From Card Catalogue to Web OPACs Rashid Husain & Mehtab Alam Ansari Abstract The Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) changed the traditional card catalogue system. In the new system, data can be spread within computer and then the required entry can be retrieved immediately through OPAC system in any format. Now, user can search for information via OPAC and most recently, the internet. This paper describes what is OPAC, discusses about the OPACs & Web OPACs technology in libraries and explains various features, applications and advantages of Web OPACs. 1. INTRODUCTION Gone are the days of searching through endless drawers of the card catalogue, trying to perform cross-references on a topic through different subject-headings typed on index cards. Information technology changed the entire environment of the library including resources, techniques, services, etc. OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) changed the traditional card catalogue system. In the new system, data can be spread within computer and then the required entry can be retrieved immediately through OPAC system in any format. Now, user can search for information via OPAC and most recently, the internet. Keyword searching and Boolean operators have made this feat even easier to find relevant information according to our needs. 2. OBJECTIVE Nowadays information technology changed the whole library services. In this paper an attempt has been made to discuss about the OPACs & Web OPACs technology in libraries and try to explain various features, applications and advantages of Web OPACs. 2.1 What is OPAC? OPAC stands for Online Public Access Catalogue. An OPAC contains all the bibliographic information of an information centre or we can say it is a gateway to information centre‘s collection. OPAC is the modern and flexible form of the catalogue, usually instantaneous and sophisticated access to any recorded information within a computer. Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (ODLIS) defines OPAC as, “An acronym for online public access catalog, a database composed of bibliographic records describing the books and other materials owned by a library or library system, accessible via public terminals or workstations usually concentrated near the reference desk to make it easy for users to request the assistance of a trained reference librarian. Most online catalogs are searchable by author, title, subject, and keywords and allow users to print, download, or export records to an e-mail account.” 1 SIRSI: Glossary of terms defines OPAC as, “A computer workstation used to search a library's catalogue. OPAC can refer to either the actual workstation in the library, or to the DESIDOC Bulletin of Inf Technol , 2006, 26(2) 41 DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology , Vol. 26, No. 2, March 2006, pp. 41-47 © 2006, DESIDOC