Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars
On Thu, 9 Jun 2005, Eric Lease Morgan wrote: Decreasingly can we expect people to come to our website for data. Instead we must figure out ways to insert our data and services into their space. These sorts of plug-ins -- gadgets -- represent a way to accomplish this goal. Can you say, 'Top Technology Trend?' Actually this trend worries me a bit. We're already seeing adds inserted into RSS feeds (Microsoft adds in the Freshmeat RSS, for instance). Any technology that can be inserted into the user's space (albeit with some cooperation from the user) will be more abused the more popular it gets until we'll end up having to block it. Anyone remember email? The real lesson of browser extensions is the power of making your Web content available in other forms than HTML for the visual Web browser. People won't stop coming, they'll just stop coming with only IE. They will send their agents. It's not as urgent that we build those agents for them as it is urgent that our data and services welcome those agents when they get here. Chris You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me. --bumper sticker
Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeremy Dunck Sent: 27 May, 2005 11:26 To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars Actually, I didn't mis-paste the URL, Hmmm. You said: For information on Microsoft's Office Research service technology: But linked to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/prop erties/target.asp Oops... Even after reading the URL twice I still mis-read it. Sorry about the confusion. Here are the correct references: TARGET Attribute | target Property. Redmond (WA): Microsoft Corporation; ©2005 [cited 2005 May 25]. Available from: http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/properties/target.asp Research Services. Redmond (WA): Microsoft Corporation; ©2005 [cited 2005 May 25]. Available from: http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/research/default.aspx Over the weekend I will improve the IE browser bar document I pointed to in my last message. It should provide a easy way to get people started in using IE browser bars to access a variety of services, including their local OPACs. BTW, does anybody have a publicly accessible SRW/SRU or REST/XML interface to their OPAC? I would like to test some other ideas I have been working on... Hopefully, in the near future I will put up some publicly accessible Office 2003 Research Services that people can play with. Andy. Andrew Houghton, OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. http://www.oclc.org/about/ http://www.oclc.org/research/staff/houghton.htm
Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars
Hi, Vishwam, I'd be very interested in any general insights or suggestions you have based on your experiences developing these toolbars. My library has a relatively small group of regular users, most of whom use IE, and I'd love to be able to offer an easy-to-install toolbar that would allow them to search the catalog directly from their browsers. We use Voyager from Endeavor, and it's easy enough to add a search box to our homepage using the GET function. (See here for an example: http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/home.cfm. Note that that's not my library, but they also use Voyager. I'm going to add a search box like that to our homepage in the near future.) Ideally, the toolbar I'd roll out would offer the same functionality as that search box, if at all possible. I installed the Google Deskbar on my office computer and was able to configure it to search our catalog directly, but I'd rather create an easy-to-install-and-use toolbar for IE. Given the extreme limitations of my programming skills (i.e. I really don't have any yet), this may be a pipedream. I searched the archives of the Voyager users group listserv, and couldn't find any examples of this kind of functionality developed by others. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Ron Coleman Systems Librarian United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Washington, DC 20024 Vishwam Annam [EMAIL PROTECTED] ight.edu To Sent by: Code for CODE4LIB@listserv.nd.edu Libraries cc [EMAIL PROTECTED] v.nd.edu Subject Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars 05/24/2005 08:52 PM Please respond to Code for Libraries [EMAIL PROTECTED] v.nd.edu I haven't played much with browser toolbars, but I wrote search plugins for mozilla browsers. These are like Google, Amazon, Yahoo.. etc which comes with firefox by default. Our catalog search plugins are at http://www.libraries.wright.edu/download/plugins/ If you are looking some thing like this, I'd be happy to share my experience. Vishwam - Original Message - From: Eric Lease Morgan [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 5:07 pm Subject: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars How does one go about creating a browser toolbar? You know. Things likethe Google or Yahoo toolbars. -- Eric Lease Morgan (574) 631-8604 (See attached file: w003vxa.vcf) w003vxa.vcf Description: Binary data
Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars
There are some Web sites out there that have a fill in the blanks approach to IE toolbar building. http://www.effectivebrand.com/ is one I know of. It does create a decent looking toolbar, but I'm not sure if it is just more spyware. Haven't investigated them that closely. Sincerely, David Bigwood [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lunar Planetary Institute -Original Message- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Jeremy Dunck Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 10:44 AM To: CODE4LIB@listserv.nd.edu Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars On 5/25/05, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ... but I'd rather create an easy-to-install-and-use toolbar for IE. Given the extreme limitations of my programming skills (i.e. I really don't have any yet), this may be a pipedream. Well, this is the single biggest reason there aren't more toolbars for IE. That article I linked to earlier starts out saying something like If you've been doing windows event subclassing for a while, this isn't too tough, but instead we'll take the easy route and use multiple inheritance with the C++ ATL. Talk about setting the bar high! I've been a dev for 11 years, and that still sounds like too much trouble to me. :)
Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeremy Dunck Sent: 25 May, 2005 11:44 To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars On 5/25/05, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ... but I'd rather create an easy-to-install-and-use toolbar for IE. Given the extreme limitations of my programming skills (i.e. I really don't have any yet), this may be a pipedream. Well, this is the single biggest reason there aren't more toolbars for IE. That article I linked to earlier starts out saying something like If you've been doing windows event subclassing for a while, this isn't too tough, but instead we'll take the easy route and use multiple inheritance with the C++ ATL. Talk about setting the bar high! I've been a dev for 11 years, and that still sounds like too much trouble to me. :) Actually, you have to remember the documentation that was pointed to is several years old. Microsoft's technologies have marched on. You don't need to use C++ ATL, you can use .NET and there is also a zero deploy method, by using the little known target attribute on an HTML anchor. So in reality, all you need to know is HTML and possibly a little JavaScript. If you are interested in the .NET approach, there are some nice articles and example on the Code Project site. Don't remember if you are required to register to read the articles, but since I registered many years ago, rarely have I received spam from them. http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/dotnetbandobjects.asp http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/IE_Advanced_Toolbar.asp For information on the HTML anchor target attribute: http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/properties/target.asp I have been working with another similar technology. In Office 2003 Microsoft created the Research task pane. It is available in most Office 2003 application and IE v5.1 or above when Office 2003 has been installed. In IE you can go to View-Explorer Bar-Research to bring up the Research pane. The Research pane is based upon SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) and allows you to access content from dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauri, search services, or third party services conforming to a few XML schemas and WSDL. We have some prototype services up and running that connect to the Library of Congress, RDN (Resource Discovery Network) in the UK, Amazon (all regional sites), and a few controlled vocabularies. However, it seems to me that there is no reason why you couldn't use this technology to interface to local OPAC and is something I have pointed out to others. Currently, I have implemented proxy interfaces to SRW services, REST based services and flat XML data files. For information on Microsoft's Office Research service technology: http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/properties/target.asp Andy. Andrew Houghton, OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. http://www.oclc.org/about/ http://www.oclc.org/research/staff/houghton.htm
Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars
On 5/25/05, Houghton,Andrew [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ... So in reality, all you need to know is HTML and possibly a little JavaScript. Yes, the point in my original email was to give some documentation, but also show that there wasn't much dev community around it. I knew that it was possible to do in .Net, but didn't find any documentation on that approach, which I thought proved my point. :) http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/dotnetbandobjects.asp http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/IE_Advanced_Toolbar.asp Thanks for the links, I'll likely use this info myself. http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/properties/target.asp I don't understand how the target attribute (which I'm familiar with) is useful in the context of toolbars... For information on Microsoft's Office Research service technology: http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/properties/target.asp I think this link must have been mis-pasted, which is a shame, because I am interested.
Re: [CODE4LIB] browser toolbars
On 5/24/05, Eric Lease Morgan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: How does one go about creating a browser toolbar? You know. Things like the Google or Yahoo toolbars. There's not much of a dev community around this but: Creating Custom Explorer Bars, Tool Bands, and Desk Bands http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_adv/bands.asp Adding Explorer Bars http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/browser/ext/tutorials/explorer.asp Explorer Bar Style Guide http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/browser/ext/tutorials/explorer.asp
