Integrating Library Reserves and Course Management Systems: Aleph, RSS, and Sakai EDUCAUSE Midwest Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg March 21, 2005 Copyright Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg, This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. To view a copy of this license, visit or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai The Need Students and instructors want easy access to library course reserves through CTools, the Sakai-based course management system

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Reserves Landscape Course Management System Instructor Digitized Material Some Library EReserves Library Building and Systems EReserves Books

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Context Desired feature for several years Desired feature for several years Just completed ExLibris Aleph implementation Just completed ExLibris Aleph implementation Established relationships with CTools developers Established relationships with CTools developers

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Challenges Multiple systems Multiple systems Library course reserves system(s) Library course reserves system(s) Registrar data (enterprise system) Registrar data (enterprise system) CTools (Sakai) CTools (Sakai) Library catalog (ExLibris Aleph) Library catalog (ExLibris Aleph)

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Challenges Multiple groups of people Multiple groups of people Students and instructors Students and instructors Reserves librarians Reserves librarians CTools programmers CTools programmers Library programmers Library programmers

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Solution Pilot Project: Use RSS to deliver course reserve information to CTools

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Pieces: Library Reserves Instructor requests reserves (print and electronic) Instructor requests reserves (print and electronic) Reserves staff process request Reserves staff process request Unique course numbers assigned by reserves staff Unique course numbers assigned by reserves staff Course and items cross-listed if appropriate Course and items cross-listed if appropriate

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Course Lookup Tool

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Pieces: Registrar Data UMIAC : University of Michigan Infrastructure for Academic Computing UMIAC : University of Michigan Infrastructure for Academic Computing External to the library External to the library Used in multiple systems as glue Used in multiple systems as glue Simple APIs allow calls for: Simple APIs allow calls for: Unique course number based on detailed course string Unique course number based on detailed course string Personal course affiliation (restricted to regular staff) Personal course affiliation (restricted to regular staff)

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Pieces: CTools External to the library External to the library Dick Ellis (Sakai developer) repurposed the “News” Tool Dick Ellis (Sakai developer) repurposed the “News” Tool Instructors select the “Library Reserves” tool Instructors select the “Library Reserves” tool Tool automatically generates a reserves feed query at tool creation time Tool automatically generates a reserves feed query at tool creation time Site owner can manually edit the feed query Site owner can manually edit the feed query

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Instructor Interface : Site Setup

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Instructor Interface : Tool Selection

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Pieces: Aleph X-Server Managed and maintained within library Managed and maintained within library Middleware sitting between user programs and Aleph Middleware sitting between user programs and Aleph Responds to a set of simple APIs Responds to a set of simple APIs Receives and returns XML Receives and returns XML Output is OAI XML Output is OAI XML

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Glue: RSS Builder Library created, supported, and maintained Library created, supported, and maintained Written in PHP and uses built-in XML processor Written in PHP and uses built-in XML processor Simple : less than 1K lines of code Simple : less than 1K lines of code Dispatcher between CTools, registrar data, and Aleph Dispatcher between CTools, registrar data, and Aleph

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Sequence Diagram CTools feed request unique course ID returned RSS BuilderRegistrar ServiceX-Server query data validated; course data sent unique course ID sent as HTTP request XML result set number and size returned results returned as OAI XML range of records requested XML parsed, sorted, and formatted as RSS 0.92

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai User Interface : Reserves Tool for Students

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai User Interface : Reserves Feed

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai User Interface : Aleph

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai User Interface : Reserves Feed

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai User Interface : E Reserve Item

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Use Statistics: CTools Estimated 400 courses with Library Reserves tool activated Estimated 400 courses with Library Reserves tool activated About 80 of these are multi-section courses About 80 of these are multi-section courses Total courses using the tool : 280 Total courses using the tool : 280 What about the other 120 courses? What about the other 120 courses? Test courses Test courses Courses with no items on reserve but have the tool activated Courses with no items on reserve but have the tool activated

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Use Statistics: RSS Builder Just over 200 unique feeds Just over 200 unique feeds

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Use Across Disciplines No one department or discipline using it a lot more than others No one department or discipline using it a lot more than others Representation across disciplines - Representation across disciplines - American Culture, Art, Biomedical, Engineering, English, Education, Music, Nursing, Political Science, Psychology, Romance Languages, Sociology American Culture, Art, Biomedical, Engineering, English, Education, Music, Nursing, Political Science, Psychology, Romance Languages, Sociology

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Technical Issues Speed of Aleph X-Server responses Speed of Aleph X-Server responses Feeds are now cached Feeds are now cached Record requests limited to 5 items Record requests limited to 5 items Section numbers Section numbers If a student instructor owns a site, does she have her own reserves list or is the main course list more appropriate? If a student instructor owns a site, does she have her own reserves list or is the main course list more appropriate? User section selection list User section selection list Multiple dependencies and points of failure Multiple dependencies and points of failure

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Social Issues Branding Branding

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Social Issues User education User education Turning on tool is not the same as making a reserves request Turning on tool is not the same as making a reserves request Transitioning users to new system Transitioning users to new system Coordination of technical help when things break Coordination of technical help when things break

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Social Issues Work process dissemination to reserves staff Work process dissemination to reserves staff “Unique” course numbers “Unique” course numbers Registrar data has organizational oddities Registrar data has organizational oddities Divergent notions of term Divergent notions of term LSA - 5 term academic year LSA - 5 term academic year Medical School - 8 term academic year Medical School - 8 term academic year

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Challenges Content too distant (sometimes in print) Content too distant (sometimes in print) Lots of links Lots of links Perhaps RSS is too simple? Enhance item descriptions? Scrap RSS and just link to native interface? Perhaps RSS is too simple? Enhance item descriptions? Scrap RSS and just link to native interface? Support — guessing what people are seeing Support — guessing what people are seeing

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Publicity Soft Rollout Soft Rollout Announcements Announcements CTools Message of the Day CTools Message of the Day Discovery in CTools Discovery in CTools

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai User Feedback: Students Did you encounter any problems when accessing Library Reserves via CTools? Did you encounter any problems when accessing Library Reserves via CTools? YesNo 14%86%

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai User Feedback: Students “It works, it's just confusing. There are too many steps to get to online articles. It seems like you are confronting the same options over and over.” “It works, it's just confusing. There are too many steps to get to online articles. It seems like you are confronting the same options over and over.” “It seems straight forward to me the way it is — I have no suggestions for improvement.” “It seems straight forward to me the way it is — I have no suggestions for improvement.”

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai User Feedback: Instructors “It didn't work, but I contacted CTools help and within a day, the problem was fixed.” “It didn't work, but I contacted CTools help and within a day, the problem was fixed.” “I really love the link to CTools!” “I really love the link to CTools!”

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Tips for Collaboration Make contact amongst the people who know the nuts and bolts: Library Catalog, CMS, reserves staff Make contact amongst the people who know the nuts and bolts: Library Catalog, CMS, reserves staff Be flexible — don’t require perfection Be flexible — don’t require perfection Respond to problems as a team and avoid finger pointing Respond to problems as a team and avoid finger pointing Act quickly to resolve problems Act quickly to resolve problems Don’t get caught up in issues of territory Don’t get caught up in issues of territory

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Current Library Sakai Activities Core Partner Institution Libraries and Sakai Educational Partners Program Core Partner Institution Libraries and Sakai Educational Partners Program Pilot Library Projects Pilot Library Projects Federated Searching (Twin Indiana) Federated Searching (Twin Indiana) Image Collections Image Collections Library Services Library Services Electronic Rights Management Electronic Rights Management Numeric Data Numeric Data Sakai Website - Sakai Website -

EDUCAUSE Midwest March 21st, 2005 University of Michigan Library Susan Hollar and Ryan Max Steinberg ALEPH, RSS, and Sakai Questions? Susan Hollar Ryan Max Steinberg