Relais & News Feeds

We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the Relais ILL self-registration project. The last version was the best yet, but it still needs a little refinement. I am still unsure of how (or if) the self-registration page “talks” to Relais’s Table Maintenance module. I am hoping that Relais can clarify this issue for me.

We are also set to receive training from Relais on the 29th of August. Our ILL staff have been working with the system, but have yet to refine their work flow. Hopefully the training will smooth out some of the rough edges that we have encountered.

I also distributed a handout that introduces “news feed” (a.k.a., RSS or Atom) technology to library staff members. It looks denser than it really is; the line spacing was condensed for the purpose of page/printing conservation. You can view a PDF of this document by clicking here.

Other time has been filled with an assortment of administrative-type duties – composing communications, interviews, meetings, etc.

General Update - Relais & Website

I have uploaded the latest revisions to the Relais self-registration pages. The last version went horribly wrong somehow, and turned out looking worse and less functional than the first. I do not know when they will be uploaded to Relais's servers and ready for testing, so it is a matter of being patient. If this version fails, I will call Grant and hopefully we can sort out what is going wrong.

I finished a few minor tweaks on the Vera Bracken Library's homepage. Changes include:

• Google site search has been removed and replaced by a widget that searches the OPAC. I developed several different versions, but went with the advanced drop box version for now.
  
• The XML [] icon for our news feed has been replaced by the more common RSS icon developed by Microsoft - this icon [] has become the default icon for all manner of web news feeds (e.g., Atom, RSS, etc.).
• A new link (Site Map/Search) has been posted as well. The site search feature that was previously on the homepage has been moved under this link's location. A site map was also added - I would call it less than pretty.

I am not sure on how keen I am about the Site Map/Search page or the OPAC search tool. I might scrap both by the end of the week. My major concern is that the homepage is getting a little cluttered; to this end, I will explore alternative layouts with Spry.