[Web4lib] Greetings

Tue Apr 1 09:31:21 EDT 2008

The University uses Luminous here at Appalachian State University.

> 1.  What do librarians think about it?
I don't know.

> 2.  Did it have an impact, at all, on the design of your Library web pages?
>  (trying to make sure there are visible links, reducing scrolling, etc.)
Yes, technical design rather than cosmetic, specifically with online databases 
and III proxy.  The library and other sites are in frames or iframes on 
luminous.  When the offcampus patron clicks on a link for an online database 
in the luminous frame the authentication fails, I don't remember if it showed 
the III authentication page or went straight to the WEB site.  First, all the 
database links are proxy links if the connection is not a university IP.  To 
correct this issue I had to also make all offcampus links open in a new 
window to work in luminous.

Scrolling is increased because the frame the library site is in is the bottom 
half of the luminous WEB page so to get to the bottom of any page it would 
then take twice as much scrolling.  This could be changed with css but we 
have no control over that aspect.

I received a complaint Monday that someone trying to do research on our site 
could only see a very small part of the WEB page.  My first suspicion was 
Luminous and I was correct.  There was a luminous update Friday that added 
"undocumented" css.  After that update luminous only showed our top banner 
and then you had that small of a window to scroll.  This was the case for 
Opera and Firefox on Linux and Windows although Internet Explorer 6 didn't 
seem to have that issue.  After contacting the University WEB master, he 
fixed the frame size problem and was also disturbed by the undocumented css 
update.

The off campus proxy issue could be alleviated if the library link opened a 
new window for everyone but the University is more concerned about how their 
site looks and operates.  And, another library link does open in a new window 
if you are not logged into luminous.

> 3.  Were there any issues with databases or other relevant web
> applications?
See answer 2.

> 4.  When utilizing the Luminis Portal, did it in fact provide an
> improvement or asset to the Library web presence and in any way at all
> improved students finding, utilizing the Library or its online resources?

My opinion is that it is not an asset to patrons wanting to use the library 
WEB site mainly because of the half page view, using half of the luminous 
page that is.  Although it is a centralized point for students, staff, and 
faculty to get news and announcements, use email services, calendaring, and 
other services which I haven't fully utilized myself.  I only log in to 
luminous to troubleshoot issues and occasionally to send email from my 
university account when I'm off campus.  So in summary the answer to number 4 
is no.

Thomas

On Monday 31 March 2008 22:12, Norman Buchwald wrote:
> Hello, all.  I have always meant to join the list as one of my functions is
> to maintain the Library web site.  But I've finally been prompted as I'm
> limited with the information that I have.
>
> I have just learned tonight that our college District is going to utilize
> the Luminis portal.  I've gone to the company web site to see a demo--and
> I'm filled with many questions.  I don't know if this means that our entire
> user friendly library web site at http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/
> becomes obsolete--or does a student simply link from there to get to other
> pages--or if the portal somehow frames everything.  I'm concerned as
> whether our proxy server (EZProxy) will work within the frame (it hasn't
> worked successfully within the frame of Blackboard 6.0), and I'm concerned
> based on what I saw on the demo that there was no clear link or presence of
> the Library or libraries of a particular campus, from this portal  (The
> demo I saw was at
> http://education.sungardhe.com/Education/demos/luminis_demo/swf/sct_main.ht
>ml  ).
>
> Of course, I just learned about it this evening and will get more
> information from the focus group next week--but I'm wondering:
>
> 1.  What do librarians think about it?
>
> 2.  Did it have an impact, at all, on the design of your Library web pages?
>  (trying to make sure there are visible links, reducing scrolling, etc.)
>
> 3.  Were there any issues with databases or other relevant web
> applications?
>
> 4.  When utilizing the Luminis Portal, did it in fact provide an
> improvement or asset to the Library web presence and in any way at all
> improved students finding, utilizing the Library or its online resources?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Norman
>
> Norman Buchwald
> 25555 Hesperian Blvd.
> Hayward, CA 94545
> Office: (510)723-6993
> FAX:    (510)723-7005
>
> http://chabotlibrary.blogspot.com/
>
> http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/
>
> http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/iskills.html
>
> http://home.comcast.net/~normanbuchwald/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/

-- 
====================================================================
Thomas McMillan Grant Bennett		Appalachian State University
Operations & Systems Analyst		P O Box 32026
University Library			Boone, North Carolina 28608
(828) 262 6587

"... using OpenOffice.org, and save them back to disk automatically,
in MS Word format.  They surf the Web, check e-mail, do instant 
messsaging, view YouTube videos, visit their Facebook pages, learn 
touch-typing skills and lots more.  Our public library has been 
offering these Linux public stations for the past three years."
 - Phil Shapiro Linux Journal January 2008

Library Systems Help Desk: https://www.library.appstate.edu/help/
====================================================================