Stop the Static: Serve Your Patrons Dynamic Web Pages

1. 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.

2. 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

3. 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

4. BEFORE: 15-20 “Static” Guides Http://www.vmi.edu/library/oldstuff/economics.htm AFTER: 1 “Dynamic” Guide Generator Http://www.vmi.edu/hyperlink

5. 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

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

7. What the Patron Sees A “Static” Web Page: What Happens Behind the Scenes Client Server 1. Web Browser 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 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.)

8. What the Patron Sees 1. Web Browser (An HTML page. Lets the patron set criteria.) 2. IDC File (A text file that has SQL in it to query Access database, which resides on server.) 3. Access Database (Contains data librarians have entered. This databaseresides on server) 4. Web Browser (Returns results to browser in HTX page, a template forHTML content generated.) ODBCApplet (On server.) A “Dynamic” Web Page: What Is Happening Behind the Scenes What is Actually Happening

9. Here’s 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.

10. The Front End The Back End SourceFinder’s Two Main “Parts” • Allows Patrons To: • Create highly customized study guides. • Allows Librarians To: • Add sources. • Edit sources. • Remove sources.

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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)

14. 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.”

15. 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

16. Can This Be Done Other Ways? • YES! • CGI and Perl (For UNIX Environments) • JAVA (Platform Independent) • Others?

17. 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

18. 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? IN THE LIBRARY ON THE INTERNET Amazon.com The Online Catalog Databases: IAC or DJI Search Engines

19. Advantages: The Patron’s Perspective • Empowers User to Get Only What they Want • Doesn’t 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.

20. Advantages: The Librarian’s Perspective • Helps Us Remember Sources! • Decreases Link List Maintenance • Ensures Uniform Appearance of All Guides • Editorial Changes Can Be Made Anywhere • You Don’t Need to Know HTML • Administrative Benefits • Helps Students When We Are Not There

21. 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?

22. Some Things to Consider • Start With a Small Test Database to Get the Bugs Out of the Interface • Agree Up Front What You Want it to Do • 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

23. And Now For Your Questions?