Transforming OPACs into Intelligent Discovery Systems: An AI-Powered, Knowledge Graph-Driven Smart OPAC for Digital Libraries

TL;DR

This paper introduces an AI-powered, knowledge graph-driven Smart OPAC system that enhances digital library search capabilities through semantic search, filtering, and visualization, improving relevance and user interaction.

Contribution

It presents a novel framework that transforms traditional OPACs into intelligent discovery systems using semantic embeddings and knowledge graphs, supporting exploratory and thematic search.

Findings

Improved retrieval efficiency and relevance.

Enhanced user interaction through visualization and filtering.

Reduction of information overload in scholarly searches.

Abstract

Traditional Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs) are becoming less effective due to the rapid growth of scholarly literature. Conventional search methods, such as keyword indexing and Boolean queries, often fail to support efficient knowledge discovery. This paper proposes a Smart OPAC framework that transforms traditional OPACs into intelligent discovery systems using artificial intelligence and knowledge graph techniques. The framework enables semantic search, thematic filtering, and knowledge graph-based visualization to enhance user interaction and exploration. It integrates multiple open scholarly data sources and applies semantic embeddings to improve relevance and contextual understanding. The system supports exploratory search, semantic navigation, and refined result filtering based on user-defined themes. Quantitative evaluation demonstrates improvements in retrieval efficiency, relevance, and reduction of information overload. The proposed approach offers practical implications for modernizing digital library services and supports next-generation research workflows. Future work includes user-centric evaluation, personalization, and dynamic knowledge graph updates.