Continuing from yesterday ... Simplicity
Here's a perfect example of what I mentioned yesterday ...
Maryland Share is a community information database (CID) put together by Maryland's public libraries ... while I applaud the concept of a library-based CID, instead of pushing the content out to the Internet to be searched via conventional search engines, it requires patrons first to find the Maryland Share ... maybe with a major marketing campaign that would be more likely.
So the trick is to gather, create, or repurpose content, and then make sure people can find it their way ...
Also, we have to stay away from systems that create barriers between the content and the user ... a perfect example of this is JCL's own Sirsi system ... using the browser's back button instead of the "Back" button provided within the catalog system causes all sorts of problems ... that to me is pretty easy to detect, and should be pretty high on the list of things to fix ... I don't mean to pick on Sirsi at all -- most of the vendor-based systems and home-grown databases have problems equally as ripe for resolution ... don't think I've ever had that problem with Amazon or Google ...
Oh, and a very Happy New Year!
posted by ic-tim at 5:44 PM
2 Comments:
I agree, and being on the NGC4Lib listserv, many people experience the same concerns. I posted a laundry list of basic requirements I wanted the catalog to do for me as a user, and an affiliate of the Koha open source ILS system responded with very intriguing answers. I highly encourage reading through it and reconsidering a proprietary vendors vs. open source solutions. JCL has the manpower and support team to build something fantastic, in my opinion.
Very cool ... makes you wonder why we keep buying inadequate and unresponsive dinosaur systems (oh wait -- that's my fault, isn't it!) ... Looks like we need to load Michelle up with a bunch of questions for the next Super Conference, eh? Thanks!
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