Information Access and Retrieval tools

Introduction

Welcome to today’s lecture. Mastering the art of information retrieval is very

important for academic success. This lecture unveils the tools that aid in
accessing and retrieving information.

Information access and retrieval tools are utilities that are used to search for and
locate information. They are information finding aids designed to enable users
locate information quickly and easily in a source containing large amounts of
information such as a library, the internet, a directory, or book. Different
information access and retrieval tools are used to find different kinds of
information. Let’s explore some of the useful tools.

1) OPAC

OPAC is a common information access and retrieval tool in libraries.

What is OPAC?

OPAC is the abbreviation for the Online Public Access Catalogue. It is an

electronic database of all the information sources held by a library as well as
those it offers access to through subscription.

According to Adegun et al. (2021), OPAC is a computerized form of library

catalogue which is available online and facilitates access to information
materials in a university library. The online dictionary for library and information
science states that the OPAC is composed of bibliographic records describing
books, journals and other materials owned by a library.

Users search the library catalogue principally to locate books and other materials
available in the library. Simply put, the OPAC is an online version of a printed
or cards’ catalogue. The OPAC serves as a gateway to a library’s collection. It
enables users to directly and effectively search for information materials of their
interest without human assistance.

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OPAC Vs. Web OPAC

What is the difference between the OPAC and Web OPAC?

The OPAC is accessible via computer terminals connected to the local area
network within a library or the intranet that serves the mother institution. In
other words, library users can only access the OPAC from within the campus.

If the OPAC is integrated with the internet, it is referred to as a Web OPAC and
this allows users to access the library catalogue from around the world. Whether
users are at home, office, or other places, they can access the library collection
through the Web OPAC.

The library catalogue acts as an interface between users and the library
collection. An effective OPAC should satisfy all the information retrieval
requirements of a user. Furthermore, it allows both simple and advanced
searches in order to cater to a variety of search options.

Development of OPACs

The first-generation OPACs were derived from traditional catalogues or

computerised circulation systems. They operated like manual catalogues such
that the number of access points in these OPACS was limited to author, title,
and subject.

The second generation OPACs originated from commercial information retrieval

systems of the 1970s. They were operated using command language and they
provided more search options than the first-generation OPACs.

The third generation OPACs evolved with the emergence of the World Wide Web
in early 1990s. They offered much more flexibility in searching, allowing users
to discover information materials using the various access points available.
Additionally, these OPACs were integrated with the internet, allowing them to be
available anytime, from anywhere in the world.

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As digital collections grow, the Web OPACs continue to be extended to provide
access to hybrid collections featuring both print, non-print, and electronic
information resources.

Advantages of Web Library OPAC

The key benefits provided by the Web OPAC are as follows:

• It facilitates library users to find and locate information materials about

which the author, title, subject, or other bibliographic information is
known. This is possible without human assistance.
• It shows what a library has primarily by a given author, title, or subject.
• It saves time and effort for library users
• It allows users to place holds for information materials of their interest
which may not be available at the time of search.
• It provides relevant books and other information sources of other authors
and titles
• It provides to users the availability of different library information
materials (e.g., available, unavailable, binding, lost, etc.).
• It eliminates the need to visit the library to search the library collection.
They can book or reserve library materials even when they are away from
the library.
• It relieves the librarians and allows them to serve users better as well as
concentrate on other services and activities.

Features of Web OPACs

Some of the main features of the Web OPACs is that they:

• Provide many search options such as the author, title, subject, language,
library, format, and more.
• Are accessible through the internet.
• Are interactive
• Have a user-friendly interface

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 • Display search results in different formats
• Provide instructional help that users can consult
• Are accessible from within and outside the library
• May search collections of more than one library (union catalogues)

Searching on OPAC

Generally, most OPACs provides two main searching methods: simple and
advanced search.

A simple search or a general search allows library users to look for information
sources primarily using the name of the author, the title of the information
material, or the subject of the required information. Depending on the
customization of the OPAC, some provide an “All Fields” option that combines
all the available keywords.

Below is the USIU-Africa Library OPAC basic search bar:

An advanced search offers the capability of focusing your search and expediting
the process of finding information source (s) of interest. It offers much more
search options that enable users to focus and modify their searches in order to
maximize the chances of getting relevant results. It is worth noting that the
number of search options available differs from one OPAC to another, depending

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on customization. Some OPACs make use of the Boolean operators (AND, OR, &
NOT). Below is the USIU-Africa Library advanced search option:

It is advisable to always begin at the OPAC when looking for information in the
library. This aids in finding out whether your information needs are provided for
at the library.

2) Indexes

An index is a list of words or phrases ('headings') and associated pointers

('locators') to where useful material relating to that heading can be found in a
document. The pointers or locators are usually page numbers, paragraph
numbers, book sections, or chapters. Basically, an index constitutes an
alphabetical list with page numbers that refer to all the major topics in a book.
It is found at the back of a book and can be helpful if the reader is looking for
specific information. Like an index finger, it points the reader to certain

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information. In a typical back-of-the-book (BoB) index, the headings might
include author names and the pages they are cited, subjects, names of places or
events, and concepts selected by the book writer as being relevant and of interest
to a reader.

The purpose of an index is to save the time of the reader by grouping certain
related concepts or subjects and giving their locations in a document. The
function of an index is to indicate the whereabouts or absence of items relevant
to a request. Thus, using an index is essentially a time-saving mechanism. An
index, as an aid to finding information, may contain cross references (e.g., see
or see also) all over the book linking related topics or subjects.

Types of Indices

There are two main types of indexes:

• Name or Author index

• Subject index

Type of Index Description Examples

Name or Author index, as the Abbeduto, L. 233, 235
name implies, provides an Aboud, F. 425
alphabetic list of authors in a Abrams, D. 422
Author Index
document and the page numbers Acredolo, L.P. 49, 50
where they are cited. Adams, M.J. 189
Benson, L.B. 6
A subject index lists subjects and Adolescence, 383–399
their related concepts in a book. Drugs, 408
It makes extensive use of cross Employment, 405, 416
Subject Index
referencing to aid the reader to Gender identity, 391, 394
quickly find related terms and Psychoanalysis, 383
concepts in a document. Theories, 485

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 3) Search Engines

What is a search engine?

A search engine is a software that uses programs called spiders, crawlers or

robots to automatically catalog (index) web pages and compiles a database of
pages found. Upon submitting some search terms or keywords on the search
bar, the search engine scans the database for specified keywords and returns a
list of web pages where the keywords were found.

A search engine is a software designed to help users find specific information

online. It achieves this goal by methodically searching through the World Wide
Web for any information that users may want. Search results are displayed on
what are commonly known as search engine results pages (SERPs). Search
engines enable users to search for and locate documents, articles, webpages,
and videos of their interest on the Web.

How does Search Engine Work?

Search engines do not really search the World Wide Web directly whenever a
user submit a search query. Instead, a search engine searches a database of web
pages that it has stored or indexed in advance.

So, when you use a search engine, you are always searching the search engine’s
database that contains a summary of the web content. When you click on a link
provided in a search engine results page, you are directed to the real website or
webpage.

Components of a Search Engine

A search engine consists of three components: spider, index and the searching
mechanism.

A spider (computer robot) is a program that traverses and “crawls” the web from
link to link identifying and reading pages. If a web page is never linked from any
other page, search engine spiders may never find it. The only way a brand-new

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webpage can get into a search engine database is for other pages to link to it, or
for a human to submit its URL for inclusion. All major search engines offer ways
to do this.

An index refers to a database that contains a summarized copy of each web page
gathered by the crawler. After spiders find relevant pages, they pass them on to
another computer program for "indexing." This program identifies the text, links,
and other content in the page and stores it in the search engine database.
Subsequently, the database can be searched by keyword or other advanced
approaches available.

Search engines employ a complex searching mechanism that is powered by

algorithms which allow users to query the index. A search query returns results
that are usually ranked based on relevance, and users can now take action about
which website or webpage they will visit.

Types of Search Engines

In broad sense, search engines can be divided into three categories based on
indexing techniques.

i. Active search engine

An active search engine uses a software to automatically collect information

about websites and webpages for its own searchable index. These function as
explained above. Google is a good example of active search engines.

ii. Passive search engines

These are also referred to as Web directories. These search engines do not seek
out information by themselves. Rather, they rely on website creators to submit
site descriptions. Then, editors review submitted sites and select those that are
eventually added to the directory. Each site is indexed manually within relevant
subject categories. Generally, directory databases are smaller than those of
active search engines. This is because of human limitation: keeping up with the

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ever-increasing web content and associated transformations is humanly
impossible.

iii. Meta search engines

This type of search engines searches multiple individual search engines

simultaneously. A meta search engine does not compile its own database/index;
rather, it relies on the databases of individual search engines. When a search
query is submitted, it forwards that query to other search engines and returns a
single list of results, often with the duplicate hits removed. A meta search engine
displays the results in its own site. Examples of meta search engines are
Metacrawler, MetaGer, and Dogpile.

Architecture of a Typical Search Engine

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 4) Discovery Tools

A discovery tool is a web software that searches journal-article and library-

catalogue metadata in a unified index and presents search results in a single
interface (Karadia, 2015). Discovery tools allow users to search across many
sources in a single search interface, and this simplifies how users perform
searches as well as allows them to access information sources from various
databases. Unlike a typical catalogue that provides just the basic details about
a source, a discovery tool transforms searching and helps library students and
researchers to find and access a wide range of information materials beyond
those owned by a library.

Some libraries call their discovery tool simply as “Quick Search” and incorporate
it on their homepage. Users can tailor their search to include resources that a
library owns and thousands of information sources available elsewhere. For
example, electronic sources available through the library, resources that the
library can request through interlibrary loan, open access journals, and more.
Some examples of discovery tools are EBSCO Discovery Service, Encore
Discovery, and Ex Libris Central Discovery Index.

Advantages of Discovery Tools

Some of the benefits of discovery tools are as follows:

• They provide a user-friendly and intuitive interface that is easy to use

• They help users to search seamlessly across a wide range of local and
remote library collections.
• Enable libraries to make available information from different sources and
collections.
• Enables quick and seamless searching across a vast range of local and
remote sources.
• Save the time of the users as they can find information of their interest
with ease.

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Class activity:

We shall visit the USIU-Africa Library and have a hands-on experience on

using the OPAC (how to search for and locate information sources) and
indexes.

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