Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
A big thanks to everyone who responded to my question about A to Z lists - now I have lots of stuff to try! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu -Original Message- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Riley-Huff, Debra Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2011 9:38 PM To: CODE4LIB@listserv.nd.edu Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists We built our A-Z list, Databases by Subject and Database Trials sets in Drupal. It has worked out really well for us and we also have those lists populate our subject guides through taxonomy. http://apollo.lib.olemiss.edu/guides/glossary/dbases-az If you are interested in how we built any of this let me know. Debra On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Michele DeSilva mdesi...@cocc.edu wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu -- Debra Riley-Huff Web Services Librarian Assistant Professor JD Williams Library University of Mississippi University, MS 38677 662-915-7353 riley...@olemiss.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
We built our A-Z list, Databases by Subject and Database Trials sets in Drupal. It has worked out really well for us and we also have those lists populate our subject guides through taxonomy. http://apollo.lib.olemiss.edu/guides/glossary/dbases-az If you are interested in how we built any of this let me know. Debra On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Michele DeSilva mdesi...@cocc.edu wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu -- Debra Riley-Huff Web Services Librarian Assistant Professor JD Williams Library University of Mississippi University, MS 38677 662-915-7353 riley...@olemiss.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
We use Serials Solutions to manage our databases on the backend. For our website A-Z and category browse, custom PHP scripts use the XML API to generate HTML pages for individual entries and the various lists -- a cron job refreshes the content daily. Our university used to offer a Google search appliance that would regularly index the directory for search, but they discontinued it, so we purchased a subscription to Google site search. Here's our A-Z databases list http://www.usc.edu/libraries/databases/list_az.php?nav=0-9. --Joyce On 2/16/2011 1:18 PM, Michele DeSilva wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu -- * * * * * Joyce Ouchida Senior Web Developer USC Libraries phone: 213-821-2298 e-mail: jouch...@usc.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
At Lehigh, I've extracted e-journals from our SirsiDynix Symphony catalog via API into alphabetical and discipline-based XML documents. We then index those documents with Swish-e (http://www.swish-e.org/) and display the browse-able XML alphabetized lists and search interface in our Drupal-based website. Drupal, however, has little to do with the A-to-Z list other than processing the PHP/XML/XSLT. The Discipline-based order is determined by a value defined in local MARC field. Our A-to-Z databases are NOT cataloged, so they are managed by a small PHP/MySQL app that two of our librarians control additions, deletions, and edits of metadata. You can see the interfaces here: General Library Site: http://library.lehigh.edu/ Specific Database Finder app: http://library.lehigh.edu/node?quicktabs_1=1#quicktabs-1 Special E-Journal A-Z app: http://library.lehigh.edu/node?quicktabs_1=2#quicktabs-1 Tim Tim McGeary Team Leader, Library Technology Lehigh University 610-758-4998 tim.mcge...@lehigh.edu timmcge...@gmail.com GTalk/Yahoo/Skype: timmcgeary On 2/17/11 1:18 AM, Markus Fischer wrote: The cheapest and best A to Z list i know is the german EZB: http://rzblx1.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/index.phtml?bibid=Acolors=7lang=en This list is maintained by hunderds of libraries. You just mark those journals you have licensed and that's it. Not very widely known: they do also provide an API which you can use as a free linkresolver. There are free tools you can plug into this API and you've got your linkresolver. The list is incredible accurate and you'll have almost no effort: any change made by one library is valid for all. Let me know if you need more information. Markus Fischer Am 16.02.2011 22:18, schrieb Michele DeSilva: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
[CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
We have Metalib and use Xerxes as a front-end to Metalib, so we just use Xerxes as our A-Z list, or directory or databases too. But what I'd really like to do is just _use the catalog_. If there was a good interface for the catalog, and these resources were included in it's search... why would need an entirely separate interface for databases, why not just use the catalog to find stuff? That's what I'm working towards. First step, use Blacklight to have a catalog with a usable interface. On 2/16/2011 4:18 PM, Michele DeSilva wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
if you put the info in a Solr index, you could use Blacklight on top. On Feb 16, 2011, at 1:18 PM, Michele DeSilva wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
Hi Michele, We created one using wordpress (which is not yet live) If you are interested in that route, I'll be happy to share the details with you. Dhanushka. On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Michele DeSilva mdesi...@cocc.edu wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
If search is your priority, then I think solr would be a better option. On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 3:23 PM, Dhanushka Samarakoon dhan...@gmail.comwrote: Hi Michele, We created one using wordpress (which is not yet live) If you are interested in that route, I'll be happy to share the details with you. Dhanushka. On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Michele DeSilva mdesi...@cocc.eduwrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
We user Xerxes too to serve up our databases A-Z list but as we have so many databases (900 or so.) that it takes a really long time for the page to load, as the way Xerxes is currently designed, it loads the whole A-Z list at once. So if you have a large number of databases, be warned that providing them through Xerxes may result in your users waiting awhile... Nadaleen Tempelman-Kluit Discovery and Digital Access Librarian Bobst Library, New York University n...@nyu.edu (212) 998-2469 - Original Message - From: Naomi Dushay ndus...@stanford.edu Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:29 pm Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU if you put the info in a Solr index, you could use Blacklight on top. On Feb 16, 2011, at 1:18 PM, Michele DeSilva wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
We have a home grown system built on CF/MSSQL. It currently manages our electronic serials licensing workflow (or part of it at least) as well as generating the A-Z list. One peculiarity of the list, and one reason why we're still using it, is that staff wanted to be able to include select free/open access serials in a list while *not* adding them to the catalog. I hope to replace it with something more automated in the near future. Keri Thompson Head, Web Services Department Smithsonian Institution Libraries e. thomps...@si.edu t. 202.633.1716 www.sil.si.edu || www.smithsonianlibraries.si.edu || www.biodiversitylibrary.org .: yes, we're on twitter @silibraries :. -Original Message- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Nadaleen F Tempelman-Kluit Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:37 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists We user Xerxes too to serve up our databases A-Z list but as we have so many databases (900 or so.) that it takes a really long time for the page to load, as the way Xerxes is currently designed, it loads the whole A-Z list at once. So if you have a large number of databases, be warned that providing them through Xerxes may result in your users waiting awhile... Nadaleen Tempelman-Kluit Discovery and Digital Access Librarian Bobst Library, New York University n...@nyu.edu (212) 998-2469 - Original Message - From: Naomi Dushay ndus...@stanford.edu Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:29 pm Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU if you put the info in a Solr index, you could use Blacklight on top. On Feb 16, 2011, at 1:18 PM, Michele DeSilva wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
Yeah, as one of the developers of Xerxes, I've been meaning to fix that long-page problem. If any other PHP developers want to contribute a patch, please feel free. It won't take any herculean RD to fix that feature, just figuring out what the interface ought to look like and making it so. (Fixing the caching headers so a browser can cache that page wouldn't hurt either). Just hasn't been a big enough priority for me to get to. Open source, developers work on what's a priority for them locally, if you need something else please help fix it! As far as librarians wanting certain resources to be findable but NOT through the catalog... this is a mystery to me. If you want users to find it, why would you want it not to be findable thorugh the catalog? In my experience, sometimes there are semi-reasonable reasons behind this, that don't really mean what they seem to mean: 1) We don't want it in the ILS back-end because it will confuse our data management prctices, and having it in the ILS back-end is the only way to get it in the catalog. This really means the ILS back-end workflow is crap (as all of ours are), but a solution (in addition to getting a better ILS), would be creating a 'discovery layer' on top of the ILS that is your front-end catalog, but can include records not actually in the back-end ILS. (But you're going to run into problems with (de-)duplication if SOME of your 'extra' content is ALSO in the catalog and others isn't. What we really need is a back-end metadata management system that actually WORKS WELL, but none of us have it.) 2) The catalog interface sucks, nobody will ever be able to find databases in there. Solution here obviously is a better catalog interface, possibly including the ability to list/limit just the things you call 'databases'. 3) We just don't want them in the catalog, because they don't belong there. Okay, on this one I'm stymied. Some people are insane. I think we need to do it with an interface that works for users, and we need to do it without making back-end workflow more expensive (ideally it should make it LESS expensive to not have to maintain seperate datastores for this stuff!), but I can't see any reason we should _intentionally_ present our users with multiple search interfaces, each of which searches over different types of content. Oh, you use THIS form to find e-journals, and you use this OTHER interface that works completely differently to find databases (what's a 'database' exactly? Well, you see, I dunno, I know it when I see it), and you use this OTHER thing we call 'the catalog' to find, well, it's hard to say exactly what's in there, it's just everything else, except for the things that aren't in it either. I understand how some of us are stuck doing that because we can't figure out a way out that doesn't mess up workflows and that works for users -- but I absolutely and completely do not understand doing that with INTENTION. From: Code for Libraries [CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Thompson, Keri [thomps...@si.edu] Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 5:46 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists We have a home grown system built on CF/MSSQL. It currently manages our electronic serials licensing workflow (or part of it at least) as well as generating the A-Z list. One peculiarity of the list, and one reason why we're still using it, is that staff wanted to be able to include select free/open access serials in a list while *not* adding them to the catalog. I hope to replace it with something more automated in the near future. Keri Thompson Head, Web Services Department Smithsonian Institution Libraries e. thomps...@si.edu t. 202.633.1716 www.sil.si.edu || www.smithsonianlibraries.si.edu || www.biodiversitylibrary.org .: yes, we're on twitter @silibraries :. -Original Message- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Nadaleen F Tempelman-Kluit Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:37 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists We user Xerxes too to serve up our databases A-Z list but as we have so many databases (900 or so.) that it takes a really long time for the page to load, as the way Xerxes is currently designed, it loads the whole A-Z list at once. So if you have a large number of databases, be warned that providing them through Xerxes may result in your users waiting awhile... Nadaleen Tempelman-Kluit Discovery and Digital Access Librarian Bobst Library, New York University n...@nyu.edu (212) 998-2469 - Original Message - From: Naomi Dushay ndus...@stanford.edu Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:29 pm Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU if you put the info in a Solr index, you could use Blacklight on top. On Feb 16, 2011, at 1:18 PM, Michele DeSilva wrote: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want
Re: [CODE4LIB] A to Z lists
The cheapest and best A to Z list i know is the german EZB: http://rzblx1.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/index.phtml?bibid=Acolors=7lang=en This list is maintained by hunderds of libraries. You just mark those journals you have licensed and that's it. Not very widely known: they do also provide an API which you can use as a free linkresolver. There are free tools you can plug into this API and you've got your linkresolver. The list is incredible accurate and you'll have almost no effort: any change made by one library is valid for all. Let me know if you need more information. Markus Fischer Am 16.02.2011 22:18, schrieb Michele DeSilva: Hi Code4Lib-ers, I want to chime in and say that I, too, enjoyed the streaming archive from the conference. I also have a question: my library has a horribly antiquated A to Z list of databases and online resources (it's based in Access). We'd like to do something that looks more modern and is far more user friendly. I found a great article in the Code4Lib journal (issue 12, by Danielle Rosenthal Mario Bernado) about building a searchable A to Z list using Drupal. I'm also wondering what other institutions have done as far as in-house solutions. I know there're products we could buy, but, like everyone else, we don't have much money at the moment. Thanks for any info or advice! Michele DeSilva Central Oregon Community College Library Emerging Technologies Librarian 541-383-7565 mdesi...@cocc.edu
