Verde workshop: Lots of good information, much more detailed demo than what ExL showed on campus a few months ago. ExL has tried to stay as close as possible to the DLF specs. The database can be populated with data from SFX, and includes links between both SFX and Aleph (v. 16 & 17), with plans to add linking with MetaLib in the future. The product is still in beta testing, but looks quite promising.
MetaLib interface: There were several presentations related to various aspects of the MetaLib interface. The word is that customization is both necessary and difficult. Usability tests at three different universities made staff aware of difficulties with the default interface, but most institutions that customize have experienced or expect to experience considerable difficulty with patches and upgrades. Carla Lillvik gave a presentation about Harvard’s customizations and their decision-making process. Their MetaLib installation will go live on June 30.
There is much lobbying of ExL all around for better default code and an easier upgrade path, which should not come as a surprise to Aleph customers.
SFX Innovations: Several interesting presentations were given on what people are doing with SFX. One that drew lots of cheers from the audience was David Walker’s inclusion of dynamic print availability (based on holdings rather than just ISSN, which is what we have currently) and a “How Do I Find It?” feature that maps out the print location and tells the user how to get there based on his or her IP address! Another very interesting tool is the Wag the Dog Web Localizer, which not only adds SFX links to Google Scholar, but also adds proxy information to links and checks for holdings in the local catalog.