The Code4Lib Journal

Editorial Introduction: It is Volunteers All the Way Down…

Peter Murray — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:02:59 +0000

Workflow Tools for Digital Curation

Andrew James Weidner and Daniel Gelaw Alemneh — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:02:58 +0000

Maintaining usable and sustainable digital collections requires a complex set of actions that address the many challenges at various stages of the digital object lifecycle. Digital curation activities enhance access and retrieval, maintain quality, add value, and facilitate use and re-use over time. Digital resource lifecycle management is becoming an increasingly important topic as digital curators actively explore software tools that perform metadata curation and file management tasks. Accordingly, the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries develop tools and workflows that streamline production and quality assurance activities. This article demonstrates two open source software tools, AutoHotkey and Selenium IDE, which the UNT Digital Libraries Division has adopted for use during the pre-ingest and post-ingest stages of the digital resource lifecycle.

Augmenting the Cataloger’s Bag of Tricks : Using MarcEdit, Python, and PyMARC for Batch-Processing MARC Records Generated From the Archivists’ Toolkit

Heidi Frank — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:02:57 +0000

Catalogers have traditionally created and edited MARC records on a one-by-one basis. Recently, it has become more common for catalogers to delve into scripting and programming tools in order to automate the processing of large numbers of records simultaneously. This article provides a case study showing how MARCXML archival records generated by the Archivists' Toolkit (AT) can be modified in batches using the MarcEdit software, Python scripting and the PyMARC module in Python. It analyzes selected problems with the MARC records exported by the AT and shows how MarcEdit and Python are used to resolve them so that the records are formatted correctly for loading into the library's local catalog. Similar methods could be used by catalogers dealing with any large set of MARC data, such as ebook records from vendors.

Keeping up with Ebooks: Automated Normalization and Access Checking with Normac

Kathryn Lybarger — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:02:56 +0000

Cataloging ebooks is difficult to do well, as they are often purchased in large collections, sometimes with only low-quality cataloging copy available. MARC records may be provided upfront in a large batch, or trickle in one at a time as they become available. Records may contain links that point nowhere, to the wrong book, or to an offer to sell you the book you already own. Loading records sight unseen may introduce inconsistency or overlay good print records with poor electronic ones, making the catalog much more difficult to search. This article describes in more detail the major challenges in ebook cataloging, record normalization and access checking, and introduces Normac: an open source web-based tool for processing MARC records.

Developing a Digital Video Library with the YouTube Data API

Jason Clark — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:02:55 +0000

MSU Library has created a digital video library using the YouTube API to power our local library channel. It is a complete search and browse application with item level views, microdata, a caching and optimization routine, and a file backup routine. The article will discuss applying the YouTube API as a database application layer: workflow efficiencies, metadata procedures and local backup and optimization procedures. Code samples in PHP, .htaccess examples, and shell commands used in developing the application and routines will be explained at length. And finally, a complete prototype application will be released on github for other libraries to get started using the lessons learned. A live version of the application is here: http://www.lib.montana.edu/channel/. The real benefit of this method is the low overhead for smaller shops and the ability to scale production and distribution of digital video.

Better Search Through Query Expansion Using Controlled Vocabularies and Apache Solr

Scott Williams — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:02:54 +0000

This article describes how the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) modified its Solr-based discovery interface to improve recall and enable end users to benefit from the power of their in-house controlled vocabularies. These modifications automatically expand the query generated by any search term that matches their controlled vocabulary to include all related alternate and narrower terms. For example, if a user enters Ohio, that search will retrieve the record for an arrowhead found in Cincinnati (a narrower term of Ohio) even if that record does not include the term Ohio.

Breaking Up With CONTENTdm: Why and How One Institution Took the Leap to Open Source

Heather Gilbert and Tyler Mobley — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:02:53 +0000

In 2011, College of Charleston found itself at a digital asset management crossroads. The Lowcountry Digital Library (LCDL), a multi-institution cooperative founded less than three years prior, was rapidly approaching its CONTENTdm license limit of 50,000 items. Understaffed and without a programmer, the College assessed their options and ultimately began construction on a Fedora Commons repository with a Blacklight discovery layer, an installation of Rutgers’ OpenWMS for Fedora ingestion and a Drupal front end as a replacement for their existing digital library. The system has been built and over 20,000 items have been migrated. The project was a success but a lot of hard lessons were learned.

Arduino-enabled Patron Interaction Counting

Tim Ribaric, Jonathan Younker — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:02:52 +0000

Using the Arduino development board (http://arduino.cc) has become a very popular way to create hardware prototypes that bridge the divide between the physical world and the Internet. This article outlines how to use an Arduino, some off-the-shelf electronic parts, the Processing programming language, and Google Documents to create a push-button reference desk transaction tally device. The design: plugged into a computer at the reference desk, staff members push the appropriate button on the device when a reference transaction occurs, and the action is instantly tallied in a Google Document. Having a physical device on the desktop increases chances of proper collection of information since it is constantly visible and easily accessible, versus requiring staff members to click through a series of options in a piece of software running on the PC. The data can be tabulated in Google Documents or any other source that processes form-based HTML data. This article covers all of the major components of creating the project: - Constructing the Arduino circuit and programming it - Creating the Google Docs form - Creating the Processing program that will listen for information from the Arduino and send it to the Google Docs form

Editorial Introduction: A Peer Network

Andrew Darby — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:59 +0000

Code4Lib, and the Code4Lib Journal, considered as a peer network.

Building a Library App Portfolio with Redis and Django

Jeremy Nelson — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:58 +0000

The Tutt Library at Colorado College is developing a portfolio of library applications for use by patrons and library staff. Developed under an iterative and incremental agile model, these single-use HTML5 applications target multiple devices while using Bootstrap and Django to deliver fast and responsive interfaces to underlying FRBR datastores running on Redis, an advanced NoSQL database server. Two types are delineated: applications for access and discovery, which are available to everyone; and productivity applications, which are primarily for library staff to administer and manage the FRBR-RDA records. The access portfolio includes Book Search, Article Search, Call Number, and Library Hours applications. The productivity side includes an Orders App and a MARC Batch application for ingesting MARC records as FRBR entities using RDA Core attributes. When a critical threshold is reached, the Tutt Library intends to replace its legacy ILS with this library application portfolio.

A Comparison of Article Search APIs via Blinded Experiment and Developer Review

Jonathan Rochkind — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:57 +0000

This study looks at perceived user preference between products that can provide a scholarly article search service via an application programming interface (API). The study set up a blinded review and asked users at Johns Hopkins to select the service that provided the most useful results. Few statistically significant preferences were detected, and some interpretation is provided of what the results might tell us. The specific products evaluated for this study are: Serials Solutions Summon, Ex Libris Primo, EBSCO EDS, EBSCOHost ‘traditional’ API, and Elsevier Scopus. Re-usable open source tools for implementing article search were created to support the study and future development, and a developer review of the APIs is included based on the developer's experience in this implementation.

Providing Information about Reading Lists via a Dashboard Interface

Dr Jason Cooper, Dr Jon Knight and Gary Brewerton — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:56 +0000

As developers of the open source LORLS Resource/Reading List Management System we have developed a dashboard to better support academic staffs’ understanding of how their students use reading lists. This dashboard provides both graphical and tabulated information drawn from LORLS and the Aleph Integrated Library System. Development of the dashboard required changes to back-end functionality of LORLS such as logging views of reading lists and caching of loan data. Changes to the front end included the use of HTML5 canvas elements to generate pie charts and line graphs. Recently launched to academic staff at Loughborough University, the dashboard has already garnered much praise. It is hoped that further development of the dashboard will provide even more support for academics in the compilation of their reading lists.

Visualizing Library Statistics using Open Flash Chart 2 and Drupal

Laura K. Wiegand and Bob Humphrey — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:55 +0000

Libraries continue to need to demonstrate their value to stakeholders, and while statistics alone do not represent value, they are an important element. We found ourselves, and our stakeholders, uninspired by our infrequently updated bulleted list of statistics on our website and so set out to create a more dynamic and visually appealing look at our statistics. This article outlines how we used our content management system, Drupal, Open Flash Chart and custom programming to convert library statistics into Flash charts, including how to populate the graphs with dynamic data from external sources. The end result is our Library Statistics Dashboard (http://library.uncw.edu/facts_planning/dashboard) that visually demonstrates the use, activity and resources in the library via interactive and visually interesting graphs.

Library Widget for Moodle

Mariela Hristova — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:54 +0000

Any course within a course management system is generally considered the intellectual space of the professor teaching it. Research tools and guides, such as search boxes for discovery services or links to course-specific and subject-specific guides, are created and maintained by librarians. In trying to get our tools and services closer to where students spend their time devoted to coursework, Oakland University libraries have developed a library widget – a self-serve code generator that allows professors to select what tools and services they want to bring into their course space. This approach has proven to be flexible, because it does not depend on a library presence within the course management system. It also offers persistent presence within courses since professors can archive courses, including the library widget, at the end of a semester and restore them in the system in future semesters. We are using the library widget as a pilot to inform decisions on future full integration of such functionality into Moodle.

Open Source Library Software Development in a Small Rural Library System

Kyle Hall, Cindy Murdock Ames, and John Brice — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:53 +0000

Using the Crawford County Federated Library System’s development of an open source web kiosk management system, as an example, this article will illustrate how an open source library project is defined, specified, written, tested and rolled out. The article will also discuss how the project was released as an Open Source project and future development of the project. The web kiosk project is called Libki and was written to authenticate users and allow access to the Internet kiosks based on time limits. Libki is a completely Open Source project and is now used by multiple libraries across the US. The client side of Libki is cross platform and supports multiple operating systems including Microsoft Windows and Linux. The administrative side of the program allows access to user logs, controls time and access and allows the librarian to log a patron off the system in real time. Libki was completely developed and written by staff members of the Crawford County Federated Library System.

Determining Usability of VuFind for Users in the United Arab Emirates

Nicole Johnston, Alicia Salaz, and Rob O'Connell — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:52 +0000

In late 2011, the Higher Colleges of Technology, a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates, implemented Vufind as the search interface for the libraries’ resources. Before launching Vufind in the 2012 academic year, usability testing occurred across three campuses to test the functionality of the search interface features. Twenty-one participants, including Emirati students and expatriate faculty, were tested using a performance based assessment along with think-aloud protocol, which was recorded using Camtasia screen capture software. As a result of the testing several features of Vufind were customized including language, layout and prioritization of results. The current study builds on the limited existing body of literature on Vufind, which has previously indicated a number of design elements and practices which should optimize user experience. Several key findings are consistent with and confirm results from prior studies with findings from this study adding to the literature by observing how or why linguistic orientation affects user behavior in search systems.

Using XSLT and Google Scripts to Streamline Populating an Institutional Repository

Stephen X. Flynn, Catalina Oyler, Marsha Miles — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:51 +0000

The College of Wooster has created a process that allows library staff to quickly populate institutional repositories. An XSLT script is used to transform RefWorks citations into Dublin Core XML and batch load those records into the institutional repository. A second script in a Google Docs spreadsheet then looks up publisher permissions in Sherpa/RoMEO. The resulting workflow has dramatically reduced the amount of time necessary to populate an institutional repository with faculty scholarly articles.

Indexing Linked Bibliographic Data with JSON-LD, BibJSON and Elasticsearch

Thomas Johnson — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:50 +0000

Linked Data is a powerful tool for sharing bibliographic metadata. By combining the decentralization of the web with the use of globally defined metadata vocabularies, data from many sources can be treated as a single, aggregated graph. Supporting search across these distributed data sources within the same application, however, requires considerable work in vocabulary alignment and data transformation. Aggregate systems must convert data into a unified model which must (almost inevitably) be generic at the expense of the structure and granularity of the original data. This paper presents a novel solution for representing and indexing bibliographic resources that retains the data integrity and extensibility of Linked Data while supporting fast, customizable indexes in an application-friendly data format. The methodology makes use of JSON-LD to represent RDF graphs in JSON suitable for indexing with Elasticsearch. BibJSON is used as a common index format capable of handling a wide range of library resources. Since all three technologies (RDF/JSON-LD, BibJSON and Elasticsearch) share an emphasis on extensibility, it is possible to create an index of bibliographic data that is both generalized and flexible enough to handle Linked Data from multiple sources.

Metadata Analysis at the Command-Line

Mark Phillips — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:49 +0000

Over the past few years the University of North Texas Libraries' Digital Projects Unit (DPU) has developed a set of metadata analysis tools, processes, and methodologies aimed at helping to focus limited quality control resources on the areas of the collection where they might have the most benefit. The key to this work lies in its simplicity: records harvested from OAI-PMH-enabled digital repositories are transformed into a format that makes them easily parsable using traditional Unix/Linux-based command-line tools. This article describes the overall methodology, introduces two simple open-source tools developed to help with the aforementioned harvesting and breaking, and provides example commands to demonstrate some common metadata analysis requests. All software tools described in the article are available with an open-source license via the author's GitHub account.

The Format Registry Problem

Gary McGath — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:48 +0000

File format identification is an important issue in digital preservation. Several noteworthy attempts, including PRONOM, GDFR, and UDFR, have been made at creating a comprehensive repository of format information. The sheer amount of information to cover and the constant introduction of new formats and format versions has limited their success. Alternative approaches, such as Linked Data and offering limited per-format information with identifiers that can be used elsewhere, may lead to greater success.

SPRUCE Mashup London

Edward M. Corrado — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:58:47 +0000

SPRUCE digital preservation mashups are a series of unique events that are being organized in the United Kingdom to bring together digital preservation practitioners and developers to work on real-world digital preservation challenges. During the 3-day event the digital preservation developers work to create practical solutions to real-world challenges the practitioners are having related to digital preservation. Meanwhile, the practitioners work to create compelling business cases for digital preservation at their institution. This article describes the SPRUCE Mashup London event held in September 2012.

Editorial Introduction – Share Your Ideas

Ron Peterson — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:59 +0000

The Code4Lib Journal's mission is to foster community and share information. It is my hope that reading the articles in this issue will help you develop your own ideas and solutions. And that you will share your ideas with the community.

Prototyping as a Process for Improved User Experience with Library and Archives Websites

Shaun Ellis and Maureen Callahan — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:58 +0000

Prototypes can be persuasive tools for proposing changes within an organization through “imagine if” scenarios. They not only show how to enhance the online experience, but can provide a way to improve the overall organizational environment as well. In redesigning the Princeton University Finding Aids site (http://findingaids.princeton.edu), we used a flexible subset of Agile practices based around measurable goals, iterative prototypes, meetings with institutional stakeholders, and “discount usability testing” to deliver an innovative and much-improved user experience. This article discusses how integrating relatively untested, but promising new ideas for online finding aids required us to adopt a development process that would allow us to better understand the goals of both general and staff users and in turn foster an environment for innovation that thrives on collaboration, iteration, and managed risk.

Hacking 360 Link: A hybrid approach

John Durno — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:57 +0000

When the University of Victoria Libraries switched from a locally-hosted link resolver (SFX) to a vendor-hosted link resolver (360Link), new strategies were required to effectively integrate the vendor-hosted link resolver with the Libraries' other systems and services. Custom javascript is used to add links to the 360Link page; these links then point at local PHP code running on UVic servers, which can then redirect to appropriate local service or display a form directly. An open source PHP OpenURL parser class is announced. Consideration is given to the importance of maintaining open protocols and standards in the transition to vendor-hosted services.

Jarrow, Electronic Thesis, and Dissertation Software

James MacDonald and Daniel Yule — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:56 +0000

Collecting and disseminating theses and dissertations electronically is not a new concept. Tools and platforms have emerged to handle various components of the submission and distribution process. However, there is not a tool that handles the entirety of the process from the moment the student begins work on their thesis to the dissemination of the final thesis. The authors have created such a tool which they have called Jarrow. After reviewing available open-source software for theses submission and open-source institutional repository software this paper discusses why and how Jarrow was created and how it works. Jarrow can be downloaded and the project followed at http://code.library.unbc.ca.

A Hybrid Solution for Improving Single Sign-On to a Proxy Service with Squid and EZproxy through Shibboleth and ExLibris’ Aleph X-Server

Alexander Jerabek and Minh-Quang Nguyen — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:55 +0000

This paper describes an implementation of a hybrid solution for improving the library's proxy service by integrating Shibboleth and ExLibris' Aleph’s X-server using a proxy server running both EZproxy and Squid applications. We will describe in detail the hybrid solution of a proxy service within the context of our institution and explain how this service improves the user experience. We will explain how we developed and implemented this solution with a minimum of development cost and describe some of the preliminary empirical research undertaken. The main benefit of this solution is that instead of relying on e-resource vendors to become Shibboleth-compliant, we are able to prepare and deploy a Shibboleth-ready environment while granting our patrons reliable and stable access to e-resources via different types of connections. As of December 2011, the hybrid solution is running in production.

Modular Mobile Application Design

Jim Hahn and Nathaniel Ryckman — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:54 +0000

This article describes the development of the Minrva library app for Android phones. The decisions to build a native application with Java and use a modular design are discussed. The application includes five modules: catalog search, in-building navigation, a barcode scanning feature, and up to date notifications of circulating technology availability. A sixth module, Amazon recommendations, that is not included in the version of the app that was released is also discussed. The article also reports on the findings of two rounds of usability testing and the plans for future development of the app.

Patron-Driven Expedited Cataloging Enhancement to WebPAC Pro

Steven Jay Bernstein — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:53 +0000

This article outlines the development of an integrated patron-driven expedited cataloging feature in the catalog of the Connecticut State University Library System (CONSULS). The proposed enhancement to the library’s Innovative Millennium ILS provides users with a direct method for obtaining newly-arrived library materials and allows the Cataloging & Metadata Services Departments at the four Connecticut State University campuses a way to better identify priority materials in their queues. While the project was developed with a single ILS in mind, the idea behind it can easily be implemented on most any other integrated library system. Two versions of the enhancement are covered: one for standalone libraries and one for libraries that share a union catalog. The source-codes for both versions of the enhancement are provided, as are instructions for implementing the enhancement on any Millennium installation.

Using PHP to Parse eBook Resources from Drupal 6 to Populate a Mobile Web Page

Junior Tidal — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:52 +0000

The Ursula C. Schwerin library needed to create a page for its mobile website devoted to subscribed eBooks. These resources, however, were only available through the main desktop website. These resources were organized using the Drupal 6 content management system with contributed and core modules. It was necessary to create a solution to retrieve the eBook databases from the Drupal installation to a separate mobile site.

LibALERTS: An author-level subscription system

Matt Weaver — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:40:51 +0000

Patron requests for the ability to subscribe to their favorite authors so they could receive notifications when new titles are released, presented an opportunity for Westlake Porter Public Library to learn, to build, and to engage with patrons on the development of a new service. The library’s libALERTS service, which launched in June 2012, was the culmination of a process that involved the development of a Drupal-based website augmented with a hand-coded preprocess interface that addressed critical concerns for the effectiveness of the service.