[Web4lib] form to create static catalog links

[Michael McCulley]

Kudos to you Sara for taking this on, and good luck.. some good suggestions
so far..

I'm going to assume once you have the code for a Web-based "application,"
you would then code this into pages for Web sites, etc. That sounds good and
fine, but here's an alternative thought..

Yes, it's harder, but you could also do both what you intend, and see if you
can get the customization done for your Catalog by the vendor; this way, you
can embed the new Web-based app into *all* your search results' pages or
content. It would likely have more usefulness that way, and being built-in,
you don't have to get people to another "place" to do that kind of
retrieval.

Things like "e-mail these results," "send marked results via e-mail,"
"printer friendly," "expand/reduce text size," and things like this really
should have been added to major ILS systems by now. They've been ubiquitous
on the Web for many moons now, but as know, library ILS vendors move, uh,
slow on these kinds of changes. Still, if you get them to customize that for
you, other libraries can benefit, too, as I'd suspect, it would be an
"optional" choice libraries with iBistro, for example, could use or not use,
as they wish.

Best,
DrWeb

-- 
P. Michael McCulley aka DrWeb
mailto:drweb at san.rr.com 
San Diego, CA 
http://drweb.typepad.com/ 

Quote of the Moment:
 Just because you have a mind like a hammer doesn't mean you should treat
everyone else like a nail.
 - Terry Pratchett, Only You Can Save Mankind
Monday, September 17, 2007 6:57:29 PM 

>-----Original Message-----
>From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org]
>On Behalf Of Sara Patalita
>Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 2:45 PM
>To: web4lib at webjunction.org
>Subject: [Web4lib] form to create static catalog links
>
>Hello!
>
>I'm hoping to create a quick Web-based application where people can
>enter their search terms and they will be given a static URL which they
>could use to link to the results of this search in our (iBistro)
>catalog.  [Note: I want to provide a URL, not link to the URL.]
>
>Our catalog uses dynamic URLs while actively searching, so you can't
>copy and paste the URLs for later retrieval.  I learned how to construct
>the syntax of search URLs in iBistro (see http://tinyurl.com/32mux5 ) --
>and savvy users can insert their terms into the (admittedly long and
>somewhat cumbersome) basic link structure.  The static URLs are used to
>email catalog links to our Ask a Librarian users, post on our Web site,
>blogs, etc.
>
>I think more of our staff - and maybe patrons - would make use of these
>URLs if they were easier to create.
>
>I assume I can create a simple application where users can enter their
>terms and get a quick URL back -- which would insert their terms into
>the catalog link structure (as described here: http://tinyurl.com/32mux5
>), and perhaps even then converting to a tinyurl-type URL to shorten
>them and prevent possible line break problems.  The problem is, I'm not
>sure of what application/language I could/should use to accomplish
>this.
>
>Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Sara
>
>
>
>--
>
>***********************************************************
>Sara Patalita
>General Reference Librarian
>Allen County Public Library
>900 Library Plaza
>Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
>spatalita at acpl.info
>Phone 260.421.1252
>
>"The public library he mistook for heaven." ~The Poisonwood Bible,
>Barbara Kingsolver