Slides from the Tri-State College Library Cooperative (TCLC) Summer Camp 2009, outlining setting up search boxes into the library catalog and creating RSS feeds from catalogs using Dapper.net.

1. In-Tents Catalog
Extensions
Your presenter: Lianne Hartman

2. Agenda
• Overview of catalog search boxes
• Hands-on search box exercises
• Short break
• Overview of RSS from the catalog
• Follow-along exercise in Dapper.net
• Taking it all back to your library

3. Catalog Search Boxes
• Search the catalog from the
library’s website
• Customize to search a
specific collection or area
• Juvenile
• DVDs
• Special collection
• Another location

4. One less
hoop
Advanced search options
are confusing
Why make barriers to our
resources?
What’s the
difference
between
format
and type? Flickr user skycaptaintwo

5. Let’s Make Our Own
• On the desktop, double-click the TCLC
University link to open our test library
page in Firefox
• Minimize this page
• In the Start menu, go to Accessories and
open TextPad
• In TextPad, choose File-Open and open
TCLCUniversity.html from the desktop

6. Fun with Forms
• Scroll down to the <FORM> tags. This is
the code that creates the search box
• Let’s look at the 4-6 lines that make up this
code
• Find the base URL for your catalog at:
tclclibs.org/camp09/intents

7. Connect to the Catalog
• Replace the web address beginning with
http://sirsiweb.mc3.edu with the address of
YOUR library’s catalog
• After .edu/ make sure that you have the
correct gobbly-gook from your handout
• Decide if you want the results to open in
the same (top) or new (blank) window

8. Adding parameters
• We can also tell the catalog to search in a
particular location or for a specific item
type
• These are located in <input> tags, but they
can be hidden from the user
• Some examples (these are library-
dependent)
• item_type=DVD
• library=AV-Library

9. How to find
parameters
• Open your catalog advanced search page and
go to Edit - View Page Source
• Find in the page source the labels for libraries,
locations, item types, formats, etc.
• You will need both halves of the equation

10. Setting the input
• The input is what the user types into the
box. Each catalog vendor calls the search
something different
• Sirsi: searchdata1
• Sirsi (Info. Portal): term1
• TLC: SearchData

11. Moment of Truth
• Once you’ve altered the form
to fit your library, save it
• Open the minimized TCLC
University website and click on
Reload
• Test your form (cross fingers) Flickr user kygp
• Not working right? Minimize
and go back to your TextPad file

12. This is in-tents
Let’s take a break!

13. Catalog RSS feeds
• How can you use these?
• Put titles on your website direct from
your catalog
• Put new books for a specific search on a
subject guide/course page
• Allow faculty to subscribe to catalog
feeds

14. Dapper.net
• Give Dapper.net a URL and select what you
want included in an RSS feed from that
page
• No coding required - all highlighting and
selecting.

15. Let’s Try It!

16. Publishing your RSS
• Once you have your Dapp created, try a
different keyword (Set Input)
• Copy and Paste the URL for your RSS feed
into TinyURL.com
• Copy and Paste your TinyURL into the
TCLC University file in TextPad (down in
the iFrame), replacing the exisiting

17. Thank you!
• All of the files from today will be on the
TCLC website: tclclibs.org/camp09/intents
• I’m also happy to answer questions over
email: LHartman@mc3.edu