Thanks so much, Kathy & Tim.
It's very helpful. I see the value that the custom OU tree can bring
to us: re-ordering the OUs. I will look for a solution to my issue
somewhere else. :)
Thanks again
Tina
Quoting Kathy Lussier <[email protected]>:
Hi Tina,
MassLNC funded the development for the custom org unit tree, so I can
give you some background on the use cases behind the development.
It essentially was created for display purposes as we didn't like the
way systems and branches were displaying in the org unit selector.
You're right, the custom org tree won't affect the way search results
are retrieved. For our use cases, we didn't need a change in the
retrieval of search results. Its only purpose was to allow us to
reorder the org units in the selector, and therefore it doesn't play
into circ/holds policies either. I'm not quite sure how it interacts
with org unit hiding depth.
We had two specific use cases we were trying to address:
- Removal of the system level in the org unit dropdown: In
Massachusetts, we have very few multi-branch libraries, so the default
display with a branch appearing under a system did not work well for
us. Users didn't understand what the difference was between the two
different selections (and there really wasn't a difference) and it
added needless clutter to the interface. For the most part, this
problem was solved by the "Org Units Do Not Inherit Visibility" global
flag (added at the same time as the custom org trees) since it allowed
us to hide the system level while keeping branches visible. However,
those hidden system-level org units do display in the staff client, and
I don't think everyone liked that, so the custom org tree provides
another means of hiding that system level in both the public and staff
view.
- As Tim mentioned in his e-mail, C/W MARS has an additional level in
their org hierarchy. Consortium > Region > System > Branch. They needed
to create this additional regional level due to the way the delivery
sorting happens in our state. They wanted holds to be filled within a
region before moving on to the rest of the consortium. However, we
didn't want libraries to display in the OPAC within each region. The
custom org tree allowed C/W MARS to interfile all of their libraries
into one big alphabetical dropdown list.
- Another use I've seen of the custom org tree is, in cases where we do
have multibranch systems, we might want the main library to display
above the other branches, even if it doesn't come first alphabetically.
We can make the main library appear out of order using the custom org
tree.
I hope this helps!
Kathy
Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 343-0128
[email protected]
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
Tina Ji
1-888-848-9250
Trainer/Help Desk Specialist
BC Libraries Cooperative/Sitka
