Our OPAC Looking at Destiny and Destiny Quest

"The degree to which a library catalogue can be consulted easily by teachers and students is of great significance if teacher-librarians wish to encourage user-independence. A flexible catalogue will allow broader use of the school library."


How does our OPAC Follet's Destiny do? I think it is very a very user friendly program.

There are two different portals available the main Destiny Page as well as a more student friendly version called Destiny Quest. Both are fairly easy to understand with a minimum of training. There are some difference that are outlined in the Screen cast of Destiny and Destiny Quest. 

This side-by-side view shows search results of a Renaissance keyword search using both the regular Destiny catalog as well as the more student friendly Destiny Quest to you. As you can see the same 54 titles from our schools collection appear in both searches, however the Destiny Quest search includes on the left-hand side a clickable list of terms by which one one could narrow the search. This feature is a very simple and user-friendly way to simplify a search. The regular Destiny catalog search also allows for that kind of limiting but it requires  a more sophisticated knowledge of library search methods Boolean search techniques and so forth. the destiny quest portal does look like it may be something that is more usable for students, especially those in elementary grades. If nothing else the fishy background is fun and lively and more colorful than the regular Destiny search page. One interesting feature available on the regular Destiny page is the visual search which allows students to search for predetermined subject areas, essentially keyword search lists that can be customized and created by the teacher librarian using cute animations. This feature seems like it would really be useful for students with limited reading ability. The extra clicks for an older students may not be worth going past the first search screen where you can type in your own keywords.

Really as far as a library catalog search goes this seems like it is simple enough for the students to use after some some support and for teachers to figure out on their own. There are many features that would be of use to both groups. Searches using the main entry points: title, author, subject, are simple. The kid centred Destiny Quest uses only a keyword search, which reflects more how students actually use it. Independent use seems like a very achievable goal.

Broader use of the library? The integration of features into Destiny such as WebPath Express allow students and other users to access materials offsite 24/7, broadening the location and hours of use. The social networking and reviewing aspects of Destiny Quest may also appeal to students and encourage their use of Destiny Quest for leisure activities of their own volition, not merely under the direction of the teacher to complete specific academic tasks. Student are able to make friends, send and receive messages from them, and of course, send them book recommendations. I especially like the book shelves feature that you can see in the screen shot above. All of these features are quite fun. These features would be especially useful and attractive to those students who are not old enough to use other social media. I plan to use these features for my independent novel reading activities next term.


The barriers to greater use of the catalog and the library are not features of Destiny itself. Really I think the real problem is competition with Google. Unless otherwise instructed, when my class walks into the library the first reaction of students is to get on the computer and search, not the library catalog but Google. Students seem to feel that a website is better than a book (probably because they are shorter).  Even the fun features, however, may not be enough of a draw for our students who are already using Facebook and Twitter.

Maybe we need to hook them in elementary and that if they didn't get to using it at a young age they are lost to the internet, never to be heard from again.