The Key to the Future of the Library Catalog is Openness

Technology makes it possible to redefine libraries and make them relevant to the public once again. But how good are the digital services offered by public libraries today? The digital services department team of the Pode project at Norway's Oslo Public Library has spent the last 2 years investigating the possibilities available in order to present the library's metadata in new and appealing contexts. The main goal of the project has been to gain access to the metadata in order to provide better services to the users. The Pode project has looked at mashups, using the library specific protocols Z39.50 and SRU, and has lately used Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and Linked Data in order to provide a better presentation of its OPAC. The aims of the project are to make sure that the users are always presented with a results list and to enrich the catalog with relevant additional content, thus providing a good user experience. This article will address the results of that work.