Dumping the OPAC #1 – The Project Spec

To go into a little more detail about what we’re hoping to achieve, here’s the project spec. Primarily, we’ll be creating a new library portal (currently dubbed “MyLibrary”) that will provide a bespoke view of key library services and will include the following planned functionality:

  1. the ability to view items on loan and renew them, and see details of current holds/requests and their status
  2. allow users to place hold requests from within Summon
  3. within Summon search results, highlight which items the user has previous borrowed
  4. provide easy access to module reading lists
  5. provide the user with a history of items they’ve borrowed previously from the library
  6. links to the relevant LibGuides for the user
  7. a feed of new items (books, journals, journal articles, etc) tailored to the modules that the student is studying, based on analysis of circulation and e-resource activity
  8. offer an opt-in service that will track usage within Summon and the link resolver, so that the user can re-run previous searches and locate articles that they’ve viewed
  9. generate bespoke “you might be interested in…” suggestions based on the user’s recent borrowing
  10. extend the functionality of the reading list software to allow students to create their own lists of items found in Summon

The new library portal will replace the existing library page within Blackboard (which is currently a static page of links) and will integrate with the student portal to provide an overview of the user’s library account.
Development work started about 2 weeks ago and the aim is to launch the initial version of the portal (with the functionality marked in bold) by mid-June. The remaining functionality will be gradually iterated into the library portal during the 2013/14 academic year.

2 thoughts on “Dumping the OPAC #1 – The Project Spec”

  1. I’ll try and post useful bits of code as we go along.
    Over the years, we’ve built up other services that the project will make use of — e.g. single sign on for library services, reading list software, etc — so the code for the project won’t really be that standalone. However, I’m sure there’ll be some useful snippets of code I can share that will save others from reinventing the wheel 🙂

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