Today DS told me that College Source is back and to put it back on the website. I did, and it working earlier today, but now it's not working. I'm not sure why.
Also, the computing center is now in talks with OCLC to try to fix the SciFinder database problem.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
ILL page + new databases + EZ Proxy
a)
MW brought it to my attention that the latest upgrade of Iliad also included a re-design. I'm delighted to see that, because the ILL interface has looked very 1994 for a long time and I often wished it was better. However, that also means that our tutorial pictures are outdated.
I've been considering doing video for the ILL page before, but now that it really needs to be changed, I made some today and put them on the library YouTube to embed them:
http://www.ulm.edu/library/ill.html
ML and MW and I all agree that having pictures on the page as well would be a good idea. Those will be added before the end of today, if not this afternoon.
b)
2 new databases for business (or other things, if you think it's pertinent):
Datamonitor 360
Datamonitor Product Launch Analytics
Product Launch analytics is working great, but the URL for DM 360 looks strange. But as long as it does work, it's the one we'll use.
c)
EZ Proxy is being difficult in general, but SciFinder in particular is giving us trouble about IP addresses, while other DBs seem to have little trouble with the new Proxy. Troubleshooting it has been hard because we can't tell if it's us, LOUIS, OCLC, or SciFinder having the problem or all of these things at once.
I could go on and on, but it's all rather technical.
But as I see it, EZ Proxy has been temperamental for a long time, and it's worth the trouble to get it under control.
MW brought it to my attention that the latest upgrade of Iliad also included a re-design. I'm delighted to see that, because the ILL interface has looked very 1994 for a long time and I often wished it was better. However, that also means that our tutorial pictures are outdated.
I've been considering doing video for the ILL page before, but now that it really needs to be changed, I made some today and put them on the library YouTube to embed them:
http://www.ulm.edu/library/ill.html
ML and MW and I all agree that having pictures on the page as well would be a good idea. Those will be added before the end of today, if not this afternoon.
b)
2 new databases for business (or other things, if you think it's pertinent):
Datamonitor 360
Datamonitor Product Launch Analytics
Product Launch analytics is working great, but the URL for DM 360 looks strange. But as long as it does work, it's the one we'll use.
c)
EZ Proxy is being difficult in general, but SciFinder in particular is giving us trouble about IP addresses, while other DBs seem to have little trouble with the new Proxy. Troubleshooting it has been hard because we can't tell if it's us, LOUIS, OCLC, or SciFinder having the problem or all of these things at once.
I could go on and on, but it's all rather technical.
But as I see it, EZ Proxy has been temperamental for a long time, and it's worth the trouble to get it under control.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
hours + EZ Proxy
The summer hours are now up, since the summer schedule begins on June 8th.
We are also experiencing problems with EZ Proxy, so we will investigate that more.
We are also experiencing problems with EZ Proxy, so we will investigate that more.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
EZ Proxy update + CollegeSource
a)
Yesterday, Chance E., Chuck H., LOUIS and myself had a telephone conference to discuss the EZ Proxy.
The EZ Proxy has been moved to a different server in the Admin. building, and has been re-named "ezproxy.ulm.edu" because it makes more sense than "michael1.ulm.edu" But this also means that all these links need to be changed.
I have already changed all the "michael1" to "ezproxy" on the webpages. The catalog is set up so that the proxy only has to be changed in one place and the links in the catalog will automatically change for the user. Chuck will do that.
The next step is to switch over all the LOUIS DBs next so that they will authetnicate on our new "ezproxy.ulm.edu" instead of on LOUIS' log-in page. This will allow us to edit it and perhaps add branding.
But the appearance of the log-in page will be worked on more after the new EZ Proxy is ready for all the DBs, rather than right now.
I've made a post on the library blog showing what DBs have been affected:
http://ulmlibraryreference.blogspot.com/2011/05/database-changes.html
Do let me know if any are missing.
b)
Our subscription to College Source is expired. I have removed it from the library website.
Yesterday, Chance E., Chuck H., LOUIS and myself had a telephone conference to discuss the EZ Proxy.
The EZ Proxy has been moved to a different server in the Admin. building, and has been re-named "ezproxy.ulm.edu" because it makes more sense than "michael1.ulm.edu" But this also means that all these links need to be changed.
I have already changed all the "michael1" to "ezproxy" on the webpages. The catalog is set up so that the proxy only has to be changed in one place and the links in the catalog will automatically change for the user. Chuck will do that.
The next step is to switch over all the LOUIS DBs next so that they will authetnicate on our new "ezproxy.ulm.edu" instead of on LOUIS' log-in page. This will allow us to edit it and perhaps add branding.
But the appearance of the log-in page will be worked on more after the new EZ Proxy is ready for all the DBs, rather than right now.
I've made a post on the library blog showing what DBs have been affected:
http://ulmlibraryreference.blogspot.com/2011/05/database-changes.html
Do let me know if any are missing.
b)
Our subscription to College Source is expired. I have removed it from the library website.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Summer hours
The intersession hours are on the home page, and I've put up the new hours PDF covering now and the summer semester.
The EZ Proxy project is still going on, and we'll probably be working on it more this summer. The computing center seems to be handling things the most right now, but if our needs aren't met, we'll need to look into other solutions.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Hours for finals
Last week I changed the hours to show that we'd be open today (Sunday) and I've adjusted the home page hours to show the upcoming finals hours, and made a blog post about it, showing all the finals hours: http://ulmlibraryreference.blogspot.com/2011/05/extended-hours-for-finals.html
And the hours PDF sheet: http://www.ulm.edu/library/hours.pdf
I'll add more of those hours to the home page as space becomes available.
And the hours PDF sheet: http://www.ulm.edu/library/hours.pdf
I'll add more of those hours to the home page as space becomes available.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Hours, EX Proxy, LOUIS...
This week, I put up intercept pages for the databases to increase awareness about LOUIS. These pages do not interfere with database use.
Work is also continuing on a custom interface for EZProxy, which might mean moving all proxied sites to the ULM server. This might need new hardware later on.
At this time, the ULM server does not appear to be working; cause is unknown.
Also, I have changed the home page hours to show the Easter weekend hours (called "spring holiday")
Work is also continuing on a custom interface for EZProxy, which might mean moving all proxied sites to the ULM server. This might need new hardware later on.
At this time, the ULM server does not appear to be working; cause is unknown.
Also, I have changed the home page hours to show the Easter weekend hours (called "spring holiday")
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