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Using a few tools that you probably already have laying around your library I'll show how OpenLayers [http://www.openlayers.org/] can be used to create a dynamic interface for browsing and searching your digital collections geographically. With very little effort Solr can be made to serve up results directly into OpenLayers creating all sorts of mapping possibilities. With a little more effort a Postgres database can handle complex polygon searches [http://dc.lib.unc.edu/ncmaps/search.php]. I'll talk about how we're developing a lightweight GIS framework to provide a new user experience for interacting with a number of our collections in unique ways.
== Building an Open Source Staff-facing Tablet App for Library Assessment ==
* Jason Casden, NCSU Libraries, jason_casden at ncsu dot edu
* Joyce Chapman, NCSU Libraries, joyce_chapman at ncsu dot edu
Many libraries currently produce manual headcounts or activity counts for physical spaces in order to better understand patron needs as well as the use of spaces and services, but struggle with the difficulties of collecting data on more than one aspect of use, as well as organizing and analyzing the resulting data. The availability of tablet devices, such as the Apple iPad, has created an opportunity to simplify and encourage the collection of fine-grained data about the use of library physical spaces. The streamlined collection and centralized management of space usage data could also enable more sophisticated and rapid quantitative assessment methods that would significantly reduce the technical barriers for librarians to employ space usage data for assessment.
This talk will present a library assessment and software development perspective on the creation and utility of an open source tablet-based tool for collecting and analyzing data about the use of library physical spaces. Building on recent experience developing web-based and native-iPhone library apps, we will discuss complicating implementation-related issues such as platform dependence, intermittent network coverage (data caching), and centralized data synchronization with multiple collectors. HTML5 and co-evolving technologies (specifically, Web SQL client-side storage) can be utilized to balance the various advantages of web-based apps with the performance of native apps, but implementation choices can directly impact both the types of data that can be collected and the cost of adoption of an open source release. Finally, we will use an early prototype of this tool to demonstrate some new assessment possibilities.