sopac : connecting koha and drupal
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Transcript of sopac : connecting koha and drupal
BibLibre
• we provide support for OSS in libraries• we develop & provide support for the OSS ILS
KOHA (since 2002)• we provide support for the OSS CMS DRUPAL
(just started)
=> SOPAC is a set of tools that connects your ILS (Millenium initially) with a Drupal site
Small project : objectives
• providing the SOPAC connector for Koha• on Koha : creating the set of WS required to
make SOPAC work
SOPAC is the work of the ubiquitous John Blyberg.
What is the Social OPAC (SOPAC)?
• http://aadl.org • http://www.darienlibrary.org• http://thesocialopac.net • http://www.blyberg.net/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trucolorsfly/
What does SOPAC try to achieve?
• #1 perfect graphical integration between the catalog UI and the library's Drupal web site
• #2 add « social » functionalities to the OPAC:• tags• reviews• ratings• rss
=> SOPAC replaces and enhances your OPAC
What it looks like at Darien
What it looks like at Darien
Patron creates account
What it looks like at Darien
How does it work?
• SOPAC harvests the records from the ILS through a connector
• reindexes them in a separate engine• provides a new UI in Drupal for searching &
actions (tags, holds...)• requires real time connectors for :
• Some informations such as item availability• Some actions such as placing a hold
SOPAC Architecture
ILS
ws
ILS connector
MySQL
LOCUM
sphinx
SOPAC (php + add. Tables to Drupal's MySQL)
Independent SocialRepository
Drupal UI
INSURGE
The Koha Connector
we used the ILS Discovery Interfaces recommandation as a set of guidelines to develop KOHA WS
-> http://diglib.org/architectures/ilsdi/ It provides for :
• harvesting of records : done through OAI-PMH server
The Koha Connector
we used the ILS Discovery Interfaces recommandation as a set of guidelines to develop KOHA WS
-> http://diglib.org/architectures/ilsdi/ It provides for :
• real-time search : not used by Sopac
The Koha Connector
we used the ILS Discovery Interfaces recommandation as a set of guidelines to develop KOHA WS
-> http://diglib.org/architectures/ilsdi/ It provides for :
• delivery (holds, availibility, etc) : done through new API in Koha
The Koha Connector
we used the ILS Discovery Interfaces recommandation as a set of guidelines to develop KOHA WS
-> http://diglib.org/architectures/ilsdi/ It provides for :
• patron information : done through new API
Issues with the connector
• Locum expects certain things, ILS-DI recommends something else• locum uses patron barcode• ils-di expects not a barcode, but a user_id
-> way around : translate barcode into user_id on the fly : performance issues.
-> way forward : sopac uses user_id
Issues with ils-di
• ILS-DI often recommends SIP or NCIP as a way to provide WS. It doesn't work:• many of the stuff we want doesn't exist in SIP• SIP is not really extendable• if you're going to have to do new WS, why
bother with SIP at all : you'd rather have a homogenous set of APIs.
Issues with ils-di
• ILS-DI doesn't say much about the expected quality of the response.
-> adoption of ILS-DI will probably take time-> compliance will mean different things
Issues with SOPAC
• a lot of stuff is hardcoded : MARC21 in harvesting function (scrape_bib); item types, question to link accounts, locum configuration...
• patron has 2 accounts : sopac / ils -> cries out for some sort of ldap solution...
Issues with SOPAC
• if you replace your OPAC, you have to have at least the functionalities that your opac provides. For Koha, issues with : • patron's account editing (phone, etc.)• record level holds• zotero (COinS) integration• ...
-> SOPAC needs time to mature
general questions raised
Sopac hints at erasing the limit between local data and outside data (Insurge):
Independent SocialRepository
INSURGE
• we need volumes of data for social functionalities
• maybe we need volumes of data for searching too, even in small libraries (OCLC Grid Services; GBS...)
general questions raised
Sopac knows very little about the user : • can one do social stuff without informations
about who the persons are? • Shouldn't a result be relevant to someone?-> we have to know what the students want-> we also have to know who they are :
- major in computer science- minor in philosophy- has courses in building A, next to library B
on thursdays
general questions raised
• Sopac separates backoffice from UI, but we could go one step further and better separate searching tools and visualization -> every single result is displayed the same, but should not : • display #1 when result set <10, display#2
when result > 1.000, etc...• display #1 when search limited to DVD,
display #2 when search limited to ebooks, etc...
=> we need proper visualization strategies
what we learned
• we made the sopac connector for Koha : for some libraries, the integration in Drupal will make a lot of sense with SOPAC as is
• we developed a 1st, tentative implementation of ILS-DI in Koha : ++
• NextGen Catalog tools need more work : • User data• Visualization
• We have a feeling that they're transition tools...
