Interface Updates (Release Notes)
Guide to the Catalog
The Catalog/Articles/Databases interface is an ongoing project, with frequent minor and major improvements. The following list of enhancements and additions to the project reflect changes made to the system since it went live in the Fall of 2007.
- 08-23-2011
- Turned off the native (Metalib-based) databases interface and switched the "Databases" tab to use the newer SearchTRLN-based Endeca interface for its search results.
- Made the "quicksearch" tab the default search tab for those lucky few who find their way to the application (The quicksearch tab has a form that uses Summon's native interface for search results.)
- This effectively represents the end of the integrated search environment web-application project, although the application's hostname, find.library.duke.edu, may stick around for a little whole longer (that hostname will likely roll over to library.duke.edu when the ExLibris Metalib application is turned off and the host server is decommissioned)
- 07-05-2011
- Turned off the native Endeca catalog interface and switched the "Catalog" tab to use the newer SearchTRLN-based Endeca catalog interface for its search results.
- Turned off the native "Reserves" functionality by switching the "Reserves" tab to point to an external (but still library-maintained) Reserves web-application.
- Turned off the native "My Account" functionality by switching the "My Account" link to point to an external (but still library-maintained) Library-Account web-application.
- Added a new "quicksearch" tab to the tabbed search-resources aspect of the integrated search environment to conform to the current library home page search-resources widget design. (Like the "articles" tab, it uses Summon's native interface for search results.)
- Removed the "Articles" tab option from the interface, as this option was removed on the library home page too.
- Fixed a mixed-content-on-https problem that existed for a while (since the libraryh3lp library was put on every page) (implemented 5-26-2011)
- 03-30-2011
- Adjusted the language in various parts of the application to switch from "Interlibrary Loan" to "Document Delivery"
- 03-09-2011
- Switched over from using Metalib for Articles, to using Summon for Articles (first phase in the demise of the library integrated search environment web-application...). So long metasearching!
- Fixed a long-standing issue with non-permalink-url-generation for quicklink ("popular") databases that only affected non-production instances
- 01-24-2011
- Adjusted the way digital bookplate links and images are generated to incorporate the newer Donor Endeca property and its accompanying bookplate program data.
- 01-13-2011
- Enabled text-messaging (SMS) functionality for catalog records that have physical items (the functionality works for any indexed-data-source record that has physical items)
- Enabled default display of summary-holdings (serials) and item-notes in the "location" tab on full-record pages (previously these bits of information were hidden by default and needed to be toggled to be displayed)
- Adjusted the No-Results page in several ways (removed the explanatory paragraph, enhanced the "no results" title, corrected a long-standing problem with the WorldCat link (it was missing the search phrase))
- 11-8-2010
- Added an IM-style chat widget for any search results pages that have no (zero) results; intended to improve patron relations for searches that aren't producing any results
- 09-15-2010
- Added support for auto-suggestions for catalog searches
- 08-24-2010
- Switched over to using a new OpenURL Resolver, Serials solutions 360Link, for article and e-journal searches
- 08-10-2010
- Enabled the display of article facets and full-text/peer-review indicators for article searches
- 07-08-2010
- Adjusted the articles results-list and full-view title listings to remove the format icon for the list-item, and instead display the record's entry number so that users can locate an item in a list more easily.
- Added search criteria / record-title (results-list / full-record views) to HTML 'title' element for improved search engine optimization
- Removed the drop-shadow feature for most Syndetics cover-images requests (to lighten processor dependencies in the application)
- Modified internal structure to support pending switch from one open-URL-resolver product (ExLibris SFX) to another (Serials Solutions 360Link)
- Corrected a long-standing bug in the way search history items were retained so that catalog searches would show up in the search history more consistently
- Added some internal logging features to help profile request performance
- Streamlined the session-creation process to eliminate numerous unnecessary session files (infrastructural change)
- Updated a few session-related routines to support file-caching on the web-server layer (1.96 enhancement)
- Incorporates release 1.96 changes (release 1.96 was deployed in May 2010 as part of a migration to a different host, and had to be rescinded because of server/host issues)
- 01-21-2010
- Primarily a rollup of various small fixes that were previously implemented
- Activated the bX Scholarly Recommendation Service for article results (implemented 10-17-2009)
- Activated the digital bookplate program for the Honor/Memory program (implemented 10-09-2009)
- Adjusted the labeling and graphics on the dynamic location guide links (implemented 10-07-2009)
- Adjusted the internal Endeca queries to avoid using EQL-based queries in the course of retrieving information (theoretically improves response time) (implemented 10-06-2009)
- Fixed a bug that prevented some library-card-number entries from successfully logging in to the interface (implemented 10-19-2009)
- Added some additonal patron information to the "Your Account" page (esp. patron type and status to support TRLN borrowing)
- Added options to suppress some (Endeca) facets from displaying in the facet sidebar (e.g. newly introduced "SubjectHeadings")
- Corrected a long-standing bug where the wrong facet values were exposed in catalog queries when a user drilled up a hierarchical facet chain (the exposed facet values remained showing the original (descendant) facet values rather than the new (ancestor) facet values)
- Implemented a fairly major architectural refactoring to make the Endeca-based code more modular and able to be reused with other indexed-based data-sources
- 9-29-2009
- Added support for the display of, and integration of, Finding Aid (EAD) information for special collections materials
- Added a unique rfr_id/info:sid to all openURL generation mechanisms throughout the web-application, so that the local SFX instance can more accurately log requests coming from the web-application
- Adjusted the XSL templates to use the newer Endeca property "Item ID" rather than the deprecated "Barcode" property
- Made a minor correction to remove spurious "()" from appearing after some Endeca record authors' names in the results-list
- Removed the "feedback" link from the interface
- Added capability to provide digital bookplates
- Rolled back title-level requests (until that feature has some bugs ironed out) (implemented 9-22-09)
- Added some text to the IE6 warning message to mention the possibility of using the Google Chrome Frame plugin as an alternative to upgrading the browser
- Fixed a minor visual bug, in which the tab selection did not change when the user went through authentication in order to access the tab (e.g. accessing the "My Reserves" tab from another tab area)
- Adjusted the RIS field tag for catalog permalinks from "UR" to "L3" to address a long-standing complaint about therse permalink URLs intruding in Zotero exports. Zotero appears to ignore "L3" on import, which may not be the desired behavior....
- 8-4-2009
- Removed the "beta" label from the "Catalog" tab
- Redirected the "Feedback" link to point to the library's "Ask Us" page (formerly pointed to a custom feedback form page)
- Added the capability for the display of a new enhanced-data service for article results, ExLibris' bX Scholarly Recommender service. Dependent on licensing arrangements to get activated.
- 7-21-2009
- Made a significant architectural adjustment to the way augmented/enhanced data is retrieved so that requests are all made in parallel, hopefully improving the latency on heavily-enriched data requests
- Incorporated the ability to display TRLN-wide holdings for materials in shared collections (actual display of these holdings is dependent on the Endeca extracts having extra data indicating shared collection status, which has not been implemented yet)
- 7-8-2009
- Adjusted the "My Account" feature to provide "transferred to bursar" cash-transaction details in addition to open cash transactions (also incorporated fallback option for patrons with large volumes of cash transactions)
- Minor adjustments to internal URL patterns to use the new library.duke.edu SSL cert instead of the older www.lib.duke.edu SSL cert (primarily affects My-Reserves)
- Minor adjustment to the way configuration files are generated (better writability testing for new installations)
- 6-16-2009
- Implemented a new feature, "My Account," that provides all catalog-based library information for a patron; this replaces the functionality previously only available in the "classic" catalog's "My Library Card" links
- (Experimental) Circulation statuses are now shown real-time, rather than relying on the Endeca system's regular updates of circulation statuses
- (Data) New collection-based facets are now available for the Location facet; examples: New and Noteworthy books (Perkins/Bostock Library), Duke Authors (Perkins/Bostock Library).
- (bugfix) Adjusted the method for placing hold-requests to improve the experience for the relatively small subset of patrons who were being automatically informed that their session had timed out
- (bugfix) Fixed the RSS feeds' primary link to reflect the actual URL for the RSS feed (previously the link data was sometimes missing and/or incorrect)
- 3-31-2009
- Disabled the use of Google Language Detect services to provide CJK segmentation for catalog searches, as this is now provided internally by the TRLN-based Endeca web-services layer
- Adjusted handling of Syndetics "enhanced" data in catalog results to stop showing html markup to users
- Changed the way Syndetics data is pulled in catalog results to reduce the amount of latency (all data is pulled in a single call)
- 3-19-2009
- Implemented "internal hold-request" functionality so that users don't have to make hold/recall requests through the OPAC
- Implemented "My Reserves" tab to provide easier access to reserves materials for patrons
- Implemented a new login method to allow login access to patrons without NetIDs; also incorporated differential auto-logout for patrons to respect their privacy more effectively
- Implemented Google Analytics (completed February 4, 2009)
- Implemented appropriate URL changes to provide Syndetics cover-images through Syndetics' Content Delivery Network (Limelight); hopefully this will increase cover-image display/response rates (completed March 5, 2009)
- (bugfix) Catalog interface no longer errors out when going directly from results-list to full-record (not in results-list) and then try to search again on the unchanged terms and index that produced the original results-list. (not a common scenario...)
- 1-21-2009
- Implemented "location guide" functionality for Endeca records (context-specific loction-guide links in results-lists and full-record views).
- Added Zotero support (citation management tool) by implementing UNAPI server access; works with catalog and article searches
- Added link in header area to the online catalog help (next to the feedback link)
- (fix) Adjusted the hostname pattern for image calls for Syndetics cover-images to possibly improve page-rendering response (cover-images are requested from a different cname hostname from the basic page-template images) This should make the overall page-rendering times for browsers like Internet Explorer slightly more efficient, but will not solve the underlying issues with high latency in Syndetics data and images.
- (fix) Adjusted the "Series" hyperlinked section in full-record view so that it could display multiple series-statements as valid hyperlinks (in the area above the tabbed "details" area)
- 11-11-2008
- Implemented a 2-second timeout on all non-essential external URL data calls (Syndetics data, Google Book Search data, Google language-detect data). This should make the overall potential delays in the system more consistent, but will not solve the issues with Syndetics cover-image load times.
- Added a new search option to the Catalog simple/advanced search pages: Call-Number-based searching.
- Added logic to display new archival-materials-based data that will be launched on or around November 14, 2008 (biographical sketch fields, access restriction fields, publisher number fields, etc.)
- (Fix) Corrected the sorting of locations within a library so that the results-list and full-record views were sorting the items in the same way
- (Fix) Adjusted the hyperlinks for "series" information for a title so that the link performs a "keywords" search rather than a "title" search (the "title" index is not apparently indexing the "series" field, so the hyperlinks were returning zero search results every time).
- 10-16-2008
- Restored functionality to adjust the results-list size on catalog searches (bug fix)
- Significant facelift for Internet Explorer 6 browsers to offset a number of significant positioning problems introduced by recent updates
- 10-8-2008
- Added a new "Journal Title" index for Catalog searches
- Incorporated Google Book Search preview links for relevant titles in Catalog search results (results-list and full-record views)
- 9-26-2008
- Enhanced the relevancy accuracy for Title searches in the Catalog module (this was implemented on the SearchTRLN level)
- 9-25-2008
- Added new export options to Catalog records: RefWorks, Endnote, permalinks
- Implemented CJK segmentation for Catalog searches (Chinese/Japanese/Korean characters become separated by their individual characters, allowing for greater flexibility in search results)
- Adjusted RSS feeds to include vernacular data in Author/Editor/Title properties
- Enhanced the export options display throughout the integrated search environment interface
- Improved visual treatment for permalink and email actions (highlighted pseudo-popup boxes)
- 9-4-2008
- Added e-mail option for individual Catalog records
- Vernacular title and author/editor data now displayed above the fold and in results lists
- Adjusted RSS feed images to use fully-qualified URLs to become more portable
- 9-3-2008
- Suppressed the display of "Get this title" links in Catalog search results for titles that have no physical items associated with them
- Improved the e-mail process to be more lenient with e-mail address formats
- 8-26-2008
- Adjusted the configuration and presentation of some enhanced content (from Syndetics) to accommodate a new server configuration for Syndetics
- 8-15-2008
- Corrected an error in the Catalog results-list display in which only 4 of the first 5 items for a sublibrary/collection was being displayed in the results-list
- 8-11-2008
- Added support for exporting the full title of journals with the Articles-based RefWorks/Endnote exports (previously only short title data has been available)
- 7-24-2008
- Enhanced all pages to make them OpenSearch compliant and compatible (includes schemas for searchs on each of the major modules of the integrated search environment, as well as a generic schema)
- 7-23-2008
- Adjusted the "Online Version" URL links so that they display non-generic link text when available (also able to display multiple URLs now in the "Online Version" section)
- Suppressed the display of "phantom" items that have no call-number/availability/barcode information
- Incorporated RSS feed indicators in the metadata for the browser page for search results so that browsers can provide a feed icon in the address bar
- 7-21-2008
- Adjusted the call-number sort logic (cited above) to normalize whitespace in the call-number data before sorting.
- 7-14-2008
- Adjusted the sublibrary holdings display to sort on the call number (previously using native document order, but this order frequently provided blocks of items out of order) (new method also produces incorrectly sorted items in some cases (call numbers with month words as the enumerator, or call numbers where the volume numbers do not all have the same number of digits)
- Added a feedback link to the top menu of options; labeled the "Catalog" module as "beta"
- 7-10-2008
- Forced the content area of all search results to be more XHTML-compliant, so that URLs with diacritics would be preserved correctly
- Adjusted the displays of the Summary and Table of Contents tabs in the full-record Catalog search results, so that local (non-enhanced) data would get displayed if no enhanced-content from Syndetics is available
- 7-9-2008
- Major update to the integrated search environment: a new module, "Catalog," using the TRLN Endeca project data to provide catalog-based search results. Major functionality features:
- highly relevant search results
- faceted-browsing options to filter search results
- enhanced content features such as book covers, tables of contents, title summaries, etc. (this can be toggled on or off)
- multiple sort options for search results
- "smart" features such as spelling auto-correction, "did you mean?" and searching within results
- support for RSS feeds for any type of search
- a graphical slideshow of cover images from newly arrived titles
- frequently updated (half-hourly) status information on all items in the library's collection
- integration with the "classic" catalog to provide request/recall functions (and "My library card" access)
- context-sensitive links to other services such as SearchTRLN, Wroldcat, and other data providers
- Features a new look-and-feel that conforms more closely to the Duke Libraries main website aesthetic
- Incorporates a similar tabbed search-form as presented on the main library site
- Major update to the integrated search environment: a new module, "Catalog," using the TRLN Endeca project data to provide catalog-based search results. Major functionality features:
- 6-16-2008
- Added RefWorks export option to Articles search results
- 2-19-2008
- Added "Help" links for Article and Database search pages (and results), linking to Library-generated tutorial son using the intergated search environment and SFX
- 2-4-2008
- Added icons and formatting changes to make it more noticeable when individual vendor databases have ongoing issues or problems
- 12-11-2007
- Added the "QuickSet" categories to the simple-search form for Articles searches (simple searches no longer have to use the "General Resources" category exclusively)
- 10-1-2007
- First major release of the integrated search environment web-application interface
- Coverage: "Articles" and "Databases" searching
- Replaces the interface provided by the library's meta-searching tool, ExLibris' Metalib 3.14 application
- Enhances original Metalib-based functionality with more usable design elements, support for permalinks on search and results, and easier navigation for features like "cross-search" or browsing database categories
919-660-5870
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Last modified August 23, 2011 3:26:24 PM EDT