Bright Ideas for the Web

1. Internet Librarian Monterey, CA Bright Ideas for the Web Darlene Fichter darlene.fichter@usask.ca University of Saskatchewan November 4, 2003

2. Overview • External Content integration • Getting easier • Examples • Web parts, portlets, gadgets, widgets • New mind set • Examples • Land of Oz • Assimilate and be assimilated

3. RSS and headlines • Create your own “newspaper” • Use Bloglines • Publish your list to the web • Sites to read • No coding • Web forms • Javascript • Cut and paste

5. http://library.usask.ca/~pas508/blogline.html

6. News to Read

7. zFeeder • zFeeder is a PHP script used to display RSS content on your webpages • Show the news to your visitors • It parses RSS (or RDF or backend) files (xml files) and shows content formatted • It is simple to use, implement and customize accordingly to your needs • http://zvonnews.sourceforge.net/zfeeder.php

8. zFeeder Example • Show the headlines • Example

10. Why just news stories? • High quality links to web sites? • Librarians' Index to the Internet • http://www.ylpl.lib.ca.us/liintw92.rss • Example

11. To the land of Oz and back • Future is not a page • Think of it as parts • Building blocks • It’s not all assembled from your database or your site

12. Amazon web services • Amazon web services • Associate ID • Web token • Light weight (non-programmer) • XML Scratch Pad • Heavier weight (programming)

13. Each of these areas

14. First steps • News feed • New web sites • Integration of some Amazon content

18. Amazon for fundraising and/or content • Fundraising • Set up a Amazon store • Sell complimentary items – posters, calendars, toys

20. Output choices • XML • Get a script that can display it • XML and XSLT • Use one of Amazon’s • Make your own • Use a CSS

21. Canned XLST templates

23. So how can this help My Library? • Integrate this rich book content with your catalogue of books, movies, music

25. Provide Related LinksBe Creative • Find more by a “publisher” • Scratch Pad – manufacturer • Books by Oxford University Press

26. From Oz to Kansas again • Jon Udell’s Library Lookup • http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/stories/2002/12/11/librarylookup.html • Innovative • Voyager • iPac • DRA • Talis

27. Library catalog bookmarklet • Drag a link to your library to browser's link toolbar or add it to bookmarks • You can look up books at your local library when you’re on a book-related site (Amazon, BN, isbn.nu, All Consuming) • ISBN must be in the URL

28. ISBN

29. My Library Catalog

30. Bigger steps • Be everywhere • New portal • Portal with every students course schedule, link to course web pages • What should be there?

33. Students – see their courses • Ideally the library would have a list of resources for each course Faculty • Easy ways to link at the lesson level to our material • We need to offer vendor products like ILSs and article databases like ProQuest that support and allow deep and persistent links • Wizards to make this easy for our faculty

34. More services • HotScripts.com • Search for XML • http://www.hotscripts.com

35. Look, learn and experiment

36. Questions? • Darlene Fichter darlene.fichter@usask.ca University of Saskatchewan Library library.usask.ca/~fichter/