The library catalogue is considered as a mirror of the library because it reflects the collection of the library i.e. whether the library possesses good, bad or satisfactory collection. It is considered to be the base for most of the library activities such as acquisition, reference, inter library loan etc. In acquisition activity, the catalogue is referred to avoid duplication of reading materials. In reference and inter library loan activities, the catalogue is consulted to see reference and other documents which can be provided on loan or can be consulted to answer reference queries. Hence, the catalogue is considered as an important tool in the library. So, if automation of the catalogue is done, then it will be very much beneficial to the users and the staff wherein they can get the desired information with no time. The automated catalogue also conserves space as compared to the large catalogue cabinet, which occupies a lot of space in the library.

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            OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) is one of the existing aspects of library automation. OPAC is a catalogue, which is available for searching online. Such OPAC may be searched from a terminal within the library or at a terminal elsewhere in the organization remotely via national or international telecommunication networks. Today majority of the software’s which are used for automation in libraries provide a separate module of OPAC. With the latest developments in integrated systems the OPAC is connected to the circulation system so that the used can come to know whether the document he/she is looking for is currently available in the library or on loan. OPAC also promotes resource sharing program and bibliographic search can be done by author, title, accession number, ISBN, Keywords etc. Search in OPAC is by using Boolean logic or by truncation.

 

   The objectives for automation support to cataloguing are:

 

• To speed up the processing of materials into the collection

 

• To reduce the clerical effort, stationary (such as work sheets, cards, etc.) and unit cost of cataloguing a work

 

• To act as a common means to library materials across libraries

 

 Major activities and services supported by the Catalogue Module of integrated library       software include:

 

• Creation of pre-defined worksheet and input of catalogue records

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• Provision for fetching records from Acquisition Module for titles that are “in process” of acquisition but yet to be catalogued

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• Provision for appending digital objects including textual and non-textual (image, audio or vidio) files

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• Provision for incorporating link to Internet resources including “http” or “ftp” links

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• Maintenance of name and subject authority file including provision for construction of thesaurus

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• Provision for generating subject bibliography and list of references

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• Provision for editing, correction and removal of bibliographic records

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• Arrangement of bibliographic records in a pre-defined filing sequence

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• Printing of catalogue cards, bar code, spine labels, etc.

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• Update holding, i.e. number of books, their collection codes, transferring from one collection to another, etc.

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• Generation of current awareness services / recent arrivals, SDI services, etc.

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• Listing of catalogue records by specified criteria such as subject, geographical area, date of publication, alphabetical by titles / author or their combination

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• Generation of indices (author, title, series, subject headings, words in title / series, etc.)

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