NEW LIBRARY SERVICE

[Wilfred Drew]

I am actually using to relatively old programs.  The machine at the
reference desk is a Pentium 2 based machine running Windows 95, latest
versions of Netscape and IE.  For this service I am using ZBServer for the
web server and Talkback for the cgi program.  I found after much stumbling
around (over 5 weeks of exploring and trial and error) that the 16-bit
version of ZBServer for Win3.1 worked the best.  Talkback was written for
Win3.1 machines running  a webserver.  I had used both programs earlier
(about 3 years ago) before our college put up its web site and server.
Talkback is a windows cgi program that handles the processing of the forms
and such.  We have a license for both.

Here is how it works.

1. User clicks on link to talkback form housed on reference desk machine.
2. User fills in form which has three required fields: Name, E-mail Address,
Comments.
3. User clicks on Send.
4. Talkback receives the request and starts up on the reference desk.
5. Sound plays on reference desk saying: "Incoming message for the
librarian....Wake Up please."
6. Windows pops up with message.
7. Librarian types in response.
8. Response sent to browser of the user via a form with fields for sending
another comment back to the librarian.
9. And so on.


The programs are available at:

http://wgg.com/files/TalkBack/

http://www.zbserver.com/


Authors of both programs are very helpful.

--
Wilfred Drew (Call me "Bill"); Associate Librarian (Systems, Reference)
President, SUNY Librarians Association (SUNYLA)
SUNY College of Ag. & Tech.;   P.O. Box 902;  Morrisville, NY 13408-0902
E-mail: drewwe at morrisville.edu powwow:drewwe at wedrew.lib.morrisville.edu
Phone: (315)684-6055 or 684-6060 Fax: (315)684-6115
Homepage: <http://www.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/>
Not Just Cows: <http://www.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/njc/>
LibraryLinks: <http://www.morrisville.edu/pages/library/>
SUNYLA: <http://www.albany.edu/library/sunyla/>