IMLS Projects, Semester 2

This semester I have been engaged in two projects, one of which I don't recall the name of, and the continuation of the ATN project. The project which shall remain nameless was a last minute offering that focused on web 2.o technologies. One thing Nameless taught me is that I am not an IT person. I do not have the background, nor the capacity or interest to pick up everything web 2.o in a few short weeks. I know thats not what the organizers of this project ever intended, but I think thats partly what I expected of myself. Maybe the LIS/Apps department thought I was bringing more tech skills to the table than I actually have. Whatever it was, circumstances lead to something of an uphill battle.

Things did, however, get off to a pretty good start. Apps was interested in the LibraryThing tags and the LibraryThing for Libraries widget because the University of Iowa's OPAC, Ex Libris' Primo, has a new tag function that is relatively useless until there is a critical mass of collected tags. I looked into these things and also into other libraries using the widget and it made more sense to approach LibraryThing to see about purchasing a Tag Boost (copyright pending). LibraryThing was indeed already in negotiations about making this work, but it sounded like Ex Libris was being difficult about access to Primo code. LibraryThing staff said things were likely to be worked out in a month or two. At this point Apps felt it best just to sit on our hands and wait to see what happens with the negotiations.

Following the LibraryThing investigation, this project moved into its second phase... implementation of the Google Mini Search Appliance. More on that and my thoughts on my overall experience as a digital libraries fellow to come....