In my ideal library, materials would be searched in a virtual setting with titles/partial titles, author(s), and keyword searches with spell check and vocal readers available for illiterate/dyslexic users. Materials would be shelved in “new” sections (about 6 months since purchase date) and then by type of material (book, CD, DVD, audio book, language (bilingual in a separate section), etc.), with author/artist as a secondary sorting device, title and publication date. The biggest problem with this is that it would lead to lower browsing ability…but people would be able to see (by keyword searching) where materials involving those keywords would be. The second biggest problem? Getting users to be able to use keyword and Boolean searching effectively.
I believe that users tend to browse new materials the most, with DVDs and the like coming in a close second. The other place that people tend to want to browse is for non-fiction.
