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IUG 2008 – Day Two April 29, 2008

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Encore

Encore is a front end to the catalog for keyword searching only. III describes it as a ‘discovery’ tool. It’s for patrons who don’t know what they are looking for and want to do a ‘google’ type search in the catalog. Once results are found the patron can then narrow down the results my using what is call ‘facets’ aka limits like format, publication date, language or collections.

Westerville Public Library is a good example: http://www.westervillelibrary.org/

                Enncore page 2
Click picture to enlarge

On the right side of the results it provides 3 “Recently Added”.  Since it takes the last 3 bib records added to the system (by cat date) (they could be old books) westerville choose to relabel the section “Popular Choices”, which they may or may not be.  There another section for other searches and then the “tag cloud” which in this case are the subject headings assigned by catalogers.  Patrons can not add their own tags.

For patrons who know what they want i.e. a specific author or title or subject, they need to use Web Pac Pro (our current catalog).  This makes Encore a supplement to the catalog not a replacement. Libraries are struggling with how to best present a search option(s) to patrons. 

There are alternatives which might do a better job of presenting the catalog to patrons. Here are few to view and leave your comments as to what you like or dislike about them.

Ann Arbor Public Library uses Drupal

Plymouth State uses Scribilio, (wordpress blog software with an III API) allows patrons to “review or comment on items, allows patron tags and provides up to date holdings information.

Aurora Public Library uses a script to pull into the results page the limiting options found in advance search to refine the search.

RSS Feeds and Library News

Library news can be generated in RSS Feed format so patrons could sign up for an RSS feed and get the lastest information about library events, books, etc.  RSS feeds can also be added into the library catalog to keep patrons informed.  There are two ways patrons can view feeds:

1. FireFox and IE7 have build-in feed readers.  On IE7 look up at the top of your browser, do you see a little orange square? if not hold down the ctrl+shift+J keys all together and your feed list opens up under “Favorites”.  Here’s what I have:

2. Use a search engine like iGoogle or My Yahoo to display your feeds.  The advantage to this method, you can use any computer connected to the Internet to see them.  The first option, provides for them only on one computer. Here’s what my iGoogle feeds look like:
iGoogle Feeds

That was the morning sessions onto the afternoon sessions.

IUG 2008 – Day One April 29, 2008

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Opening Session
There are 1600 attendees at this year’s IUG conference. Our guest speaker – Larry Irving (coined the term Digital Divide) was very entertaining and informative.  The main point was the Digital Divide has changed.  The new digital divide is who has broadband access. By 2010 1 in 10 people in the world will be on the Internet.  They will be using smart phones. Those with a smart phone are going to be the best connected by being able to cheaply make phone calls to any part of the world using the Internet and Skype.  iPhone type phones will have a huge imapct on how people search the Internet.  I see this every month when I look at which browsers are accessing our site and using are wireless network.  The number of iPhone use is climbing rapidly.  There are a lot of resources and information on the Internet, but people are going to need help learning how to decide what is good information.  Librarians, can play a very important role in helping them.

Development Updates:

  • Release 2007 is going to general release May 6th, it will have 190 enhancements and 10 new products.
  • Release 2008 (maybe called Pearl) may not be a big release like the past ones. They are looking at chopping the software up into suites which launch when development and testing are completed.
  • Release 2008, will contain the following highlights with more TBD.
    • On many tables you will be able to click the header and sort by the column.
    • Allow internal messages to popup when a patron record is accessed.
    • All patron record messages will appear in a single popup window rather than multiple windows
    • Checkin will have a new mode which will prevent holds from being triggered
    • View/Print Hold shelf list option
    • Notices will be converted to Print templates which will allow for us to format them an email notices will have their own template.
    • My Account will tell the patron how many renewals are available on an item and will track how many renewals are left if item is renewed.
    • Export list will allow the patron to choose which fields to export and do it in a clean format – this may allow us to turn the feature back on!
    • When you click “Return to List” button in the full bib record you will be taken back to the location you were on the list rather than jumping to the top of the list ( a long awaited fix!)
    • The links in the 856 tag of the Marc record can be set to open in a new window (Tab)
    • Enforce manadatory fields and formatting in patron records before they can be saved.

There will many more enhancements but these are some major highlights.

 Enhancing the WebPac

There was a huge list of things to do to enhance the WebPac here are just a few of them we might experiment with:

  • Google Gadgets – has widgets to create a quick search box which searches the catalog and can be put on any web page.
  • SMS Messaging – allow patrons to send full bib records to a cell phone using text messaging.
  • Google Books – provide a link on the bib record to click to Google Books; allows the patron to preview the book. This can also be put on the Brief Display page as well as the full bib.
  • Social Bookmarking – provide a link on the bib record which allows the patron to add the bib to their social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us
  • Open Worldcat lookup – add a link which takes the patron to Open Worldcat where patrons can find the item at another local library – like Henderson or UNLV.

New Products Coming 2007 (available May 6th)

  • My Record RSS Feeds – will send a rss feed when the item is coming due, is due, overdue, program registered reminders, etc.  Note the feed does not send specific information but just a generic notice.  The patron will have to log into their account to see the specifics.
  • Online patron registration will allow the patron to add a user’s name or change one.
  • My Lists – will allow patrons to create unlimited lists of items in the catalog.  The only issue with this, when the bib record is deleted the link remains on the list but when the patron clicks it, they get a record not found message.  My Reading History (which is currently turned off) is a companion to this product.  If it’s turned on, it requires patron to opt in. With the correct linking to a explaination page of what it means to opt-in, we may want to look another look at this option.  Some patrons ask for this feature.

Wireless Printing Vendor

The vendor booths have a vendor offering a wireless printing solution which allows patrons using their laptops on our wireless service to print to the library’s network printer. Sounds really cool! I’ll bring home a flyer for IT and the TAC group to look at.

That was my day.  Look for a brief update tomorrow.