Governance / I-Share OPAC Team Meeting: September 14, 2011

I-Share OPAC Team Meeting: September 14, 2011

Submitted by Kelly Fisher

Members Present: Kelly Fisher, Paul Go, Lisa Gonzalez, Jacob Jeremiah, Rong Li, Edith List, Karl Pettitt, Paige Weston

Absent: None

Meeting began at 10:11 AM

Reports

CARLI Report - Paige Weston:

  • NCIP test bed for XC created by one of the CARLI Developers is now available. The developer has been commended.
  • One library has reported a bug in VuFind. In the Classic catalog, when searching for terms with diacritical marks, the search returns accurate results. In VuFind, however, the mark has to be pasted in or at least entered in order for the same accurate results to appear. http://code.google.com/p/carli-vufind/issues/detail?id=64
  • The new titles list has been announced and the customization form for local catalogs has been rolled out of production. The Union Catalog version will go into production on Oct. 3.
  • Local help text links do not appear in the the I-Share Union Catalog’s “location and availability” tab, which may be used when a patron wants to select a particular library’s copy, as opposed to using the “Request 1st available” tab.
  • There is currently a misleading message appearing when users need to reset their passwords in VuFind - “name cannot be blank.” The issue may be that their browser does not accept cookies, not that their name was blank. It was decided to combine the message for both issues, suggesting patrons make sure their browsers are able to accept cookies.
  • The request status that says “Request in Transit” has been changed to “Requested Item in Transit”

New VuFind Customization Option:

  • This whole form will need to be revised so that it is not mouse-dependant for navigation. Other features that will need to be added are the ability to “save a profile” and “view a preview” before sending to CARLI staff. Paige is looking for more ways to put more control in the hands of libraries and automate the process more - especially with XC on the horizon.
    A discussion about different features of three customization forms ensued. The preview feature of the new titles customization form was well-liked by Rong, with the CSS/HTML info. being library-supplied an okay feature. However, if a library does not possess a staff member with CSS knowledge, the form might be off-putting. So, the technology skills of the library staff play a role in form style preference. It was decided that some kind of visual reinforcement - be it a numbered map of customizable fields or a preview function - is essential.

New Titles List:

  • So far no negative responses have been received from CARLI libraries with regards to the New Titles list change announcement. Again, Oct. 3 is the launch date.

Electronic Icons in VuFind:

  • e-maps - icon will need to be created. Feedback for a new icon was positive from the UIUC maps librarian consulted.
  • e-journal icon - already created by Paige.
  • e-book icon - already adapted from the Bridge project icon.
  • digital audio icon - it was decided after discussion that all sound recordings shall us the speaker icon, and all electronic sound recordings the speaker with an “e” icon, which is currently assigned to the digital audio items

Second Search form at the bottom of VuFind pages:

  • Four or five complaints from libraries have been received on how “weird” many pages look with both the top and bottom search bar. The group decided to maintain the double search bar on the Search Results page and the Records page, removing it from all other VuFind pages.

Wiki Page:

  • The I-OPAC wiki page has been updated and old information has been removed. The page now holds the OPAC Team's thoughts on what the XC would need to have before it could reasonably replace VuFind as the interface to the I-Share union catalog.

Old Business

  • The “Your Account is not Synced” message appears when information in one’s My Account (like last name) does not match Voyager’s information or if VuFind cannot connect to Voyager is. The message in need of revision. Perhaps more white space or a bulleted list of possible solutions to the problem. Lisa and Edith will work on language and revision suggestions and submit them to the group.

Next meeting: Oct. 12, 2011 via conference call

Meeting ended at 11:14 AM