Searching For Media In The Online Catalog: A Qualitative Study Of Media Users by Margaret Hume MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship, v3 no.1, Spring 1995:1-20. ABSTRACT Media users may have special needs and problems when searching for media materials in the online public access catalog (OPAC), but no user studies could be located which focused exclusively on searching for media in the OPAC. Results from individual and focus group interviews with faculty and students at Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec) demonstrated confusion over OPAC media holdings, a lack of awareness of media access points and searching features of the OPAC, and weaknesses in subject access to media. Recommendations included providing specialized user education for media and improved geographic and period subdivision access in genre/form subject headings for film and music media materials. INTRODUCTION Library users have been the subject of much investigation by librarians over the years. While user studies abound, none were found that focused exclusively on the experience of users searching for media materials in an online catalog environment. Media materials have been emerging into greater prominence in the collections of academic libraries. New formats are being added and more fields of study are incorporating media into their teaching. It is possible that users have some unique problems searching for media. This is an area of study that requires attention. Throughout the entire history of the library, no one from the Cataloguing Department at Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec) had ever asked our users if we were meeting their needs for access to media materials. We wanted an opportunity for direct consultation with our users. The overall goal was an improvement in access to media materials. Through an investigation of our users' needs for access and bibliographic information for media materials we would determine what improvements could be made. On the local level, this would be an opportunity for feedback and adjustment in an effort to serve our users better. For the larger library world, the study would contribute an exploration into the special needs of media users. *Page 1* The Departments of Art Education, Cinema, and Music were chosen for the study because their reliance on media materials, which form a central part of their studies, suggested that they would have a greater than average need for, and interest in, online public access catalog (OPAC) access to media holdings. In the period between March 1993 and May 1994 the author conducted a series of individual and focus group interviews with faculty and students in these departments to explore their searching patterns and bibliographic needs in the OPAC when searching for media materials. Specifically, we wanted to know how our users searched for media materials in the OPAC. What access points did they use? Were we providing too many, just enough, or too few access points? What difficulties were they encountering in their searches? Was the subject access satisfactory? In particular, did users find that the genre and form headings met their needs? What information did our users consider important to be included in the bibliographic record? Was there important information missing? Did they need everything we were including? Qualitative research, in the form of individual and focus group interviews, would enable us to explore those questions. Interviews offered open-ended questions, the freedom to determine why certain answers were given, and the ability to discover issues not anticipated by the interviewer. Interviews offered direct contact with users, and an opportunity to achieve some understanding of their level of knowledge of bibliographic records, access points, and searching features of the online catalog. The use of terminology could be noted. While the results of qualitative methods could not be used to infer or project statistical behavior patterns onto the general population, they could provide an indication of user behavior, needs, and problems, as well as input for any later quantitative studies. BACKGROUND The study was initiated after a series of significant changes at Concordia, including the opening of new library buildings on both *Page 2* campuses of the university and the introduction of its first OPAC. The downtown campus Webster Library, serving the Art Education and Cinema Departments, opened in September 1992 and the extension of the west end campus Vanier Library, serving the Music Department, opened in 1989. The two media centers, one in each library, enjoyed not only new premises and increased space, but also had new equipment and more prominent locations within the libraries. Additionally, the libraries' card catalogs were replaced by an INNOPAC OPAC that was named CLUES (Concordia Library Users' Enquiry System). The libraries continued their cataloging practices of using: the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd ed., rev. (AACR2r), second level of description; Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH); and Library of Congress Classification (LCC). The study focused on media materials held by the Webster and Vanier Libraries. It did not include materials in the Audio-Visual Department, which is totally separate from the libraries, and contains media materials used for instructional purposes by various departments in the university. The media holdings of the Audio-Visual Department are not yet included in the OPAC. Media collections held by individual departments, such as the slide library maintained by the Fine Arts Faculty, are also external to the libraries (and the OPAC) and were not considered in the study. The libraries' INNOPAC system is a user friendly system, with a menu-driven command structure and all command options available for reference on the screen. Help screens are automatically displayed when each search option is selected. The record display labels the parts of the bibliographic record. The subject subdivisions are rotated in the subject index. The system also permits the limitation of searches by a number of options, including material type. This option is important in the search for media. The material types may be defined by the individual library. At first, Concordia Libraries used the material types that corresponded to the MARC (machine readable cataloging) fixed field (type-of-record, USMARC Leader/06), but, during the summer of 1993, redefined the material types to permit finer distinctions, such as phonorecords, compact discs, sound cassettes, videos (includes both videocassettes and videodiscs at *Page 3* the present time), films, etc. The INNOPAC system permits the user to move directly from a displayed record to the various indexes in which a displayed item is listed. For example, a user may select "Show items nearby on shelf" in order to browse the classification index or select "Show items with the same subject" in order to browse the subject index. At the time of the study the subject authorities were loaded into the OPAC, but only a few of the name authorities were present. LITERATURE REVIEW Qualitative research, and focus group interviews in particular, have come into increasing popularity in the field of library and information studies. Karen Markey's (1983) report of the use of focus group interviews as part of the Council on Library Resources study of library users and OPACs served as an early example demonstrating the value of this method. "Library patrons and staff can express their needs and perceptions of online catalogs in their own words" (Markey 1983, 382). Focus groups are particularly useful for exploratory research (Stewart and Shamdasani 1990, 15). Valentine used focus groups and individual interviews in an exploratory study of library research skills among undergraduate library assistants (Valentine 1993). McClure, Ryan and Moen included focus groups and individual interviews as part of their exploratory investigation of the impact of national electronic networks on public libraries (McClure, Ryan, and Moen 1993). This exploratory method provides the valuable potential for "... unanticipated responses [which give] rise to fresh hypotheses for more systematic and rigorous investigation" (Merton, Fiske, and Kendall 1990, 4). Qualitative research in the form of individual and focus group interviews, therefore, offered the opportunity to investigate what access points and level of bibliographic detail were important for media users when they searched the OPAC, to explore the needs of faculty and students in more depth, and to look for insight and unanticipated responses with respect to the search for media materials. *Page 4* METHODOLOGY Research Questions The questions to be answered by the investigation were straightforward. How did users search for media materials in the OPAC? What access points were important to our users? What were the difficulties when searching for media materials? What additional access points did media users want? We were interested in our users' feedback on genre and form access. Did they use it, and was it adequate? Did they use the limit feature in the OPAC to limit searches to specific categories of media materials? Which notes did our users consider essential? Faculty Interviews The first part of the study consisted of interviews with faculty members in the Departments of Art Education, Cinema, and Music. Selected faculty members were initially approached by letter (APPENDIX I). Three faculty members in each department were interviewed, including the chairs of the Cinema and Music Departments, and a senior member of the Art Education Department. Interviews were conducted between April 1993 and April 1994. Faculty were interviewed individually, with the exception of one art education professor who was interviewed in the company of two students. The author used a questionnaire form (APPENDIX II) to guide the interview and on which to note responses and comments. The OPAC itself was used to provide examples and to generate discussion during the interview with one of the art education professors, two of the cinema professors, and two of the music professors. Print-outs of selected bibliographic records were used as examples for discussion for all but one of the remainder of the interviewees (that individual also happened to be a librarian). As part of one interview with an art education professor, we viewed a videorecording with which the professor was familiar, and she discussed what would and would not be important to her to include in the record and trace. The setting *Page 5* for the interviews varied, and included the author's office, faculty offices, the Webster Media Centre, and the Vanier Library orientation room. The interviews lasted from one to two hours each. Questions asked during the interviews were structured around two main topics. The first concerned what access points the interviewee used in the OPAC to look for media materials. Additional questions concerned difficulties encountered and additional access points that would be desirable. The second main topic concerned what notes and information in the body of a bibliographic record the interviewee considered to be important. Beyond answering these questions, the structure of the interviews was informal and permitted the interviewees the freedom to discuss any other matters of concern relating to access to media in the OPAC. Student Interviews The second part of the study consisted of interviews with students in the Departments of Art Education, Cinema, and Music. Three focus group interviews, one for each department, were conducted with the author as moderator. There were four additional interviews with either one or two students from Cinema and, as noted above, two additional art education students were interviewed along with their professor. The interviews were conducted between March 1993 and May 1994. Students were enlisted for their participation either through the recommendation of the faculty in the department or through sign-up sheets (APPENDIX III - IV) which were left at the circulation desks in the media centers. A total of 23 students were interviewed. Breakdown by department was as follows: Art Education-- focus group 6 graduate students interviews 2 diploma students Total 8 *Page 6* Cinema-- focus group 4 undergraduate students interviews 5 undergraduate students Total 9 Music-- focus group 6 5 undergraduates, 1 graduate Total 6 The group as a whole consisted of 11 males and 12 females. The focus group session with the art education students was the first one held and served as a trial run. Subsequently two factors were changed. In the first focus group interview print-outs of selected bibliographic records from the OPAC were used as examples and no reward, other than thanks, was provided. In the subsequent two focus group interviews and the individual Cinema interviews, the OPAC projected onto a screen was used to provide examples, and chocolate bars, as well as thanks, were provided as rewards for participation. All focus group interviews were tape-recorded, as were the additional individual interviews with the cinema students. The sessions lasted approximately one hour. The first focus group session was held in the Webster Media Centre, while the remainder of the interview sessions were held in the Webster and Vanier orientation rooms. The structure of the moderator's guide (APPENDIX V) generally followed the categories laid out by Greenbaum (1988, 86-98). They were as follows: 1) introduction of moderator and participants 2) explanation of the objectives of the session 3) explanation of the audio-taping 4) warm-up questions, general topic discussion (inquiring about participants' studies, what media they used) 5) specific topic discussion (main part of interview) 6) wrap-up 7) close The specific topic discussion centered around the same basic questions as the faculty interviews concerning what access points were used in the OPAC to locate media materials, what information *Page 7* was considered to be important in the body of the bibliographic record and what difficulties were encountered. While it would have been preferable to have had eight to ten students in each focus group, it proved difficult to locate a sufficient number of volunteers. Many cinema students who volunteered did not show up for the session, which caused the number of interviews with one or two students. RESULTS Art Education Art education students reported using videorecordings, slides, and a wide range of mixed media materials suitable for early childhood education, including such items as study prints. Faculty reported using videorecordings. One professor reported not using materials from the media centers, relying instead on departmental and personal resources, as well as materials from the university's Audio-Visual Department, with which he was more familiar. This was an obvious case of competing resources. Art education students found the word search, which includes words in the title, subject and contents note, to be the most flexible search command. Some noted that the word search could produce hitlists that were too big. The subject search was also used, and author and title searches were used for known items. Faculty reported using subject searches, and author and title searches for known items. One professor noted that accurate spellings could sometimes be a problem with the author and title searches. Users wanted to be able to have access to media materials by the names of individuals of overall importance to the production of the item. Knowing who produced a work gave an indication to them of the character of the item. One student commented on the importance of knowing who is producing media in your field. Professional bodies related to the subject area, such as the National Art Education Association, were important to trace when they were associated with the production of an item. *Page 8* In the area of subject searching, art education students preparing material for elementary school classes noted that they needed to locate materials thematically. Elementary school curriculum is organized in large thematic units, and they had some difficulties locating materials by themes in the OPAC. The importance of nationality, especially Canadian, was noted. Students noted, for instance, that they might like to know what works we had by Canadian video artists, or what video art we held that was produced in Britain. Another difficulty noted by art education students concerned the problem of locating "kits" in the OPAC. By "kits," they meant mixed media items of all types. They wanted to know how these could be found in the OPAC without knowing the exact titles. Art education users found the following information to be important to be noted in the bibliographic record: those responsible for intellectual content; those with overall major contributions to production, such as producer, director; host, interviewer, interviewee; language of the item; date of original production; age level of the intended audience; summary note; contents note; duration. The age level or grade level of the intended audience, and the duration of the item were important for teachers planning to use these materials in the classroom. One student made a point about teacher's guides, saying he might want to be able to retrieve all items that contained teacher's guides in order to do research on them. Some art education users were familiar with the ability of the OPAC to limit searches by material type and others were not. One student expressed the wish to be able to access a "sub-catalog" or menu of media materials without having to limit an initial search. Another commented on the desire to be able to locate media titles that contained two specified types of media, such as titles that contain both slides and sound cassettes. The OPAC was designed to specify only one material type for each item, and thus this was not possible. *Page 9* A very eloquent plea for access was noted as follows. "A user approaches a record with a problem he is trying to solve. The more access the better. You are restricted by the fields made available to you. You can't get everything ... So, the more fields you can give us the better." Cinema Students and faculty in Cinema used videocassettes, videodiscs, and films. Students also indicated that they used additional types of media, such as slides and mixed media kits, for courses other than Cinema. Students reported that their most usual way of searching for media in the OPAC was by using the author search to look for names of directors, or by using the title search to look for names of films. A secondary searching method was a subject search. The subject searching by students consisted of searches for topical headings covered by films. They reported some difficulty selecting subject terms when searching for documentary films by topical headings. Only one student indicated an awareness of the ability to search for film genre terms using a subject search. For the rest of the students, this ability came as a total surprise. Some students said they did not use the OPAC to look for media. For a couple of students, this was because they were not aware that media materials were included in the OPAC. For the others, it was because they preferred instead to look up films and browse titles in the printed list of video titles kept at the media center desk. This main-title-only list was prepared by media center staff. There was also available a paper list of the video titles available at the Audio-Visual Department. In fact, all of the students indicated a fondness for browsing these printed lists of available videos. They would like to be able to browse such lists in the OPAC. *Page 10* Cinema faculty indicated that they usually used the author, title, or genre heading searches in the OPAC; topical subject headings were used as a secondary method. One professor reported that he did not usually use the OPAC to search for media, but worked from paper lists of specific titles available at the media center and at the Audio-Visual Department. Faculty were all in agreement about the importance of genre access to films. One professor was not happy with the hierarchical structure of the LCSH genre headings. Another defined the subject heading "Video art" when used as a genre term to be a work produced on video, outside the mainstream television system and within the art milieu, including documentary, dramatic, and experimental forms. This was a broader application of the term than we had been using in the Cataloguing Department. Only one student was aware of the ability to limit a search by material type. Students said they would prefer to be able to select media as an option directly from the main menu. Queries about how to locate "kits" surfaced in this group as well. The predominant difficulty noted by the students was their confusion over the media holdings represented by the OPAC. In fact, as previously noted, some did not even know that media materials were in the OPAC at all. They were uncertain if the OPAC contained the holdings of the Audio-Visual Department, which they also used heavily, and whether or not the OPAC contained all of the holdings of the media centers. The information screen on the OPAC only indicated "audiovisual materials," with no further explanation. The second greatest difficulty felt by students was inadequate knowledge about how to search effectively for media materials in the OPAC. None of the students were aware of all the access points available or of all the searching features of the OPAC. Most students had previously been aware only of access by title, director, and topical subject heading, when applicable. There was strong support for a brochure or handout giving guidance on searching for videos and films. *Page 11* Students indicated that ideal access would be provided by title, director, producer, screenwriter, writer of the original novel, production company, cinematographer, music director, choreographer, main actors, country of origin, style or genre, and era. Of these, the access points not currently being provided in the OPAC were the cinematographer, music director, choreographer (at least, not consistently), country of origin, and era. When asked what additional media access they would like to see provided in the OPAC, faculty responded as follows. They would like to be able to search for film titles by country of origin. They would like to see greater use made of the genre heading "Documentary films." They would like to be able to limit by year of production, not year of publication of the video. They would like to see broader as well as specific subject headings used. They would like access to items consisting of film stills. Faculty also stressed the importance of providing access by the original language title of a film, as well as by all titles by which the film might be known. Additional individuals to be traced should include cinematographer, animator (if well-known), art director, main editor, narrator (if important individual), music director, and choreographer. In addition to the access points mentioned previously, faculty and students felt the following note information should be present in bibliographic records of film media: language note, especially noting any subtitles and dubbing; the original language title and different release titles in different countries; main performers; cinematographer; animator; art director; film editor; narrator; music director and/or choreographer; edition and history note, including the date of original production; summary note, perhaps a little fuller; contents note; and aspect ratio. Contents notes were felt to be important for film anthologies. It was also noted that a distinction should be made between a video reproduction of a film and a video originally produced as a video. *Page 12* Music In response to the preliminary question concerning the types of media materials used, music faculty and students said they used all types of sound recordings (phonorecords, sound cassettes, compact discs) and videorecordings (videocassettes, videodiscs). They also used scores, which are not media materials, but are housed in the Vanier Media Centre. While printed music materials were not part of the scope of the study, they were so intrinsic to the needs of the music users that they needed to be included in the discussion. Music students described using the word search most frequently, since many of the titles and performers they sought were contained only within contents notes. They did not use the title or author searches much and reported that the subject search was not very useful. They found LCSH too broad. The subjects they sought, they said, were much too narrow for LCSH to be useful. While one music professor used the subject search frequently, the other two professors searched most often for known items using author, title, and word searches. Many music users were using the word search as an all-encompassing search and did not realize that it did not include many names that could only be located by an author search. Subject difficulties require further elaboration. In addition to the previous comments by the students, professors were critical of the LC subject headings. For teaching purposes, there was a need to be able to locate music materials (both sound recordings and scores) by historical music periods, as well as by type of music. The nationality of the composer, especially for our own country, was also important. One disagreed with the use of terminology relating to the field of electronic music. He would prefer to see electroacoustics as the accepted term, with narrower terms being computer music and musique concrete. He noted that there were some differences between Canadian and American usage here. Students reported that they did use the limit feature in the OPAC to limit their searches by material type. However, they said they would prefer to be able to limit by material type at the beginning of their search, that is, before, rather than after, an initial search. They expressed a desire to be able to select media materials as a category directly from the main menu. *Page 13* Other difficulties in searching experienced by the students and faculty concerned the search for particular music selections. While sound recordings usually contained full contents notes, videorecordings, songbooks, and music books did not. In particular, they needed to be able to locate both the sound recording and the score for a music selection. They would appreciate being able to see a listing of all works for which the library held both the sound recording and the score. Locating performers was another area where difficulties arose. Access to works by all performers, not just by the main performers or the group name, was important, particularly with jazz. Problems when searching for names could also arise from uncertainty about the exact spelling. A final area of difficulty in access arose from approximately 4,000 uncataloged sound recordings residing at the Vanier Media Centre. Both the faculty and the Vanier Media Centre staff had worked to provide some form of access to parts of the uncataloged materials through print and electronic lists. With regard to the level of bibliographic detail in individual bibliographic records, users stressed full contents notes, all performers, edition, and the date of the original recording. The latter was particularly important for jazz. The language of the selection, if applicable, and any variations in title were also mentioned. Music students appeared to be fairly knowledgeable about the searching features of the OPAC. All were familiar with using the limiting feature, as well as the fact that the contents notes were included in the word search, a fact which is not stated in the OPAC. One student made the suggestion of using the option to "Show items nearby on shelf" in order to help locate particular versions of a classical music selection. Two of the three music professors interviewed appeared to be fairly knowledgeable about searching in the OPAC. *Page 14* DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS How Did Users Search for Media Materials in the OPAC? In two out of three groups, student media users reported that they favoured using the word search, which indexes words from the title and subject fields, as well as the contents note. Most students reported also using other searches such as subject, author, and title when looking for media materials. Faculty expressed a heavier reliance on author and title searches, looking for known individuals and titles. Subject searches were primary searches for some and secondary searches for others. Two music professors claimed they never used subject searches for media materials. Some users appeared to rely mostly on one or two search patterns. Music students reported relying heavily on the word search, while some cinema students reported relying on the author search (for directors' names) and the title search. Using the word search as a flexible means to search without knowing the exact title or subject term, as well as to access information contained only within a contents note, is certainly a good beginning. There are problems when the word search becomes the only search method. In the case of music users looking for performers and composers, the word search may be misleading since it retrieves only those names contained within the contents notes and misses entirely those that are solely in the author index. While looking for unique music titles by means of a word search might be useful, using this method to search for music titles composed of common or generic terms would undoubtedly produce difficulties. As some art education students pointed out, the word search can produce lists that are too large. In such a case, a secondary tactic to narrow the list should be taken. One such tactic would be an examination of a few items in the list until an item close to the subject wanted is located. Then, by selecting the option to "Show items with the same subject," the user may locate LCSH subject terms that will hopefully lead to a more precise subject search. *Page 15* What Access Points Were Important to Our Users? The description by users of what access points were important generally covered a broader scope than their current searching patterns would indicate. In spite of their reliance on title searching and looking for directors' names, cinema students listed as valuable many categories of individuals and corporate bodies, topical subject headings for documentaries, and genre headings. The group as a whole indicated important access to media included individuals of overall significance to the intellectual creation and production of the item. Title access was fundamental. They needed access to all titles, variations of titles, original language titles, and titles of contents. Subject access was essential, including topical and genre/form headings. Users stressed the significance of including nationality and time period in the genre/form headings. What Difficulties Did Users Experience? The predominant difficulty conveyed by users was confusion over the media holdings of the OPAC. Some did not know that media were included in the OPAC; others were uncertain which university media holdings were included; others were bewildered by uncataloged holdings. Many users were not aware of all the access points that were available for media in the OPAC. This was particularly noticeable with the cinema students. Some users were perplexed translating their media needs into appropriate searches in the OPAC. Queries about how to locate mixed media "kits" surfaced in two student groups. They did not know how to go about searching for these kits other than by exact title. Inaccurate spelling of names was pointed out as another hindrance in searches. *Page 16* Inadequate familiarity with the searching features of the OPAC hampered many users. About half of the group did not know how to limit a search by material type, a key feature for locating media. There was also a poor understanding of the scope of some of the OPAC indexes. Some music users thought the word index included all names in the author field. Some cinema users were surprised that corporate bodies and performers were included in the author index, and that genre terms were included in the subject index. Problems in subject access were comprised of difficulties in selecting appropriate terms and by insufficient geographic and period access. Art education users complained about not being able to find media by curriculum themes. Cinema users found it difficult to locate documentary films by topical subject terms. Music users declared that the subject terms were too broad for their needs. Users from all departments reported difficulties locating media by nationality and time period. What Additional Access Points Do Media Users Want? Faculty and students in all three departments indicated the importance of including nationality in the subject headings. Problems in providing this access have been most noticeable for film and music subject headings in LCSH. The recent decision by the Library of Congress to permit many more of the film genre terms to divide geographically has been a good step in helping to improve this shortcoming. In the past, some film genre terms in LCSH permitted geographic subdivision, but many did not. Since our most frequently used film genre terms had not previously permitted geographic subdivision, our practice at Concordia had been not to add any. We will need to begin to add geographic subdivision wherever possible, as well as to update previous records and add the geographic subdivision, at least for the main film genre terms. Music subject headings for individual compositions or collections by one composer do not reflect the nationality of the composer, thereby requiring the user to go elsewhere for this type of information. *Page 17* Similarly, time period access was indicated by users to be important. Music faculty indicated a need to be able to retrieve works by historical music period. The Library of Congress practice with music subject headings has been not to use period subdivisions for collections or compositions by only one composer or for separate music compositions. The recent changes adding time periods to the form terms for jazz and rock music indicate that adding a period subdivision can be possible. Why can this not be extended to other music forms? Cinema users have also indicated an interest in access to the era. Is it possible to define historical periods in cinema or to add time in decades? The most striking request that emerged from discussions with the students in all three departments was the desire to access media materials by format directly from the main menu. Whether a user limits a title search by material type, or limits a material type search by title, the end result should be the same. Of course, being able to make an initial search by material type would enable a user to browse the entire list of items in a particular media format. For small lists, this might be useful. However, browsing through a list of several thousand items would be inefficient to say the least. Nevertheless, the format of the media is considered to be a desired access point. In cases where the user is perplexed about how to formulate a search, this ability might offer a starting point. Since the OPAC was only one to two years old at the time of the study, this may be a matter of transition from the card catalog, when a separate media card catalog was located in each media center. Users may think they will search more effectively if they can search a "separate" media online catalog. Perhaps there has been too much reliance on printed lists of titles. User education may be valuable here, teaching users to define their needs better and let the OPAC do the work of sorting and presenting a smaller, more focused list. This may be a case in which what the user thinks he wants is not necessarily what he really needs. Since the study was completed, Concordia has added *Page 18* the general material designations to the word index of the OPAC. This is not the selection of format from the main menu that was suggested, but it does provide the direct access desired. OPAC access to media through additional personal name categories (such as all performers for sound recordings and cinematographer, choreographer and editor for videos and films) was also desired. Users' Feedback On Genre and Form Access The level of contentment with the film genre terms provided by LCSH could not be determined because the students questioned had such a lack of awareness of their usage in the OPAC. The only directions that were gained were comments by the faculty concerning more frequent use of the term "Documentary films," and broader use of the term "Video art." Music students expressed a general dissatisfaction with music subject headings and stated that they were too broad for their needs. Could user education improve their usage of the subject headings, or are there some definite problems with the structure of the LCSH music form headings? Art education users reported difficulty locating media materials by themes that could be used in curriculum planning. The catalog has been providing topical access to themes represented in juvenile materials, both print and media. Further study will also be required in this instance to understand better where the problem lies. Which Notes Did Our Users Consider Essential? Contents notes and the edition/history note, including the date of original production or recording, were felt to be of critical importance. Language, varying titles, and performers/credits notes were also important. The summary, age level, and duration notes were considered useful. *Page 19* RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of the observations obtained from the study, the following recommendations are being made with the goal of improved access to media materials. (1) Specialized user education specifically suited to the needs of each area of study is recommended. This could bring significant improvements to the meeting of media users' access needs. Many of the difficulties users reported in the study could be diminished by user education. Users require more guidance to locate media than they do for library materials in general. Users require specific knowledge of what access points are provided for the media materials they use, and what indexes and searching features of the OPAC will best meet each need. This is not as readily apparent for media as it is for print materials. Users need to know what media materials are and are not included in the OPAC. User education can teach methods of locating media that are more efficient than browsing lengthy printed lists. Printed guides, classes, and explanatory notes in the information field of the OPAC could all be used in this effort. (2) Implementation of the use of all geographic subdivisions now available for LCSH film genre subject headings is recommended. A retrospective project to add geographic subdivisions to the most commonly used headings is suggested. (3) The Library of Congress is urged to continue to extend geographic subdivisions to all film genre terms and to consider adding period subdivisions as well. Consideration also should be given to the needs of music users to have geographic and period subdivisions available for individual compositions and composers. (4) Further investigation of the level of satisfaction with genre/form subject headings is suggested. Insufficient information was obtained from this study. After a lapse of time to allow for more user education, an investigation into the level of satisfaction and the nature of difficulties with subject access is suggested for the three departments. *Page 20* (5) The addition of the remaining name authorities to the OPAC as soon as possible is advised. This will reduce difficulties with the spelling of names. (6) Consideration of the suggestions of providing access by additional categories of individuals is suggested. (7) Direct access to items by media format needs to be debated. The value of including media format as a direct access point is far from clear. There are many reasons to be skeptical about providing this in an OPAC, not the least of which is excessive demands that could be placed on the OPAC system. While there remain some outstanding issues for investigation, a great deal has been learned about how our media users search for media materials in the online catalog. We have gained some directions for action aimed at improved access to media and provided input for any later quantitative studies. On a closing note, participants seemed to appreciate the attention. The direct contact between media cataloging librarian and media user has been an invaluable experience for both in placing a human face on the other side of the OPAC. APPENDIX I. LETTER TO FACULTY Concordia University Libraries [date] [professor's name & local address] Dear Prof. [name]: Please allow me to introduce myself. I am the librarian who catalogues the media centre materials for the Concordia University Libraries. I would be interested in having an opportunity to speak with you concerning the use of media materials in your department. *Page 21* My questions are quite straightforward. They concern your access to media materials through the library catalogue (now the computerized CLUES). Of course, I am interested in the particular media that the [name] Department uses. The first question is: which access points to media materials do you consider to be essential? In other words, how do you wish to be able to look up the record? Choices include: title, writer, composer, producer, director, production company, performers, subject, etc. The second question is: what kind of note information would you consider to be important to find in the catalogue record for the item? This could include such things as contents notes, summary notes, credits notes, edition and history note (when it was originally produced at an earlier date), etc. It is not necessary for you to prepare information ahead of time. I just thought it would be helpful if you knew exactly what I was going to ask you. Your input is important to us. This information will be valuable to us when we conduct an upcoming review of our cataloguing procedures for media materials. Would you be available to meet with me sometime, at your convenience, for an hour? Perhaps you could give me a few choices of times when you might be available. I could come to your office, or you could come to mine, whichever you prefer. I do appreciate how busy your schedule is, and I would be very pleased to have an opportunity to speak with you. Thank you, and I shall look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Margaret Hume Cataloguing Librarian (Non-book materials) Webster Library, LB 303-5 Phone: 7752 E-mail: mhume@vax2.concordia.ca *Page 22* APPENDIX II. FACULTY INTERVIEW GUIDE Interview with [name, date, place] Background Courses taught: Kinds of media materials used in courses: Question #1: Looking up media materials How do you usually look them up? What other ways? Any difficulties? Any ways you wish you could look things up? Do you search by "genre" subject headings? (if applicable) Question #2: Kinds of notes and information given in record--what's important to you? language (unless apparent) variations in title durations cast, performers credits-- photographer(s), camera animator(s) artists(s), illustrator(s), graphics film editor(s), photo editor(s), editor(s) narrator(s), voice(s) music consultant(s), advisor(s) edition & history note, recording history note dissertation note audience note summary note contents note (searchable by word search) numbers (manufacturer or publisher) Other: *Page 23* Which people listed in credits & performers notes do you need to be able to search under? [Note: original guide left spaces between lines to allow for answers.] APPENDIX III. SIGN-UP SHEET FOR CINEMA STUDENTS Cinema Students Do you use media materials, such as videos, from the library media centres? Do you search for them in CLUES? We would like to hear about your experiences searching for media materials in Concordia Libraries' computer catalogue, CLUES. This is your chance to tell us about your problems, frustrations, AND joys of locating information on media materials in CLUES! If you would be able to help out, please sign below. This will involve only one group session of approximately one hour in duration. The location will be the Webster Library orientation room, LB 212. Thanks so much!!! This will help us to serve you better in future!! Location -- Webster Library, Room LB 212 Day & time -- to be determined according to when the majority are available Name & telephone #, Times available ----------------------------------------------------------------- [space for names] If you have any questions, please call Margaret Hume at 848-7752. *Page 24* APPENDIX IV. SIGN-UP SHEET FOR MUSIC STUDENTS Music Students Do you use media materials, such as sound recordings and videos, from the library media centres? Do you search for them in CLUES? We would like to hear about your experiences searching for media materials in Concordia Libraries' computer catalogue, CLUES. This is your chance to tell us about your problems, frustrations, AND joys of locating information on media materials in CLUES! If you would be able to help out, please sign below. This will involve only one group session of approximately one hour in duration. The location will be the Vanier Library orientation room. Thanks so much!!! This will help us to serve you better in future!! NOTE: This will be scheduled AFTER EXAMS & CONCERTS Location -- Vanier Library orientation room Day & time -- to be determined according to when the majority are available Name & telephone #, Times available -------------------------------------------------------------- [space for names] If you have any questions, please call Margaret Hume at 848-7752. APPENDIX V. MODERATOR GUIDE FOR STUDENT FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS Introduction Welcome, thanks for coming, an hour duration Names of those in group *Page 25* Introduce moderator, name, position My name is Margaret Hume. I'm a librarian here in the Webster Library, and it's my job to catalogue the materials for the media centres. I'm the one who creates the records that go into CLUES for media materials. Objectives We are planning a review of our cataloguing procedures for media materials. Before we begin to do that, we felt it was important to talk with people who use them and find out about their experiences looking them up in CLUES. Audio-taping You will notice that I have a tape recorder here. It's simply to allow me to make my notes at a later time. Warm-up & General Discussion Could you tell me a bit about your program of study? Are you enjoying the new library and media centre facilities? And do you like CLUES? Tell me what kinds of media materials you use in your studies. Specific Topic Discussion Tell me about looking up media materials in CLUES. How do you usually look them up? What other ways do you look them up? Do you ever have difficulty locating something you want? Anyone use the limit feature in CLUES when searching? Any way you WISH you could look things up? When you locate a media item of interest in CLUES, tell me how you feel about the kinds of notes that are in the record. Can you find the information you need to know about it? Is there anything missing you wish were present? *Page 26* For a sound recording, what information would you want to find in the notes? [Allow to answer unprompted first; then query any of the following categories not mentioned by saying, "What about ... ?"] Publisher's number, language (if applicable), variations in title, durations, contents (word searchable), performers, edition & recording history. For a video or film, what information would you want to find in the credits note? [As above, unprompted first.] Film editor, musician, photographer, cameraman, animator, artist, illustrator, narrator, voices, consultants, advisers. What about the performers note? Do you ever have a need to look up a video or film by one of these? Which? Tell me what you think of summary notes? Contents notes? Edition/history notes? Intended audience notes? Wrap-up section Identify the most appealing ideas of those presented. Any outstanding issues? Close I would like to thank you for your time and input. This will be very useful when we have our cataloguing review. REFERENCES Greenbaum, Thomas L. 1988. The practical handbook and guide to focus group research. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books. Markey, Karen. 1983. "Thus spake the OPAC user." Information Technology and Libraries. 2(4): 381-387. McClure, Charles R., Joe Ryan, and William E. Moen. 1993. "The role of public libraries in the use of Internet/NREN information services." Library & Information Science Research. 15(1): 7-34. *Page 27* Merton, Robert K., Marjorie Fiske, and Patricia L. Kendall. 1990. The focused interview: a manual of problems and procedures. 2d ed. New York: Free Press. Stewart, David W., and Prem N. Shamdasani. 1990. Focus groups: theory and practice. Newbury Park, Calif. : Sage Publications. Valentine, Barbara. 1993. "Undergraduate research behavior: using focus groups to generate theory." Journal of Academic Librarianship. 19(5): 300-304. The author would like to thank Dr. John Leide of the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, for his editorial assistance in the preparation of this article. Margaret Hume is currently Cataloguing Librarian (Non-book materials) at Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8. E-mail: mhume@vax2.concordia.ca MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship ISSN 1069-6792 v.3 #1 March 1995 This article is copyright (C) by Margaret Hume. All Rights Reserved. All commercial use requires permission of the author and the editors of this journal. *Page 28*