Information Takes Over

Announcing:

New draft of the self-description microformat

I am looking for volunteers :), who would be willing to have a go at marking their existing website collection descriptions using the self-description microformat. Any takers?  Leave a comment, or email me and I will be in touch.

If you are not sure what this self-description thing is; it is a way to take an existing description of a collection and use very simple html to mark-up discreet pieces of information.  See selfdescription.org for more info.

Announcing a new version of the getlibraries script! This follows a similar pattern to the last version, and can be seen inaction here on the Herefordshire Libraries website.

On the info windows, you will now see a little blowup map of the library location, and an [edit] link which will take you directly into the silkworm directory and show you a page for that location.  Assuming you have a user login with the directory, you can edit anything that is wrong and it will be reflected in the map within moments.
Installation

1. Download getlibraries version 2
2. The text file simply contains the query, and you will need to pop your library’s identifier in there.
3. The js file will need your Talis API key, and the path to getlibraries-v2-sparql.txt
4. upload these to your server.
5. Add a script tag in your html page with the getlibraries-v2.js as the src attribute.
6. Remember that you need to have a google maps API key and a script tag pointing there as well - see http://www.google.com/apis/maps/.
7. Add a div to your page with attribute id=”map”.  You will probably want to add a style attribute too with the width and height defined.

Most changes are behind the scenes, i.e. handling of single locations and handling of locations that have no geodata.

I’m indebted to Sam Tunnicliffe of Talis who informed me, after I posted about the last version, that they had just enabled a new JSON ouput option for the SPARQL endpoint, and also added a query_uri parameter so that long queries (like one of mine!) can be passed without bumping up against the maximum length restrictions of GET requests (see the docs..).  He has also troubleshooted a few teething troubles: mostly because of my unfamiliarity with the SPARQL language.

Technorati Tags: MUTL06, Silkworm, Talis, Google Maps, JSON, SPARQL, getlibraries

It’s been quiet here at ITO while I get on with little things like a dissertation. As a reward for days spent reading schema documents, I have been having a fiddle with Google maps and the Silkworm directory from Talis.

Here’s wot I got… getlibraries LibMap - sounds better!
A multi-library google map - the map in action on a real page!

Firstly, there’s one javascript file which when called from a web page using an xhtml script tag will form a query with your parameters and send it to the TPA SPARQL endpoint. the result is fired and recieved at the same time using Dynode style cross-domain scripting method (I didn’t use the dynode script, just the essense of the technique). The Parameters that you can set within the .js file are as follows:

• key = Talis Api Key
• identifier = identifier of a libraries collection (with more than one library*) from the Silkworm directory.
• xsl = the URL to the XSL stylesheet explained next.

*At the moment the script will not cope with a single location, but I’m working on that.

Secondly, there’s one XSLT file which is submitted along with a SPARQL request to the Talis Platform Api (TPA) SPARQL endpoint. This reformats the RDF output into a javascript file that encapsulates the data as a JSON object, invokes a new map container and iterates through the JSON object, showing details for all libraries found by the SPARQL query.

Thirdly - and lastly, there is a small amount of code to go IN your web page, whatever your webpage may be. first is a script tag, which points to getlibraries.js. the second is a DIV tag with an id=”map” attribute. You can also set the height and width attributes to define the size of container that Google Maps will use. More instructions are in the .js file.
And that is it!

the getlibraries.js script writes another script tag that calls the data from the TPA. The javascript file can be edited to include your TPA key, the silkworm identifier for your library and the location of your copy of the XSLT file.

1. Put the code in your page
2. Edit the js file
3. Put the js and xsl files on your server
4. Job done!

I don’t for a moment think it worthy of the Mashuing Up The Library competition, but give it a go and let me know!

A note on browsers - I have tested this in Firefox 1.5.0.4 and in IE 6. It would be interesting to know if there are any problems with other browsers?

Download here… getlibraries.zip

Technorati Tags: AJAX, silkworm, talis, google maps, MUTL06, talis platform, tdn

This post has been some time in the writing as I try to gather together some thoughts, and divine meaning from the murky green depths of the Library 2.0 cauldron…

See Also: A Library 2.0 hangover
I have spent the last week or so reading and thinking a lot about “Library 2.0″; what it means, how useful the term is, and so on. I capped off the binge Monday with a reading of Walt Crawford’s 32-page special issue of Cites & Insights titled Library 2.0 and “Library 2.0″

You are not the only one reading Walt Crawford. (thanks also to TangognaT)

I feel strangely sullied, as if I had seen a good idea, eulogised on it, only to find that other people thought it was something else, and I had got the wrong end of the stick. Perhaps I need to ask more questions earlier?

Perhaps there really is more to do in our libraries than we had thought, and the fear of being left behind has kick started our desire to make everything better. Reading through Walt Crawford’s cites and insights shows a myriad of good ideas spread all over the library, but tagged with the same Library 2.0 ticket.

And now, having just read David King discussing the confrontational aspects of Library 2.0 we begin to see why this reaction might be. That same fear that galvanises some of us, is battening down the hatches in others.

The next set of questions:

• Are the people advocating a technology shift the people who have the power and the influence to do it, or do we still have a lot of persuading to do?
• Where do we want to start with the changes?
• Do we want to start everything all at once?
• Do we (more practically) change what we can, when we can, while keeping an open eye and mind to what is happening elsewhere in the world?
• If there is any line in the sand, surely the line is drawn between those whose fear drives action, and those who put heads in sand?

Technorati Tags: Library 2.0

see tags here! )