Useful overview of new ways of thinking about the role of library discovery systems in the context of the networked environment.  Highlights the necessary changes to the function of library catalogs now that discovery, location, request and retrieval can be separated from one another. 

 

"Much of the discussion is about improving the catalogue user's experience, not an unreasonable aspiration. However, we really need to put this in the context of a more far-reaching set of issues about discovery and about the continued evolution of library systems, including the catalogue, in a changing network environment. In this environment, users increasingly discover resources in places other than the catalogue."

One example of a new type of catalog. The AquaBrowser shows a visual trail of your search with related terms linked in a fluid web

A blogpost from LibraryCrunch listing great additions to the library catalog of the future.