Implementing Bibliographic Enhancement Data in Academic Library Catalogs: An Empirical Study

This study examines users’ needs for bibliographic enhancement data (BIBED) in academic library catalogs. Qualitative data were collected through 30 academic users’ activity logs and follow-up interviews. These 30 participants were recruited from a public university in the United States that has over 19,000 students enrolled and over 600 full-time faculty members. This study identified 19 types of BIBED useful for supporting the five user tasks proposed in the IFLA Library Reference Model and in seven other contexts, such as enhancing one’s understanding, offering search instructions, and providing readers’ advisory. Findings suggest that adopting BIBFRAME and Semantic Web technologies may enable academic library catalogs to provide BIBED to better meet user needs in various contexts.