[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Academic PAC flavor

[Elizabeth B. Thomsen]

On 12/2/2014 6:25 AM, Donald Butterworth wrote:

> What would you think of taking the "_... Read more_" approach that
> Amazon uses for reviews and long text, for long notes and text? This
> eliminates the problem of clicking on a bar and finding it empty of
> content. It also would make it possible to keep the copy/item record
> data always visible on the screen without the need to scroll.

We definitely want the ability to truncate long fields with a "More" 
link.  We want this for long summary and contents notes, as well as 
historical material with really long titles.  We want to be able select 
which fields to truncate, the length for each, and the text to use for 
the "more" link (which should have a separate class for styling.)  We'd 
also like to specify whether to show the truncated or full version of 
the field in each context: the basic search results, the detailed search 
results, and the bib/copy page.

This isn't really an academic issue for us, it's just a display issue, 
and we run into really long fields for all types of material. I also 
think it's only tangentially related to the issue of whether or not to 
put content behind bars, at least for us.  We want this mostly for 
fields we consider important enough to display above the copy display, 
not for the things below that are typically tucked behind bars.  (We 
don't use the bars except for the MARC display.)

> What would you think of eliminating the "Shelf browser" bar and simply
> make the call number in the item/copy list a hot link to the Browse Call
> Number index?

We don't display the Shelf Browser at all right now, but would not want 
the call number to be a hot link to the call number index.  We had a lot 
of complaints about this on our previous system -- users would click 
through the search results to the bib/copy screen, see the call number 
as a link and click it, not realizing they had already reached their 
final destination.  I am not sure what people expected -- full text or 
more detailed information about the location of the book, but it was 
definitely an issue. If anything, I'd want a link next to the call 
number that said something like "Browse call numbers."

But I am assuming that the academic "flavor" would be something we could 
all customize like we do the current files.

> Is it necessary to include "available copies" information in a separate
> area on the screen? Isn't the status column in the copy/items list
> sufficient?

This might depend on how long the list of copies is likely to be.  For a 
consortium, the list may be much longer than what is displayed by 
default, and for titles with many copies per library (more common for 
public library bestsellers) it's handy to be able to see at a glance 
whether or not there are any available copies of some titles.

-- 
Elizabeth Thomsen, Member Services Manager
NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
26 Cherry Hill Drive
Danvers MA 01923
E-mail: et at noblenet.org