Web Advisory Group Home > Minutes > 7 September 2005

Minutes - 7 September 2005

Members present: Hennig (chair), Duke (minutes), Gaskell, Quirion, Skuce
Guests: Gabridge, Wenger

1. SFX issues

Creating permanent links:
Rich is having problems getting the "Create a permanent link" phrase to appear conditionally when online content is available.  He will look into a server-side solution but if this doesn't work, we will discuss making the link option appear all the time and rephrasing it to say "create a permanent link to this menu" or something like that.

Nicole has been working on the page that explains how to use the OpenURL.   There is a problem that the long URL will not wrap in any browser except IE - this also makes the text go off the edge of the browser as well.  Nicole is going to force the text to wrap, even if the URL is too long.  WE also discussed the recommendation of TinyURL and Metamark to create shorter URLs.  Rich will see if we can include the browser chrome on the page so that you can properly navigate through to other links.

Darcy and Nicole will change "permanent URL" to "persistent URL" in the various places that phrase appears.

Barton as an SFX source:
All interested parties met on this topic and the goal is to make Barton an SFX source by the end of December.  We prioritized the tasks and confirmed who is responsible for moving different tasks forward.  A few of the tasks will require WAG's input.

2. Imbedding RSS feeds into library home pages

Nicole has experimented with putting the Barker RSS feed into the Barker home page.  Other links and information can still be put into the sidebar as well.  The group liked this and recommended we move forward with promoting this.  Nicole will contact the heads of the libraries to verfiy if they would like to incorporate this and decide on the options.  Then Nicole will train the web contacts about it.

Nicole also mentioned that Feed Digest (the service we are using to create feeds) allows you to create feeds based on keyword searches.  Nicole will contact the IST person who works on the MIT feed producer to encourage IST to include this as an option in their product so we are not reliant on commercial products to do this.

3. Staff web page

WAG is taking on oversight of the staff web.  We will have a fresh start with a revised home page on a new server. Groups will be given a deadline by which to move their materials to the new server.  We will solicit input on the new home page by consulting interested parties and hosting a brownbag session open to all staff.

4. Status updates

• RSS feeds for new books: Darcy has this on the OPAC priority list
• Dewey FAQ: Dewey has started putting content in.  The plan is to have enough content to launch this in the spring.

5.  Future agenda items

• IEEE and SFX

Next meeting:

Wednesday, September 21, 2-3:30 pm, Cubespace

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