Subject: [CODE4LIB] Database browsing/finding applications

From: Derik Badman <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:55:46 -0400

Is anyone aware of any open source programs for managing public access to
databases? That is, something with browse, search, subjects, etc. for
inclusion in a library website.

I'm having trouble searching for such a thing, as I'm not even sure what it
would be called (ERM does not seem to bring up the public side of e-resource
management).

-- 
Derik A. Badman
Digital Services Librarian
Reference Librarian for Education and Social Work
Temple University Libraries
Paley Library 209
Philadelphia, PA
Phone: 215-204-5250
Email/GTalk: [email-masked]

"Research makes times march forward, it makes time march backward, and it
also makes time stand still." -Greil Marcus

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From: Joe Hourcle <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:25:45 -0400

> would be called (ERM does not seem to bring up the public side of e-resource

I'm not sure what exactly you're asking for.

The generic term for database frontends without much application-specific 
logic in them are 'CRUD applications', but that assumes more than just 
read-only access. (CRUD == Create, Read, Update, Delete).

Other terms to use in searching are 'MVC framework' (and insert whatever 
programming language you're most comfortable in).

...

If you're asking for something that handles the access to multiple 
discrete databases, I'm not sure what the various terms are used in 
libraries.  We refer to 'federated search' in the science informatics, but 
that makes an assumption that you're normalizing the records to create a 
unified result set.

I think that the XC project is going to handle some aspects of this, and 
their FAQ seems to suggest it, too:

 	http://www.extensiblecatalog.org/faq#n510

... but I don't know how close to complete the features that you might 
want are currently.  (but they'd probably welcome the help).

...

You might also look through the OSS4LIB website:

 	http://oss4lib.org/

-Joe

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From: Derik Badman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:52:47 -0400

Sorry, I wasn't clear there, I meant public access research databases
(Ebsco, proquest, etc.). Someone kindly directed me to SubjectsPlus:
http://ithacalibrary.com/subsplus/

Which I think will fit the bill (or at least be a start).

On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:25 AM, Joe Hourcle <[email-masked]
> wrote:

> If you're asking for something that handles the access to multiple discrete
> databases, I'm not sure what the various terms are used in libraries.  We
> refer to 'federated search' in the science informatics, but that makes an
> assumption that you're normalizing the records to create a unified result
> set.
>
> ... but I don't know how close to complete the features that you might want
> are currently.  (but they'd probably welcome the help).
>
> ...
>