Busy month before the semester break...

It has been a hectic month, but the end in nigh.

On top of regular duties, I was sent to a conference in Edmonton, Alberta for the second Canadian Campus Card Workshop. College administration wanted to gather information about the “smart card” concept. Admittedly, I had some trepidation about attending since it was outside my normal experience, but it turned out to be more interesting and informative than I initially suspected. The consequence was a 30 page report to administration (which I wish I could post) and a new page on our library site that informs people about the campus ID cards functions. [The new page can be viewed by clicking here.] I have to give kudos to John Younk, of the University of Alberta’s ONEcard office, and his counterparts from the National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU), for a well organized and presented program.

A few last minute classes on the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) style of citation were added into the mix, too. It was fortunate that I created a PowerPoint presentation beforehand, and was not forced to use the old overhead projection sheets. The classes were not too bad (for me anyway). It was definitely different, since most of my instruction is in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) format.

A couple of additional Web chores were thrown in before my holiday break begins. The University of Lethbridge is having trouble resolving a security certificate issue with the library system’s server alias, so I will have to alter all links in the online catalogue and our own site. So long, “eureka.uleth.ca”! Hello, “darius.uleth.ca”! Once the “darius” server name is employed, everything should be fine for all parties involved.

The final chore before I leave will be overhauling the databases’ section of our website. It is not dynamically structured yet, so I have to recode about 35 pages to meet my new layout requirements. It is not overly hard, but it can be time consuming. There will be 6 new databases being added in the New Year, so I will have to leave room for them. Hopefully the URLs will be waiting in my mailbox when I return in January.

In the meantime, it is back to work.

"Request" Authentication Page Updated

After the UofL implemented its new LDAP server authentication system, one of our OPAC authentication pages went a little wonky. The page in question was the "Request" item authentication page which is used to request holds or transfers of materials between the Vera Bracken a Brooks Campus libraries. [Click here to read more about the request feature.]

The previous page offered authentication via LDAP or the III library system. Without a clear explanation of the authentication methods, our patrons were somewhat confused when presented with the two different options. The new page eliminates the LDAP login for MHC patrons and now offers an example of how to authenticate in to the library system.

After some toiling, the page has been recoded and is working properly for the book and periodical requests. Slowly, but surely I am getting more confident in employing the system generated tokens as opposed to pure HTML. Most of my Web work is WYSIWIG designed, so employing a pure code view is somewhat consternating. The inability to see the product in a preview/design view, before uploading it to the test server bothers me, but it is getting easier with each successful implementation. So a little, "Whoo hoo!" - for now.

Blog & OPAC Modifications

It is the start of the work week and it is off to a mad rush. I made a couple modifications to my personal blog (the one you are reading) and the Medicine Hat College Library Service Blog. A weather widget, courtesy of Environment Canada, was added to each. If you want to build a WeatherLink for your website, click here [sorry, Canada only].

To make OPAC entries clearer in the browse-results lists, the results' numbers were aligned right, highlighted in a light green with a dark green right-hand border. You can view a sample by clicking here. I was hoping to create a different effect, but the CSS does not allow for it. My hope is that this new highlight will make it easier for patrons to see where an entry begins and ends. A couple of other minor changes were made, but they are minutia and not worth discussing.

A couple of minor fires were put out along the way - information desk questions (two if you can believe it - one of which was a complex question about wireless networking in the college) and we discovered how to edit PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional.

And so the day continues...

Spell Check in OPACs is Active

I activated the Spell Check feature in our OPACs this morning. It has been on the staging/test server for the last 4-6 weeks. I did not find it aesthetically pleasing and could not make alterations without the UofL's consent. We experienced some delays in activation because many of my contacts at the UofL were on sabbatical or vacation in June. Fortunately they returned and agreed with my assessment, and I consequently made the alterations and activated it on the live/public servers.

Give the new feature a spin and let me know what you think - it is active on the Basic Keyword Search (@Vera Bracken Library/Brooks Catalogue; @Brooks Catalogue) and Advanced Keyword Search (@Vera Bracken/Brooks Catalogue; @Brooks Catalogue) pages. It is not quite Google, but it is a much improved first step. The activation of this feature should be last of the major OPAC upgrades for a while. It will mostly be a matter of house keeping and refinement of the CSS.

All that I have to do is hope that I will not have to revise the OPAC for a few more years.

OPAC and Database Updates

There are a few things to let you know about in this bulletin. Among them are OPAC and database updates.

OPAC

The Spell Check feature is active in the staging catalogue. You can view it at: http://eureka.uleth.ca:2082/search~S2/X [NOTE: This page can only be viewed on campus.] The UofL has activated in in their live catalogue (http://eureka.uleth.ca/search~S1/X), but I am not fond of a particular "Go" button that accompanies the feature - it really does not fit into the overall aesthetic of either OPAC. I changed this in the staging server, but I cannot make this change in the live side until my UofL contacts return from vacation to discuss this. I will design some alternative buttons for deployment if they do not approve of my alterations in the staging server. View each and try making multiple misspellings and see what happens. It is a really cool feature.

DATABASES

EBSCO made some alterations to its database URLs - moving from epnet.com to ebscohost.com. The links from our pages to EBSCO databases have been altered to reflect this change. The news release can be found at: http://support.epnet.com/support_news/detail.php?id=222&page=.

Additionally, the Clinical Pharmacology database has been discontinued by EBSCO. Health Source (Consumer Edition and Nursing/Academic Edition) databases have been upgraded with equivalent content. You can read the press release from EBSCO at: http://support.epnet.com/support_news/detail.php?id=359&page=.

OPAC Upgrades Near Completion

The light at the end of the tunnel is quickly nearing for the WebPAC Pro upgrade. The principle features are installed and activated. I will be refining some of the Spell Check features before posting it in the live interface.

If you are on either of the campuses, navigate your Web browser of choice to: http://eureka.uleth.ca:2082/search~S2/X, type: testr [yes, it is an intentional misspelling], and see what happens. Though it is not quite Google, it is a nifty new feature with lots of promise.

A formal announcement of the WebPAC Pro launch should be made by the end of the week.

Sydetic Solutions Activated

The UofL activated the Syndetic Solutions plug-ins in the catalogue earlier today.

What this means is that when you perform a search (Advanced or Basic Keyword), the resulting titles might display a small picture of the book. When you click on the image, a new frame opens in the OPAC and allows you to browse additional information about the title. Information that you might find includes: abstract/summary, author notes, larger cover image, reviews, and table of contents. The Syndetic Solutions information is available in the aforementioned results lists or at the bibliographic level of a title.

The spell checker feature has yet to be installed.

Once all updates are complete and the bugs worked out, then I will post an announcement about the new features.

WebPAC Pro Updates

Yesterday the initial upgrading of the OPAC to WebPAC Pro was initiated. The enhanced search algorithm and lengthier results list (from 12 to 50 per page ) were activated. Additionally, the brief citation was also activated. With the activation of the brief citation, a user will no longer have to enter a record before determining where it is located or if it is available.

There will be more enhancements to come over the next week. Things such as a spell checker and the Syndetic Solutions plug-ins will add further user convenience.

Old with the Old, In with the New (OPAC)

Well, the bulk of the refreshed OPAC has been completed and pushed to the live web server. There will be a few anomalies - such as blue buttons at the record level, but the UofL will be fixing that when they post their revisions later this week.

With any luck we will make a smooth transition to III's WebPAC Pro later this week. In the following week, the Syndetic Solutions enhancements should also come online.

Some screens captures of the before and after versions of the OPAC are shown below.

Old OPAC homepage:









New OPAC homepage:









Old OPAC Record Entry:









New OPAC Record Entry:

OPAC Update

The online public access catalogue (OPAC) is set for upgrading near the end of this month. Our partners at the University of Lethbridge (UofL) have submitted a work request to Innovative Interfaces (III) to have the OPAC upgraded to the WebPAC Pro version that will be pushed to the live server soon.

What can we expect to see in this new version: a greater implementation of cascading style sheets (CSS), a spell checker, an improved search algorithm, enhanced results lists, and preferred/saved search functionality. This upgrade will also set the stage for greater functionality of the OPAC server for future web standards.

My biggest join was deleting the image files associated with the previous OPAC on the staging server. I was able to delete more than 70 graphic files associated with the previous OPAC. Once the new OPAC is functional, I will be down to managing 3 graphic files - one for each of our two libraries' banners and a third for the Vera Bracken Library collections layout.

WebPAC Pro, with its new functionality and structure, promises to be a tremendous upgrade from the previous OPAC.

OPAC & Relais ILL Updates

I am currently working on the online public access catalogue (OPAC) updates for both the Vera Bracken Library and Brooks Campus Libraries. I anticipate completing this project by the end of this week. Hopefully our partners at the U of L will be ready to upgrade the online catalogue to the WebPAC Pro module.

WebPAC Pro will include nifty new features for patron such as: a spell checker and preferred/saved searches.

You can view the Vera Bracken & Brooks Campus Libraries' shared catalogue at: http://eureka.uleth.ca:2082/search~S2; and the Brooks Campus Library catalogue is at: http://eureka.uleth.ca:2082/search~S3. Please be aware that each site can only be accessed from on either of Medicine Hat College's campuses (Medicine Hat or Brooks) or the University of Lethbridge.

Upon completion of this project, I will be devoting the better portion of my time to the Relais interlibrary loan implementation - Relais is intended to replace our current interlibrary loan software that is part of the Innovative Interfaces Millennium library system. Hopefully both projects will be complete by the end of this month.