International Journal of Library & Information Science (IJLIS)

Volume 7, Issue 1, Jan–Feb 2018, pp. 28–34, Article ID: IJLIS_07_01_005

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ISSN Print: 2277-3533 and ISSN Online: 2277-3584
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ONLINE PUBLIC ACCESS CATALOGUE (OPAC)

USAGE PATTERNS AMONG THE LIBRARY
USERS OF ODISHA: A STUDY
Rosalien Rout
Librarian, Malda Women’s College, Malda, West Bengal, India

Pijushkanti Panigrahi
Professor, Department of Library and Information Science & Dean, Faculty Council of PG
Studies in Education, Journalism and Library Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

ABSTRACT
This paper is aimed at presenting the results of a survey conducted to determine
the usage patterns of OPAC among the library users of higher educational institutions
in the state of Odisha. An attempt has been made here to assess usage pattern in
terms of awareness, the frequency of use, the purpose of use, search pattern, success
in locating items and problems faced while using OPAC. Total 380 questionnaires
were selected for the study out of the 393 filled questionnaires received. The data
received from the respondents is analyzed using simple percentage approach. The
findings of the study revealed that OPAC usage rate is quite low among the library
users of Odisha. However, the users who use OPAC most frequently conduct title and
author searches. The majority of the respondents indicated that they were moderately
successful in locating documents through OPAC. It is also found that most of the users
are unaware of the all the facility available in the OPAC and encounter problem while
searching. Some of the problems observed from the study includes:difficulty in query
formation, maximum time search failure, no scope for spelling correction, inadequate
instruction in the OPAC software, OPAC not functioning properly and lack of proper
guidance from the library staff. Hence, the study suggested that improvement of OPAC
functionality is the urgent need for the effective and proper utilization of OPAC.
Key words: Higher Educational Libraries, Institution of Odisha, Online Public Access
Catalogue (OPAC), Searching Problem, Use pattern, User study.
Cite this Article: Rosalien Rout and Pijushkanti Panigrahi, Online Public Access
Catalogue (OPAC) Usage Patterns among the Library Users of Odisha: A Study.
International Journal of Library & Information Science, 7(1), 2018, pp. 28–34.
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 Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) Usage Patterns among the Library Users of Odisha: A Study

1. INTRODUCTION
OPAC stands for Online Public Access Catalogue, is a computerized form of library
catalogue which is available online. It has made searching and retrieval of bibliographic
records easier and faster. Apart from searching, it offers other facilities such as online renewal
and reservation; borrower status checking and so on. It also allows the user to request items
from another library through inter-library loan service and to view their library registration
details. It allows multidimensional searches providing as many as access points (i.e. author,
title, subject, keywords) as the data element depending upon the ILM software used [1]. It has
enabled post-ordinated searches using Boolean operators and other combination of searches
[2]. From its inception, it has been passed through the different stage of development and
presently accessible via the internet with graphical browsers known as Web-OPAC. But in the
omnipresent internet environment, current OPAC system is not attractive and appealing to
library users. Library users are relying more on web search engines to fulfill their information
needs rather than libraries. In this context, to know the usefulness of the present OPAC
system, the study has been undertaken in libraries of higher educational institutions of Odisha
state, to ascertain the user’s awareness, usage pattern and constraints of using the OPAC.

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
On reviewing the literature, it is found that there exists a good number of studies on the usage
of OPAC. But, here very few have been presented which are pertinent to the present area of
study in order to develop an understanding from previous studies.
Ansari and Amita (2007) [3] conducted a survey on awareness and use of OPACs in five
Delhi libraries and found that a high percentage of users are not much aware of the expert
search facilities available in OPAC and suggested OPAC interfaces need to be more user-
friendly and brief explanations of the search process should be available in the form of
abstract. Mulla, K.R., and Chandrashekhar (2009) [4] attempted to know the use and
satisfaction of users about Web-OPAC in engineering college libraries in Karnataka and
revealed that OPAC is a useful tool but there were different constraints which hindered OPAC
usage such as lack of awareness and IT competency among the user community, OPAC is not
user friendly etc. Similarly, Kannapanavar and Manjunatha (2010) [5] examined library use
pattern among the faculty members of the engineering colleges in Karnataka and found there
is a poor usage of the library catalogue. It revealed that 53.2% of users were using online
public access catalogue (OPAC) to locate their reading materials whereas 48.8% of the users
consulted the librarian and library staff to locate documents. In this connection, Kumar and
Vohra (2011) [6] also carried out a study on the usage of OPAC by the students and faculty of
Panjab University Library, Chandigarh. The results of the study revealed that a significant
number of users encountering problems while searching information through OPAC and
majority of the users use OPAC to know only the availability and location of library
materials. The major reason for not utilizing full features of OPAC was they lacked basic
skills of searching. Recently Fabunmi and Asubiojo (2013) [7] investigated the awareness and
use of OPAC by Students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The study found
that majority of the students used manual catalogues to access library resources instead of
OPAC and the reason was lack of awareness and skills to use OPAC and problems
encountered during usage. Kumar, A. (2015) [8] also study use patterns of OPAC among the
faculty members in Great Lakes Institute of Management at Chennai. The result of the study
clearly indicates that there is persistent need to improve the OPAC of this library. Faculty
members should be taught how to use the OPAC during library orientation and a manual
should be developed on how to use the OPAC and placed at the OPAC desk.

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 Rosalien Rout and Pijushkanti Panigrahi

From the above studies, it is found that no such study exists in the context of libraries of
higher educational institutions in Odisha. Therefore, the present work will be useful to
identify usage pattern of OPAC among the library users and will help in improving the
present OPAC system.

3. NEED AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The use of the library is decreasing day by day due to the enormous growth of digital content
and advent of web search engines. It has also drastically changed the searching behaviour of
library users. Nowadays, users are more preferring Google searching instead of OPAC. The
libraries of higher educational institutions in Orissa are in a developing stage having sufficient
infrastructure, automated and spending lot of funds in the purchase of library resources. The
present study was conducted to investigate user’s opinion about the OPAC system. The
findings of the study will be helpful in understanding attitudes and expectations of library
users of Odisha towards OPAC. It is expected that this study will assist the libraries to
improve the performance and quality of present OPAC systems.


The study has the following objectives
To know the awareness and use of OPAC among the library users of Odisha;
 To investigate purpose of using OPAC;
 To analyze the search pattern of the library users while using OPAC; and
 To find out various problem faced by the library users in using OPAC

4. METHODOLOGY
The present study was conducted in the libraries of higher educational institutions in the state
of Odisha. At present, there are 211 higher educational institutions (under the higher
educational institutions the study includes only those institutions offering undergraduate and
postgraduate technical courses like engineering, medicine, and management as well as
universities and different research institutions). Out of the total 211 higher educational
institutions, only 41 institutions are providing OPAC search facility to the end users using
integrated library management software. Out of the 41 institutions, 10 institutions (30%) were
selected as sample for the study by applying stratified sampling method. The library users of
these 10 institutions were selected through quota sampling method. The total user population
of the study was 14,366. A sample of 457 was determined at 95% confidence level with a
confidence interval of 4.51. Thus, 457 number of questionnaires were distributed out of which
only 393 responses were received. Among the 393 responses, 380 were selected for the study.
In order to identify the usage pattern of OPAC among the library users the questionnaire was
developed to address various issues relating to the use of OPAC and divided into five


different parts as follows:
Information concerning users
 Usage of OPAC
 Search options
 Search results
 Searching problems

5. DATA ANALYSIS
The collected data were analyzed using simple percentage approach and presented through
tables and figures for drawing meaningful inferences.

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 Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) Usage Patterns among the Library Users of Odisha: A Study

The category of respondents is indicated in Table-1. It exhibits that about 211 (56%) of
the respondents were undergraduate students and 79 (21%) were postgraduate students. At the
same time, 28 (7%) respondents were research scholars followed by 62 (16%) who were
faculty members

Table 1 Category-wise Distribution of Respondents

Category Response Percentage
Undergraduate students (US) 211 56%
Postgraduate students (PS) 79 21%
Research scholars (RS) 28 7%
Faculty (F) 62 16%
Total 380 100

In order to assess the usability of OPAC, it is very necessary to know the awareness of
OPAC among users. It is established through Table 2 that about (71.32%) of respondents are
aware of the OPAC facility while only 28.68% respondents are unaware of it.

Table 2 Awareness Level

Awareness of OPAC US PS RS F Total Percentage
Aware 144 57 28 42 271 71.32%
Not aware 67 22 0 20 109 28.68%
Total 211 79 28 62 380 100.00

An attempt is also made to ascertain, how frequently the respondents are using OPAC to
fulfill their information need. From the table-3 it is found that there is the low usage of
OPAC among the users. Majority of the respondents around 54.24% are using OPAC when
necessary not in a regular basis and 21.40 % respondents using it rarely. 10.70% respondents
using once a week whereas 8.12% users using more than once a week, and only 5.54%
respondents using daily. It is also found that in comparison to other category of users, OPAC
is maximum used by the researcher scholars.

Table 3 Frequency of OPAC Use Among Different Category of Users

Frequency of OPAC Use US PS RS F Total Percentage
Daily 5 2 6 2 15 5.54%
Once a week 13 6 7 3 29 10.70%
More than once a week 11 4 2 5 22 8.12%
When necessary 91 31 8 17 147 54.24%
Rarely 24 14 5 15 58 21.40%
Total 144 57 28 42 271 100.00

The primary purpose of an OPAC is to help users identify and locate items that may
contain information pertinent to the user’s present project [9]. Results of this study support
this whereby a total of 73.56% of the respondents use OPAC to know the availability and
locate books on the library or not and 58.27% of them use it to know the details history of
check-in/out and reserve a document. About 43.84% of respondents use it to find journal and
other reading materials while 29.77% of them use it for renewal of borrowed items; whereas
only 27.32% of respondents us it to know about the new arrivals.

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 Rosalien Rout and Pijushkanti Panigrahi

Table 4 Purpose of Using OPAC

Purpose of using OPAC US PS RS F Total Percentage
To know the availability & locate books on the
112 42 17 28 199 73.56%
library or not
To find journals and other reading materials. 46 8 28 37 119 43.84%
To know the complete history of check out,
82 45 19 11 157 58.27%
check in and reservation of a document.
To know the new arrival list 4 17 22 31 74 27.32%
For renewal of items borrowed 46 14 12 9 81 29.77%
Total number of responses 271 100.00

It is evident from the Figure-1 that most preferred search is the author and title search. The
maximum number of users i.e. 57.62% are preferring title search whereas 63.24% users are
searching information by the author. While 37.76% of the user using subject search, 30.86%
using keyword search and 29.58% prefer publisher search. It is also found that searching
option place is used by very few number of users while search option year, classification
number and accession number are hardly used by the users for finding information.

Most Frequently Conducted Searches

63.24
57.62

37.76
30.86 29.58
18.54

0 0 0 0

Percentage

Figure 1 Most Frequently conducted searches

Table-6 analyzed the problems faced by the users while using OPAC. The 1st priority
problem indicated by users is inability in query framing, 2nd priority problem is high
searching failure; 3rd priority problem is inadequate instructions to use OPAC; 4th priority
problem is no scope for spelling correction;5th priority problem is searching is timing taking;
6th priority problem is OPAC not functioning properly and 7th priority problem is lack of
proper guidance from the library staff.

Table 6 Problem Faced by Users while Searching OPAC

Problem faced while using OPAC US PS RS F Total Percentage
OPAC not functioning properly 45 28 10 15 98 32.03%
Ambiguity in framing query 142 56 23 38 259 84.64%
Searching is time taking 53 39 12 18 122 39.87%
No scope for spelling correction 78 42 17 23 160 52.29%
Failure rate is more 117 52 19 32 220 71.9%
Lack of instruction to use OPAC 98 49 14 38 199 65.03%
Lack of proper guidance from library staff 36 27 15 5 83 27.12%

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 Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) Usage Patterns among the Library Users of Odisha: A Study

The level of success in locating documents is being analyzed and shown in Table 7. In
totality, 48% of the respondents indicate that they are moderately successful in locating
documents through OPAC. The majority of the respondents (24%) noted that they are “not
successful” and about 13% (very successful and successful) of the respondent states that they
are successful in locating documents through OPAC.

Table 7 Success in Locating Items

No. of responses Percentage of
Success in Locating Items Total
US PS RS F Success
Very successful 6 2 2 4 14 5%
Successful 12 3 5 4 24 9%
Moderately successful 72 27 13 21 133 48%
Not successful 36 14 3 12 65 24%
No opinion 18 11 5 1 35 13%
Total 144 57 28 42 271 100

6. FINDINGS
 The findings revealed that a good number of respondents 271 (71.32%) are aware of the
OPAC facility.
 In comparison to awareness, the usage rate is quite low among the library users of Odisha. A
majority of the 54.24%of the respondents are using OPAC when necessary not on regular
basis.
 It is found that research scholars are the regular user of OPAC in comparison to other
categories of user.
 The finding also revealed that a majority of (74.19%) respondents consulting the OPAC to
know the availability and locate a particular book in the library or not.
 Most of the respondents’ search approach to the OPAC is by title (31.62%) followed by
18.81% the author.
 Majority 24% of respondents replied that they have difficulty in locating books through
OPAC and only 13% of responded do not find any difficulty.
 That maximum number of the respondents, i.e. 84.64% facing problem in query framing.
Some of the other major problems identified from the study are OPAC not functioning
properly, high failure rate, slow in response, no suggestion for the spelling mistake, lack of
instruction to use OPAC and lack of guidance from the library staff, slow in response.

7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The higher educational libraries of Odisha have rich collections and excellent ICT enabled
infrastructure. It provides various valuable services along with OPAC facility to their users.
But these are not properly used by the users. Because now-a-days users are more accustomed
to web searching and frequently using OPAC for their information needs. However, this study
revealed that there is the low usage of OPAC among the library users and they do not utilize
the full features of the system. To overcome this, there is a need to upgrade the present OPAC
system to render better services to the users. Apart from these, key instructions on how to use
the OPAC can be provided and displayed on a board close to the OPAC area, so that users can
follow the instructions step by step to use the catalogue efficiently [10]. As the ultimate goal
of every library is that users will be comfortable in using the OPAC system for better
utilization of the library resources.

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 Rosalien Rout and Pijushkanti Panigrahi

Thus, some recommendations are given here for better utilization of OPAC services in


libraries of the higher educational institution in Odisha.
There is need to trained users to acquire basic skills in searching. Hence, continuous
information literacy programme should be organized for the library users.
 Trained and sufficient staff should be provided to pay attention to each and every library user
while training programme.
 Keeping in mind the needs of the present-day techno-savvy user, library personnel should ask,
library software vendors to develop a user-friendly OPAC system that has simplistic search
strategies.
 Libraries should ensure that the OPAC is web-based so that users can be accessed it from
anywhere anytime.
 Librarians should update entries in the OPAC from time to time and keep it up to date.
 To enhance OPAC functionality more valuable features like auto spell checker, faceted
searching, book review, table of content etc. should be added to it.
 There are so many services available on the OPAC, therefore, users should be guided properly
to use those facilities.

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