Re: [CODE4LIB] New OAI-PMH harvester project

[Demian Katz]

Thanks, Roy! Glad to hear you found this useful. I've also revised the README 
slightly to indicate the possibility of composer.phar-based installation.

In a different conversation today, Chad Nelson brought up ResourceSync, which 
in some ways may prove to be OAI-PMH's successor (though it isn't exactly the 
same and had a broader range of use cases). I should note that I've named this 
project vufindharvest rather than vufindoaipmh because I envision the 
possibility of supporting other protocols in the future, and I hope that some 
logic and patterns can be shared across multiple protocol implementations. If 
anybody has use cases, code or ideas, I'm happy to discuss future possibilities!

- Demian

From: Code for Libraries [CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] on behalf of Roy Tennant 
[roytenn...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 6:42 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] New OAI-PMH harvester project

This is really cool, Demian, thanks a lot! I found it extremely easy to set
up and get going, but with one minor change to the instructions. On Ubuntu
Unix I needed to call Composer like so: php composer.phar install . But
that wasn't much of a problem, as when I installed composer it told me how
to invoke it.

When I fired it up and pointed it at my photos server it downloaded over
13,000 OAI records in what seemed like a flash. I didn't realize my server
(written from scratch in Perl) would respond so quickly (I set my
resumption tokens at 100 recs).

This is now my go-to OAI harvester as it is so easy to use and works (at
least so far) without any trouble at all. Just what I like in a basic tool
like this. Thanks for spinning this off from the VuFind code.
Roy

On Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 10:05 AM, Demian Katz 
wrote:

> Hello,
>
> VuFind has been bundled with an OAI-PMH harvest tool for a long time. It
> occurred to me that this tool might be of more general interest, so I have
> broken it out into a stand-alone project here:
>
> https://github.com/vufind-org/vufindharvest
>
> This provides a simple command-line interface for downloading records from
> an OAI-PMH repository into a directory, including support for incremental
> updates. All of the details are documented in the README on GitHub.
>
> The project can also be pulled in as a Composer dependency so that
> harvests can be controlled by other applications; this is how VuFind will
> continue to utilize the functionality in future releases.
>
> If anyone has questions about this project, please let me know!
>
> - Demian
>

[CODE4LIB] New OAI-PMH harvester project

[Demian Katz]

Hello,

VuFind has been bundled with an OAI-PMH harvest tool for a long time. It 
occurred to me that this tool might be of more general interest, so I have 
broken it out into a stand-alone project here:

https://github.com/vufind-org/vufindharvest

This provides a simple command-line interface for downloading records from an 
OAI-PMH repository into a directory, including support for incremental updates. 
All of the details are documented in the README on GitHub.

The project can also be pulled in as a Composer dependency so that harvests can 
be controlled by other applications; this is how VuFind will continue to 
utilize the functionality in future releases.

If anyone has questions about this project, please let me know!

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] Registration now open: VuFind Summit 2016

[Demian Katz]

Registration has just opened for the 2016 VuFind Summit held at Villanova 
University's Falvey Memorial Library in Villanova, PA on October 10-11, 2016.

The two-day event will consist of structured talks, roadmapping and plenty of 
free hacking/breakout time. For the first time in the Summit's history, there 
will also be a joint online session with the simultaneous German VuFind 
Community Meeting.

Experienced VuFind users, potential adopters and those interested in discovery 
(I'm looking at you, Blacklight people!) are all welcome. Registration is $50 
and includes breakfast and lunch. Registration fees are waived for presenters, 
so please consider submitting a proposal!

More information on the event can be found here:

https://vufind.org/wiki/community:conferences:summit_2016

The registration page can be accessed directly here:

http://vustuff.org/vustuff/vufind-summit-2016-registration

Feel free to contact me with questions, comments or talk proposals. I look 
forward to seeing some of you at the event!

thanks,
Demian

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 3.0 released

[Demian Katz]

(Apologies for cross-posting).

Today sees the release of a significant VuFind release that paves the way for 
the future of the project (with Solr 5 integration and PHP 7 compatibility) 
while offering a straightforward migration path from past releases (this is not 
the same amount of change as was seen between the 1.x and 2.x lines).

Reaching this milestone has been a team effort, and the release includes code 
from around the world. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Press release follows...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VuFind 3.0 Released

Villanova, Pennsylvania - April 25, 2016 - Version 3.0 of the VuFind Open 
Source discovery software has just been released. This major release brings 
VuFind up to date with important PHP and Solr developments while also adding 
several new features and offering a straightforward upgrade path from the 2.x 
series of releases.

Some key additions and changes:

- Improved support for indexing multiple authors (and other types of creators).

- New filtering options in "combined search" mode to make your "bento box" 
search even more flexible.

- A database-driven record cache to improve performance and permanence when 
working with third-party APIs.

- Compatibility with PHP 7 and Ubuntu 16.04.

- Inclusion of Solr 5.5.0, which adds new indexing features and better Windows 
support.

- A significantly rewritten front-end theme offering greater stability, 
improved ease of customization and a more consistent user experience.

- New recommendation modules to help guide users to better search results.

Additionally, several bug fixes, new configuration options and minor 
improvements have been incorporated.

Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University. The software 
and its documentation may be found at http://vufind.org.

Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

###

Re: [CODE4LIB] Blacklight Community Survey Results

[Demian Katz]

Tim,

VuFind maintains this list of current users in its wiki:

https://vufind.org/wiki/installation_status

However, this is less analytical than the Blacklight survey, with a greater 
emphasis on basic technology specs than likes/dislikes, and it may not be 
entirely up to date since the document has grown over the course of many years 
and is only updated voluntarily.

- Demian

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of 
Shearer, Timothy
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2015 8:48 AM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Blacklight Community Survey Results

Jonathan,

This was a really useful contribution to the community.

Do you (or any folks on the list) know if there has been similar overview work 
done on vufind?

Thanks,
Tim



On 10/20/15, 4:40 PM, "Code for Libraries on behalf of Jonathan Rochkind" 
 wrote:

>In late August/early September you may recall I released a Blacklight 
>Community Survey. I got 18 responses.
>
>The survey covered nature or organizations implementing BL, rough 
>categories of usage of the BL apps, versions of dependencies in use, 
>and free form likes and dislikes about BL.
>
>Just posted on my blog, I have links to the raw data, as well my some 
>of my own summary, interpretation, and analysis.
>
>https://bibwild.wordpress.com/2015/10/20/blacklight-community-survey-re
>sults/

Re: [CODE4LIB] VuFind Summit - live stream list

[Demian Katz]

An update regarding remote participation: this year's live stream feed does not 
have a feedback option. Please feel free to tweet @vufindorg with hash tag 
#vufindsummit2015 if you have any questions or comments!

- Demian

From: Demian Katz
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 8:52 AM
To: vufind-gene...@lists.sourceforge.net; vufind-t...@lists.sourceforge.net; 
CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: VuFind Summit - live stream list

Hello,

In case anyone is interested in watching today's VuFind Summit live (including 
the ability to ask questions and participate remotely), the link is here:

http://vums-web.villanova.edu/Mediasite/Play/08ebdc7ba2284cea89360e929e0f13be1d

The stream should begin around 9:30 a.m. EST (around 40 minutes from now).

The conference schedule is here to help with your planning:

https://vufind.org/wiki/vufind_summit_2015#schedule

Thank you, and enjoy!

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] VuFind Summit - live stream list

[Demian Katz]

Hello,

In case anyone is interested in watching today's VuFind Summit live (including 
the ability to ask questions and participate remotely), the link is here:

http://vums-web.villanova.edu/Mediasite/Play/08ebdc7ba2284cea89360e929e0f13be1d

The stream should begin around 9:30 a.m. EST (around 40 minutes from now).

The conference schedule is here to help with your planning:

https://vufind.org/wiki/vufind_summit_2015#schedule

Thank you, and enjoy!

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.5 released

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for cross-posting



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VuFind 2.5 Released

Villanova, Pennsylvania - September 28, 2015 - Version 2.5 of the VuFind Open 
Source discovery software has just been released. This new release adds several 
new features as well as further improving the stability and flexibility of the 
software.

Some key additions and changes:

- Improved internationalization features, including support for right-to-left 
languages and a new Arabic translation.

- New tools and settings for supporting high availability.

- An improved interface for tagging records.

- New "library card" system to allow a single user to access multiple accounts 
in a consortial environment.

- Updates to newer versions of key dependencies: Solr 4.10.4, Zend Framework 
2.4.6 and Bootstrap 3.3.4.

Additionally, several bug fixes, new configuration options and minor 
improvements have been incorporated.

Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University. The software 
and its documentation may be found at http://vufind.org.

Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

###

[CODE4LIB] VuFind Summit 2015 (near Philly): Last Call for Registration

[Demian Katz]

There's just about a week and a half left before registration closes (on 
October 1) for the 2015 VuFind Summit. The event itself will take place on 
Monday, October 12 and Tuesday October 13 at Villanova University, near 
Philadelphia.

It looks like we're going to have a great event this year, with some of our 
most active community members attending from around the world, and with some 
good talks lined up covering development, administration, and interesting 
applications of VuFind. This event will also be an opportunity to help shape 
the path of VuFind 3, as we'll be doing some (perhaps overdue) roadmapping for 
the future direction of the project.

You can learn more about the event (including a preliminary schedule, which may 
yet be expanded to include another talk or two) here:

https://vufind.org/wiki/vufind_summit_2015

You can also register ($45 for two days, including breakfast and lunch) 
directly at this link:

http://vustuff.org/vustuff/vufind-summit-2015-registration

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] Registration now open: VuFind Summit 2015

[Demian Katz]

Hello, everyone -

Registration is now open for the 2015 VuFind Summit held Monday October 12 and 
Tuesday October 13, 2015 at Villanova University (in Villanova, PA). 
Registration will be $45 for two days of events, with breakfast/lunch included. 
You can register here:

http://vustuff.org/vustuff/vufind-summit-2015-registration

As usual, the event will be a combination of structured talks, planning 
sessions and free-form hacking.

Registration is open until October 1, 2015. We also have an open call for talk 
proposals which runs until September 18, 2015. Speakers get free registration!

Additionally, thanks to a generous donation by Agilent Technologies, Inc., we 
may be able to assist some attendees with expenses. Please contact me directly 
if you would like to attend but need financial assistance.

I hope to see some of you in October.

More information:

https://vufind.org/wiki/vufind_summit_2015

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] Using Git/diff3 to update local copies of files

[Demian Katz]

Hello,

I've just solved a problem that has been bothering me for several years, and I 
thought I would share it with this group in case anyone else finds it helpful.

There are several software packages out there that encourage you to implement 
customizations by copying files out of the "core" into a "local" directory, and 
then modifying the copies. This pattern is useful for several reasons, but one 
major disadvantage is that, when you update the core, you have to manually 
check and update all of your local copies.

However, with the magic of Git, diff3 and a little Bash scripting, I've figured 
out a way to automatically propagate changes from core files into local copies 
of those files (as long as everything is named consistently). This blog post 
details the solution:

http://blog.library.villanova.edu/libtech/2015/07/23/automatically-updating-locally-customized-files-with-git/

The answer is actually pretty simple, but it took me an awfully long time to 
come up with it! I hope this is of some use to others. Please let me know if 
you have any questions!

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.4 released

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for cross-posting; please see the press release for the latest VuFind 
release below.

Note that SourceForge seems to be a bit slow mirroring files today, so 
apologies in advance if download links aren't working right away; hopefully 
they will catch up soon. You can always grab the latest code from GitHub if 
necessary.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or problems!

thanks,
Demian



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VuFind 2.4 Released

Villanova, Pennsylvania - March 23, 2015 - Version 2.4 of the VuFind Open 
Source discovery software has just been released. This new release adds several 
new features as well as further improving the stability and flexibility of the 
software.

Some key additions and changes:

- A new default theme incorporating responsive design for a more consistent 
desktop vs. mobile experience.

- Support for the Piwik open source analytics tool.

- Integration with new web services including DPLA search results and Facebook 
authentication.

- Smarter indexing of call numbers for improved searching, sorting and browsing.

- Updates to the latest versions of key components, including Zend Framework 
and SolrMarc, and adjustments to take advantage of new language features found 
in PHP 5.4.

Additionally, several bug fixes, new configuration options and minor 
improvements have been incorporated.

Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University. The software 
and its documentation may be found at http://vufind.org.

Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

###

[CODE4LIB] VuFind Summit 2014: Registration Open

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for cross-posting

This year's VuFind Summit will be held on October 13-14 at Villanova University 
(near Philadelphia).

Registration for the two-day event is $40 and includes both morning 
refreshments and a full lunch for both days.

It is not too late to submit a talk proposal and, if accepted, have your 
registration fee waived.

Day one will contain structured talks (including details on VuFind's technical 
architecture as well as discussions of specific applications of the software). 
Day two will be an unstructured hackfest where developers can compare notes and 
work together on problems.

While many talks will be technical in nature, and there will be coding going 
on, this is not a developer-exclusive event. All are welcome, and if you let us 
know what you hope to gain from the event, we will do our best to accommodate 
you!

More details, and a link to the registration form, can be found here:

https://vufind.org/wiki/vufind_summit_2014

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions, and I hope to see 
you in October!

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.3 released

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for the cross-posting...


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


VuFind 2.3 Released


Villanova, Pennsylvania - August 11, 2014 - Version 2.3 of the VuFind Open 
Source discovery software has just been released. This new release adds several 
new features as well as further improving the stability and flexibility of the 
software.


Some key additions:


- Support for retrieving results from additional third-party services: EBSCO 
Discovery Service, EBSCO Integration Toolkit, Primo Central and LibGuides.

- New themes offering updated support for the Bootstrap framework.

- Support for ReCAPTCHA security on several key forms.

- Expanded account functionality, including user-initiated password changes and 
recovery by email.

- Expanded book cover display functionality, including the ability to generate 
dynamic cover images on the fly.


Additionally, several bug fixes, new configuration options and minor 
improvements have been incorporated.


Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University. The software 
and its documentation may be found at http://vufind.org.


Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085


###

Re: [CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.1 + Pazpar2

[Demian Katz]

I'll reply here just in case anyone is following along, but I'll also copy the 
VuFind list.

You can make Pazpar2 the default mode in VuFind by changing the defaultModule 
setting in the [Site] section of config.ini from "Search" to "Pazpar2".

Also note that the VuFind Pazpar2 implementation is young and fairly basic, so 
there's definitely room for improvement -- feel free to make suggestions and 
ask further questions!

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Harper, Cynthia
> Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 8:51 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.1 + Pazpar2
> 
> Sorry - I just learned there's a VuFind listserv - that's where this
> belongs
> 
> From: Harper, Cynthia
> Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 8:48 AM
> To: 'Code for Libraries'
> Subject: VuFind 2.1 + Pazpar2
> 
> Is there a cookbook document for setting up VuFind with no Solr database, but
> just metasearch through Pazpar2? I've got my first Pazpar2 instance set up,
> now I need to tell VuFind to bypass the Solr database.  And if you can point
> me to documentation that tells me how to debug VuFind (where are the logs and
> error details?), that would be nice too.  Sorry if I'm being too lazy, but I
> thought I'd ask.
> 
> Thanks,
> Cindy Harper
> Electronic Services and Serials Librarian
> Virginia Theological Seminary
> 3737 Seminary Road
> Alexandria VA 22304
> 703-461-1794
> char...@vts.edu

[CODE4LIB] Press Release: VuFind 2.2 Released

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for cross-posting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VuFind 2.2 Released

Villanova, Pennsylvania - January 27, 2014 - Version 2.2 of the VuFind Open 
Source discovery software has just been released. This new release adds several 
new features as well as further improving the stability and flexibility of the 
software.

Some key additions:

- New themes using the Bootstrap framework to add responsive design features.

- Expanded faceting functionality, which allows users to filter data in more 
complex ways.

- Incorporation of schema.org microdata to improve search engine optimization.

- A tag management module for administrators.

- Improved authentication options, including CAS support and the ability to 
allow users to choose from multiple authentication systems.

Additionally, several bug fixes and minor improvements have been incorporated.

Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University. The software 
and its documentation may be found at http://vufind.org.

Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

###

[CODE4LIB] FW: [VuFind-Tech] [CODE4LIB] Discovery layer for Alma

[Demian Katz]

Passing this back to CODE4LIB from vufind-tech

- Demian

-Original Message-
From: Alan Rykhus [mailto:alan.ryk...@mnsu.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2013 2:20 PM
To: vufind-t...@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [VuFind-Tech] [CODE4LIB] Discovery layer for Alma

Hello,

Alma does not have any sort of OPAC. If you run Alma, you search your 
library records through Primo. So you could say there is already one in 
place.

I'm not sure how patron empowerment works. I would assume that if there 
is such a thing in Alma, it would use the Restful API just as in Aleph.

al

On 12/03/2013 10:31 AM, Demian Katz wrote:
> I haven't heard about any VuFind/Alma projects yet, but I'm copying this 
> thread to vufind-tech in case anyone there knows something that I don't.
>
> - Demian
>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ken
>> Varnum
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2013 11:07 AM
>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Discovery layer for Alma
>>
>> Has anyone built (or is working on)  a local discovery layer on top of Ex
>> Libris' Alma? I'm thinking of VuFind or other front ends to the Alma API.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> --
>> Ken Varnum | Web Systems Manager | MLibrary - University of Michigan - Ann
>> Arbor
>> var...@umich.edu | @varnum | http://www.lib.umich.edu/users/varnum |
>> 734-615-3287
> --
> Rapidly troubleshoot problems before they affect your business. Most IT
> organizations don't have a clear picture of how application performance
> affects their revenue. With AppDynamics, you get 100% visibility into your
> Java,.NET, & PHP application. Start your 15-day FREE TRIAL of AppDynamics Pro!
> http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=84349351&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk
> ___
> Vufind-tech mailing list
> vufind-t...@lists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/vufind-tech


--
Rapidly troubleshoot problems before they affect your business. Most IT 
organizations don't have a clear picture of how application performance 
affects their revenue. With AppDynamics, you get 100% visibility into your 
Java,.NET, & PHP application. Start your 15-day FREE TRIAL of AppDynamics Pro!
http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=84349351&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk
___
Vufind-tech mailing list
vufind-t...@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/vufind-tech

Re: [CODE4LIB] Discovery layer for Alma

[Demian Katz]

I haven't heard about any VuFind/Alma projects yet, but I'm copying this thread 
to vufind-tech in case anyone there knows something that I don't.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ken
> Varnum
> Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2013 11:07 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Discovery layer for Alma
> 
> Has anyone built (or is working on)  a local discovery layer on top of Ex
> Libris' Alma? I'm thinking of VuFind or other front ends to the Alma API.
> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
> --
> Ken Varnum | Web Systems Manager | MLibrary - University of Michigan - Ann
> Arbor
> var...@umich.edu | @varnum | http://www.lib.umich.edu/users/varnum |
> 734-615-3287

Re: [CODE4LIB] Good MARC PHP Libraries,

[Demian Katz]

> Per PEAR rules, I have pushed File_MARC 0.8.0 beta. If a few hardy
> souls could give this a shot with their own applications and let me
> know if it all looks good, then I'll proceed with 1.0 stable on
> Friday.

I just tested this out with VuFind, and all seems to be well...  but of course 
VuFind purely consumes MARC rather than creating it, so this probably hasn't 
significantly covered some of the most substantially changed areas.  If nothing 
else, though, I'm happy that you've reduced VuFind's PEAR dependencies by 1!

Thanks, as always, for all the work you put into this project!

- Demian

Re: [CODE4LIB] Good MARC PHP Libraries,

[Demian Katz]

+1

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Bill
> Dueber
> Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2013 9:23 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Good MARC PHP Libraries,
> 
> Given that File_MARC has been around since, what, the late 1950's, why
> don't you just slap a 1.0 on it? It's not like anyone isn't using it
> because they're waiting for the API to stabilize; we're all using it
> regardless.
> 
> 
> On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM, Dan Scott  wrote:
> 
> > I hear the maintainer of File_MARC is pretty responsive to questions
> > and bug reports. This list might be a good place to raise questions
> > about usage; others may be interested.
> >
> > Was the "random undescriptive exit error" something like the following?
> >
> > C:\php>pear install File_MARC
> > Failed to download pear/File_MARC within preferred state "stable",
> > latest release is version 0.7.3, stability "beta", use
> > "channel://pear.php.net/File_MARC-0.7.3" to install
> > install failed
> >
> > One of these days that package will make it to 1.0 and the "-beta"
> > will no longer be necessary. Or the pear.php.net install instructions
> > will include that. Or newer versions of PEAR will be smarter about
> > detecting that no stable version is available and automatically offer
> > to install the beta.
> >
> > On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 8:18 PM, Riley Childs  wrote:
> > > Thanks! I will give it a shot tomorrow
> > >
> > > Riley Childs
> > > Junior and Library Tech Manager
> > > Charlotte United Christian Academy
> > > +1 (704) 497-2086
> > > Sent from my iPhone
> > > Please excuse mistakes
> > >
> > >> On Sep 25, 2013, at 8:14 PM, Ross Singer  wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Try:
> > >>
> > >> pear install file_marc-beta
> > >>
> > >> -Ross.
> > >>
> > >>> On Wednesday, September 25, 2013, Riley Childs wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>> I have been having some troubles with the installation (some random
> > >>> undescriptive exit error)
> > >>>
> > >>> Riley Childs
> > >>> Junior and Library Tech Manager
> > >>> Charlotte United Christian Academy
> > >>> +1 (704) 497-2086
> > >>> Sent from my iPhone
> > >>> Please excuse mistakes
> > >>>
> > > On Sep 25, 2013, at 7:28 PM, Eric Phetteplace  > >
> >  wrote:
> > 
> >  I think File_MARC is the standard:
> > >>> http://pear.php.net/package/File_MARC/
> > 
> >  Are there others?
> > 
> >  Best,
> >  Eric
> > 
> > 
> > > On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 7:17 PM, Riley Childs  > >
> > >>> wrote:
> > >
> > > Does anyone know of any good MARC PHP Libraries, I am struggling to
> > >>> create
> > > MARC records out of our proprietary database.
> > >
> > > Riley Childs
> > > Junior and Library Tech Manager
> > > Charlotte United Christian Academy
> > > +1 (704) 497-2086
> > > Sent from my iPhone
> > > Please excuse mistakes
> > >>>
> >
> 
> 
> 
> --
> Bill Dueber
> Library Systems Programmer
> University of Michigan Library

Re: [CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.1 Released

[Demian Katz]

That is correct, you could configure VuFind to use its Pazpar2 module as the 
primary interface and bypass the local Solr index.  If you wanted to do website 
searching, though, you would still need to run an indexing process and maintain 
an index -- this is mechanically similar to the original VuFind module for 
searching catalog records.

Note that Pazpar2 is not very feature-rich from a discovery perspective (it 
allows you to aggregate a very broad range of records at the cost of being able 
to do fewer things with those records) so the VuFind Pazpar2 module is 
functionally quite limited, though it may be possible to extend it for your 
local needs.  If you are able to get Pazpar2 working to your satisfaction, the 
task of setting up VuFind to experiment with it is much easier!

Please let me know if you have further questions or if I can do anything more 
to help.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Harper, Cynthia
> Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 5:28 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.1 Released
> 
> Does this mean that VuFind can be configured to have no pre-indexed content,
> but be used for federated search of PazPar2 sites only?  Our catalog is very
> small, the number of databases we subscribe to is very small, and I have
> thought that makes us a candidate for federated search, since we don't have a
> commercial discovery layer.  I'd also be interested in adding indexing of
> websites.  But committing to an ongoing pre-indexing process of ongoing
> changes to the catalog has kept me from trying VuFind.
> 
> Cindy Harper
> Virginia Theological Seminary
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Demian
> Katz
> Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 11:17 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.1 Released
> 
> Apologies for cross-posting
> 
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> 
> 
> 
> VuFind 2.1 Released
> 
> 
> 
> Villanova, Pennsylvania - August 26, 2013 - Version 2.1 of the VuFind Open
> Source discovery software has just been released. This release further
> improves the stability and flexibility of VuFind 2.0, adding significant new
> features in the process.
> 
> 
> 
> Some key additions:
> 
> 
> 
> - Flexible and configurable support for combining search results from multiple
> sources, inspired by Villanova University's multi-column Catalog/Summon
> search.
> 
> - A new module for indexing websites.
> 
> - Integration with new software and services, including Booksite enhanced
> content, the Polaris ILS, and the Pazpar2 open source metasearch tool.
> 
> 
> 
> Additionally, several bug fixes and minor improvements have been incorporated.
> 
> 
> 
> Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian
> Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University. The software
> and its documentation may be found at http://vufind.org.
> 
> 
> 
> Contact:
> Demian Katz
> demian.k...@villanova.edu<mailto:demian.k...@villanova.edu>
> Villanova University
> Falvey Memorial Library
> 800 Lancaster Avenue
> Villanova, PA 19085
> 
> 
> 
> ###

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.1 Released

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for cross-posting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



VuFind 2.1 Released



Villanova, Pennsylvania - August 26, 2013 - Version 2.1 of the VuFind Open 
Source discovery software has just been released. This release further improves 
the stability and flexibility of VuFind 2.0, adding significant new features in 
the process.



Some key additions:



- Flexible and configurable support for combining search results from multiple 
sources, inspired by Villanova University's multi-column Catalog/Summon search.

- A new module for indexing websites.

- Integration with new software and services, including Booksite enhanced 
content, the Polaris ILS, and the Pazpar2 open source metasearch tool.



Additionally, several bug fixes and minor improvements have been incorporated.



Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University. The software 
and its documentation may be found at http://vufind.org.



Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu<mailto:demian.k...@villanova.edu>
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085



###

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.0 Released

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for cross-posting


---


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


VuFind 2.0 Released


Villanova, Pennsylvania - June 24, 2013 - Version 2.0 of the VuFind Open Source 
discovery software has just been released. This stable release, more than two 
years in the making, marks the production-readiness of the redesigned software.


In addition to the improved architecture and functionality demonstrated by 
earlier preview releases of 2.0, this version includes a few significant new 
features:


- The underlying Solr index has been upgraded to version 4.2.1, which offers 
many new features and greatly improved memory management.

- Google Analytics support is now available through a simple configuration 
setting.

- Support for new RDA cataloging has been improved.

- Language auto-detection is now available for international users.


Additionally, several bug fixes and minor improvements have been incorporated.


Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University.


Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085


###

Re: [CODE4LIB] discovery layers question

[Demian Katz]

At Villanova, we are using VuFind for local catalog results and Summon for 
everything else:

https://library.villanova.edu/Find/

We opted for a multi-column search result interface to guide the user in one 
direction or the other.  This is obviously something of a compromise -- the 
main challenge in any of these situations is deciding how to integrate 
different types of results.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Donna
> Campbell
> Sent: Monday, May 06, 2013 1:39 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] discovery layers question
> 
> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> Is anyone in using VuFind as well as one of the major webscale discovery
> layers (e.g., Encore)? If so, what complications do you encounter?
> 
> Cordially,
> 
> Donna R. Campbell
> Technical Services & Systems Librarian
> (215) 935-3872 (phone)
> (267) 295-3641 (fax)
> Mailing Address (via USPS):
> Westminster Theological Seminary Library
> P.O. Box 27009
> Philadelphia, PA 19118  USA
> Shipping Address (via UPS or FedEx):
> Westminster Theological Seminary Library
> 2960 W. Church Rd.
> Glenside, PA 19038  USA

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.0RC1 Released

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for cross-posting...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VuFind 2.0RC1 Released

Villanova, Pennsylvania - April 29, 2013 - The first release candidate of 
version 2.0 of the VuFind Open Source discovery software has just been 
released. This release provides a preview of the functionality and architecture 
that will be seen in the full 2.0 release, due later this summer.

The new release includes several significant enhancements:

- Significant security improvements, including more secure password storage and 
protection against spammer abuse.

- A "MultiBackend" driver which allows VuFind to interact with multiple 
integrated library systems at once.

- A new and flexible search system with more modular, reusable code.

- 2.0 versions of all new features introduced in the 1.4 release, including 
support for hierarchical records and the Clickatell SMS service.

Additionally, several bug fixes and minor improvements have been incorporated.

Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University.

Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.katz@...
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

###

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 1.4 Released

[Demian Katz]

Apologies for cross-posting...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VuFind 1.4 Released

Villanova, Pennsylvania - January 28, 2013 - The latest version of the VuFind 
Open Source discovery software has just been released. This will be the final 
release in the 1.x series, with a 2.0 release planned for later in the year.

The new release includes several significant enhancements:

- Support for hierarchical collections of records, allowing better integration 
of archival materials and digital repositories.

- Built-in support for running without an Integrated Library System, making 
VuFind more convenient for non-library uses and offering smarter behavior 
during temporary ILS outages.

- The ability to provide custom recommendations to the user when no search 
results are found.

- An improved and expanded mobile interface.

- New index fields allowing VuFind to be used as an article index.

- Optional Clickatell support for text messaging.

- Several new interface translations: Basque, Catalan, Czech and Russian.

Additionally, several bug fixes and minor improvements have been incorporated.

Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University.

Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

###

Re: [CODE4LIB] Code4lib Registration tomorrow (12/4)

[Demian Katz]

"postersfirstname.posterslastn...@gmail.com" does not appear to be a valid 
email address.  Is that a typo, or am I misunderstanding something?

thanks,
Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Francis Kayiwa
> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2012 12:31 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Code4lib Registration tomorrow (12/4)
> 
> On Tue, Dec 04, 2012 at 12:26:51PM -0500, Andrew Darby wrote:
> > And hopefully they can give the better rate to the impatient that
> > removed LIB . . . .
> 
> If you fall in this category please send your name to
> 
> postersfirstname.posterslastn...@gmail.com
> 
> Put code4lib in the Subject
> 
> We will sort it out.
> 
> ./fxk
> 
> >
> > On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 12:20 PM, Francis Kayiwa  wrote:
> > > On Tue, Dec 04, 2012 at 09:15:52AM -0800, Aaron Collier wrote:
> > >> I was. I removed the "LIB" code and was able to reserve a room at the
> non-discounted price.
> > >
> > > Aaron, et. al., The hotel didn't take us seriously/ believe us that they
> > > would be bombarded. We are on the horn with them right now to bump up
> > > the number of available rooms. I will post here when I have useful
> > > information to provide.
> > >
> > > regards,
> > > ./fxk
> > >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Aaron Collier
> > >> Library Academic Systems Analyst
> > >> California State University, Fresno - Henry Madden Library
> > >> 559.278.2945
> > >> acoll...@csufresno.edu
> > >> http://www.csufresno.edu/library
> > >>
> > >> - Original Message -
> > >> From: "Cynthia Ng" 
> > >> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> > >> Sent: Tuesday, December 4, 2012 9:11:56 AM
> > >> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Code4lib Registration tomorrow (12/4)
> > >>
> > >> Am I the only one having problems making the hotel reservations?
> > >>
> > >
> > > --
> > > With all the fancy scientists in the world, why can't they just once
> > > build a nuclear balm?
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Andrew Darby
> > Head, Web & Emerging Technologies
> > University of Miami Libraries
> >
> 
> --
> With all the fancy scientists in the world, why can't they just once
> build a nuclear balm?

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 2.0beta Released

[Demian Katz]

(apologies for cross-posting)

As some of you may already know, the VuFind community has been hard at work on 
a major 2.0 release to improve and modernize the code.  I didn't widely 
announce the earlier 2.0alpha release, as it was a long way from the final 
architecture I hoped to reach for 2.0; however, today's release gets us a lot 
closer, and I think it might be of interest to the wider community.

Today's 2.0beta release features all of the same functionality as 2.0alpha, but 
it has been upgraded to use the newly released Zend Framework 2.0. 
Additionally, the installation process and configuration options have been made 
more powerful and flexible, and online documentation has been significantly 
expanded.

2.0beta is still NOT INTENDED FOR PRODUCTION, and some architectural details 
will change prior to the full 2.0 release in 2013. However, the code is 
maturing, and this release should be suitable for use by early adopters willing 
to follow development closely over the coming months.

To download the preview release, visit http://vufind.org/downloads.php; for 
online documentation, see http://vufind.org/wiki/.

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 1.3 Released

[Demian Katz]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VuFind 1.3 Released

Villanova, Pennsylvania - January 30, 2012 - The latest version of the VuFind 
Open Source discovery software has just been released.

The new release includes several significant enhancements:

- A new "book bag" feature has been added for shopping-cart-style bulk actions 
(save, email, export multiple records).

- VuFind is now driven by Apache Solr 3.5, the latest version of the powerful 
index engine.

- New optional search plug-ins have been added for visual timelines, Google 
Maps integration and Europeana searches.

- Enhanced RSS feeds allow VuFind results to be easily shared with external 
services such as Elsevier's SciVerse platform.

- Syndetics integration has been improved.

- VuFind's default theme now uses jQuery and Blueprint for a more dynamic, 
polished interface.

Additionally, several bug fixes and minor improvements have been incorporated.

Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian 
Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University.

Contact:
Demian Katz
demian.k...@villanova.edu
Villanova University
Falvey Memorial Library
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

###

Re: [CODE4LIB] FOSS4LIB registry now open for new packages/releases/providers/events/institutions

[Demian Katz]

Thanks for this!  Just one question -- is there a way to edit categories?  I 
noticed a category for Online PULIC Access Catalogs, but I couldn't figure out 
a way to correct it to "public".

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Peter Murray
> Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 3:39 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] FOSS4LIB registry now open for new
> packages/releases/providers/events/institutions
> 
> All --
> 
> The project that I was seeking feedback on over the fall is seeing the
> light of day.  http://foss4lib.org/ is now open for use by the
> community.  For the Code4Lib audience, this mostly means you can create
> an account, log in, and create content nodes for specific packages,
> releases, and events.  See http://foss4lib.org/content/adding-
> information-foss4lib for links on how to get started.
> 
> For people or organizations that provide support for open source
> software in libraries -- implementation consulting, hosting, custom
> code development, training, etc. -- we especially want to encourage you
> to sign up and post your availability on the site.  One of the
> overarching goals is to promote an ecosystem of open source support
> providers for packages that are specific to libraries.  So we want to
> make this registry a better place to go to find those support options
> over a scattershot Google search.  Please note that there is one bit of
> functionality in the registry that is not done right now.  Some
> software packages have well developed lists of providers and
> institutions that use the software, and we're not trying to reproduce
> those in the registry.  There is a capability coming that will allow
> URLs to these community lists to override the provider/using-
> institution functionality of the registry.  More on that soon.
> 
> Speaking of additional functionality, I am very interested in hearing
> ideas about how the registry can advance the goal of supporting open
> source software in libraries.  If you have any, feel free to discuss
> them here or send me a direct e-mail.  A press release about FOSS4LIB
> will be going out in the next couple of hours, and it will include
> information about one-hour introductory sessions at Midwinter and
> webinars later in January and February.
> 
> 
> Here's the instructions:
> 
> Go to http://foss4lib.org/user/register and create an account for
> yourself.  The pattern for usernames is recommended to be your first
> and last name, but you can make it anything you want.  You'll receive
> an e-mail with a one-time password to follow and set your password.
> 
> Then browse (http://foss4lib.org/packages) or search
> (http://foss4lib.org/search/node) for your target software package(s).
> If you see it/them, great! -- move onto the next step.  If not, follow
> "Add content -> package" (http://foss4lib.org/node/add/package) to
> create it.  Put in the common name (no release numbers) for your
> package as its title and some descriptive chunk of text for the body.
> Below this is a series of technology choices that you can make.  In the
> case of Package Type, License, and Development Status you can pick one
> of the choices.  For Operating System, Technologies Used, Programming
> Language, and Database you can pick more than one (using Command-Click
> or Control-Click, depending on your operating system).  For anything in
> this Technology area, if there are terms that you need that aren't
> listed let me know and I'll add them.  Below Technology is Links, and
> you can fill in any URLs that you know/have for this package.  Below
> that is an Associations sect!
>  ion where you can link this package to other packages in the system.
> (See the DSpace entry, for instance --
> http://foss4lib.org/package/dspace -- on how it is associated with
> Djatoka.)  Now hit "Save" (or hit "Preview" then "Save") your package
> and go onto the next step.
> 
> As appropriate, create a Provider for your company/organization/self
> (http://foss4lib.org/node/add/provider):  Put in the title and
> description.  Then in the "Supports" section, pick one or more choices
> for "Provider Type".  (If you provide services other than the ones
> listed here, let me know and I'll add them to the list.)  In the
> Package field start typing the name of the package until it pops up in
> the auto-complete drop-down and select it there.  (When you do so,
> you'll see the package name appended with "[nid:x]" representing the
> node ID.)  You can mix-and-match your Provider Type and Packages by
> selecting "Add Another Item".  In the Employees Registered section, you
> can add people registered on FOSS4LIB (including yourself) that will
> appear as associated with your firm.  Below that add arbitrary URLs
> (such as to your homepage, client list, contact information, etc.) that
> will appear on your provider page.  Then hit "Save" (or hit "Preview"
> then "Save") and your done!
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] Get Lamp showing at cod4libcon

[Demian Katz]

I (and, more interestingly, my huge gamebook collection) narrowly missed being 
in the film (see 
http://inventory.getlamp.com/2010/06/01/gamebooks-goes-independent/).  If you 
need anyone for a panel discussion, I would be happy to bore you all with my 
useless encyclopedic knowledge -- but the huge responsibility of wearing two 
different nerd-hats for one conference is daunting. ;-)

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Michael B. Klein
> Sent: Monday, January 09, 2012 5:01 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Get Lamp showing at cod4libcon
> 
> DVD ordered! Do we know what kind of large-screen viewing/projector
> device
> we'll have in the hospitality/hostility suite? I can currently handle
> VGA
> and HDMI, but I'm not sure about DVI.
> 
> Michael
> 
> On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 11:21 AM, Adam Wead  wrote:
> 
> > Hi all,
> >
> > There's been some discussion on IRC about having a viewing of the
> movie
> > "Get Lamp" [1] at the code4lib conference.  Michael Klein has agreed
> to
> > spring for the movie, which costs about $45, and I can look at
> coordinating
> > a showtime in the hospitality suite.
> >
> > Is there any interest from conference attendees out there?  Is it
> > agreeable to chip in $1 or $2 to Mike to his trouble?
> >
> > Respond off-list if you have interest, and if there's enough I'll
> send
> > another message with details.
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > ...adam
> >
> > Adam Wead | Systems and Digital Collection Librarian
> > ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME + MUSEUM
> > Library and Archives
> > 2809 Woodland Avenue | Cleveland, Ohio 44115-3216
> > 216-515-1960 | FAX 216-515-1964
> > Email: aw...@rockhall.org
> > Follow us: rockhall.com | Membership | e-news | e-store | Facebook |
> > Twitter
> >
> > [1] http://www.getlamp.com/
> >
> > [http://donations.rockhall.com/Logo_WWR.gif]<
> > http://rockhall.com/exhibits/women-who-rock/>
> > This communication is a confidential and proprietary business
> > communication. It is intended solely for the use of the designated
> > recipient(s). If this communication is received in error, please
> contact
> > the sender and delete this communication.
> >
> > '
> >

Re: [CODE4LIB] generating and parsing NCIP with PHP

[Demian Katz]

You might want to take a look at VuFind's XCNCIP2 driver here:

https://vufind.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/vufind/trunk/web/Drivers/XCNCIP2.php

This constructs requests in a crude way (simple string concatenation) but 
parses responses using SimpleXML.  SimpleXML is pretty user-friendly, but XML 
namespaces make it a little more complicated, and this code demonstrates 
namespaces in action.

I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Emily Lynema
> Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 4:03 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] generating and parsing NCIP with PHP
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> We are working with Lehigh University on building out a more full-
> fledged
> SirsiDynix Symphony adapter to work with the XC NCIP toolkit. We will
> hopefully building our new Patron Account interface on top of the
> eXtensible Catalog NCIP toolkit.
> 
> Obviously, to build our new interface on top of the NCIP toolkit, we
> need
> to generate NCIP XML requests and parse NCIP XML responses. These
> things
> are a bit gnarly to work with, and I'm not sure that PHP is exactly
> known
> for excellence in working with XML. Has anyone ever dabbled in this
> area
> before? Created an awesome PHP library we could just pick up and use?
> Have
> any particular pointers?
> 
> We have Zend framework at our disposal in terms of PHP frameworks, and
> will
> likely be using that for this project. I don't know in particular if it
> has
> good XML parsing tools (my staff probably would), but even if it does,
> we
> still have to sort through the NCIP verbosity.
> 
> Just thought I'd check.
> 
> -emily

Re: [CODE4LIB] ISBN Regular Expression

[Demian Katz]

Perhaps this code would be of some use:

https://vufind.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/vufind/trunk/web/sys/ISBN.php

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Jonathan Rochkind
> Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 10:45 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] ISBN Regular Expression
> 
> John: That's not going to work, an ISBN can end in "X" as a check
> digit,
> which is not [0-9].  You are going to be rejecting valid ISBN's, you
> have a bug.
> 
> On 10/24/2011 10:40 AM, John Miedema wrote:
> > Here's a php function I use in OpenBook to test if a user has entered
> a 10
> > or 13 digit ISBN.
> >
> > //test if 10 or 13 digits ISBN
> > function openbook_utilities_validISBN($testisbn) {
> > return (ereg ("([0-9]{10})", $testisbn, $regs) || ereg ("([0-
> 9]{13})",
> > $testisbn, $regs));
> > }
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 1:44 PM,
> Kozlowski,Brendonwrote:
> >
> >> Hi all.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I'm somewhat surprised that I've never had to validate an ISBN
> manually up
> >> until now. I suppose that's a testiment to all of the software out
> there.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> However, I now find that I need to validate both the 10-digit and
> 13-digit
> >> ISBNs. I realize there's also a check digit and a REGEX cannot check
> this
> >> value - one step at a time. Right now I just want to work on the
> REGEX.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Does anyone know the exact specifications of both forms of an ISBN?
> The
> >> ISBN organization's website didn't seem to be overly clear to me.
> >> Alternatively, if anyone has a full working regular expression for
> this
> >> purpose I would definitely not mind if they'd be willing to share.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The only thing I'm doing which is abnormal is that I am not
> requiring the
> >> hyphenation or spaces between numbers since some of this data will
> be coming
> >> from a system, and some will be coming from human input.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Brendon Kozlowski
> >> Web Administrator
> >> Saratoga Springs Public Library
> >> 49 Henry Street
> >> Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866
> >> [518] 584-7860 x217
> >>
> >> Please consider the environment before printing this message.
> >>
> >> To report this message as spam, offensive, or if you feel you have
> received
> >> this in error,
> >> please send e-mail to ab...@sals.edu including the entire contents
> and
> >> subject of the message.
> >> It will be reviewed by staff and acted upon appropriately.
> >>
> >
> >

Re: [CODE4LIB] opening a pdf file

[Demian Katz]

I imagine the problems have to do with the multi-layered nature of the Internet 
Archive scans; even on my PC, the PDF doesn't render well until it is fully 
downloaded -- while it is in the process of loading, I see a blurry mess.  
Perhaps the tablet devices are doing the same thing -- attempting to display 
content prior to the full load of the file but not entirely succeeding.

It may be possible to flatten the layers of the PDFs in some way, but I'm not 
sure exactly how.

Additionally, I notice that there are different versions of the PDF here:

http://www.archive.org/details/canarybird00schm

(one labeled PDF, another B/W PDF)

Does one version work better on tablets than the other?

- Demian

From: Code for Libraries [CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Eric Lease 
Morgan [emor...@nd.edu]
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 11:26 AM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] opening a pdf file

Most people seem to have mixed results when trying to open the PDF files on 
their tablet-based (Android and iOS) devices. Bummer! These PDF files were 
harvested from the Internet Archive. They seem to be viewable just fine for 
desktop machines, but not tablets.

The number of files I have in the collection is finite and small -- less than 
100. Does anybody have any suggestions on how I could convert or modify the 
files to make them more useful? I would be willing to manually do the 
modifications if necessary.

--
Eric Morgan
University of Notre Dame

Re: [CODE4LIB] memory management for grownups

[Demian Katz]

If you were talking about production code, you might need to worry about 
getting more clever with memory management...  but if it's a once-and-done 
processing script, I see nothing wrong with taking the associative array 
approach in the interest of writing clean, understandable code.  I think the 
easiest solution to your problem is simply to raise your PHP memory limit:

http://www.ducea.com/2008/02/14/increase-php-memory-limit/

Obviously this solution only works to a certain point...  but if you're hitting 
a 32MB limit right now, you've probably still got a lot of room to grow!

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Ken Irwin
> Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 12:56 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] memory management for grownups
> 
> I have a feeling it may be time for me to learn some grown-up
> programming skills, and I hope someone here might be able to help.
> 
> I have a PHP script chewing over a large MySQL query. It's creating a
> handful of big associative arrays in the process, and punks out after
> the arrays get to 32MB.
> Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to
> allocate 242 bytes) in analysis.php on line 41
> 
> I'm basically building a big associative array encoding the name of the
> borrowing institution, the patron type (student,faculty,staff,etc), the
> item barcode, and the various bits of data we want for each of these
> items.
> 
> // the first time we see a barcode
> $stats[$inst][$patron_type][$item_barcode][first] = $date;
> $stats[$inst][$patron_type][$item_barcode][min] = $renewals;
> $stats[$inst][$patron_type][$item_barcode][call] = $call_no;
> //subsequent instances of the barcode
>   $stats[$inst][$patron_type][$item_barcode][max] = $renewals;
> 
> Once I've chewed over all  4million records (40MB) , I spit it out into
> a new MySQL table that has the collated data that I want. Unfortunately
> this system breaks down when I get to so many millions of records.
> 
> Is there a more efficient way of doing this kind of data
> transformation? I *could* not keep so much in the big stats array and
> instead make millions of "UPDATE" calls to the MySQL table, but that
> doesn't sound like a winning proposition to me. I imagine that I could
> also increase the memory allotment, but it will eventually get to big
> too. Or I suppose that I could do it all in chunks - right now I'm
> parsing the whole raw-data SQL table at once; I could do one
> institution's data at a time and buy myself some wiggle-room.
> 
> But fundamentally, it seems to me that asking PHP to hold lots of data
> in an array might not be the most programmerly system; it's just what
> I've always done.
> 
> Any advice?
> 
> Thanks
> Ken

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 1.2 Released

[Demian Katz]

A new version of VuFind has just been released. Significant new features 
include support for expanded ILS integration (holds, renewals, etc. -- 
currently supported by Voyager and Horizon, with more drivers to come), a brand 
new alternate mobile theme based on jQuery Mobile (currently labeled 
"experimental," but worth a look), more accurate advanced search, more complete 
translation support than ever before, and many minor bug fixes and feature 
enhancements. The new release can be downloaded at http://vufind.org.

If you have any questions about this release or about VuFind in general, I'll 
be happy to answer them!

- Demian

Re: [CODE4LIB] OIA Feeds

[Demian Katz]

I'm aware of at least two Virtua libraries currently using VuFind:  USQ 
(http://library.usq.edu.au/) and the National Library of Ireland 
(http://catalogue.nli.ie/).  VuFind is currently bundled with a copy of USQ's 
Virtua driver, so it should be possible to get things up and running with 
minimal code changes, assuming your Virtua instance is reasonably similar to 
USQ's.

If you want to get more information, I'd recommend posting to the 
vufind-general mailing list 
(https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/vufind-general).  The National 
Library of Ireland team is pretty active there, so you should be able to get 
some details on their experience if you ask.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Nathan Tallman
> Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 11:25 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] OIA Feeds
> 
> Thank you everyone for your replies.
> 
> Right now, I'm just exploring the options for a potential project. We
> need
> to make our MARC records available as Dublin Core via OAI-PMH. We don't
> have
> a digital repository or similar infrastructure at the moment, so I'll
> take a
> look at the OAI Static Repository documentation.
> 
> I'd really like to upgrade our catalog to something like VuFind (no
> worries
> about maintaining a static repository any more), but I haven't had time
> to
> explore hooking VuFind into our existing Virtua database. It'd probably
> be
> more efficient to just figure out and implement VuFind because of the
> host
> of other benefits.
> 
> Thanks again. If anyone's using VuFind as a discovery interface to a
> Virtua
> backend, let me know!
> 
> Nathan
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 9:50 AM, Nathan Tallman 
> wrote:
> 
> > Greetings list,
> >
> > Can anyone direct me towards documentation on creating an OAI feed
> from
> > scratch, without a repository infrastructure?
> >
> > Many thanks!
> >
> > Nathan Tallman
> > Associate Archivist
> > American Jewish Archives
> >

Re: [CODE4LIB] PDF->text extraction

[Demian Katz]

Have you tried Aperture (http://aperture.sourceforge.net/)?  It's a Java 
library for extracting content from various document formats including PDF.  It 
comes with command-line scripts that allow you to use it as a stand-alone 
utility.  If performance is your main concern, this may not be the best option 
since it's a heavier-duty tool than a simple PDF-only text extractor...  but if 
you want to expand the number of formats you support, it's worth a look.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Owen Stephens
> Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 10:24 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] PDF->text extraction
> 
> The CORE project at The Open University in the UK is doing some work on
> finding similarity between papers in institutional repositories (see
> http://core-project.kmi.open.ac.uk/ for more info).  The first step in
> the process is extracting text from the (mainly) pdf documents
> harvested from repositories
> 
> We've tried iText but had issues with quality
> We moved to PDFBox but are having performance issues
> 
> Any other suggestions/experience?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Owen
> 
> Owen Stephens
> Owen Stephens Consulting
> Web: http://www.ostephens.com
> Email: o...@ostephens.com
> Telephone: 0121 288 6936

[CODE4LIB] New blog: Villanova Library Technology Development

[Demian Katz]

Hello, everyone...

The Falvey Library technology development team has just started a new blog for 
writing brief technical articles about our work here at Villanova.  I plan to 
contribute VuFind-related posts whenever I encounter a technical problem 
interesting enough to discuss at length.  Hopefully, in addition to serving as 
an aid to my memory, this will also prove interesting to some of you!  I have 
just started the ball rolling with a discussion of the new highlighting and 
snippet functionality in VuFind 1.1:

http://blog.library.villanova.edu/libtech/

Also, thanks to Jonathan Rochkind, you can also read the blog through the 
syndication here:

http://planet.code4lib.org/

(I highly recommend Planet Code4lib if you haven't already tried it - lots of 
interesting stuff shows up there!).

I'm always happy to receive feedback - please let me know if you have comments 
or questions about the first post or if there are any subjects you would be 
interested in seeing covered in the blog in the future.

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 1.1 Released

[Demian Katz]

The next significant version of VuFind has been released this morning.  Here 
are some of the highlights of the new release:

- Improved support for non-MARC metadata and authority records
- New search tools: autosuggesters, snippets, keyword highlighting, 
alphabetical heading browse
- Alternate jQuery-based theme (for tighter integration with non-YUI sites)
- Easier and more powerful favorite list management
- More API integration: book previews through Google Books/OpenLibrary/Hathi 
Trust, cover images from B&T Content Café
- Expanded OAI-PMH and RSS output capabilities
- Better discovery by search engines with automatic sitemap XML generation tool
- Numerous bug fixes, plus better-commented and standardized code

For more information, and to download the new release, please visit 
http://vufind.org.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have questions or need help 
with anything.

- Demian

Re: [CODE4LIB] Simple Web-based Dublin Core search engine?

[Demian Katz]

The new release of VuFind (1.1, due out this coming Monday) includes tools for 
OAI-PMH harvesting and ingestion of arbitrary XML formats (some Dublin Core 
examples are included).  With a little bit of XSLT tweaking (and possibly 
implementation of a PHP class to customize record presentation), you could 
probably get it to meet your needs fairly easily.  If you're interested in 
trying this approach, I'm happy to offer more specific assistance -- just let 
me know!  See also http://vufind.org.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Edward M. Corrado
> Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 11:01 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Simple Web-based Dublin Core search engine?
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I [will soon] have a small set (< 1000 records) of Dublin Core
> metadata published in OAI_DC format that I want to be searchable via a
> Web browser.  Normally we would use Ex Libris's Primo for this, but
> this particular set of data may have some confidential information and
> our repository only has minimal built in search functions. While we
> still may go with Primo for these records, I am looking for at other
> possibilities. The requirements as I see them are:
> 
> 1) Can ingest records in OAI_DC format
> 2) Allow remote end-users who are familiar with the collection search
> these ingest records via a Web browser.
> 3)Search should be keyword anywhere or individual fields although it
> does not need to have every whizzbang feature out there. In other
> words, basic search feature are fine.
> 4) Should support the ability to link to the display copy in our
> repository (probably goes without saying)
> 5) Should be simple to install and maintain (Thus, at least in my
> mind, eliminating something like Blacklight)
> 6) Preferably a LAMP application although a Windows server based
> solution is a possibility as well
> 7) Preferably Open Source, or at least no- or low-cost
> 
> I haven't been able to find anything searching the Web, but it seems
> like something people may have done before. Before I re-invent the
> wheel or shoe-horn something together, does anyone have any
> suggestions?
> 
> Edward

Re: [CODE4LIB] COinS

[Demian Katz]

If you install the Zotero plug-in for Firefox, that should detect COinS and use 
it for harvesting citations -- that's one way to do some COinS testing of your 
own!

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Bigwood, David
> Sent: Friday, March 11, 2011 10:57 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] COinS
> 
> I've been adding COinS to some of our pages. However, we don't have a
> URLResolver here, so I can't tell how they look and if they are
> working.
> Anyone willing to check a few and let me know?
> http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/lpi_contribution.cfm
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> David Bigwood
> 
> dbigw...@hou.usra.edu
> 
> Lunar and Planetary Institute
> 
> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] dealing with Summon

[Demian Katz]

> So, to solve the conundrum: only PublicationDate_xml and
> PublicationDate are of interest. If the former is given, use it and
> print (if available) its .month, .day, and .year fields. Else, if the
> latter is given, just print it.
> Ignore all other date-related fields. Ignore PublicationDate_xml.text.
>  Ignore if there's more than one date field - use the first one.

Like I said, I don't claim that this is the one and only correct way to handle 
the data...  but you've correctly described what we're doing in VuFind, and so 
far nobody has complained about it!

- Demian

Re: [CODE4LIB] dealing with Summon

[Demian Katz]

> These are the questions I'm seeking answers to; I know that those of
> you who have coded their own Summon front-ends must have faced the
> same questions when implementing their record displays.

Feel free to refer to VuFind's Summon template for reference if that is helpful:

https://vufind.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/vufind/trunk/web/interface/themes/default/Summon/record.tpl

Andrew wrote this originally, and I've tweaked it in a few places to address 
problems as they arose.  I don't claim that this offers the definitive answer 
to your questions...  but it's working reasonably well for us so far.

- Demian

[CODE4LIB] VuFind Beyond MARC slides

[Demian Katz]

On a similar note, I've posted the slides for my VuFind talk here:

http://vufind.org/docs/beyond_marc.ppt

Is there someplace in the Wiki where all of the slides are being collected?  I 
assume it would be better if we were all listing these in a central location 
rather than posting dozens of messages on the mailing list... but I couldn't 
find an obvious spot to put the link!

thanks,
Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Rick Johnson
> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 10:42 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Notre Dame Hydra Digital Exhibit Slides Available
> 
> Thanks for a great conference everyone!  Our slides for our
> presentation on our Hydra Digital Exhibit Plugin as well as the
> screencast demo are now posted online:
> 
>   http://code4lib.library.nd.edu
> 
> It seemed like there was interest in the IRC channel for reuse of our
> plugin.  Again the code can be found here:
> 
>   https://github.com/ndliblis/hydra_exhibit
> 
> I am also extremely interested to here how many places would be
> interested in a Blacklight only version of the plugin.
> 
> Also, the main Hydra branch of code we extended can be found here as a
> baseline:
> 
>   https://github.com/projecthydra/hydrangea
> 
> Matt Zumwalt also mentioned in the Hydra breakout that a good place to
> look at the moment for active projects using Hydra can be found on
> Duraspace's JIRA instance listed under Hydra Software:
> 
>   https://jira.duraspace.org/secure/BrowseProjects.jspa#all
> 
> Finally, a more formal web presence will be available soon in the
> coming weeks including more detailed instructions on how to download,
> install, and try out existing Hydra heads.
> 
> Thanks!
> Rick
> --
> --
> Rick Johnson
> Unit Manager, Digital Library Applications and Local Programming Unit
> Library Information Systems
> University of Notre Dame
> Michiana Academic Library Consortium
> Notre Dame, IN USA 46556
> http://www.library.nd.edu
> 574-631-1086
> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] javascript testing?

[Demian Katz]

For what it's worth, the VuFind community has recently been playing with 
Selenium (not an especially new or exciting technology, I realize...  and 
probably one of the things you were thinking of for approach #1).  The good 
news is that it plays well with Hudson, and we have been able to get it to 
successfully automatically test AJAXy code in Firefox as part of our continuous 
integration process.  The bad news is that it's incredibly slow -- that 
successful test takes ten minutes to execute, and all it does is load one web 
page and confirm that a lightbox opens when a button is clicked.  I wouldn't 
realistically expect this sort of thing to be FAST, but the current performance 
we are experiencing stretches belief a bit -- we're still investigating to see 
if we're doing something wrong that can be improved, but the general consensus 
seems to be that Selenium is just really slow on certain platforms.  It's a 
shame, because I think we could potentially write a very comprehensive!
  and powerful test suite with Selenium...  but tests are significantly less 
valuable if they can't give you reasonably quick feedback while you're in the 
midst of coding!

In any case, I'm happy to share my limited experience with Selenium if it's of 
any use (some VuFind-specific notes are here: 
http://vufind.org/wiki/unit_tests#selenium and more can probably be gleaned by 
looking at VuFind's test-related configuration and scripts).  I'd also be very 
interested to hear if anyone has overcome the speed problems (which I've 
encountered under both RedHat and Ubuntu, possibly related to using a virtual 
frame buffer) or if there is a better, equivalent solution.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:code4...@listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of
> Jonathan Rochkind
> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 11:32 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] javascript testing?
> 
> As far as I can tell, while there are several, there are none that are
> actually Just Work good.  It seems to be an area still in flux, people
> coming up with an open source way to do that that is reliable and easy
> to use and just works.
> 
> The main division in current approaches seems to be between: 1) Trying
> to automate _actual browsers_ so you know you've tested it in the real
> browsers you care about (the headaches of this are obvious, but people
> are doing it!), and 2) Using a headless javascript browser that can be
> run right on the server, to test general javascriptyness but without
> testing idiosyncracies of particular browsers (I would lean towards
> this
> one myself, I'm willing to give up what it gives up for something that
> works a lot simpler with less headaches).
> 
> Jonathan
> 
> On 1/11/2011 7:21 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
> > Can anyone recommend a javascript testing framework? At Stanford, we
> know we need to test the js portions of our applications, but we
> haven't settled on a tool for that yet. I've heard good things about
> celerity (http://celerity.rubyforge.org/) but I believe it only works
> with jruby, which has been a barrier to getting started with it so far.
> Anyone have other tools to suggest? Is anyone doing javascript testing
> in a way they like? Feel like sharing?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Bess
> >

Re: [CODE4LIB] Q: Summon API Service?

[Demian Katz]

VuFind (http://vufind.org) has a built-in Summon module.  I won't make claims 
about ease of use relative to Wordpress, but installing VuFind is pretty 
straightforward (especially under Ubuntu, where you can take advantage of a 
.DEB package), and using it to access Summon is a matter of putting your API 
key in the Summon configuration file and changing the default module from 
"Search" to "Summon" in the main configuration file.  If you want VuFind to 
work without the underlying Solr instance running, you also have to comment out 
a small chunk of code (something that will be made more easily configurable in 
a future release -- it hasn't been a priority yet since there aren't a lot of 
people using it solely as a Summon wrapper).

If you're interested in more details on this, feel free to drop me a line... or 
join the VuFind mailing list.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:code4...@listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of
> Godmar Back
> Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 6:46 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Q: Summon API Service?
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Unlike Link/360, Serials Solution's Summon API is extremely cumbersome
> to
> use - requiring, for instance, that requests be digitally signed. (*)
> 
> Has anybody developed a proxy server for Summon that makes its API
> public
> (e.g. receives requests, signs them, forwards them to Summon, and
> relays the
> result back to a HTTP client?)
> 
> Serials Solutions publishes some PHP5 and Ruby sample code in two API
> libraries (**), but these don't appear to be fully fledged nor
> easy-to-install solutions.  (Easy to install here is defined as an
> average
> systems librarian can download them, provide the API key, and have a
> running
> solution in less time than it takes to install Wordpress.)
> 
> Thanks!
> 
>  - Godmar
> 
> (*) http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/help/api/authentication
> (**) http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/help/api/code

Re: [CODE4LIB] simple,flexible ILS for a small library.

[Demian Katz]

> If it's worth enough to someone, I expect the co-op or another Koha
> support provider would be willing to help fix it.  Usually the other
> big problem with things like drivers is getting access to test kit,
> but I don't know if that's the case with VuFind.

Writing a VuFind driver is definitely not a major undertaking if you understand 
the architecture of the system you are working with...  and since Koha is open 
source, that can only help.  The main reason VuFind doesn't have a Koha driver 
is that (to the best of my knowledge) no Koha library has chosen to implement 
VuFind yet (and I realize that is a self-perpetuating problem).  If any Koha 
developers are interested in closing this gap, I'm happy to work with them as 
needed -- I do think it's important for open source discovery layers to support 
open source ILS's!

- Demian

Re: [CODE4LIB] simple,flexible ILS for a small library.

[Demian Katz]

VuFind also has an Evergreen driver which is functional, though in need of 
improvement (it currently relies on direct database calls, but it would 
probably be more flexible if it instead used Evergreen's OpenSRF platform).  
Several people have talked about working on VuFind/Evergreen installations, so 
I expect that this situation will improve over time.

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:code4...@listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of
> ...
> Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 6:25 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] simple,flexible ILS for a small library.
> 
> > Does anyone have experience with the ILS which already have drivers
> for
> > VuFind?  I think the list is:
> >
> >
> Actually,looks like only newgenlib is the only open source solution
> supported by VuFind.  Unless there are others not on the list I
> found...

Re: [CODE4LIB] vufind user's group meeting

[Demian Katz]

Thanks for sharing this.  A few comments on your take-aways:

* governance - the VUFind community could use a bit more structure and the 
application of project management

We formed the VuFind administration group last year largely to address this 
issue...  but the group hasn't been very active.  I definitely think we need to 
make an effort at next week's conference to discuss how we can improve this 
situation.  We have a lot of people doing great work on VuFind, but most 
loyalties are (understandably and appropriately) to local institutions first 
and the VuFind project second.  Since I work at the university that originated 
the software and have more time than most to view it at the project level, I've 
had a disproportionate influence on where the project has gone over the past 
year or so.  I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out so far, but I 
would welcome the addition of a bit more structure if we can find a way to 
ensure that others are able to contribute regularly without having an undue 
burden placed upon them.

* patches - member-submitted patches need to be incorporated to the code to 
a greater degree; a couple of us felt our contributions were not accepted

I think the "ignored patch" situation dates back to the time that the VuFind 
project was temporarily between developers at Villanova.  The resulting period 
of slow activity allowed work to pile up, and by the time the backlog was 
examined, the software had moved on too far for certain old patches to apply.  
I feel that the situation has changed dramatically at this point -- I try to 
look at new patches as soon as I can, and I take the time to test patches and 
work with contributors to make them ready for inclusion in the trunk.  If there 
are still old unresolved patches that are important to people, please bring 
them to my attention.  I'll be happy to provide support in bringing them up to 
date for the latest version of the software.

I also really encourage complaining in public (i.e. on vufind-tech and 
vufind-general) if there are issues -- I think some of the early VuFind 
adopters dropped out of the public eye due to frustration with VuFind's 
temporary leadership vacuum.  However, things have changed a lot since then -- 
we have very active mailing lists, and I'm very interested in working with 
people to solve problems.  It helps if I know what the problems are, though!

* authorities - a greater emphasis needs to be placed on integrating the 
profession's good work done in regards to named authorities

Agreed -- and something I've been working on (thanks largely to Ya'aqov Ziso, 
and with significant help from Ralph LeVan and members of the XC team).  I'll 
be presenting on our work so far at next week's conference, and additional 
collaborators are welcome!

* local customizations - a possible solution to the "straying" issue may be 
the implementation of some sort of local code base, something Blacklight 
apparent has

I have been working on hooks throughout VuFind to make it easier to override or 
configure existing functionality without actually editing existing code: the 
"theme inheritance" mechanism, the record drivers, search objects, 
recommendations modules, even the way MARC import rules are set up.  Some of 
these things could probably stand to be documented better -- often the way of 
open source software.  I'm always open to adding new ways of customizing things 
in more places -- feel free to send me suggestions and requests.  I believe 
that Blacklight lets you create local overrides to any piece of the existing 
software thanks to the way the Rails environment is set up; VuFind's PHP 
environment isn't quite so structured, though evolution is always possible.  
However, no matter how clever you get, this is a situation where there is no 
magic bullet -- if the base code changes too much, the override code will 
break.  All any project can do is try to minimize disruptive changes and to !
 provide good hooks for customization.  Personally, I think just about the best 
thing anyone can do is learn to use change management software effectively -- 
no matter how well-designed the base software is, something like Git or 
Subversion will still make life easier when used appropriately.

* "light" flavor - given the spectrum of programming skills available in 
libraries, some thought a VUFind "Light" may be in order

Perhaps the DEB package we've had since the 1.0 release qualifies as this -- 
installing it under Ubuntu is nearly a trivial process, so you can get the 
package up and running very quickly.  The only thing I can think of that would 
make this even easier would be some kind of GUI configuration tool to eliminate 
the need for editing ini files directly.  Not a high priority on my own to-do 
list right now...  but it might make a great project for some ambitious grad 
student somewhere.

* repository - there is a need for a central place for the community to 
sh

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 1.0 Released

[Demian Katz]

VuFind's long beta period is now over. Today, VuFind 1.0 has been released. In 
addition to improved stability, the new release includes several features 
missing from the previous release candidate:

  * Flexible support for non-MARC metadata formats
  * A mobile interface
  * Dewey Decimal support
  * Integration with Serials Solutions' Summon
  * Dynamic "recommendations modules" to complement search results with 
relevant tips

For all the details and to obtain the software, please visit 
http://vufind.org/.  I'm also happy to answer questions!

- Demian

Re: [CODE4LIB] custom interface to SirsiDynix user account features

[Demian Katz]

Is it possible that you are thinking of VuFind?  VuFind offers a (fairly basic) 
set of account screens in addition to offering a discovery layer on top of your 
OPAC.  I'm not sure how well-supported the Unicorn functionality is, but there 
is a whole mailing list devoted to the subject of interfacing VuFind with 
Unicorn, so you can probably find out more there.

General information on VuFind:

http://vufind.org/

The VuFind-Unicorn support group:

https://lists.lehigh.edu/mailman/listinfo/vufind-unicorn-l

- Demian

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:code4...@listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of
> Emily Lynema
> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 2:50 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] custom interface to SirsiDynix user account
> features
> 
> I have vague dusty memories of someone saying (perhaps at a Code4Lib
> conference) that they had built a custom PHP (?) interface to the user
> account features for SirsiDynix Unicorn. Sirsi provides an API that I
> think could be used to do this, so that doesn't seem like a completely
> impossible thing to remember.
> 
> We have finally 'turned off' our legacy OPAC here at NCSU Libraries
> (after almost 4 years of using Endeca) and would be interested in being
> able to turn off the legacy 'My Account' features as well, in
> particular
> if someone had already built an application we could borrow from.
> 
> Thought I'd throw this out to see if anyone else remembers the same
> conversation.
> 
> -emily
> 
> --
> Emily Lynema
> Associate Department Head
> Information Technology, NCSU Libraries
> 919-513-8031
> emily_lyn...@ncsu.edu

[CODE4LIB] VuFind 1.0RC2 Released

[Demian Katz]

Hello, everyone.

It's been a long time in the making, but we're finally able to announce a new 
release of the VuFind library discovery interface.

VuFind 1.0RC2 is more configurable than ever before, features the latest Solr 
1.4 index engine, and resolves many bugs from the previous release.  It also 
has some significant new features, including expanded favorites management and 
a fully-functional advanced search.  For more details, please see our changelog:

http://vufind.org/wiki/changelog

If you want to give the new release a test drive, a demo is available here:

http://vufind.org/demo/

If you're ready to install or upgrade VuFind, please check out the updated and 
expanded documentation in our wiki:

http://vufind.org/wiki/

I'm always happy to answer questions about the software, so feel free to 
contact me here, through my email address, or on one of the VuFind mailing 
lists listed on our support page:

http://vufind.org/support.php

...And now back to work on the full 1.0 release -- I expect it won't be nearly 
so long in the making as RC2 was!

- Demian

Re: [CODE4LIB] Pinyin (Romanized Chinese) searching

[Demian Katz]

> What's the right place for such a piece of code? Solrmarc seems the
> obvious place to me. As it has been described to me so far, this
> doesn't seem like an issue affecting people outside the library realm,
> which makes it seem too niche and community-specific to get it built
> into the lucene codebase, but I could be wrong about that. Maybe it
> would be better as a lucene contrib library?

I actually think the most logical place for this to be implemented would be at 
the Solr level, as a filter.  I say this for a two main reasons:

1.) One of the great strengths of Solr is the fact that you have the ability to 
apply the same text analysis logic to input at index time and at query time.  
The SolrMarc approach gives you only one solution: expand each term into 
multiple entries in the Solr index.  Using a Solr filter allows this approach, 
but it also adds some other options -- i.e. normalize all the text to a 
particular format in the index, and then normalize queries to match it using 
the same algorithm, thus reducing index size.  I know very little about Chinese 
Romanization, so I don't really know which strategy would make the most 
sense... but Solr filters will give you more flexibility.

2.) One of the issues the VuFind community will be tackling before too long is 
dealing with records from formats other than MARC.  Presumably Romanization 
problems are not limited strictly to MARC.  It seems to make the most sense to 
address the problem at the index level rather than in a tool tied to a 
particular input format.

- Demian