This document discusses how blog software architecture can inform library software development. It notes that blog platforms benefit from large developer communities, built-in features like comments and search, and standards enforced by the market. The document argues libraries would benefit from embracing standards developed by blogs and involving non-library developers to help progress library technology.

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What Blog Apps Can
Teach Us About Library
Software Architecture
February 17, 2006
Casey Bisson
online now at
http://MaisonBisson.com

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Horizontal = Good
Vertical = Bad

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Good Climate
+ Critical Mass
= Best Opportunity
For Tech Progress

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Our Climate
• Six languages:
Perl, Python, PHP, Ryby, ColdFusion, and ASP
• Four DBs:
MySQL, PostGres, MSSQL, Oracle
• Five(+)Vendors:
Sirsi/Dynix, Endeavor, Ex Libris, III,Talis
• 120 different environments

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Libraries
The World

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Libraries
The World
“Standards”

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Consider...
SRW/SRU OpenSearch Amazon API
?
365
public
targets
140,000
registered
developers
example

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How Standards
Develop In...
Libraries The Blog World
Constant pursuit
of the “ideal”
Codified by
practice
Enforced by
standards bodies
Enforced by the
market

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Libraries
The World
Applications

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Comment Systems
• Security
• User management
• Administratrion/
management/moderation
• Spam, spam, spam
They’re easy, just a textarea, right?
Well, there are some challenges...

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So...
Is this the segue
to WPopac?

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• Search for “Joe Monninger.” Note that the results include those for “Monninger,
Joseph.”View record for A Barn In New England. Note comments and trackbacks.
• Search for “sociology of education.” Demonstrate faceted searching, how “educational
sociology” emerges as a top subject. Refine search and show how the search and
search limits can be modified.
• Search for “Harry Potter.” Note the Wikipedia content in the right column.View
record for Sorcerer's Stone. Note “permalink” (a standard feature of WP) and “add to
delicious” (a standard WP plugin) links in right column. Note the related items listed
at bottom (also from a standard WP plugin), note how they include only Harry Potter
titles.View Harry Potter crit title, note related items, note how they include only
Harry Potter criticism titles.
• Search for “ambiant fndability” (intentionally misspelled). Note how it suggests a
search for the correct spelling, even though “findability” is not a dictionary word (yet).
• Demonstrate the WPopac OpenSearch API in A9.
Scripted Demo
(this slide did not appear in the presentation)

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Why?
• Large community of users and developers
• Built-in features: comments, indexable
content, permalinks, RSS
• Rich, well documented plugin API
• Well understood
theme/skinning architecture

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Plea...
• Pave the cowpaths
• Good is better than best
• Involve (benefit from)
non-library developers
• Embrace their standards

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Questions?
cbisson@plymouth.edu
http://MaisonBisson.com/