Enterprise Abstraction

CISTI LibX Edition

I've been fooling with library toolsbars, sidebars, web and widgets for awhile now... and a few months back I'd resigned myself to finally getting around to doing a LibX library toolbar for CISTI.  I'd even gotten a mostly-working version done a few months back.  At the end of last week I decided it was time to finish.  Lo and behold, I go to the LibX site and discover the wonder that is the LibX Edition Builder!  Holy moly, it's just wonderful.  Within 15 minutes I had a working toolbar for CISTI.  Of course the details and testing tool a day or so, but I finally think I've gotten a version decent enough to make live and public. 

This version is intended mainly for staff of the National Research Council - CISTI's parent organization - but I imagine it would still be useful for most CISTI patrons.

Check it out, and let me know what you think:

• CISTI LibX Toolbar @ CISTI Lab - Some info from me, and access to the IE version installer.
• CISTI LibX Edition @ LibX - The main edition site on LibX - Firefox only install.

OCLC Developer Network

OCLC plans to launch a new developer network and WorldCat Grid early in the new year.  Essentially it seems that it's geared toward providing and developing new library web services/API's, toolkits, resolvers and registries and a network of library technology developers.

Here's hoping for success!  And hopefully for some SOA basis behind the API's. 

- Via Richard Akerman, via Bess

CISTI Lab

Many months back we'd started CISTI Lab, a website for CISTI developers to expose some beta applications and to illustrate some of the more experimental work that's not yet ready for prime time, but that could use some exposure and a few more eyes.

The Lab has recently been revamped, and now includes some of the work being done by the CISTI Research group, as well as a wiki that explains some of the work.  As time goes on we hope to be adding some new additions, hopefully including some SOA-based architecture and related services, tools and applications.  For one, I'm hoping to revamp or replace the CISTI Toolbar application I wrote with something a bit better... most likely LibX based.

From the CISTI Lab site:

CISTI Lab visitors and collaborators will be able to test and evaluate Web-based experimental applications for science libraries. It is a place for CISTI to demonstrate prototypes, collaborate with researchers within NRC as well as Universities, libraries and the private sector and to obtain feedback from early adopters.

CISTI Lab has at its disposal a significant collection of electronic documents and meta-data about these documents as well as a collection of software tools and APIs for building Web applications and Web Services.

From an architecture perspective, it's a place that we hope we can use to help prove architecture and technology concepts, expose some experimental web services, and to encourage innovation in the area of libraries and technology.  More generally, CISTI is hoping to encourage collaboration and interest from like minded individuals and organizations.

Yahoo Pipes

Recently I'd been asked to enable an RSS feed for my SOA category in TypePad.  TypePad allows for the provision of custom feeds, but only though the Advanced Template Set functionality that comes with a Pro account. 

Richard had done some thinking on this awhile back, and suggested using a Blogdigger hack to accomplish it.  While Blogdigger can get the job done, I was a little reticent to use that solution.  Firstly, who's Blogdigger, and when will they change their *ahem* API.  Secondly, the Blogdigger hack doesn't allow much control over how the results are presented, particularly the title of the resulting feed.

Since I'd been looking for an excuse to try out Yahoo Pipes, this seemed the opportune time.  In about 5 minutes I'd created a custom feed from my site that allows an SOA-category-only RSS feed for this site.  Unfortunately, there's a known bug in Pipes that prevents this from being used universally, but hopefully that issue will be fixed before too long.

I also made a more generic one that allows you to configure the category and feed URL as parameters (either via the Pipes site, or on the feed URL directly), so you can try it on your own site.  It should work on most TypePad sites (keeping the aforementioned bug issue in mind).  No warranties are expressed or implied. 

 

All of that to say, Pipes is and awesome example of what SOA and XML should be all about.  You should be able to mix, match and connect these things nearly effortlessly.   

RSS in Plain English

Darren Barefoot posted about this nifty video RSS in Plain English by Common Craft. 

There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don't. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don't know where to start.
I love the explanation, as well as the format of the presentation.  Probably not news for most of you, but a useful link when you're trying to explain RSS to people.  The web's not about web pages anymore.

At my organization we'd always talked about producing new technologies at the pace of "web time".  Perhaps we should be striving to get our information out in "blog time" instead?  Visiting web pages one at a time seems so old fashioned and slow these days.  It's amazing how perceptions change.

Ajax and Libraries

Jason A. Clark has a nice article published in the Linux Insider about How to Build an Ajax Application from Scratch.  Ajax is quite the boon... I really do need to get my hands dirty and try some things with it.

Many in the literature bandy Ajax about as the next big thing for Web applications. Depending on whom you are reading, you might hear how Ajax will revolutionize what people can expect from Web sites or how it's the latest Web trend bound to fizzle. The truth is somewhere in between. Chances are good that you have seen Ajax before, you just didn't know it.

There's also an article on Infotoday regarding AJAX in the library context in particular.  He discusses bennefits for libraries, and including examples of it's implementation in several cases including enhancing federated and OPAC searches.

Libraries and information agencies have been slower to embrace Ajax, but it’s not for a lack of library-use cases. In a library setting, Ajax could be used for speeding up digital library search applications using a link to activate a process that matches multiple ISSNs to compile a list of electronic journals, or even making quick requests to validate a user’s personal information as they log into a “My accounts” section of the catalog.

See my short collection of Ajax links, particularly:

• The Hello World of AJAX
• AJAX FAQ for the Java Developer
• dojo The JavaScript Toolkit
• AJAX Impact (tutorials)
• AJAX Tutorial with Prototype (if you prefer Cold Fusion)