The web-based Online Catalog is the point of entry for patrons using most library services. The features and design of the catalog were selected to provide library patrons with a successful search experience without requiring intervention by library staff or any special expertise in library systems. Powered by AquaBrowser Library, the catalog uses new search tools and functions that connect to our current ILS and our databases to pull out information for patron searches. Patrons are able to narrow down search results using a wide range of criteria, including format, subject and series. Patrons are also able to rate and tag titles using built-in social networking.
An interesting question came in recently. What happens with local-use tabs on a Restricted PAC? For those who might not have heard this term, a Restricted PAC is a PC or thin client that has been locked down to only allow access to the Online Catalog. The idea is to avoid having every PC in the library monopolized by internet users so that no one can search the catalog. Opening things up so that every website chosen by an Online Library for a tab can be reached would completely defeat this purpose.
The unfortunate answer is that clicking these tabs will not be successful. Like any other external website, the content linked to in the tab will not come up and the patron will get a message letting them know that the page is unreachable on that device. Online Libraries with Restricted PACs will want to take this into consideration as they decide what, if any, local tabs to use. The standard tabs (MnLink, My Account, Contact Us, Local Resources, and Suggest a Title) will be accessible on the Restricted PAC. While this might cause some to abandon the idea of local-use tabs altogether, it should be remembered that these tabs have the potential to be very useful for patrons outside the library or on regular public access PCs
This question prompted us to take a look at the message patrons see when they try to visit a non-catalog website. It's been literally years since anyone gave it much thought. It's a little scary:
ERROR
The requested URL could not be retrieved
The web page www.facebook.com is not allowed on this computer.
This computer is reserved for research and catalog searching.
We're going to take this opportunity to soften the message a little. After all, the patron probably isn't trying to do anything wrong. And it's not really an "error"; blocking the website on this PC was a deliberate policy decision and the software is just doing its job. Finally, what is this "URL" you speak of? Don't you mean "website"?
Yes, this message is a throwback to a harder, less-gentle time when techno-speak was a little more accepted than it is now. So, we'll see what we can do about that.
Please contact me with any questions or comments. Or better yet, add them to the comments on this post so everyone can see them!
With the announcement that SELCO is providing space for Online Libraries to insert links to local content in the catalog, the question is: What are you doing with your tabs? Here's a few ideas:
As previously reported , SELCO has been experimenting with tabs in the Online Catalog for external content such as My Account, MnLink, and the Suggest a Title webform. This work has resulted in a prototype that we have decided to implement, based on a recommendation of the ILS Operations & Technology Policy joint committee. This is what it looks like:
As you can see, there are five tabs which will be included by default for all Online Libraries (if applicable):
My Account
Search MnLink
Suggest a Title
Local Resources
Contact Us
My Account and Search MnLink will function exactly like the corresponding buttons we're already using. Suggest a Title will link to a webform for patron purchase suggestions, a feature we had in the iPac. Local Resources will link to a page of locally-owned databases, much as we used it in iPac. Finally, Contact Us will link to whatever page each Online Library uses to solicit feedback from patrons.
Since we will no longer be placing any buttons in the banner display, we will expand the clickable area that links to the library's webpage to cover the entire banner graphic.
In addition to the five default tabs, you will notice there are four more that are blank. These have been set aside for uses determined by each Online Library. Tabs are created independently for each profile in AquaBrowser, so each Online Library can have a unique mix (that's why we can remove the Local Resources tab when it is not applicable to a given library). These tabs can be used to link to any webpage you choose. You don't have to use all four; we can remove any or all of the local use tabs if an Online Library so chooses.
So, what happens next? Before we can proceed, we need some information from each Online Library:
What URL should be used for the Local Resources tab? If the answer is None, we will leave that tab out for your profile.
What URL should be used for Contact Us tab? If you don't have an online contact webform, just answer None and we'll leave that tab out.
What local-use tabs would you like to have in your profile? For each one (up to four), we'll need:
What text should be on the tab (up to 15 characters, including spaces)?
What URL should the tab link to?
In what order do you want your local-tabs to be displayed (from right to left)?
That's it! Responses to these questions should be emailed to ENHANCEMENTS_ONLINECATALOG@selco.info. The deadline for responses is Sept. 03, 2010 (two weeks from today). Or goal is to implement tabs for all responding Online Libraries by Sept. 24, 2010 (three weeks after the deadline).
Some Online Libraries might need more than two weeks to decide what mix of local-use tabs they want. And school media centers are not open and thus probably won't be able to respond in time. Therefore, there will be a second round of tab implementation starting on Sept. 24, 2010 for those who could not get in on the first round. The timing will be similar: two rounds to get your responses to us, three weeks for us to implement them. Look to this space on Sept. 24 for a post kicking off the second round.
I can't wait to see what creative uses Online Libraries come up with for the local-use tabs!
In order to make it easier for us to add links to locally-owned databases, title purchase request forms, and other useful resources, we've been reevaluating the buttons we've used to link patrons to MnLink and My Account. While the current approach works with two buttons, adding more will be problematic. So far, the approach that fits in most with current web design standards is a line of tabs directly below the banner. To give some idea of what this will look like, here are some mockups featuring some of our current banners:
As these are just mockups, there are a few things to note:
We plan to add a little white space between the tabs to make them easier to identify. That didn't make it into these mockups.
There is some shading on the AquaBrowser search bar that we haven't incorporated into the tabs. That's why you see a faint but visible line where the tabs stop and the search bar starts. We will blend these a little more in the final product.
Wording on the tabs is not set in stone. We'll be talking to the ILS Operations & Technology Policy joint committee to get their suggestions and I would love to hear what you think via comments to this news post.
We'll fix the typo in the "Contac Us" tab.
Speaking of the Contact Us tab, what do you think we should do with this tab? My thought is that we should link it to someone at each library. This can be done by profile so clicking the link in the Austin PL banner would send email to whomever Austin PL designates while clicking the same tab in the Kasson PL banner would send it to Kasson PL's designated staff member. I'm also thinking that all messages should be CCed to someone at SELCO so we can catch feedback that is not specific to the local library, such as comments on the catalog design. What do you think? Send me an email or just use the comments feature of this website to sound off.
In honor of the first day of Summer, SELCO has posted a collection of high-quality graphics just perfect for your library's Online Catalog profile banner. In honor of this special day, many of the graphics are... you guessed it, Summer themes.
06-14-2010, 06:04 PM -- The problem with the Online Catalog has been resolved and it is now functioning normally. In addition to restoring from backup, we had to roll the bibliographic database back to yesterday, meaning that titles added or modifications made on Sunday will not be visible until tomorrow (Tuesday).
We apologize for this outage and thank you for your patience. This is the final update on this issue.
06-14-2010, 04:51 PM -- The restoration completed about 30 minutes ago but the catalog is not up yet. AquaBrowser technicians are looking for the problem, which may have to do with the bibliographic database. As a reminder, the bib database used by AquaBrowser is a copy taken from Horizon so problems with this database, while they keep the catalog from functioning, do not represent a compromise of our data. SELCO systems staff will continue to work with AquaBrowser as they work to resolve the problem. As before, updates will be posted here and in email to Directors and Automation Contacts.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to work on resolving this situation.
06-14-2010, 03:32 PM -- The AquaBrowser server restoration continues and we are getting closer to completion. It's hazardous to try and predict these things but we should be up again in less than an hour, assuming nothing unexpected happens. Further updates will be posted as they become available.
06-14-2010, 02:20 PM -- Restoration of the AquaBrowser server continues. It's a slow but steady process, with approximately 25GB of data to copy. The process is running completely within our virtual server host, which is still much faster than if we were restoring from tape backup. This is little consolation to Online Libraries and patrons, of course, who are still waiting for the resumption of service and we deeply appreciate your patience.
Updates will be posted here and in email to Directors and Automation Contacts as they become available.
06-14-2010, 01:20 PM -- We are restoring a backup image of the AquaBrowser server in order to get things running again. We should be able to copy over the bibliographic database so that any titles added yesterday will still be displayed. We will continue to post updates on this page.
06-14-2010, 12:22 PM -- It has just come to our attention that the Online Catalog (AquaBrowser) is down. We have contacted AquaBrowser and are working with them to diagnose the problem. Further updates will be posted here.
SELCO staff have found a way to hide Staff Only bibliographic and item records in the Online Catalog. This was not possible before; the way Horizon handles Staff Only was not compatible with the way AquaBrowser pulls data from the ILS.
By tinkering around a bit with the Horizon bibliographic export that is loaded into AquaBrowser each night, we were able to exclude the titles. Item records, which are not exported but get pulled from Horizon by AquaBrowser in real time, required a different approach. The bottom line is that both are now hidden as they were in Horizon Information Portal (HIP).
Please bear in mind that the Horizon bibliographic database is exported to the AquaBrowser server on a nightly basis. We initiated these changes yesterday so any bibliographic record that was Staff Only at 6:00 PM yesterday (which is when the export process starts) is not showing up in the catalog. Any bibliographic record marked Staff Only today will still show up until the completion of the next export, which will be around 5:00 AM tomorrow morning.
AquaBrowser pulls item information directly from Horizon in real time; there is no nightly export. Therefore, item records marked Staff Only should disappear from the catalog within a few minutes. There is one wrinkle to be aware of: Because of the different ways AquaBrowser pulls bibliographic and item records, we can't stop a bibliographic record from displaying if it is not Staff Only but all of the item records associated with it are.
For example: Austin Public Library owns the only two copies of a given title in the entire region. Both items are marked Staff Only for some reason but the bibliographic record is not. That title will show up in search results for Austin Public Library even though no items will be displayed if you click on the title to see the Full Record Display. On that page, the patron will see the bibliographic information but the item display will have no items. There is no way around this issue as far as we can see.
This represents completion of a Round Two enhancement for the Online Catalog and the Enhancements section of this page will be updated accordingly.
Additional training materials are available on the Guides and Tutorials tab! There are now six new training tools available to Online Library staff and patrons. These are six sets of short, directed topics, which are: Basic Search; Refine Your Search; Relevancy Sorting; Using the Discover Pane; Making a Request; Reviewing Your Account. Each set includes a sheet of bookmarks that Online Libraries can print off and make available, a one page guide/handout, and a video tutorial on the topic. The videos and guides will also be a convenient at-home resource for patrons.
We have had a few calls concerning older Apple Macintosh computers not being able to type text into the AquaBrowser search field. In every case, it has turned out that the operating system and browser are older than AquaBrowser needs to work properly, and that asking the patron to upgrade their operating system and browser has solved the issue. As an example, the patron in the ticket I handled was using software released in 2003 and upgrading to the 2005 OS solved his problem. We are putting this information out there to help you better help your patrons - ask if they are Mac users and if so, how old of a Mac they own. May be time for an upgrade!
The Publisher display issue described here yesterday has been resolved. The full record display is now correctly showing city of publication, publisher, and date of publication.
An issue has come to light with the publisher information in the Full Record Display (the page with holdings that you get by clicking on a title in the results list). At present, only the 260c (date of publication) is showing. 260a and b (city of publication and publisher) should also be displayed. We have contacted AquaBrowser about this issue and it should be fixed in the next day.
Before I head out on another visit today to Wabasha Public Library, I think I want to share the success of last's Tuesday's visits to two of our Online Libraries. I went to Spring Valley Public Library first, where Director Dianne Sikkink had publicized my visit and attracted some of her staff and patrons. I worked with five or six people there, with questions ranging from how to most quickly make multiple requests (cut-and-paste your barcode into the login window) to how to use My Discoveries. We also talked about searching strategies, including personal preferences. There is no one right way to find materials, and everyone really needs to decide for themselves how best to use the catalog.
I left Spring Valley Public Library to go to Mabel Public Library, where I found that Director Donna Johnson had also invited five or six people into her library. It is a closed afternoon there, so she opened the doors specially for this visit. I appreciated that as it made good use of my time to get to both libraries in one afternoon. I enjoyed this group as well - people are very interested in not only their own success in using this catalog but also in discussing with their neighbors about interests and research topics. At Mabel Public Library, we were doing some searches on 'maple sugar recipes' as the sap is flowing and one of us was late because of her boiling syrup. Fun community moments for me in both libraries.
I hope that if your library staff or patrons have questions, you will not hesitate to call the Help Desk to arrange for one of us to visit. I'm enjoying them! I'd like to do more!
I've been visiting with some of our Online Libraries, to observe and assist staff and patrons as they use the SELCO Online Catalog, powered by AquaBrowser. My initial blog post about that is on SELCO Librarian , and future posts will be found here on this blog. I hope we have the opportunity to visit more libraries - contact the Help Desk if you are interested in discussing a visit from SELCO staff.
Q. Why do I have to login again everytime I place a request or use My Account?
A. The AquaBrowser catalog software is not part of the Horizon Integrated Library System (ILS) and can only search the bibliographic database. Modifications to the ILS databases, such as requests and My Account use, take place on the Horizon iPac software. Each time you use one of these services in Horizon, it constitutes a new connection requireing a new login. To a certain extent, this is one of the trade-offs inherent to using a catalog that is not part of the ILS. It would take another piece of software filling in the "gap" between AquaBrowser and Horizon to eliminate this issue. There is currently no software available to fill this role but SELCO will continue to investigate.
Q. I clicked on a term in the Discover Cloud and lost my search? What happened?
A. The Discover Cloud, aka Word Cloud, helps patrons locate the best search term by offering phrases that are related to the current search. Clicking a related term in the Discover Cloud starts a new search on that related term. Often, patrons and librarians accustomed to Boolean searching assume that the new search will be added to the previous search with an AND. This is not the case. It should be noted that the previous search is displayed in the Discover Cloud as part of the Discover Trail (shown in blue). This allows patrons to retrace their steps should the new search prove ineffective.
Q. Is it possible for the catalog to search all SELCO Online Libraries by default rather than just the local library?
A. No. The catalog has been customized for a consortial environment. These customizations are designed to provide each library it's own search environment, complete with local URL and branding, but also preclude default searching of the entire region.
Q. It's confusing to not have a down arrow on the Location dropdown menu? Can this be fixed?
We hope so. The lack of a down arrow on the Location dropdown menu was caused by a combination of long library names in the menu and limitations in the way web browsers display frames. We are attempting to eliminate this issue by paring down the library names. Stay tuned.
Q. My patron can't see the My Account and More Libraries buttons because the banner runs off the screen. What can be done about that?
A. Many Online Libraries have reported patrons at home having difficulties seeing the whole catalog. If part of the catalog seems to run off the screen, try to find out what size monitor and what resolution is being used. AquaBrowser was designed to work on resolutions of 1024 x 768 and higher. Older, smaller monitors that run at a lower resolution will have problems displaying the whole catalog. If the monitor resolution is 1024 or better, see if the patron has used the browser's zooming controls to make the text larger. This can have the same effect as running at too low a resolution.
Q. The Save or Tag link doesn't appear on all titles. Why?
A. There is an issue that is preventing the Save or Tag link from appearing on all records. AquaBrowser is working on this issue. Stay tuned.
Q. Can I embed a search box for the catalog in my library's webpage?
Not at this time. The Horizon software uses a method of marking records Staff Only that AquaBrowser cannot detect. Thus, we cannot keep those items from being indexed in the catalog. Changing this is currently aRound Twoenhancement but it's unclear that we can do anything about it short of changing Integrated Library Systems (ILS).
Q. I just added a bibliographic record but it is not coming up in searches. What is wrong?
A. As a third-party application, AquaBrowser is not part of the Horizon ILS and does not have real-time access to the bibliographic database. Each night, the bibliographic database is exported from Horizon and imported into AquaBrowser, which then indexes the records. Once this indexing is complete, usually around 4:00 or 5:00 AM, any new records start to show up in searches. Please note that the catalog remains functional during this import. You can do searches late, late at night (albeit on yesterday's database).
Q. Does that apply to status information on item records?
A. No.Unlike bibliographic data, item records (including status such as Checked Out) are loaded in real time and show up in the catalog almost immediately.
Q. Is the catalog going to provide a webform for patrons to suggest titles for purchase like iPac did?
A. Yes. This is aRound Oneenhancement and will thus be implemented within six months of the catalog's launch on 01-12-2010.
Q. Can I change my library's banner? Will SELCO make more banners available?
A. That's two questions! Anyway, the answer to both is Yes. To change banners, please contact theHelp Desk. SELCO will periodically make new banners available but details are still being finalized.
Q. Can I change the default search from just my library to all SELCO libraries?
Modify Location drop down menu to enable conventional down arrow
One
03-10-2010
Change text on More Libraries button to Search MNLink
One
02-25-2010
Round One Enhancements
Round One Enhancements were designated in the project timeline for completion after the catalog launch or represent high-priority items that have come up since. These enhancements are to be completed no later than six months after the catalog launch on 01-12-2010. Note that enhancements are not listed in priority order.
Add locally-owned databases to federated search when possible
Create individual Resource pages, accessible from the catalog, for libraries that provide locally-owned databases
Remove Return to Searching button from iPac request confirmation screen.
Add Purchase Request webform
Round Two Enhancements
Round Two enhancements will be implemented after all Round One enhancements have been completed. Note that enhancements are not listed in priority order.
Implement Spanish-language version of the catalog
Implement kids version of the catalog
Implement mobile version of the catalog
Enhancements Under Consideration
Enhancements under consideration have not been approved for adoption but are still being evaluated.
Increase text size and possibly change color of "Only items from XXX Library are shown. To expand your search, select All Locations" to make it more noticeable. A further suggestion is to make All Locations a hyperlink.
Add a button that toggles searches from the local library to all SELCO Online Libraries.
Make Place Request link more prominant by changing its color or font size to reduce the number of item-specific requests
Display owning library locations above tags in the full record display. Locations were displayed above tags in the version we used for public comment last November/December, so it should be possible.
Enhancements Not Being Considered
Enhancements that have not been approved for adoption. This list is maintained as a record in case circumstances change and make it worthwhile to reconsider.
None at present
General Overview of the Online Catalog
Shorter, more focused videos on specific tasks (searching, placing a request, etc.) are available in the Bookmarks, Handouts, and Videos for Patrons section below in this tab.
Bookmarks, Handouts, and Videos for Patrons
Here are a series of focused tools Online Libraries can share with patrons. The bookmarks and handouts, provided in PDF format, can be printed off and used as needed in your library.
The AquaBrowser Working Group is an ad hoc committee created to assist with the design and implementation of the SELCO AquaBrowser online catalog. The AquaBrowser Implementation Project page will serve as a collection point for information.
AquaBrowser GroupHub--Members of the Working Group have recieved email invitations to GroupHub, an online collaboration tool used by AquaBrowser to coordinate team activities among people in different places. GroupHub allows Working Group members to post messages and comments, share files, and edit project timelines. In addition to our Working Group, numerous AquaBrowser staff from the western US and the Netherlands are using this shared workspace. Participation in GroupHub is by invitation only; this is a private workspace for the extended team but key documents and other information will be posted to this website as appropriate.
AquaBrowser Installation in Progress--Rob Moon, AquaBrowser Implementation Specialist, started our installation last night and is approaching completion. The Working Group will see this install today at their first meeting and use it as a starting point as we plan our approach to layout and functionality.
SELCO Staff Undergo 360 Search Training--Mick Reese, SELCO Systems Manager, and Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian, received online training for administering 360 Search from Serials Solutions this week. 360 Search is a federated searching application that will provide the AquaBrowser catalog its ability to search online databases in addition to Horizon. As part of the training, we learned how to add databases for searching. We're busily keying them in now. ELM is about halfway finished, with SELCO and locally purchased databases to follow.
