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Occidental College Library's Betas

 

The Occidental Library is experimenting with new technologies to help make access to information easier. The tools below are in "beta" form - they are still being tinkered with, but we'd like you to try them out and tell us what you think!

What works well? What doesn't? Please leave us your comments!

Beta:  WorldCat Local

WorldCat Local is a unique service that works in conjunction with WorldCat.org  and provides Web access to WorldCat.

WorldCat Local delivers the resources of our library and libraries around the world in a single search. Today, it connects the patron's search to  Oxy's catalog, WorldCat,  local availability and resource sharing.

Beta: Prototype Library Pages

Below you will find links that direct you to various new prototypes for the library homepage.

http://departments.oxy.edu/library/prototypes/redesign1/index.shtml

http://departments.oxy.edu/library/prototypes/redesign1/index5-5.html

http://departments.oxy.edu/library/prototypes/redesign1/index5-6.html

http://departments.oxy.edu/library/prototypes/redesign2/index.html

http://departments.oxy.edu/library/prototypes/redesign2/index2.html

http://departments.oxy.edu/library/prototypes/redesign2/index3.html

http://departments.oxy.edu/library/prototypes/redesign4/index.htm
 

Beta: LibX toolbar 


LibX is a browser plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer that provides direct access to our library's resources.

 

Toolbar & right-click context menu: Search your library catalog directly from the LibX toolbar or using the right-click context menu.

Support for off-campus access via EZProxy/WAM: Using the Library's off-campus proxy, you may reload a page through the proxy, or follow a link via the proxy, making it appear as though you are coming from an on-campus computer.

Quick full text access to journal articles: LibX uses Google Scholar to search for articles and directs the user to the electronic copy subscribed to by your Library. Select a citation, then drag-and-drop it onto the Scholar button on the toolbar. You can use this feature even from inside a PDF file, which makes retrieving papers referenced in a PDF file a snap.

Support for embedded cues: LibX places cues in web pages you visit if your library has resources related to that page. Whenever you see the cue, click on the link to look at what the Library has to offer. For instance, book pages at Amazon or Barnes & Noble will contain cues that link to the book's entry in Occidental College Library Catalog. Cues are displayed at Google, Yahoo! Search, the NY Times Book Review, and other pages.

 

If you would like to install the LibX toolbar please follow the directions below:

  • Go to: http://libx.org/
  • You will then find a Main Menu on the left side of the screen.
  • Select Public Editions and search for Occidental College.
  • Then you will have the choice of installing the toolbar for use on either a Firefox or Internet Explorer browser.

OASys Sends Text Messages of Book Locations

This last summer we found a nifty feature authored at the Tri-Colleges
which we have been trying to make work on the test port of OASys.
This is a script that allows a user to send the Call #, Location, and
the beginning of the title from OASys to a cell phone via SMS.
The feature is now working fairly well except for a punctuation glitch.

Please look at these two records and send them to your cell phone
according to instructions:
 

http://oasys.lib.oxy.edu:2082/record=b1762725~S0


http://oasys.lib.oxy.edu:2082/record=b1047352~S0


They should work fine but we would be most appreciate hearing how these
work with NON-AT&T phones.

~Coming Soon~

Beta: WorldCat Local for mobile phones

  • Search for library materials—Enter search terms such as keywords, author or title
  • Find a WorldCat library near you—Enter your ZIP, postal code or location in the Libraries Locator
  • Call a library—Highlight and click the phone number in a library listing to place a call
  • Map a route—Find the fastest way to a WorldCat library using the mapping software already on your device

 

~Coming Soon~

Beta: IGoogle Gadgets

Google Gadgets are mini applications that can reside on a computer desktop or a personal home page typically in the Windows environment. Gadgets provide myriad functions, including customized games, mini applications, news feeds, maps or any content. ONLY members of Google's site can add them to their iGoogle page. A benefit of Google Gadgets is that anyone who has a free Google account can create and publish them without having to host them on a traditional web server. Gadgets can be hosted directly on the Google directory or on an iGoogle page, and if you are creating a web site, it may also be embedded in a normal web page like any other piece of traditional HTML or XML. Google Gadgets are written in XML, can have HTML and Javascript components, and can use Google Wave.

 

Ideas we would like to explore:

Sample research alerts by RSS: Using this tool faculty would be able to receive RSS feeds regarding topics that interest them.

More interactive library website using Oxypedia: This would allow for the library to use Oxypedia as a tool to develop more interactive services with the Oxy Community. Ideas include creating Wiki pages for specific databases and allowing patrons to comment on the databases.

Please feel free to let us know what else you would like us to explore and develop for the Library website.

 

 

 

  


Page last edited on 10/17/2011.
Reviewed by xxxxxxx on xx/xx/xxxx.
 

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