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The recently launched BLPC, the replacement to the popular OPAC 97 service has now been up and running for over 30 hours. During this time a number of problems have arisen that did not become apparent during testing, mainly concerned with application errors and server loading. We have now found solutions that we hope will resolve the majority of access problems experienced by our users. As with any new service, we expect to make changes to the service in response to feedback received. It is clear that the help pages do not fully explain the functionality of the boolean searching offered by Advanced Search. However, we do feel that offering 'And', 'Or' and 'And Not' together with any combination of search criteria does offer the user a wide variety of options. It is also possible to use a phrase in the search boxes to help widen the search further. As Leonard correctly points out, the subject indexing on British Library files is inconsistent, and as such, many files automatically search MARC title fields during a subject search. This is again, a matter of providing more detailed help. BLPC is intended to duplicate the functionality of OPAC 97, and therefore does not offer the facility to date range. However, we intend to build upon the levels of functionality currently offered and develop BLPC to provide the level of services and functions that users can expect from the UK national library. We would like to thank our users for bearing with us during the initial teething problems we are going through, and hope to resume 'normal services' as soon as possible. Regards John Lowery ********************************************************** Research and Development Officer British Library Product Development British Library Boston Spa Wetherby West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ UK Tel: +44 (0) 1937 546551 Fax: +44 (0) 1937 546586 Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ********************************************************** In message <[log in to unmask]> on Tue, 30 Jan 2001, Ann Lees <[log in to unmask]> wrote >Dear lis-linkers >In case you don't spot it in the national press - the long awaited >new online catalogue of the British Library Collections is now >available at >http://blpc.bl.uk/ I've tried this out and, despite what other people have said, didn't find it significantly slower than other catalogues of large libraries. Some immediate impressions: Good: 1. It uses the full width of the screen or window, and is not limited to the left-hand 800 pixels like so many sites that use fixed widths. 2. It is possible to search across all catalogues at once. Not so good: 1. The advanced search screen is a bit like a crossword to fill in, with the number of terms restricted to six and awkward restrictions on the ways in which they can be combined - I doubt if people will be able to work out the effect of the drop-down Boolean boxes in many cases. It's unfortunate that they did not give us a free-text box as a "professional" interface into which we could enter any Boolean combination with parentheses and field indicators as required. Perhaps that can be added later... 2. There is an option to search by "subject" but no indication of what fields this searches. There is a warning that subject indexing is inconsistent, for understandable historical reasons, but no option to search for text words in "subject and title together", or "anywhere in the record". It is therefore difficult to know what a search has covered and whether it has to be repeated, first for "subject" and then for "title". 3. There is no information on how to search for ranges of dates. Leonard Will -- Willpower Information (Partners: Dr Leonard D Will, Sheena E Will) Information Management Consultants Tel: +44 (0)20 8372 0092 27 Calshot Way, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 7BQ, UK. Fax: +44 (0)20 8372 0094 [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] ---------------- <URL:http://www.willpowerinfo.co.uk/> -----------------