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UIAS User Services Task Force Meeting Cal Poly SLO, July 6-7, 1999 Present: Paul Adalian (SLO), Bill Budge (Sacramento), Judith Faust (Hayward), Rod Hersberger (Bakersfield), LaVonne Jacobsen (SF), James Koga (Pomona), Marvin Pollard (UIAS), Pat Robles (Bakersfield), Gordon Smith (Chancellor's), Steve Stottong (LA), Judy Swanson (SLO). Contents: Timelines, Orientation review/Training needs, RPA/Authentication & Authorization, Configuration/SetUp, ILL/DDS/RSS, Banners, Grants, other notes to follow. TIMELINES: By the end of July, expect to have the Union Catalog indexing done, pre-Beta Remote Patron Authentication (RPA) installed, and basic user interface screens installed. The Union Catalog gap tapes (1999 additions) process will begin in the near future. The next release of the Resource Sharing System (RSS 3.1) will be used by a sub-set of campuses but will not be used system-wide until next spring. End of meeting summary: To be ready by the end of July so local campuses can do hands on set up: search pages, item request pages, set up guide, basic display screens [including buttons], help text to be modified. Subject Areas and database specific notes for advanced searching will be in progress - intent to be available before September. ORIENTATION REVIEW/TRAINING NEEDS: Judith reviewed her notes on the questions asked during the User Services orientation and members of the task force reported on reactions from their campuses. The majority of questions recorded were design recommendations or configuration/set up questions (e.g., where does Exit go? - wherever a local campus decides). Many of the recommendations from Orientation were incorporated into the screens we will review at this meeting (for example, the left side menu has been shortened to have sub-menus on another page, search screens have had some excess text removed). A third major category concerns ongoing maintenance/enhancements - how
often updated? will there be link checking? How will we make
suggestions? Know when changes are coming? Many seemed to support
the need for a designated listserv - for the time being, the User Services
list was suggested. Will need to develop a User Group system.
LaVonne has an email group list of public services attendees at the Orientation
(many of whom have not joined the User Services listserve) and will
The technical portions of the Orientation, particularly the presentation
by Jeff Staten of Ameritech, turned off many of the attendees. Some
did not return for the decision-making/conceptual presentations given the
next day. The audience members ranged from expert systems people
to people with no technical background except as searchers. Training
needs should
Reports from a few campuses indicate a variety of reactions depending
upon local capabilities - campuses without web catalogs, ILL modules, and/or
remote patron authentication, need Pharos functionality and are welcoming
it. Other campuses will treat Pharos like an additional resource,
akin to Melvyl, at least initially. Judith's detailed notes were
distributed to
RPA/AUTHENTICATION & AUTHORIZATION: Authentication = identify self Authorization = level of use allowed/appropriate fines, hold privileges (in ILL/DDS) Ameritech demonstrated RPA at ALA; is making progress in working with
various vendors (Britannica, SIRS, Uncover, FirstSearch, Electronic Core,
Lexis/Nexis, JSTOR, Stat USA, Dow Jones, JACC). Z-compliant
databases are easy, the capabilities are built in. Non Z-compliant
resources require working with vendor. Marvin will work with each
campus on its
Can use RPA to protect local web pages that are not part of Pharos (for example, electronic reserves or faculty only pages). CONFIGURATION/CUSTOMIZATION/SETUP Reviewed the latest edition of James' guide to Configuration/Customization
- agreed that most appropriate label is "Set Up." Gordon Smith
will work with James on a preamble which outlines general guidelines for
a common system-wide look and feel. The Set Up document will include
screen dumps with arrows pointing to functions in need of local modification.
The Set
ILL/DDS/RSS Marvin reported that the ICS Task Force is focused on operational details and considers the user interface to be our area of expertise. The draft screens need to be updated and a menu developed. Pat will take a menu screen drafted last spring and work on the revisions to forward to Judy Swanson & Paul at SLO. Since RSS will not be in use systemwide, the default installed on the local Pharos servers will include a simple HTML screen (norss.shtml in the Set Up Guide) that states, "This function is not yet available at your campus." Campuses not using RSS, will be directed to link the "Item Request" function to this screen. BANNERS Links were made more prominent after Orientation comments, but may need more. Change color to "link blue" to further alert users that they are clickable. Thin Frame - Judy designed a "thin frame" that will be used when a user is launched out of Pharos to other web sites. It includes Return to Pharos and No Frames as options. These other sites may be ordinary "free" web sites or some of the full text journal articles. Another option will be added to this bar for evaluating the article or web site (see Info Comp notes sent separately). GRANT OPPORTUNITES Gordon Smith received positive feedback on our recent proposal for a FIPSE grant. Unfortunately, no FIPSE grants were given for political reasons. In keeping with the Library Directors' new five year strategic plan, the next grant opportunity should involve the development of personal portal software (such as My Library at SLO or the U of Washington example forwarded in a June e-mail). Another enhancement of interest might be translator software (although they are buggy). The rest of the meeting will be issued in separate notes: DISPLAYS, SEARCH, SUBJECT, INFO COMP/PUBLICITY. Next meeting may be in early October. |
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