Stop the Static: Serve Your Patrons Dynamic Web Pages

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Stop the Static Serve Your Patrons Dynamic Web
Pages
Ken WinterReference LibrarianVirginia Military
Institute

• Presented at the Virginia Library Association
  Fall 2000 ConferenceOctober 19, 2000, Norfolk,
  Virginia.

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What Does SourceFinder Do?

• Database-Driven Web Page That Links Patrons With
  Information Sources Books, Databases, WWW Pages,
  Etc.

• Replaces About 20 Static Link Lists Created by
  Subject Specialists

• Empowers Patrons With the Ability to Create Their
  Own Customized Study Guides

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What Did We Dislike About Static Lists?

• Difficult to Maintain URLs

• Difficult to Keep Consistent Appearance

• Link Lists Getting Too Long!

• Inflexible. Forced the Patron to Think Like Us

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BEFORE 15-20 Static Guides

• Http//www.vmi.edu/library/oldstuff/economics.htm

AFTER 1 Dynamic Guide Generator
Http//www.vmi.edu/hyperlink
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Example The FirstSearch URL Changes

• 42 URL Changes Could Equate to Hundreds of
  Changes in all 15-20 Guides

• Remember Every Page that Had a Link

• Change Every Link Manually

• Check Every Change Manually

• Probably Need to Be Done Locally

• Each Subject Specialist Involved

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FirstSearch Changes With SourceFinder

• URL Changes Made Once in SourceFinder, They
  Instantaneously Take Effect On All Study Guides

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A Static Web Page What Happens Behind the
Scenes
Client
Server
1. Web Browser
2. File Server
1. Web Browser (Patron clicks on a link on a Web
page.
1. Web Browser (Patron clicks on a link on a Web
page. This sends a request to view a
pre-made file, which resides on a remote file
server.)
2. File Server (Computer containing the
file requested serves it to the client.
2. File Server (Computer containing the
file requested serves it to the client. The
Web page is displayed exactly as it was
originally created.)
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A Dynamic Web Page What Is Happening Behind
the Scenes
What is Actually Happening
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Heres Where It Gets Really Cool!

• SourceFinder is NOT just a Web Tool that Patrons
  Use.

• Its Content and Functionality can Be Modified
  FROM THE WEB by the Library Staff.

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SourceFinders Two Main Parts

• Allows Patrons To
• Create highly customized study guides.

• Allows Librarians To
• Add sources.
• Edit sources.
• Remove sources.

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Demo The Front End

• 4 Quick Steps 1 Custom Study Guide

1. Select a Subject (Field of study-Ex.
Biology)
2. Select a Source (Type of source-Ex.
Articles)
3. Set Limits (Ex. Electronic, Full Text, etc.)
4. Click on Search.
http//www.vmi.edu/hyperlink
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Demo The Back End

• The Secret Administrator Log In Lets Me

• CREATE a new entry from scratch.

• EDIT an existing entry.

• REMOVE an existing entry.

http//www.vmi.edu/hyperlink
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Demo The Access Database

• Components in the Database

• Contains Carefully Planned Out Tables

• Tables Contain Carefully Planned Out Fields

• Fields Contain Data or Descriptions, Such As

• Title

• Description

• Resource Type

• Full Text (Y/N)

• URL

• Electronic (Y/N)

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Review The Big Difference

• STATIC PAGES

• DYNAMIC PAGES

• Are built one at a time by hand and then posted
  onto the Web. There they sit until requested by a
  browser. At that point they are displayed
  exactly the same way every time.

• Do not exist until a browser requests them. Then
  the data requested is compiled, and poured into a
  pre-formatted HTML template. They are thus built
  on the fly.

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How We Did It

• Hardware
• A Web Server running Microsoft NT and Internet
  Information Server (IIS)

• Software
• Microsoft FrontPage Scripts Written in Notepad
• Microsoft Access
• Visual Basic Scripts Written by Hand

• People Power
• Our Webmaster did the programming
• Librarians Conceptualized it, and Entered the
  Data

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Can This Be Done Other Ways?

• YES!
• CGI and Perl (For UNIX Environments)
• JAVA (Platform Independent)
• Others?

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How You Can Do It You Need

• A Conceptual Model

• A Decent Server and the Right Software

• A Database Residing on the Server

• A Front End Web Page

• A Back End Web Page

• A Programmer to Help Pull It All Together

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Analogues to SourceFinder

• The concept of using programs to create Web
  pages on the fly is NOT new to libraries or the
  Internet! So where do you see it?

ON THE INTERNET
IN THE LIBRARY
Amazon.com
The Online Catalog
Databases IAC or DJI
Search Engines
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Advantages The Patrons Perspective

• Empowers User to Get Only What they Want

• Doesnt Force Patron to Think Like You

• Gives the Patron a Sense of Control

• Seems to Simplify a Complex Process, Though
  Perhaps it Over-Simplifies It.

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Advantages The Librarians Perspective

• Helps Us Remember Sources!

• Decreases Link List Maintenance

• Ensures Uniform Appearance of All Guides

• Editorial Changes Can Be Made Anywhere

• You Dont Need to Know HTML

• Administrative Benefits

• Helps Students When We Are Not There

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The Disadvantages

• Up-Front Time and Costs May Be Greater

• May Need Special Hardware/Software

• Need Someone With Technical Expertise

• Going Back to Make Design/FunctionalityChanges
  Can Be Difficulty and Takes Time

• Performance if the Database Gets too Big?

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Some Things to Consider

• Agree Up Front What You Want it to Do

• Start With a Small Test Database to Get the Bugs
  Out of the Interface

• Some Sources Defy Standard Description Is It a
  dictionary, encyclopedia or?

• What Should the Default Settings Be?

• Can Create Links that Look Static. Ex. A-Z
  Listing of Databases

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And Now For Your Questions?