[Web4lib] blue sky thinking

[Rick Mason]

Hi Mark,

For those without access to someone with the technical know-how, the tools at http://engagedpatrons.org/ are an excellent way to gain some of the advantages you speak of, at no cost to most libraries.

An additional hosting service that could be useful is http://www.icdsoft.com/ .  I have used it for several sites, and currently run a blog, a discussion list, and a couple of wikis with minimal fuss.

I suspect that an effort at training more library people in setting up hosting and installing server software would be very beneficial.  Teach a person to fish, and all that...

Good blue sky thinking!

Rick Mason

>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: Mark Gilman <mgilman at dallaslibrary.org>
>  Subject: [Web4lib] blue sky thinking
>  Sent: 25 Jul '06 10:08
>  
>  Hi,
>  
>  This is just blue sky thinking and not pertaining to any institution in
>  particular.  What if an institution wanted to gain the benefits that accrue
>  to libraries that have excellent server access and support in, say, a LAMP
>  (Linux / MySQL / Apache / Php & PERL) environment but had limited means and
>  possibilities.  Is there any reason why something like this scenario
>  wouldn't work?
>  
>  1)  buy cheap space on a Linux shared hosting server that provides root
>  access such as
>        http://www.spry.com/plesk-vps/ <http://www.spry.com/plesk-vps/>  /
>  http://support.jodohost.com/showthread.php?t=1726
>  <http://support.jodohost.com/showthread.php?t=1726>  /
>  http://www.linode.com/products/linodes.cfm
>  <http://www.linode.com/products/linodes.cfm>
>  
>  2) identify open source tools that significantly expand capabilities (i.e.
>  Content Management Systems or other database server driven tools)
>  
>  3)  either install and configure these tools oneself or simply outsource it
>  to someone via a site like http://www.elance.com/ <http://www.elance.com/>
>  
>  4) point a DNS at this server only for those pages that rely upon the LAMP
>  environment, but leave everything else "in situ".  What would be the best
>  way to do that? Could www2.yoursite.com be made to point to a different
>  server from www.yoursite.com <http://www.yoursite.com>  (the difference
>  being the insertion of the Arabic numberal two just after the www, or is
>  that not workable?)
>  
>  Apart from the obvious potential downwides (i.e. the guy who bids the job
>  proves not be sufficiently capable) is there a fly in this ointment?  Seems
>  like the upside would be to enable public libraries to participate in some
>  of the innovation that academic libraries are able to access by virtue of
>  being embedded in technically forward looking environments with lots of
>  computer science folks running around pushing the envelope, etc.
>  
>  Regards,
>  Mark