t think we’ve ever run into this.

• Can you customize the homepage or featured collections in your OPAC?

• You can customize OPALS. Elementary looks like OPALS can put a simpler skin on the surface for students to use, and for older students the website can be more “complicated”. Colors can change with your school and logos can be incorporated. It does have features to add like operational hours, a calendar, and some sites have tab features. I’m not sure how much it can be adjusted to your school needs.

• Does the OPAC provide useful analytics or reports on searches and circulation trends?

• Yes, but the overview dashboard snapshot is not entirely accurate. I don't know how some of the dashboard statistics are calculated, but you have to manually find each category to find accurate data — like missing books, loan statistics, etc. It's a little bit of a pain, but I have heard that Follett Destiny is the same where you need to find each statistic separately.

• Are you able to highlight special collections, student recommendations, or themed displays?

• We highlight special collections through Pathfinders. You can also do this through Topic Walls, but we find the Topic Walls to be more cumbersome as you have to click into each book to find location information (call number and location) while the Pathfinder has it automatically on display. We can make Pathfinders for anything. We currently have Pathfinders for 3 English classes, 1 History class, sports, MTCBA, textbooks, recommendations, and more.

• How easy was it to train staff and students on using the OPAC?

• For library staff, we created a “handbook” for all library related needs. This goes for day-to-day activities, to printers, to the OPAC, and more. It breaks down step-by-step instructions on how to do “complicated” things in OPALS.

• Students do not have to be trained on using the back-end, but the library offers “Library Orientation” for teachers to bring their classes to learn how the catalog works, and we also do a Winter Whimsical Scavenger Hunt where students are given clues and they need to use the library catalog to find the “Golden Tickets”. We are also there every day for anyone who may be having trouble searching or finding what they need. When they ask, we guide them through the search process and the next time they come they are more likely to use the catalog than ask for help. 

• What kind of support or documentation is available when issues arise?

• We created a “handbook” for all library related needs. This goes for day-to-day activities, to printers, to the OPAC, and more. It breaks down step-by-step instructions on how to do “complicated” things in OPALS.

• We also have a direct contact with OPALS that we can email and they respond within the day, usually within a few hours. They have worked to fix anything that has come up or have given us answers when we couldn’t find any.

IMAGE: Generated by Bing Image Creator, https://www.bing.com/images/create, prompt: "An online library catalog system being used by students to search for a book".

Pros & Cons

Based on my informal interview, my interview of all my co-workers, and some online searching, here are my comparisons of OPALS and Follett's Destiny.

OPALS

Pros

• Excellent customer service
• Has changed or updated the interface to suit our school's needs
• Price
• Wellesley Public Schools FY24: $6,200
• Ability to link SORA to student search inquiries
• Easy to conduct inventory
• Interface can be designed to meet the needs of the library and school colors
• Compatibility with school servers or they host for you
• Provides training
• Located in the United States
• Ability for self check-ins/outs
• Reserve Shelf Management
• Overdue notice and fee collection available
• Barcoding/RFID
• Search and filter capabilities

Cons

• Does not connect as seamlessly to Follett Titlewise, MARC record imports, or other Follett products resulting in more steps to perform certain tasks (example, 5 minutes to upload a MARC record compared to instant)
• Front- and back-end design is okay

Follett Destiny

Pros

• User friendly
• Better UX design for front- and back-end use
• Easy button click to Follett Titlewise, Follett record MARC imports, and other Follett products
• Easy to conduct inventory
• Great customer support
• Provides training
• Located in the United States
• Ability for self check-ins/outs
• Has an app for phones or tablets
• Reserve Shelf Management
• Overdue notice and fee collection available
• Barcoding/RFID
• Search and filter capabilities

Cons

• Price
• Framingham Library Media Software page 163, FY25: $20,816
• Newhall School District Follett Renewal Contract FY20: $18,875.65
• Perris Un High School District Renewal Contract FY18: $17,422.62
• Imports are only easier with Follett material purchases

*Pulling reports is the same amount of effort on both.

IMAGE: Generated by Bing Image Creator, https://www.bing.com/images/create, prompt: "An online library catalog system being used by students to search for a book".

Informal Conclusion

Based on my brief conversations with four people, and my own informal interview, I have come to the conclusion that OPALS is a perfectly acceptable OPAC. Everyone I talked to said they loved Follett's Destiny because "it is prettier" (the number one "pro" from everyone, second followed by ease of use) but they all agreed it all basically does the same thing. They also admitted, and I can agree, that we do not use all the features in OPALS so OPALS could also be better than what we think. We do not buy books from Follett (their books are more expensive as well) so the easier integration of their MARC records are not saving us any time anyways. 

You really need to look at how you are using the catalog and its services. Think of it like using Microsoft Word and the Google Suite. Both are compatible with each other, but is spending over $10,000 really worth the time you are saving to keep everything in one program? If yes, then great, but if not, let's be real ... $10,000 is a lot of money to save 5 minutes for uploading a MARC record every so often and having your catalog look prettier. No one I asked would go back to using Follett's Destiny specifically because of the price tag. Students are able to search our catalog, and we are able to buy more books and resources because we are saving more money.