1. Moving from a PHP Flat-File Electronic Resources Manager to Drupal 6 Views
Image courtesy of USFSW Mountain Praire (Flickr User) Under Creative Commons License
Junior Tidal
New York City College of Technology, CUNY code4lib NE, Yale University October 26, 2012

2. The Challenge of Electronic Resource Management (ERM)
E-resources can be a hassle to manage
Lack of back-end accessibility to the library website
Lack of a collaborative environment
Software and security challenges: lack of MySQL, shell access, and file permissions.
Security lockdown on a shared interdepartmental web server

3. How did we work around these challenges?
Solution required an easier way to manage ERM.
The solution also required compatibility for the server’s configuration.
FTP access for files (through Dreamweaver)
PHP 3 compatible
Solution could compensate for security lockdown
Using a home-brewed e-resource manager using a flat-file and PHP.

4. What is a flat-file database?
A flat-file database is a tabular database that uses plain text file as storage.
The flat-file consists of a single entry with keys and attributes on each new line within the file, separated by a delimiter.
There are no built-in relationships between records.
Crash course into flat-file databases

5. Example of a Flat-File Entry
Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)| y.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http ://search.ebscohost.com/login. aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=e host&defaultdb=a9h| ary.citytech.cuny.edu/research /annotations/index.php#ASP|The largest scholarly, multidisciplinary, full-text database.|
Sample line from txt file

6. PHP Implementation
The server script consisted for a PHP file that would retrieve results from the flat-file.
The flat-file contents would be rendered in HTML and displayed to the end user.
The flat-file was accessible to a number of librarian.
Using PHP to collect txt file contents

7. PHP Script for Flat-File Database Loading

8. Migrating to Drupal 6 Library was able to get their own server.
This opened up many possibilities including a new OS (Linux), software, statistics recording and experimentation.
We were now able to utilize the Drupal 6 content management system
Migration

9. Drupal Views
After migrating the website content to Drupal, we still needed a way for ERM.
Using work based on Leo Klein, we were able to use Drupal to manage our eResources
We used the built-in Taxonomy module
and the following custom modules:
Content Construction Kit (CCK)
Views
Using Views

10. Drupal Views and eResources
eResources are stored as a custom content type in Drupal
The Taxonomy module is used to assign type and subject to each eResource
Editable attributes of eResources such as the name, URL, and description, are pulled based on selecting a subject
These resources are displayed to the user
CCK, Taxonomy modules

11. Advantages of Using Views
Smoother workflow, less work
Collaborative environment
Single versions of the database
Subject specific eResources are stored in a single database
Content is stored in a MySQL database which is easier for migration and backups
Maintenance is done through Drupal
Results

12. Disadvantages of Views
Learning curve of Views
Lack of date control through Views
eResources are dependent on Views and subsequent updates and maintenance
FFDB doesn’t require as much as Views
FFDB can be more flexible than Views
Learning curve for views

13. Conclusion Challenge of ERM management
Flat-file databases can be used to overcome restrictive server environments
They offer few advantages in comparison to Drupal Views
Views provides a more collaborative and smoother workflow
Conclusion

14. Questions? ?

15. Thanks! Junior Tidal New York City College of Technology, CUNY jtidal@citytech.cuny.edu @juniortidal