ABSTRACT
In a recent editorial in Information Technology and Libraries Pauline A. Cochrane points out that studies of the use of existing online public access catalogs show that “the great majority of users are performing topical subject searches.” 1 This, she points out, confirms the findings of some earlier catalog use studies and argues for the need for greater attention to subject analysis and subject access in the online public access catalog. Ms. Cochrane is not alone in this effort. Phyllis Richmond, another leading catalog theorist, also discusses “Futuristic Aspects of Subject Access” 2 in a recent issue of Library Resources & Technical Services. Taken by the apparent degree to which users turn to the online public access catalog for subject information, and the evident ease with which new and nifty ways of providing subject, or at least pseudo-subject, analysis, there is a rush by designers of these new catalogs and library planners to assume responsibility for providing subject analysis and subject access to information as a key component of these new tools. A recent report by the Council on Library Resources on Subject Access states as an assumption that “the optimum subject search tool is the online public access catalog equipped with sophisticated search capabilities including natural language and controlled vocabulary searches.” 3
