From static to dynamic

Abstract

Purpose -This paper aims to report on a successful implementation of a current awareness service designed to inform teaching faculty and liaison librarians as to the status of library materials they have ordered. Design/methodology/approach -The paper looks at the methods employed by the authors, which simplify maintenance of lists of new titles by providing a single, consistent access point to new resources. The dynamic pages are compiled by using the OPAC as a platform: connecting with a Z39.50 protocol, passing keywords and phrases along via the URL query string, parsing the data with PHP, and rendering the data on the web with a combination of PHP and JavaScript. Findings -The OPAC-as-platform method of rendering the departmental acquisitions pages has solved every problem that had existed up to this point. With very minor changes to cataloguing workflow, the technical services department now has a low-maintenance system in place for notifying teaching faculty and liaison librarians of new arrivals. Originality/value -The project demonstrates cooperation between public services, systems, IT, and technical services to enhance library services to users. It also demonstrates the value of and potential for cataloguing as a means to deliver innovative services.

Librarians and Computer Programming: Understanding the role of programming within the profession of librarianship

“…Other case studies noted that their work was intended to get librarians communicating and collaborating with programmers regarding metadata (Frank, 2013). For McMullen and Gray (2012), the most important aspect of communicating with IT was remaining on good terms with them while working relatively independently from them. For Rantke (2013), the most important aspect of communicating with IT was learning what IT did not do and did not know.…”

“…With CMSs and application programming interfaces (APIs), dynamic web services became more powerful and easier to use, with the possibility that web services could be developed with much less programming knowledge. However, integrating, customizing, and implementing new web services, such as implementing services into the OPAC, still requires programming knowledge in most cases (see McMullen & Gray, 2012).…”

“…In contrast to the automation scripts employed for data processing explored above, these projects included a wider range of what was being developed, at what level, and why. McMullen and Gray (2012) mention that the most common web services involved in programming projects are the integration of services with the OPAC. They mention that librarians responsible for managing OPACs have now become responsible for integrating services into or from the OPACs through programming.…”

“…Randtke ( 2013) also explains that IT staff may not be willing or able to support programming projects or initiatives, as had happened in her case. McMullen and Gray (2012) mention that, in managing a library's web presence and applications, many web services solutions and responsibilities that involve programming fall on librarians, not on IT staff. Orphanides (2011) speaks to this when he says, of developing a public touchscreen application, "[t]he task of selecting and developing content, identifying and configuring additional hardware, and designing and implementing an interface, fell to me, along with my colleagues Keith Morgan, Principal Librarian for Digital Media, and Jason Walsh, Technology Support Specialist" (p. 4).…”

Literature of Acquisitions in Review, 2012–13

“…McMullen and Gray focus on the implementation of a service designed to inform requestors when the requested items are available in the library. 70 The library had complicated, time-consuming, and antiquated protocols for generating PDF lists of new acquisitions from the ILS. Through a process of iterative changes, the library developed a current awareness service on an RSS feed platform.…”