|
|
more AJAX
4:17 PM EDT 9/29/06
For those of you who might have heard of AJAX, but haven't yet dived into figuring out just what exactly it is, BlogJunction has a great "introductory" post that just showed up in my RSS reader this morning!! It's at http://blog.webjunctionworks.org/?p=263 and it gives a very nice introduction to the concepts of AJAX and how they can be used in libraries. I've done a couple of AJAXy things, but nothing on my library's website yet - I'm just not coming up with any great ideas that aren't using AJAX just for technology's sake. Anyone out there have any good library uses of AJAX they want to share?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
12:26 PM EDT 8/17/06
as a reply to Robin Hastings.
That's funny --Dale (who posted the AJAX info on BlogJunction) sits 10 feet from me and yet I heard about his post first here in this fourm. News travels at cyber-speed. ;)
I'm a fan of the "Head First" books for learning programming. They use a lot of lively images with captions to convey key concepts in a freindly and very readable way. I learned recently that that wonderful blog [url http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/ ]Creating Passionate Users[/url] is written by some of the folks who write the Head First series. There is an edition on [url http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596102259/sr=8-1/qid=1155831138/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-2026430-7841601?ie=UTF8 ]Head Rush AJAX[/url].
I too don't have the imagination at this time to think of anything to do with AJAX on our site. I guess I need to see more examples of what others are doing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
1:36 PM EDT 8/17/06
as a reply to Betha Gutsche.
I've used that book - Head Rush AJAX - and it's fabulous!! It's great for teaching the concepts, not so great for sparking ideas, though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
4:30 PM EDT 8/17/06
as a reply to Betha Gutsche.
Well, to start with, there is the Member Directory - compare and contrast our WJ Member directory with the <a href="http://www.wisc.edu/directories/?name=">University of Wisconsin staff directory</a>.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
1:34 PM EDT 8/18/06
as a reply to Dale Musselman.
I get it --that is a cool idea! Now, if only it was within my powers to implement it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
5:11 PM EDT 8/23/06
as a reply to Robin Hastings.
Yes, I have found a perfect application for it for staff -- if you use a WordPress blog, the latest version comes with a built-in Ajaxified editor (TinyMCE). It enables staff to highlight a phrase and paste in a URL in order to create a link in a blog entry -- no need to type or even see any raw HTML at all. This is Very Very Good for enabling more librarians to participate in developing web site content for their patrons.
The kind of application of Ajax that I really like for the public is in search and display interfaces, e.g., on an OPAC or the web site. II would love to be able to roll out a UI like SweetRate.com http://gumball.sweetrate.com/search/compare/hotels/ -- do a search, then watch how the results dynamically change in the page as you pull the sliders for hotel price, hotel rating, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
5:33 PM EDT 8/23/06
as a reply to Genny Engel.
Hi genny - welcome! I haven't upgraded my personal Wordpress blog yet, so I hadn't noticed the addition of TinyMCE. That is cool!! Modifying search via AJAX would be very, very nifty! I figure the OPAC is a natural first choice for AJAXifying our site, but trying to build a slider-type interface myself seems daunting and I'm not familiar enough with the big libraries (Dojo, Prototype, etc.) to know if it would be easier to do it using one of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
7:49 PM EDT 8/23/06
as a reply to Robin Hastings.
I just came across this [url http://www.maxkiesler.com/index.php/weblog/comments/round_up_of_30_ajax_tutorials/ ]Round-up of 30 AJAX Tutorials[/url]. It looks cool, but I'll have to leave it those more knowledgable than I to figure out which ones are really useful for libraries.
This one on [url http://wiki.xajaxproject.org/Tutorials:Learn_xajax_in_10_Minutes ]Learn xajax in 10 Minutes[/url] sounds intriguing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
9:28 AM EDT 8/24/06
as a reply to Betha Gutsche.
Betha - the <a href="http://www.webreference.com/programming/javascript/ncz/index.html">Creating an Autosuggest Textbox with JavaScript</a> looks interesting, too. This looks like a way to create that Member Directory box mentioned in a previous post.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
11:09 AM EDT 9/26/06
as a reply to Robin Hastings.
As an answer to my own question, I just found out about OJAX - an AJAX-enabled meta-search interface. It's open-source and downloadable from <a href="http://ojax.sourceforge.net/demo.html">Sourceforge</a>. There are some great ideas (with code to implement them!!) in this package - everything from "search ahead" technology in the search box to instant "detail" views of the results when you mouse over them. Check out the online demo - it's pretty cool!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
1:09 PM EDT 9/26/06
as a reply to Robin Hastings.
I just did a web page workshop on Saturday where we showed librarians how to set up start or special interest pages for their libraries in Protopage. This is a mock page I set up as an example:
[url http://protopage.com/mslbillings ]http://protopage.com/mslbillings[/url]
It's free and it's easy to create and update and doesn't require any programming expertise, which is lacking at our small rural libraries.
Suzanne
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: AJAX
3:56 PM EDT 9/27/06
as a reply to Suzanne Reymer.
Suzanne, this looks like fun!
I checked out the [url http://protopage.com/untitled-20j3d3k2grpl6wlxy6mlyirf5zywjqvwx7d5b0aa ]template provided[/url]. It looks like the weather feed, the search engine list, and quick links are all pre-programmed pieces that are easy to edit for your own purpose. Is it really as easy as it looks?
I'm curious where you got the iconized image of (presumably) yourself. How do you do that?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: more AJAX
4:33 PM EDT 9/29/06
as a reply to Robin Hastings.
I just noticed that we had two threads titled "AJAX" --this one and [url /forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2355&tstart=0 ]this one[/url]! Since the other one started a year ago, I decided to rename this one "more AJAX" --just a bit of housekeeping. I sure hope it doesn't interrupt the flow of ideas and comments. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: more AJAX
12:05 PM EST 11/4/06
as a reply to Robin Hastings.
Found this way-cool [url http://www.coverpop.com/visco.php ]mashup of books[/url]!
It's kind of a cataloger's nightmare, not to mention a library shelver's freakout, but it's fun and interactive. It's possible to sort by category, although the author is obviously not a librarian --his arrangement is more folksonomous than LOC.
A comment from the site:
"A neat interface... Perfect for anyone who has hours and hours of their life to kill off."
|
|
|
|
