[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Reintroducing search range-like features in TPAC

[Kathy Lussier]

Hi all,

One of the things MassLNC liked about the jspac was the "search range"
functionality where a user could search the entire consortium, but, because
the system knew which library a user was tied to, would also see copy and
availability information for their home/preferred location. 

We want to see elements of this functionality reintroduced in the TPAC and
would like to share our thoughts on how we would like to see it work. I
would love to hear others' thoughts on how it might be implemented in TPAC.
Once there is a community consensus around the direction this should take,
we are prepared to work with a developer to make it happen.

Currently in TPAC, you can link to the catalog with a default scope by
including the "loc" parameter in the URL. However, once the user changes the
scope, for example to the consortium, the system forgets which library the
user belongs to and does not display some of the local information that we
had previously seen in the jspac. 

MassLNC would like to suggest that we add an element that also identifies
the user's preferred local library. This library would default to the user's
home library, but could be changed via the user's preferences. A library
should also be able to provide a link to the catalog that identifies this
preferred local library so that, for example, if a user is searching the
catalog from inside the library without logging in, that library's holdings
information will be highlighted, even if the user is searching the entire
consortium. 

If the user were to change their scope to a different library, then the
catalog should highlight the holdings of that scoped library. However, if
the user were searching the entire consortium, the catalog should highlight
the holdings of their preferred local library.

We have pulled together some requirements and mock-ups for the information
we would like to display on the search results and record detail pages
depending on what is being scoped and whether there is a preferred local
library. You can view them at http://masslnc.cwmars.org/node/2454.

We welcome any thoughts or suggestions on the best way to get this rolled
into the TPAC.

Thank you!
Kathy

-------------------------------------------------------------
Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 756-0172
(508) 755-3721 (fax)
klussier at masslnc.org
IM: kmlussier (AOL & Yahoo)
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier