Online public access catalog

An online public access catalog (OPAC) is a big online bookshelf where you can search for books, magazines, music, and movies that are available in a library. It's like a giant digital catalog that helps you find all the books you might be interested in by typing in keywords, like the author's name or the title of the book.

When you go to a library, you would usually have to go through the stacks of books to find what you're looking for. But an OPAC makes it easier by showing you exactly where a book is located in the library. You can even check if a book is available for checkout or if it's already been taken out by someone else.

Just like how a real library has different sections for different types of books, an OPAC has different tabs you can click on to narrow your search. For example, you might want to look specifically for children's books, or maybe you're interested in a certain genre like mystery or science fiction.

Using an OPAC is super helpful if you need to do research or if you want to find something specific in a library without wasting time wandering around. It's like having a librarian's help right at your fingertips!