[Eril-l] Database A-Z list options

[Steve Oberg]

Like UPEI, we use Drupal for our library website. We also use CORAL (http://coral-erm.org) and I got tired of doing extra work to update our Databases A-Z list in Drupal when all of the data already resides in CORAL. So we use an optional add-on to CORAL called the Public Interface Generator (this was developed at Texas A&M) and with the help of some automated script(s), our Databases A-Z list gets auto-generated directly from CORAL resource records. The refresh occurs about every 2-3 hours and includes subject-based lists in addition to A-Z. We’ve found this setup to be highly beneficial, and I presented on it at last year’s NASIG conference.

We also use LibGuides 2.0 and although we recognize some of its nice benefits, we are not using the Databases A-Z function at this point. SpringShare’s LibGuides 2.0 API is too limited in functionality for us to be able to hook up CORAL to it (via the Public Interface Generator functionality I mentioned earlier, which allows for XML output), and frankly, it’s not efficient for us to rekey everything in yet another repository. Let’s hope SpringShare will make functional improvements to its API because again, there are benefits to using LibGuides, e.g. ease of incorporating that information into LMSs. (We recently switched from Blackboard to Schoology.)

Steve

Steve Oberg<http://www.wheaton.edu/Academics/Faculty/O/Steve-Oberg>
Assistant Professor of Library Science
Electronic Resources and Serials
Wheaton College (IL)
+1 (630) 752-5852

NASIG Vice-President/President-Elect
[NASIG - http://www.nasig.org]
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