ILS user groups can be one of the greatest sources of tips, tricks and inspiration for tech-oriented library staff. There was a recent discussion on the Innovative User’s Group that has led to an interesting way to embed various media into OPAC search results.

Each of these work in Innovative’s Millennium OPAC. I have not had a chance to check whether this will work in other systems, but would greatly enjoy hearing whether or not it works for others.

The key to this is the MARC 970 field, using the subfield |t, which is used for Table of Contents display information. It was observed that the contents of the field were passed along to the browser, and that html code could be passed to the bibliographic display.

It works well, and is a perfect example of a “hack”, utilizing existing functionality in new and creative ways. To date, there are six ways to extend the OPAC.

To try out these examples, simply copy the html code, starting with the |t, and paste it into a 970 field in a bibliographic record. Each of the examples should work as is; some information about how to modify the code, as well as a screenshot of the example is provided.

Displaying an Image:
This is fairly straightforward insertion of an image stored on Flickr. Change the URLs to whatever you need, adjust the pixel height and width, and this will serve you well.

|t<center><object data="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3433/3694927599_039309b2e6_o.jpg" type="image/jpg" width="400" height="600"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3433/3694927599_039309b2e6_o.jpg"></img></object></center>

Image Screenshot

Embedding a Search Form:
This code embeds a search form for OpenLibrary, including a selector check box and link to an advanced search page. Search forms can be tricky, and it can be very challenging to get even basic search functionality for some services.

|t<br />Search OpenLibrary:<form method="get" action="http://www.openlibrary.org/search"><input border: 1px solid #ccc; width: 100%" type="text" name="q" value="" title="type_search." /><button class="go" type="submit">Go</button><br /><input tabindex="9" type="checkbox" value="mhsncqbxgkup" name="ftokens">Scanned books only<br /><a href="http://www.openlibrary.org/advanced" style="text-decoration: underline">OpenLibrary Advanced Search Page</a></form>

Search Box Screenshot

Embedding a Video:
This example embeds a YouTube video, specifically the preview for the film “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Previews of videos available in the library, library instructional videos, and author interviews are examples of the types of embedded video that add can value to your OPAC.

The embedding information comes from the “Embed” information from the YouTube result page. You can also simply replace the URL information in the code below:

|t<center><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ilW32IKJoM0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="720" height="578"></embed></center>

Embedded Video Screenshot

Streaming Audio:
This example uses a third-party service called Odeo to stream the MP3 audio of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The audio file lives on the Internet Archive.

|tTo listen to the speech, click the "Play" button:<br /><center><embed src= "http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf" quality="high" width="300" height="52" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://www.archive.org/download/MLKDream/MLKDream_64kb.mp3" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></center>

Streaming Audio Screenshot

Journal Table of Contents
This example utilizes two separate third-party services. First, the ticTOCs Journal Tables of Contents service is used to locate an RSS feed for a table of contents, in this case “Educational Research“.

After this, the feed URL is entered into the Feed2js service, which generates the code. To display any RSS feed, simply use the Feed2js service with a feed’s URL.

|t<script language="JavaScript" src="http://feed2js.org//feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.informaworld.com%2Fampp%2Frss%7Econtent%3D0013-1881&chan=y&tz=-5&targ=y&utf=y&html=a" charset="UTF-8" type="text/javascript"></script> <noscript> <a href="http://feed2js.org//feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.informaworld.com%2Fampp%2Frss%7Econtent%3D0013-1881&chan=y&tz=-5&targ=y&utf=y&html=y">View RSS feed</a> </noscript>

Journal Table of Contents Screenshot

Virtual Bookplate
This example is simply a proof of concept, but I especially enjoyed putting this one together and hope to create a more polished version in the future. It uses a background image of an open book with blank pages (credit to happysweetmama via Flickr), and then applies Relative Positioning to place text on top of the image.

The text position, font, size, and content are all able to be controlled for each record. This can be a great way to honor those who add to a collection, or to highlight items from a particular collection.

|t<center><object data="http://www.libology.com/capital/OpenBook500.jpg" type="image/jpg" width="500" height="364"> <img src="http://www.libology.com/capital/OpenBook500.jpg" width="500" height="364"></img> </object><div style="position: relative; top:-225px; left:-125px"><font size="+1" font-family:"Times New Roman",Georgia,Serif;>A Gift from:</font></div><div style="position: relative; top:-260px; left:125px"><font size="+2" font-family:"Times New Roman",Georgia,Serif;>Josiah H.<br />Blackmore II</font></div></center>

Virtual Bookplate Screenshot

There are, I am sure, dozens of ways that one can use this hack to enhance the OPAC… these are just a start.

The University of Michigan has unveiled the PictureIt Rare Book Reader, an on-screen reader that is similar to others that I have seen, but faster, smoother, and simply beautiful to see and use.

The first book available online is volume one of John James Audubon’s Birds of America:

Click the image to open the reader

The software will be released under a Creative Commons license at some point in the future.

found via the Blog for Library Technology

Found a fantastic slideshow covering the basics of Open Source ILS software via the Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian:

Direct link to the slides on SlideShare

Library Technology Guides has a couple of interesting data sets that, in a limited way, shows some of the dynamic patterns in the Integrated Library System (ILS) market:

Integrated Library System turnover in 2009 (listed by the ILS migrated to)

Reverse Integrated Library system turnover in 2009 (listed by the ILS migrated from)

It is interesting to note that a great deal of activity involves libraries moving to open source systems, mainly Koha (143) or Evergreen (92).  The top proprietary system is SirsiDynix’s Symphony (84), but over 70 of those installations are from other SirsiDynix products.  After that, the numbers drop to the 40-something range.

Note that these only reflect libraries that have their relevant information listed in Lib-Web-Cats.   If your library isn’t listed, you should submit your information; if listed, you should double-check your information and update if necessary.

found via GuidePosts

The Kirkendall Public Library in Ankeny, Iowa wanted to install a self-checkout system.  The $23,000 price tag meant that, at best, they would need to wait until they could raise the money to purchase the system.

Eric Melton, circulation librarian and tech support for the library, came up with a solution:  he built a self-check system for $1,500, less than 7% of the quoted cost for a purchased system.

Enterprising Ankeny librarian builds money-saving kiosk

How many opportunities can be discovered to save money in how we operate our libraries?  For most libraries, this is becoming more critical than ever.

found via AL Direct

While clearing out old lists of post inspirations, I ran across a post on Commonplace.net that still gets my brain going:

At my place of work, my desk is in close proximity to our two catalogers.  The conversations that ensue about cataloging standards, MARC, and such are often interesting, and occasionally stray into realms so esoteric that it becomes a challenge to keep up with the thread of conversation.

My rare contribution usually boils down to “I am an agnostic as to what standards are used, but the basic storage and retrieval of cataloging information should be as granular and relational as can be achieved.”

By granular, I mean that information should be divided into small, well-defined chunks.  When an author is listed as “Smith, John, 1947-” I cringe a little.  Dividing the author’s first and last (and middle) names into separate fields makes a world of sense, especially when you encounter authors with multiple middle or last names (or both).  Instead, MARC relegates the name into one string.  This also creates problems with cultural differences in how given and family names are presented.

Another problem is that this information exists separately in each bibliographic record.  If our data storage systems were to store author/creator information in a relational manner, we could have one record for “Smith, John, 1947-”.  This would make it much easier in the unfortunate circumstance that the author becomes “Smith, John, 1947-2010″.

Most library software uses granular and relational database methods for the storage of circulation and acquisitions information.  It is our bibliographic information that is stuck in an inefficient rut.

The strongest argument I can think of for changing this is that is is very easy to create scripts and use software to put together small pieces of information to create an easy-to-understand string; it is much, much harder to take that string and break it into well-defined and usable chunks in order to use the information in new ways.

The future of data is not so much everyone using the same specific standards, but using standards that can be compared and used in ways that are compatible.  We can easily build MARC records from a granular relational database; cataloging need not change how it views and edits records (not much, at least), but the current methods are holding libraries back.

Baker & Taylor has the next big thing in ebooks. Really!

As with all of  the “next big things” we see in digital technology, we get to “wait and see”.

However, reading the post makes me marvel at the possibilities that this could provide to libraries that use Baker & Taylor and their Yankee Book Peddler (YBP) subsidiary.  Imagine being able to offer e-books bundled with any print copies purchased, with cataloging services included.

found via LISNews

A link to a thought-provoking article on Open Source business models was posted by Stephen Abram on his blog, Stephen’s Lighthouse.  If you follow that last link, you may note that not only does he post the link “without comment”, he has also turned off the option for his readers to comment on the article.

I suspect (but truly don’t know) that this is because of the firestorm of attention he received surrounding a position paper he wrote, and that his company was circulating to some of their customers.  If comments were enabled on his post, the following thought (probably compressed) would have been left by me.  Now it is a post all its own:

What libraries need now, more now then ever, is a good, open discussion of software and service models.  Many of our problems derive from weaknesses in those models, and many of our future problems will derive from weaknesses in the models we choose to move forward with.

The New York Times article is a good example of reporting that misses the elephant in the room:  the Open Source model is not the same as the Closed Source model.  The closed source model uses sales and company profit to determine success.  An open source project could succeed in that way, but looking simply at this ignores the model.

If a group of people put the effort into creating, maintaining, distributing, and using an open source software product, it will survive.  If the project is dynamic, and responds to the needs of the users, it will thrive.  If it does all of the above better than the closed source companies that make competing products, then it is not fair to judge them based only on sales and profit.

One other thing to add to the mix:  don’t ignore the wealth created and saved by those who use the product.  If this were calculated and compared, there might be a few surprises in store for companies, including some companies that have libraries for their customers.

Most of us who have used and installed any of the many variants of Linux started off with a live CD.  These allow you to boot your computer up using the CD, and try out the operating system without having to install or configure it.  The CD can have whatever software the creator decides to install, pending available space.

I first used the Knoppix live CD, later Ubuntu, and now many other variants (including my current favorite, LinuxMint).

Mizstik has put together a live CD with Ubuntu server and an installation of the Koha ILS, calling it Koha LiveCD.

I think this is a fantastic idea, and it holds the potential for introducing many people to Koha, and giving them a better understanding of what the software can and cannot do for them.  This understanding will only help the adoption of open source library software.

My next wish at this point would be for a live CD of Evergreen.

found via What I Learned Today

punypng is a great service for those who work with the .png image format.  If you work on web sites, presentations, or other projects that involve image files, this is really worth adding to your toolkit.

What it does is fairly straightforward:  you upload your .png image file to their site, their algorithm examines the file and determines what can be done to make the file smaller without sacrificing image quality, and offers you the file as a download.

I tried it, and got as much as a 48% reduction in file size, without any visible loss of quality.  Even if all you get is a 10% reduction in file size, it means that your web sites, presentations, etc. will load and run faster.  For a busy web site, like Google or WorldCat, every reduction in the data needed to be sent to each user can add up to large savings in time, energy, and ultimately money.

found via SitePoint

A follow-up to yesteday’s post on HealthBase:

It wasn’t what I was thinking of when I provided a caveat regarding Wikipedia being used as a source, but apparently some search results have offbeat listings, occasionally with negative associations.

My caveat was in regards to the fact that Wikipedia is what I call a “starting point” for information search, not a source itself.  This actually places it in the same category as HealthBase, in that one should not take any particular piece of information as accurate, but to use the information to follow to primary sources and develop search terms and a broader understanding of the topic.

On HealthBase’s problem:  this is to be expected with new methods of indexing and searching, and this type of problem will tend to show itself with a broad base of users.  I still think it is a great starting point for health information searches, and that the searching algorithm will become more sophisticated over time.

The State of Ohio has launched an iTunes site that is designed “to share educational resources, professional development materials, and student videos which have been produced by members of higher education, the K-12 community, and community partners free of charge with unlimited access.”

There is a wide range of material available, and it is great to see them open to everyone, with the only requirement being the iTunes software.

Launch the site within your installed iTunes, and see a model for what other states, educational institutions, and libraries can do with their media content.

discovered via the OhioLINK Digital Resources Management Committee (Drmc) list

Jenny Levine makes a great case on The Shifted Librarian for adding a feature to your sites that allows users to easily share your content via social networks.  Not only will this offer a way for your users to help spread the work about services and activities that you offer, but it can help them keep track of information they find so that they can revisit it later.  This will be a benefit for users of mobile browsers, which are rapidly becoming a more significant portion of visitors to our web sites.

You may notice that I have followed her advice and have added the Add to Any service to this blog, visible at the bottom of every post (and checked to ensure it validates against XHTML and CSS standards, of course; a requirement I have for any add-on).

Open Data : It’s About Interoperability, not Property is a post on Common Knowledge that does a great job at not only explaining why Open Data is such a powerful idea, but also why it is so complex, as well:

“There are three interlocking dimensions to interoperability in data: legal, technical, and semantic. By legal, we mean the contractual and intellectual property rights associated with the data; by technical, the standard systems (especially the computer languages) in which the data is published; and by semantic, the actual meaning of the data itself – what it describes, and how it relates to the broader world.

Each of these dimensions is complex on its own. Taken together, the three represent unsolvable complexity….”

I have been aware of the Center for History and New Media for quite some time (even posted a link here), but only recently did I take a look at their site beyond the work they do with Zotero.  I was surprised, in a very good way, at all of the resources they have available:

• Zotero – One of the best Firefox add-ons available, this should be taught to every college freshman as an aid to research.
• Omeka – Designed as a platform to create online exhibits and collections, this tool appears to be a great option for digital collection projects.
• ScholarPress – A collection of WordPress add-ons geared towards educational use, including Courseware, which offers an array of tools for instructors to connect with their students (although it would serve well for library instruction, I suspect).
• Syllabus Finder – Nearly two million syllabi can be searched and viewed through this site.
• ECHO – a directory of over 5,000 websites “concerning the history of science, technology, and industry.”

These are just a portion of the resources under their Research + Tools tab.  When you consider their offerings under the Teaching + Learning and Collecting + Exhibiting tabs as well, you can see that it would take hours to properly sample the useful items in this site.  Take some time to see what they can offer to help your projects.

The Perfect Storm is a brief essay in the current issue of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) newsletter.  G. Sayeed Choudhury, the author of the essay, states that

“Universities have authentication and authorization systems to identify who you are and what you can use; they also have office software or course management systems to support collaboration.    How many passwords do you use within your university system? How easy is it to collaborate with people outside your university? Yet within and without our universities, many faculty, students, and staff collaborate daily using Google’s suite of tools.  This trend will almost certainly grow once Google Wave is launched later this year.  With its impressive integration of services and novel method for identity management, Google Wave may become a tsunami that washes away the office software suite—and perhaps even the course management system.”

I am not so sure that Google Wave will be the tipping point, but it is certainly another step in this direction.  How many of us have stepped outside of the boundaries of the traditional tools we use for our work and schooling?  It is humbling to recognize how much time and effort can be saved through the proper application of a new software program, or an online service, or even tapping into social networking to gain insight (it is interesting that e-mail lists are considered standard, while Facebook, Twitter and blogging still have the “Library 2.0″ label stuck on them… they are all different forms of social networking, with their accompanying strengths and weaknesses).

Choudhury adds:

Too often we fail to examine trends beyond our own institutional context; we are reluctant to embrace risk taking when developing services or infrastructure.  The choices that universities and libraries make regarding infrastructure in the next few years will have profound implications for the future.

I would take it a step further, and suggest that we not only don’t look beyond our own context, we fail to grasp the possibilities that exist with new technology and new applications of existing technology.  When the environment surrounding our libraries changes, the environment within our libraries changes as well – whether we incorporate these changes or remain passive.

In other words:  We ignore tools such as Google Wave, Open Source, Open Access, Wikis, Blogs, Social Networking, social library catalog tools, and everything else at our own peril.  These tools have changed our libraries, are currently changing our libraries, and will continue to change our libraries as far into the future as we can see.  If we want to remain relevant (in other words:  if we want to survive), we need to pay attention.  Libraries as they have existed in the past will continue to play a role, but that role will be viewed more as an archive than a dynamic library.

We have lost a lot of ground, but we have the ability and the resources to do this, and it starts with each and every one of us.  How can we do our job better?  Smarter?  Faster?  What tools can we use?  How can others help?  The libraries that pay attention to those questions, and strive to answer them effectively, will be the ones to thrive.

I challenge you to, within the next week, find one new tool, idea, or resource that makes you better at your job.  Repeat, ad infinitum – from here it appears that it is Turtles all the way down.

PACER is the online access portal for “U.S. Appellate, District, and Bankruptcy court records and documents nationwide”.  Because the documents it provides are created by the federal judiciary, they are not copyrightable; because PACER is the only place to obtain these records, it is a critical link to those who need case information.  PACER also charges a per-page fee ($0.08 per page up to 30 pages in a specific document) for access.

RECAP (which is PACER spelled backwards) is a new, open source Firefox extension which appears to follow all the rules:  you access documents through PACER, paying all assessed fees, and you get your docuements.  RECAP, however adds two elements to the mix:

1. RECAP automatically uploads any document that is accessed by users of the extension to a public repository hosted by the Internet Archive.
2. RECAP will alert the user when a document they wish to access is available through the public repository.

On the surface, it may appear that people are conducting an end-run against the court’s system for providing documents.  However, a broader view strongly suggests that these documents are public, and that the PACER system is actually an exception in the realm of access to public records.

The Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government provide documents free to the user; this is an attempt to make the workings and decisions of the judiciary as public as the other branches.  RECAP is a fully legal means to provide information in a way that is the spirit of the law.

Further reading:

• The Case Against PACER
• Firefox Extension Liberates US Court Docs from Paywall
• Use RECAP to Bypass Court Document Paywall

One of the more frustrating things about open source software is the fact that many projects have little-to-no documentation.  William Shields, a software developer from Australia, posts about his experiences and concludes that he isn’t going to patronize projects that don’t pay attention to their documentation.

He is correct.  Any mature software project, whether open-source or proprietary, should have resources available to provide information, specifications, options, and assistance to users.  This doesn’t mean that every piece of software needs a manual and a call desk; there should be options available to provide assistance.

For a smaller, lesser-used product, a brief overview and contact information for further questions may suffice.  As the user base grows, group maintained resources (wiki, lists, forums) can allow those with more experience aid novices.

The ultimate goal with any software is for people to use it, and use it effectively to improve their lives.  Good information on using the software is part of that picture.  When you find an open source project that needs documentation, consider how you might be able to add your knowledge and experience to the project (i.e. when life hands you lemons, make lemonade).

found via What I Learned Today…

With our increasing reliance on electronic record keeping, especially online records, it makes a lot of sense to consider the use of virtual bookplates for those items which would normally have a printed label affixed within the book:

• An item with a Virtual Bookplate from the University of Florida Smathers Libraries, which utilizes an 856 MARC field link to the virtual bookplate.
• A search box on their Donor web page gives donors (and others) an easy way to locate the donated items.
• The virtual bookplate for the item.
• A presentation on Slideshare (14 slides) providing an overview of their process.

This strikes me as an especially effective way to both recognize and promote donors.  The only real technical requirements are graphics software to create and edit the bookplate design, and the web space to store the finished graphics.  Neither should be a problem for any library willing to spend the time required to get the project rolling.

The people who created the above-linked presentation are conducting a survey on library practices on bookplates.

found via AcqNet-L

May All Your Standards Be Simple and Evolvable is a post by John Wilbanks on Science Blog’s Common Knowledge.  It is written with medical data standards in mind, but it could be discussing the state of library data as well:

“…TCP/IP, created simply to move bits between computers, begat a variety of new protocols like FTP, Gopher, Finger, many other protocols that layered atop the basic bits standard. Complexity from simplicity. Attempting to embed file transfer into the bits protocol would have made this whole process a lot harder.”

We are approaching a point in which we will be moving our data out of the cumbersome and outdated MARC format.  It will happen, regardless of the heel-dragging that has been taking place for over 10 years.  The debate is still heated over what we will replace the standard with.

Can we come up with something simple and evolvable?  I define this as being able to build things out of data without having to break the it up into usable chunks.  Have you looked at a MARC (.mrc) record with a text editor?  There is no easy way to determine what much of the data means, and the entire record is one string of information.  You can usually pick out the title, author and a few other things, but mostly it looks like gobbledygook.

If our data were in nice, small, understandable pieces to begin with, with straightforward rules guiding how it was formatted, it would invite innovation and creative use.  We are only hindering ourselves with the complexity and arcane rules; simplicity would serve everyone’s needs far better.