PurposeThis paper aims to describe the results of a usability test performed at Western Washington University to determine whether users were as successful performing common catalog‐related tasks in WorldCat Local as they are in the library's current catalog, Innovative Interfaces' WebPAC.Design/methodology/approachA usability team developed a test based on tasks commonly performed in the library catalog. They then tested 24 participants of varying levels of experience and asked each to perform 20 common catalog tasks in either the WebPAC interface currently in use or the WorldCat Local interface. The WorldCat Local interface was a test version which reflected Western Washington University's library holdings, in addition to the Orbis Cascade Alliance consortial holdings and all WorldCat holdings.FindingsWhile the results found that there were tasks in which participants were more successful in WorldCat Local than in the WebPAC, they also identified common tasks in which users were far less successful in WorldCat Local than in the WebPAC.Originality/valueWorldCat Local is one example of a new generation of discovery interfaces that is being considered by a number of academic institutions. This paper provides some insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the product.

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Purpose -Undergraduate music majors often search for resources in a limited number of formats. This developed a specialized search interface which might better support the needs of undergraduate music majors. The aim of this paper is to improve music resource discovery now, without spending any additional funds.Design/methodology/approach -A literature search was conducted to inform the design process. The web search capabilities of the library's existing catalog system were then used to develop a specialized music search interface. Finally, user testing was conducted to obtain qualitative feedback on the effectiveness of the new interface compared with the general-purpose library catalog interface.Findings -This project confirmed that an effective specialized music search interface could be created at no additional cost and with minimal effort, and that coupling a keyword search with pre-search format limiting was an effective strategy.Originality/value -The paper provides a low-cost approach to improving music searching using tools that already exist in most ILSs.Keywords Computer software, Libraries, Music, Online retrieval, Information retrieval, Online operation, Online catalogues, Library systems, United States of America Paper type Case study IntroductionHow people search for music is likely to change in the years ahead. In its annual proceedings, the International Society of Music Information Retrieval (2010) routinely describes potential new ways to discover music. The current generation of library discovery interfaces that offer tag clouds, concept maps, and facetted searching will also likely impact how music is discovered. These new methods of music information retrieval, however, are not yet available in many integrated library systems (ILSs). Like many institutions, budget constraints at Western Washington University (WWU) make the purchase of a new discovery layer unlikely in the next few years.The goal of this project was to improve music resource discovery now, without spending any additional funds. The project resulted in the creation of a specialized music interface based solely on the capabilities inherent in most traditional ILSs. After describing the environment in which the development took place, the article discusses the principle design issues-what type of search would best support music searching and which format limits to offer. Qualitative user assessment was obtained through user testing in which each participant searched for music resources in both the existing general-purpose catalog interface and the specialized music search

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Conference Reports 117 * Only the names of those participants who actually made oral or poster presentations are given here. Their co-authors, sometimes quite numerous, are fully listed in the book of abstracts which is currently under preparation for publication and will be printed at VNIIOkeangeologia in 2002.