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→PhantomJS+Selenium: Easy Automated Testing of AJAX-y UIs
* [http://code4lib.org/conference/2013/ronallo HTML5 Video Now!] 2013
Watching the Google Analytics Real-Time dashboard for the first time was mesmerizing. As soon as someone visited a site, I could see what page they were on. For a digital collections site with a lot of images, it was fun to see what visitors were looking at. But getting from Google Analytics to the image or other content of what was currently being viewed was cumbersome. The real-time experience was something I wanted to share with others. I'll show you how I used a WebSocket service to create a real-time interface to digital collectionsviews and search queries.
In the Hunt Library at NCSU we have some large video walls. I wanted to make HTML-based exhibits that featured viewer interactions. I'll show you how I converted Listen to Wikipedia [1] into an bring-your-own-device interactive exhibit. With WebSockets any HTML page can be remote controlled by any internet connected device.
* Martin Haye, California Digital Library, martin.haye@ucop.edu
** Previous Code4Lib Presentation: [http://code4lib.org/conference/2012/collett Beyond code: Versioning data with Git and Mercurial] at Code4Lib 2012 (Martin co-presenting with Stephanie Charlie Collett)
* Mark Redar, California Digital Library, mark.redar@ucop.edu
This architecture allows us to swap in the technology that best fits each part of the process, and it makes it easier to maintain the system. We use this to integrate and coordinate between tasks handled in Java, Ruby, and Go, and it provides an effective way to interoperate with these programming languages and the respective strengths that they bring to this system.
== Sustaining your Open Source project through training ==
* Bess Sadler (Stanford University Libraries) and Mark Bussey (Data Curation Experts) will discuss their experiences developing and delivering training for Project Hydra.
Topics covered:
* Working practices for developing training materials
* Sharing the work when there are no dedicated resources
* Inviting community (and student) input to create higher quality content
* Strategies to keep training docs up-to date
* Strategies to make training materials available to the widest-possible audience
* Using surveys (Survey Monkey) to assess the effectiveness of your training program
==Piwik: Open source web analytics==
While Google Analytics is synonymous with Web Analytics, fortunately today we have many other good options, and one option is Piwik, [http://piwik.org| piwik.org] a simple to install, open-source PHP/MySQL application with a tracking script that will sit alongside Google Analytics tracking the usual clicks, events and variables. In this presentation, I'd like to cover the usual analytics topics and also cover what makes Piwik powerful, such as importing and visualizing web logs from any system to incorporate both past and future data, easily tracking downloads, and the ability to write your own reports or dashboard. The visitor log data is stored securely on your own server so you have control over who looks at the data and how much or how little to keep. With an active and helpful developer community, Piwik has the potential for analytics which makes sense for libraries, not e-commerce.
== Next Generation Catalogue - RDF as a Basis for New Services ==
Most of our questions are still quite open ended, and honestly we are just getting started down this road. But as digital collections grow, and library budgets realign or shrink, it becomes increasingly important to back up our assertions and opinions with numbers, and find more efficient ways to work with the resources we have.
==A Different Kind of Search: Query Analysis of Map Search==
* Zoe Chao, University of New Mexico (zoechao@unm.edu)
* No previous Code4Lib presentation
Map searches are an increasingly important part of university and library websites. In 2012, The University of New Mexico (UNM) replaced its original PDF based campus maps (http://iss.unm.edu/PCD/campus-map.html) with an interactive map search based on the free Google Maps API. In addition to the basic map information such as streets and building outlines, we added search capabilities and categories for browsing (http://search.unm.edu/maps/). From November 2012 to September 2013, we logged about six thousand search instances on the campus map search. This data suggests that map searching presents a fundamentally different kind of search for users which results in a large number of failed searches that return empty or misleading result sets.
In this presentation we will briefly describe the development and current implementation of the UNM map search and our data collection of search queries. We then discuss the some surprising findings based on the data analysis. For instance, a large number of map queries include specific room numbers, which indicates some users perceive the search to include buildings' floor plans. This result suggests that we need to truncate numbers from queries in order to return correct building locations. Finally we will talk about the insight we gained from the data and our next steps toward the data driven interface design.
==More Like This: Approaches to Recommending Related Items using Subject Headings==
* Kevin Beswick, NCSU Libraries (kdbeswic@ncsu.edu)
** No previous code4lib presentations
With a significant portion of the collection at our new Hunt Library being housed in an automated storage and retrieval system, several of us at NCSU Libraries have begun looking at ways to replace and improve upon the classic shelf browsing experience in order to make it easier for patrons to browse related materials. Our goal is to mimic popular services like Amazon and Netflix, which utilize recommendation engines to make it easy for users to find items similar to a particular item of interest. While there have been previous efforts in libraries to recreate this experience using circulation or call number data, we are currently investigating algorithms that focus on use of subject headings. Use of subject headings as an alternative can be particularly helpful in the case of electronic materials that do not always have call numbers or circulation data. In this talk, I will share:
* Details of the proposed algorithms
* How these algorithms were quickly and easily implemented using Solr.
* Our evaluation process and its outcomes in terms of the effectiveness of the algorithms.
* How this has (or could) impact presentation of recommended items in our discovery layer.
== Questioning Authority: building a ruby gem to facilitate UI interactions with varied controlled vocabularies ==
* [[User:Mhbussey|Mark Bussey]], Data Curation Experts, mark@curationexperts.com
At a recent Hydra meeting, developers from five different institutions all realized that they had similar needs to support various types of UI fields based on a multiple of internal and external authorities and controlled vocabularies. Their goals was to develop a tool that let them meet these needs in ways that minimized the need for custom coding for each vocabulary. During an intense three-day working session, they minted the initial release of the [https://github.com/projecthydra/questioning_authority/blob/master/README.md questioning authority] gem.
The talk will cover both how cross-institutional development helped speed development and how the gem can be used for accessing both external vocabularies like LCSH and LCNA and for presenting internal vocabulary lists. Although the developing institutions are all Hydra implementers, the gem itself doesn't have any Hydra dependencies and can be used in any Rails or Blacklight based application.
== Building Hydra, a framework; a community ==
[mailto:justin@curationexperts.com Justin Coyne] Project Hydra contributor / Data Curation Experts
More than just a repository, the [http://projecthydra.org Hydra Project] is a community of cultural heritage institutions dedicated to pooling knowledge and resources. It is a completely open source project that has grown continuously for over 5 years. Within this vibrant community, a number of conventions and practices have emerged that we believe will benefit others attempting to cultivate support for their community oriented projects. The Hydra Project is now a mature initiative which is producing shareable, reusable and customizable components as well as complete repository solutions. In a time of tight budgets and growing demand for improved systems, we believe that "the Hydra way" is the exemplar case in the library community for how to work across institutions to deliver high quality services to our patrons. This talk will cover both the technical and human processes that have sustained Hydra's continued development and growth.
From [http://www.ohloh.net/p/projecthydra Ohloh.net]
In a Nutshell, Project Hydra...
* has had 8,364 commits made by 64 contributors representing 60,733 lines of code
* has a codebase with a long source history maintained by a very large development team with stable Y-O-Y commits
* took an estimated 15 years of effort (COCOMO model) starting with its first commit in October, 2009 ending with its most recent commit 7 days ago
== JQuery XML Editor ==
Presenter: Ben Pennell, UNC Chapel Hill Libraries (bbpennel@email.unc.edu)
no previous C4L presentations
The jquery.xmleditor is a portable jquery widget developed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries for the purpose of simplifying the description workflow for existing objects in our digital repository. It does so by adding context and structure informed by an underlying XML schema. Even more generally, it creates and modifies XML documents in your web browser.
It can be found here, including a live demo:
[https://github.com/UNC-Libraries/jquery.xmleditor]
Features include:
* Graphical editor mode for displaying and modifying XML elements
* Text editor mode for directly modifying the underlying document (using the Cloud9 editor)
* Contextual, schema driven menus for adding new elements, subelements and attributes in both the graphical and text editing modes
* Fully javascript and CSS based, jquery widget
* AJAX submission of document modifications
* Ability to export XML document to a file in web browsers that support it
* Keyboard shortcuts for navigation and other operations
* Standalone tool for building JSON representations of XML schemas
In our own implementation, the tool communicates with a Fedora based SWORD 2 enabled repository to receive the starting MODS document and to submit changes. But it's all XML in the end, and includes options for exporting to file or submitting to any endpoint that accepts XML.
This presentation will include an overview of the development process, technologies and issues involved, as well as a brief demonstration of the editor in use. It will also touch on the tool backing the editor which constructs JSON objects from schemas.
== Visualizing Library Resources as Networks ==
* [mailto:matthewmiller@nypl.org Matt Miller] New York Public Library, NYPL Labs.
**No previous C4L presentations
Library resources are typically presented linearly in the form of a catalog search results page or an iterative list of subjects, books, special collections, etc. This talk explores the possibilities created when thinking of library resources as interconnected networks. We will look at the progress of a project to visualize NYPL resources such as catalog subject headings[1][2] as a network. We will also look at moving beyond visualizations into building network interfaces, such as our archival access term explorer[3] prototype.
[1] [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4070829/catalog-viz-subjects/seadragon.html Catalog Subject Headings Visualization]
[2] [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16562899/timelapse6.mp4 Time lapsed catalog network]
[3] [http://archives.nypl.org/terms Archival access term explorer prototype.]
== Island or Archipelago? Reducing Repository Redundancy at University of Toronto Libraries ==
*[mailto:sallain@utsc.utoronto.ca Sara Allain], Special Collections Librarian, University of Toronto Scarborough
*[mailto:kbabcock@utsc.utoronto.ca Kelli Babcock], Special Projects Librarian, Special Projects Librarian, University of Toronto Scarborough
*No previous Code4Lib presentations
This session will address a big issue in library technology – the creation of redundant repositories across large, multi-library institutions. We will discuss an ongoing collaboration at the University of Toronto: the development of Collections UofT, an Islandora/Drupal instance intended to support the special collections projects of UofT's community, faculty members, and 44 libraries. We will look at:
*Successful communication strategies imperative to fostering collaboration among project stakeholders
*Complications caused by legacy repositories and varying metadata standards
*Negotiating branding and usability requirements for disparate projects
*Focused outreach to generate community buy-in
*Defining the roles and responsibilities of the repository's community
*Generating a proactive response to the above issues through documentation, issue reporting, and standardized Memoranda of Understanding
As the University of Toronto Libraries continue to facilitate and develop digital projects, it is vital that our systems be both centralized and flexible, able to meet the needs of various collaborators across a wide range of subject areas. Collections UofT is our first step towards a brighter digital future for special collections at the University of Toronto.
== So You Think You Want to Be a DPLA Service Hub?: Building a Statewide Repository System for the Commonwealth ==
* Steven Anderson, Boston Public Library (sanderson@bpl.org)
**No previous presentations at national Code4Lib conferences (excluding one lightning talk in 2013)
* Eben English, Boston Public Library (eenglish@bpl.org)
**No previous presentations at national Code4Lib conferences
Built upon the Hydra stack, the [https://search.digitalcommonwealth.org Digital Commonwealth] repository system houses a variety of digital content from over a dozen Massachusetts libraries. In addition, we also harvest metadata via OAI-PMH from many other institutions throughout the state that lives alongside hosted content in (relative) harmony. This talk will discuss the development of our repository, with an emphasis on the specialized use cases that are involved in creating a system to serve as a DPLA service hub.
As a DPLA hub, we have many contributing institutions using many different systems (Omeka, DSpace, CONTENTdm, Fedora/Hydra, etc.) with OAI feeds that we need to harvest from and convert into our data storage format. Come hear about our journey into the madness of what people can put into their metadata records and our data normalization strategies for adding this content to our system.
We'll also cover:
* Inherited design structure: Each OAI source has its own metadata nuances, and creating a "single script to rule them all" is out of the question (even if the records use the same schema and/or come from the same system). It is, however, possible to use good object-oriented principles to first cover general cases and then adjust for each institution's metadata style. In addition, our system uses content models that inherit from more basic implementations that make dealing with various types of heterogeneous content in our system much less painful.
* Interface design: How do you create an online metadata editor for world's widest user base, from septuagenarian volunteers to academic librarians? How do you design a search interface that keeps content from a small historical society from getting lost in a sea of material contributed by statewide organizations? We've got answers.
* Useful libraries and techniques: '''> 120'''. That's how many date formats our system currently supports when reading from an OAI feed. What libraries did we use to help parse that information? How are we generating thumbnails for various types of content when none are provided? We'll cover useful libraries and gems that make the hub developer's life worth living again.
==Getting a New Website Without Losing the Old One==
*Angie Ballard, NCSU Libraries, (aballard@ncsu.edu)
**No previous Code4Lib presentations
*Charlie Morris, NCSU Libraries, (cdmorris@ncsu.edu)
*Erik Olson, NCSU Libraries, (eolson@ncsu.edu)
**No previous Code4Lib presentations
The NCSU Libraries last website redesign launch was in August 2010. The stated goal then was to position our website and our organization for a future of evolving through more iterative changes and agile workflows. This year’s latest evolution to a responsive designed website carried out this approach. We made incremental changes that retrofitted the face of the existing desktop website to be responsive-ready while simultaneously developing a fully-responsive Drupal theme.
Staff and end-users saw incremental changes starting with flattening the visual design, followed by font and spacing changes, modularizing existing page elements, and finally new responsive headers, footers and page layouts. This approach allowed us to re-use large portions of existing code, and to provide a more gradual shift for styaff and end-users. This iterative design process allows for testing and internal evaluation along the way. It also highlights IA and Content Strategy issues to be addressed in later projects.
We will talk about how scoping the project to these technical changes while largely maintaining the existing site IA, content, and visual design elements has a number of advantages with a few challenges.
==Solr faceted title/call-number/heading browse with inline cross-references==
* Michael Gibney, University of Pennsylvania (mgibney@pobox.upenn.edu)
* No previous presentations at national Code4Lib conferences
I would like to present an overview of recent development at the University of Pennsylvania library leveraging Solr/Lucene data structures to allow true browse (e.g. for Call Number, Title, Author, and Subject) with inline cross-references, over arbitrary subsets of records (as restricted by filters/facets/queries). Challenges addressed in development include:
* 1. Providing for efficient normalized term sorting (with highly-configurable normalization) while preserving term case and formatting for term-centric display.
* 2. Allowing record-centric display of results retrieved via term index (effectively allowing sorting on multi-valued fields). This point applies mainly to Call Number and Title browse.
* 3. Inline display (with associated record counts) of cross-references for heading terms (as of Nov. 8, 2013, implemented only for Author browse using LC authority file as represented in VIAF, but designed to be readily extended to apply to subject headings, and multiple, query-time configurable authority schemes).
The solution that will be presented is native to Solr/Lucene (an extension of UnInvertedField), and is related to the approach suggested by Jonathan Rochkind at: http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/note-to-self-more-ideas-for-browse-search-in-solr/. It is extremely lightweight, with the only dependencies being already supplied by Solr/Lucene on the classpath. It is flexible and easily configured via Solr configuration files. Being related strictly to Solr/Lucene, it should be front-end agnostic and equally applicable in VUFind, Blacklight, or any other framework using a Solr backend.
The resulting functionality is in production at http://franklin.library.upenn.edu/. It is still under heavy development, and questions/comments/criticism would be welcome. The source code has not been released open source, but hopefully that will change in the near future.
==Queue Programming -- how using job queues can make the Library coding world a better place==
*Birkin James Diana, Brown University (birkin_diana@brown.edu)
**I've given one or two C4L 20-minute talks and a few lightning ones over the years
In 2007 we built a system that dumped certain user web-requests for books into a database for offline-processing triggered via cron. We wanted to make the magic happen live, but knew it would take too long. Thus we created, sort of accidentally, a kind of old-fashioned static procedural job queue.
Over the years we we've been repeatedly impressed with how useful and robust this unintended architecture has been, and it fostered thinking about using real job queues in Library workflows.
Fast-forward to the present. We now are using _real_ job queueing, in production, for parts of the functioning of Brown Digital Repository. We've also used it for ingestion scripts, and plan to move more lots more code to this architecture.
I'd like to share & show:
* our lightweight rq/redis job queueing setup
* how using job queues can speed up workflows via using multiple workers
* how job queueing can make workflows more robust, especially by simplifying failure handling
* a way we've smoothly avoided race-conditions that can occur in concurrent-programming
* a technique for using task-processing job queues to simplify complex workflows
rq: http://python-rq.org
redis (python): https://pypi.python.org/pypi/redis/
== How Can a new NISO Recommended Practice Help Me? ==
* [mailto:nettie@niso.org Nettie Lagace], Associate Director of Programs, National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
* No previous C4L presentations (except for lightning talks in 2012 and 2013)
Two new NISO recommended practices are on their way to publication and hopefully, uptake and adoption: a specification for Open Access Metadata and Indicators (OAMI) and a Protocol for Exchanging Serial Content (PESC). Who are the stakeholders and potential users of these? How are they expected to be applied? This presentation will cover specification and implementation details for these two community-developed recommendations and utilize them as examples of consensus standards completed in a short turnaround time period.
The NISO Open Access Metadata and Indicators recommendations are a mechanism for transmitting the access status of scholarly works: peer reviewed articles published in subscription and hybrid journals, material available in institutional repositories, or any other such applicable material. Clear information regarding re-use rights must be included in this communication; “open access” on its own may not convey potential downstream uses. In addition, embargoes often come into play regarding availability of material.
The NISO Protocol for Exchanging Serial Content attempts to address an entirely different conundrum: how can digital files which make up serial content (which may well include text and images or other associated data) be successfully transmitted from partner to partner while including metadata requirements for description and organization of content? This information is needed for those who archive and preserve content, as well as those who may aggregate it, index it, or convert it to other uses. As more serial content is shipped to disparate stakeholders for all manner of potential uses, a common protocol will prevent local reinvention of the wheel.
Standards are entities that users in many communities often love to hate (http://xkcd.com/927/), but when projects need to be completed in a timely, cost-effective way and when interoperability with other entities is key, (almost) everyone will look to see if there is an existing standard or best practice in existence to help them get started. In order for standards and best practices to gain acceptance and adoption, it is critical for their development process to involve as many potential stakeholders and eventual user communities as possible.
== A reusable application to enable self deposit of complex objects into a digital preservation environment==
* Jill Sexton jill@email.unc.edu, UNC Chapel Hill Libraries
* Mike Daines daines@email.unc.edu, UNC Chapel Hill Libraries
* Greg Jansen count0@email.unc.edu, UNC Chapel Hill Libraries
Jill gave a lightning talk once, otherwise no previous C4L presentations
Patron-initiated ingest of complex, multi-part objects into digital preservation environments remains a challenging problem for many libraries. In this talk we discuss how we approached this problem at UNC Chapel Hill.
UNC Chapel Hill Libraries is the developer of the Curator’s Workbench, (download: http://www2.lib.unc.edu/software/ GitHub Repo: https://github.com/UNC-Libraries/Curators-Workbench/wiki) an open-source collections preparation and work flow tool for digital materials. In response to the demand for patron-initiated ingest into our preservation repository, we extended the functionality of the Workbench, creating a module that enables easy creation of web deposit forms suitable for varying content types. The forms use dictionary and crosswalk mapping components to map the input fields to the MODS schema. Form designs also include explanatory text and designation of required fields. The forms work in tandem with a server-side form-hosting application, which can be configured to put uploads and MODS records onto a filesystem, or to deposit materials into a repository via SWORD. The forms feature simplifies the creation of deposit forms, shifting form design from software developers to curators, who have greater familiarity with both the depositor community and with descriptive standards. We also shift metadata creation to the content creators, who have the most knowledge of submitted materials.
We will demonstrate how this process works for the submission of Studio Art MFA theses. These complex deposits consist of a narrative description of the artwork in addition to up to 20 video- or image-based files documenting of their work, and associated metadata for each file. In addition to preserving MFA projects in a stable environment, this procedure gives graduate students greater control over the submission and description process and provides online access to MFA Art Theses and supporting works. Additionally, the project has invited discussions with MFA students about the preservation of their personal archives.
Our talk will address how these tools could work within other digital preservation environments
== Leveling Up: Migrating Multiple DSpace Repositories to a Multi-tenant Configuration. ==
* Aaron Collier, Digital Repository Services Manager, Systemwide Digital Library Services, California State University (acollier@calstate.edu)
**No previous presentations at national Code4Lib conferences.
* Carmen Mitchell, Institutional Repository Manager, California State University San Marcos (cmitchell@csusm.edu)
**No previous presentations at national Code4Lib conferences (excluding Ask Anything sessions, 2012 & 2013)
In 2007 the California State University system started a project to provide a hosted institutional repository system for it’s individual campuses using the DSpace repository system. With limited technical staffing dedicated to the project, the result was a single server hosting seventeen individual and separate instances (including tomcat, databases and indexes). This lead to resource instability and lack of parity between versions, features and support. In order to overcome the shortcomings of this structure, a custom multi-tenant configuration was developed using the DSpace platform. This posed several technical challenges related to campus branding, authentication and deposit workflows.
During the development and testing of the multi-tenant structure of DSpace for the California State University system, constituent campuses continued to digitize works and create metadata in anticipation of a reliable system to insert these works. This created a situation where several campuses have created a lot of content and are looking for time saving measures for DSpace ingestion in order to continue work on the digitization projects. Development of a SWORD interface for bulk submission presented an attractive opportunity to provide a portal for bulk submission while avoiding the bottleneck of the provided method of FTP and DSpace scripting. Aaron Collier will talk about the technical challenges, and Carmen Mitchell will discuss the institutional needs: captioning, access copies vs display copies, workflow issues like batch uploading, embargoes, etc.
== Curate Cloud: The role of cloud computing in expanding the impact of digital curation ==
*Erik Mitchell (http://erikmitchell.info) University of California, Berkeley
*Jimmy Lin (http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~jimmylin/) University of Maryland, College Park
Digital curation skills are a multidisciplinary and pressing need in public, academic and corporate environments (Yakel, 2007 336). By 2018, the United States will have a shortage of 140,000 -190,000 people with the deep analytical skills needed to manage large holdings of digital assets (Manyika et al., 2011). At the same time our information organizations will increasingly rely digital assets in making effective decisions (Ibid.). Despite advances in digital curation technologies, institutions create far more information than they curate in large part due to a gap in skills and perceived financial and technical barriers to entry (Heidorn, 2008). These barriers can seem insurmountable for smaller and under-represented information and cultural heritage institutions. However, new cloud computing based digital curation technologies reduce many of the financial and technical barriers so that the greatest challenge remaining is a need for updated skills and digital curation competencies.
Our information and cultural memory institutions require a new generation of professionals engaged in the preservation of digital resources and prepared to deploy curation tools that are not dependent on local technology infrastructure. In order to develop these competencies, Curate Cloud, a project being led by Dr. Jimmy Lin at the University of Maryland, College Park seeks to educate the next generation of information professionals using a curriculum integrated, cloud-based virtual learning environment.
The environment, designed using Amazon Web Service infrastructure and deployed in a “zero-configuration” environment lowers barriers of entry to students when learning about new technologies and cultivates a new level of cloud-based IT literacies in these students. This project draws on the successes of similar programs and pushes further by developing and deploying a novel cloud-based, open source virtual research and learning environment (VRLE) that embraces the on-demand, self-service model of cloud computing and features cloud-based curation tools that will enable the exploration of digital curation across the education, library, archive, and museum (LIS/LAM) community.
The presentation will focus on the research findings from the use of the VRLE in Library and Information Science education arenas as well as the challenges and opportunities that relate to delivering complex IT instruction using cloud computing platforms. The codebase for the VRLE is available at https://github.com/mitcheet.
This project is supported by the Institute for Museum and Library Services and Amazon Web Services through the Amazon Educational Research program.
Resources
*Heidorn, P. B. (2008). Shedding Light on the Dark Data in the Long Tail of Science. Library Trends, 57(2), 280–299. doi:10.1353/lib.0.0036.
*Manyika, J., Chui, M., Brown, B., Bughin, J., Dobbs, R., Roxburgh, C., & Byers, A. (2011). Big data : The next frontier for innovation , competition , and productivity. McKinsey Global Institute, 364(May), 156.
*Yakel, E. (2007). Digital curation. OCLC Systems Services, 23(4), 335–340. doi:10.1108/10650750710831466
== Creating a better web experience ==
* Katie Bertel, bertelks@buffalostate.edu, SUNY Buffalo State
* Chris Parana, paranacj@buffalostate.edu, SUNY Buffalo State
**No previous presentations at Code4Lib
The web has become much more dynamic and interactive in recent times. Sites more closely resemble full-blown applications, rather than static information resources. We see an opportunity for libraries to adhere to the same design principles used by popular websites, to create a more intuitive and enjoyable user experience.
In our presentation, we will discuss the results from usability testing after a website redesign in 2012 (library.buffalostate.edu), our guiding design principles, and showcase some of our solutions that enhance user experience, such as responsive web design, unified searching (Knowledge Base, Summon, website documents), and transitional interfaces.
Frameworks can be exploited to significantly reduce the time needed to develop powerful and engaging web applications. For example, we can use motion and transitional interfaces to help convey the sense of “space” in web design.
The goal is to create an engaging experience to draw our users in. When this is achieved, it encourages usage and creates an enjoyable place that is more than just a tool, but also a place for discovery.
== Responsive Web Design - A Paradigm Shift ==
* Jenny Brandon, Web Designer/Librarian, Michigan State University Libraries (jbrandon@msu.edu)
No previous presentations at Code4Lib
RWD is the biggest paradigm shift in web design in the last decade. This presentation will begin with a brief overview of responsive web design (RWD), elements of RWD, what types of frameworks are available and why you should choose one. Examples of library websites that have already implemented RWD will be analyzed to compare and contrast design methods. The remainder of the presentation will provide details on the Michigan State University Libraries' implementation of responsive web design using the Drupal Omega theme, and solutions adopted to transform an existing, fixed width library web site to a responsive design.
Topics included:
* flexible grids
* media queries
* mobile first
* images
* design considerations
* collaboration
== The Smithsonian Transcription Center ==
eChing-hsien Wang, Branch Manager
Library and Archives Systems Innovations
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Smithsonian Institution
In 2013, the Smithsonian Institution - the largest library, archive, museum and research center complex in the world - launched transcription.si.edu, the first release of the Smithsonian's Digital Volunteers platform. With the ambitious goal to engage varied audiences, enrich collections and enable discovery in ways never before imagined, the Transcription Center enlists the "crowd" to transcribe millions of pages of handwritten documents from across the Institution's vast and diverse collections. We will share our goals, strategies, and experiences as contributors and developers of this collaborative initiative among librarians, archivists and museum curators. Design, workflows, user analytics, templates, and discoveries will be demonstrated and discussed for formats as varied as botanical specimen files, diaries, ledgers, field notebooks, letters, and photographs. We will also showcase the benefit of using open source technology in building our system architecture and we will share our technical challenges and lessons learned along the way.
Ching-hsien Wang has not presented at Code4Lib conference before, but have participated in other conference presentations before.
[[:Category:Code4Lib2014]][[Category:Talk Proposals]]