Aleph-Based Applications University of Haifa Library Yosef Branse

1. Aleph-Based ApplicationsUniversity of Haifa LibraryYosef Branse “Developer Meets Developer” Ex Libris Jerusalem 4-5 November 2009

2. University of HaifaMount Carmel

3. University of Haifa • Founded 1963, accredited from 1972 • Six faculties : Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, Education, Science & Science Education, Social Welfare & Health Sciences • 17,000 degree students • c. 2000 academic staff, 600 administrative staff

4. University of Haifa Library • Central library • c. two million items (print and nonprint) • c. 23,000 current periodical subscriptions • Pioneer in library automation in Israel, with projects from c. 1977 (Index to Hebrew Periodicals)

5. Ex Libris Products in Use • Aleph (since Aleph 300, mid-1980s) • 2005 – SFX, Metalib • 2006 – Digitool • 2009 - Primo (“OneSearch”) - First Israeli installation - Cooperation with Ex Libris in development of Hebrew interface 5. 2009 – bX (including publishing)

6. Our toolbox • RedHat Linux • Apache Web server • Oracle 10 • SQL+ • php – versions 4, 5 • shell programming (csh, bash) • Aleph services

7. Our partners University of Haifa Library is unique among Israeli academic libraries in having its own in-house information-systems department. We work in close cooperation with other University divisions: • MIS • Student Authority • Human Resources • Computing Division

8. Extensions to Aleph • Circulation - processing of reader data (students and staff) via files received from other divisions - SMS notifications re arrival of books on hold, overdues, upcoming return dates

9. Extensions to Aleph - 2 - • Acquisitions - orders-status reports - invoice payments • Course readings • Reference services - followup on reader consultations

10. Extensions to Aleph - 3 - • Online registration for orientation sessions and tracking participation • Updating dealer domains in University’s proxy server • Automatic update of users and access authorizations for University’s Single Sign On (SSO)

11. Circulation / Reader data • Personal data regarding students and staff members is forwarded daily from relevant divisions. • Material is checked for validity and used to format files in format required for updating, via Aleph services, reader-data tables in ADM library HAI50

12. Circulation / Reader data – 2 - • Readers are classified into a large number of borrower types, based on parameters such as degree, tenure, etc. • In normal circumstances, new reader will have Library privileges the day following entry of personal data into University database

13. Circulation / Reader data – 3 - create or replace view reader_data (tz, name, title, type, status, expiry_date, mail_address, mail_zip, email, phone1, phone2, phone3, phone4) as select distinct substr(z303.z303_rec_key, 1, 9), convert(z303.Z303_NAME, 'IW8ISO8859P8', 'UTF8'), convert(z303.Z303_TITLE, 'IW8ISO8859P8', 'UTF8'), z305.Z305_BOR_TYPE, z305.Z305_BOR_STATUS, z305.Z305_EXPIRY_DATE, convert(z304.Z304_ADDRESS, 'IW8ISO8859P8', 'UTF8'), z304.Z304_ZIP, z304.Z304_EMAIL_ADDRESS, z304.Z304_TELEPHONE, z304.Z304_TELEPHONE_2, z304.Z304_TELEPHONE_3, z304.Z304_TELEPHONE_4 from z303, z304, z305 where substr(z303.z303_rec_key, 1, 9) = substr(z304.z304_rec_key, 1, 9) and substr(z303.z303_rec_key, 1, 9) = substr(z305.z305_rec_key, 1, 9) and regexp_like(substr(z303.z303_rec_key, 1, 9), '[0-9]{9}') and upper(trim(substr(z305.z305_rec_key, 13))) = 'H1' and z304_address_type = '2';

14. Orders Status Reports • Aleph catalog includes local field citing lecturer or librarian who requested purchase of an item • Tracks order details in items table (z30) of ADM library (HAI50) • Current order status is stored in table • Person who initiated order can view listing of all items and their current status

15. Orders Status Reports - 2 - • Twice monthly, letters are sent via email reporting on items whose order status has changed

16. Invoice payments • Invoices are recorded in ADM library via standard Aleph module, but there is still a need for a mechanism for requesting payment to dealers and accessing archival data • Using inhouse system, acquisitions staffer requests preparation of payment orders consolidating invoices

17. Invoice payments - 2 - for dealers, depending on available budget • Invoices are scanned and stored for future reference as needed, along with details of the payment order. • Staffers may view details according to different parameters, such as all payments to a dealer, total payments in a fiscal year, etc.

18. Reference Services • Helpdesk staffers can type in ID number of patron requesting assistance and view pertinent data (name, department of study, expiration date of Library privileges, authorization to access online resources, etc.) • Online form enables input of details regarding consultation – duration, nature, location – which are stored

19. Reference Services - 2 - in a table and used to generate summary data regarding the helpdesk consultations over a period of time • Online forms facilitate user registration for a variety of orientation sessions for both faculty and staff, given throughout the academic year, and personal consultations with reference staff.

20. Reference Services - 3 - Additional interface allows students to confirm – via a session-specific password – their participation in an orientation. Data obtained can be used for statistics and for informing departments how many students have had mandatory Library introduction.

21. Desiderata - Things to learn and do … someday • APIs • Revise local applications for general use, upload to EL Commons • Documentation, via Library wiki • Organized function libraries • Use of templates in php (Smarty, Savant3) • Compare use of PL/SQL v. php with OCI8 extensions for retrieving and processing database records • SQL tuning

22. Thank you! Questions? Yosef Branse University of Haifa Library Haifa Israel 31905 jody@univ.haifa.ac.il Library website: http://lib.haifa.ac.il