[Web4lib] Greetings

[Norman Buchwald]

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.html  ).

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/