<!-- about.txt -->

<h1>About the MyLibrary Portal</h1>

<p>
This page provides additional information about MyLibrary and this workshop.
</p>

<h2>Contents</h2>

<ul>
	<li><a href="#handout">Handout</a></li>
	<li><a href="#admin">Administrative interface</a></li>
	<li><a href="#sru">Search via SRU</a></li>
	<li><a href="#bookmarklett">Search bookmarklette</a></li>
	<li><a href="#html">Syndicate via HTML</a></li>
	<li><a href="#rss">Syndicate via RSS</a></li>
	<li><a href="#oai">Syndicate via OAI</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><a name="handout">Handout</a></h2>

<p>
First, the workshop comes with a handout, and the handout comes in three flavors:
</p>

<ul>
	<li>the handout as a <a href="./etc/handout.doc">Word document</a></li>
	<li>the handout as a <a href="./etc/handout.pdf">PDF document</a></li>
	<li>the handout as a <a href="./etc/handout.txt">plain text file</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><a name="admin">Administrative interface</a></h2>

<p>This particular implementation comes with an <a href="./cgi-bin/">administrative interface</a> allowing you to create and maintain MyLibrary content through your Web browser.</p>

<h2><a name="sru">Search via SRU</a></h2>

<p>SRU is a fledgling protocol used to search Internet-accessible resources. The acroymn stands for Search/Retrieve via URL. After indexing the MyLibrary content you should be able to use a <a href="./sru/">simple SRU client</a> to query the index.</p>

<h2><a name="bookmarklett">Search bookmarklette</a></h2>

<p>Through the use of a bookmarklette you can search MyLibrary from any page on the Internet. To do so, just drag the following link to your browser's toolbar:

<p style='text-align: center'>
<a href="javascript:Qr=window.getSelection()+'';if(!Qr){void(Qr=prompt('Search%20MyLibrary:',''))};if(Qr)location.href='http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/zagreb/?cmd=search&query='+escape(Qr)">Search MyLibrary</a>
</p>

<p>
After the link is in your browser's toolbar you can click on the link and it will prompt you for a query. The query will be sent to the MyLibrary and search results will be displayed. Alternatively you can select any text in your browser's window, click the bookmarklette, and the selected text will be searched in MyLibrary.
</p>


<h2><a name="html">Syndicate content via HTML</a></h2>

<p>By creating little CGI scripts that output Javascript it is possible to enable Webmasters and other editors of HTML to incorporate MyLibrary content into whatever page they desire. Here are two examples. The first is a patron-based list of resources. Add the following HTML snippet to a page and change the value of <span style='color: red'>pid</span> to the ID number of a MyLibrary patron. When the page is load an ordered list of the patron's resources will be displayed:</p>

<blockquote><code>
<pre>&lt;!-- patron-based ordered list --&gt;
&lt;script type = 'text/javascript'
  src = 'http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/zagreb/js/?<span style='color: red'>pid=35</span>'
&lt;/script&gt;</pre>
</code></blockquote>

<p>This example works just like the previous example, but it outputs an ordered list of recommended resources for a particular term. Change the value of <span style='color: orange'>tid</span>.</p>

<blockquote><code>
<pre>&lt;!-- term-based ordered list --&gt;
&lt;script type = 'text/javascript'
  src = 'http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/zagreb/js/?<span style='color: orange'>tid=28</span>'
&lt;/script&gt;</pre>
</code></blockquote>

<h2><a name="rss">Syndicate content via RSS</a></h2>

<p>RSS -- Real Simple Syndication -- is an increasingly popular way to disseminating information. Just like everything else, a query is sent to MyLibrary and a report is returned. Here are two examples. The first will return an RSS feed including a patron's resources. Change the value of <span style='color: red'>pid</span> to correspond to the ID of a patron:</p>

<blockquote><code>
<pre><a href="http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/zagreb/rss/?pid=35">http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/zagreb/rss/?<span style='color: red'>pid=35</span></a></pre>
</code></blockquote>

<p>Similarly, you can syndicate the resources associated with a term by including <span style='color: orange'>tid</span> in the command and specifying a term ID:</p>

<blockquote><code>
<pre><a href="http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/zagreb/rss/?tid=28">http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/zagreb/rss/?<span style='color: orange'>tid=28</span></a></pre>
</code></blockquote>

<h2><a name="oai">Syndicate content via OAI</a></h2>

<p>By writing a report against the MyLibrary database in the form of OAI files and then combining these files with an additional set of Perl modules it is possible for your MyLibrary implementation to become an OAI data repository. ("Give back to the 'Net.") Try the OAI <a href="./oai/?verb=Identify">Identify</a>, <a href="./oai/?verb=ListRecords&amp;metadataPrefix=oai_dc">ListRecords</a> verbs.</p>