I-Share OPAC Team Minutes

Tuesday, December 09, 2008
10:00 am

Present: Karen Becker, Nancy Bohm, Jana Brubaker, Kathy Chang, Keith Eiten, Jonathan Gorman, Gregory Morrison, Paige Weston

Minute recorded by Gregory

Minutes for the November 11, 2008 meeting were previously approved via email.

1. Jon commenced by welcoming Kitti Canepi, who recently joined the OPAC Team.  Kitti heads the Information Resources Management department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
2. Paige's report on VuFind issues and developments:
   
   • She requests that the team review her work on the VuFind FAQ document and provide feedback. View the FAQ page at http://www.carli.illinois.edu/mem-prod/I-Share/opac/vufind-faq.html
   • Update on the Google Book Search links problem: The previous method of connecting to Google resulted in exceeding Google’s threshold for simultaneous connections. CARLI staff is now testing a different method, based on “server-side API”, that appears to be a viable solution. If so, Paige will restore the Google Book links to VuFind soon and, sometime later, to Webvoyage as well
   • It is possible to link to Syndetics data via https, which will spare users the intermediate webpage security warning message
   • In order to respond to complaints about VuFind’s slow response time, CARLI is considering the option to display only the bibliographic information for titles in the initial results list. This would achieve faster search responses but would add a click before users will see the holdings and status information. Paige feels that this represents a step backward in terms of development. Currently users see bibliographic and status information together in the results list.
   • VuFind 1.0 is not yet available. Consequently, all new development work remains on hold. Some current search queries are not working properly. For example, a multi-word title search is “noisier” than an “all fields” search because of the inappropriate use of a logical OR embedded in the query.
   • Historically, CARLI has recommended that libraries maintain the links to full text that are appropriate for the home libraries in the MFHD rather than the bib record. Display strategies in WebVoyage have prevented bib 856 links from displaying to users for whom they are not appropriate. In VuFind, currently, only bib 856 fields, not MFHD 856 fields, display at all. Libraries that have opted not to display bib 856 fields in WebVoyage and so that have not been motivated to maintain those data are now seeing inappropriate links displaying in their local view of VuFind.
   • Paige shared the varying numbers of libraries taking advantage of catalog enhancement features such as the new book lists and SFX functionality.  The majority of libraries have implemented the new titles feature, but only 15 have activated SFX within their local catalog
   • Paige is into a second draft of documentation to assist CARLI libraries that want to add quick catalog search boxes to their websites.
3. Decision on indexing 830 |t – Paige will extend the indexing of the 830 field to include |t (i.e. the series added entry uniform title) inVuFind. This is a “moderate” priority. 830 |a is already indexed. This is related to the broader discussion of the LOC/OCLC decision to retire the MARC 440 field, which was a combo of descriptive and authoritative series information. Series authority information should now be entered in the 830 field, but, according to Paige (in a recent email), the “440 field, despite its obsolescence, will continue to be indexed in Voyager (and presumably will continue to be displayed in the OPAC) and because we already index the 830 in Voyager and display it in WebVoyage, [therefore] there is no new issue here for WebVoyage.”
4. Keith’s IUG report: IUG has been busy reviewing its own charge as well as the charges of its five teams. It approved recently the revised charges for the OPAC and Acquisitions teams.
   IUG has been planning events for the new calendar year including a forum on writing reports in February and a forum in May for I-Share library liaisons, which will inform them of their responsibilities, and of the CARLI services that are available to member institutions.
   IUG members continue to learn about and discuss the topic of integrated library systems, and welcome any pertinent literature that its teams might send their way.
5. Jon asked for response to Paige’s email regarding Twitter, a kind of texting service that is already being used in other libraries. One perceived use has the catalog sending users a “tweet” to notify them when a book is checked in or the status has changed.  The team concluded that it was something to monitor but little we could do in the current environment to take advantage of it.

The next team conference call is on January 13th at 10 a.m.

Meeting concluded at approximately 11:10am.

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