Online public access catalogs in Great Britain and in the United States

Survey of the development of the three generations of OPACs in Great Britain and in the United States. The OPACs of the first and the second generation, which mainly use pre- or postcoordinated retrieval systems, do not meet the users' needs. The third generation systems are still in an experimental stage. Using various examples, the authors present the researches, above all on interfaces, the possible dialogues and help to the user, and the change in the content of the OPACs.
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