LibGuides Search Box Standardization...

At Ohio University the method of search box creation has been standardized in a simple format for LibGuides. Though if anyone here, in the library, asked for it I could create more custom search forms for specific disciplines. At the moment we are using one simple search per field. See the search box page as an example.



This way subject librarians who want to use the different search boxes can just copy the appropriate box to their LibGuide and change the content to suit their needs. A good example of this would be this english studies research guide that a colleague made for a specific class.

From a usability standpoint I think this is a pretty good model for opening up search boxes to every subject librarian in the college. There are two downsides... If there had to be any updates to boxes then the inheritance structure would not work. There are still many databases out there that can not be searched this way directly. Oh well I can still bootstrap by using Metalib if I have to. Hopefully when OhioLINK releases their new OSearch interface it will allow for direct searching. I also hope other database vendors will allow for search widgets.

I'm evaluating the construction of an engineering based research portal (similar to the engineering subject based research toolbar that I created for Mozilla Firefox.

ASEE 2009

This is a late post. The ASEE Annual 2009 Exposition in Austin was excellent. It is always good to see what other library professionals are implementing in their own organizations. I sort of see it as a revitalizing experience.

I think my presentation went well. If you want to check out the paper you can either contact me or here is the citation:

Wilson, E.M. (2009) Academic Library Internet Information Provision Model: Using Toolbars and Web 2.0 Applications to Augment Subject Reference. Proceedings of the 2009 American Society for Engineering Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, TX. ASEE, Washington. Paper 471.

Just a little addenda if you are working on your own research toolbars: Like I emphasize in the paper using these types of tools to provide information requires constant updating. The engineering toolbar is now in version 1.0.9. It had to be updated to be compatible with the new Mozilla Firefox 3.5. It was a minor change but still a maintenance task.

I now have a Acer Aspire One 8.9" netbook. That little beauty was amazing in extending what I can do on the road and in the work that I do here on campus. I have yet to install the full development suite I use for maintaining the toolbar on the netbook.