Portals in Libraries Symposium: Current State of Portals in Libraries Robert H. McDonald Assistant Director of Libraries for Technology Florida State University June 26, 2004 Orlando, FL online at:

Current State of Portals

Agenda: Environmental Scan Portals in Libraries2 Portals in Higher Education3 Overview1 Summary4 Questions5

Overview Portals in Libraries –Higher Education – Accenture Survey Definition Gateway that provides a single point of entry to information and tools. Web-based aggregation point. Targeted User Groups. My “homepage” or “library” Easy to use. Accessible from anywhere anytime.

Overview Portals in Libraries –Higher Education Information Channel within a University Portal Stand Alone Customizable/Personal EResource Portal Set of personalized Web Services Provided by a Library to interact with any or all of the above.

Agenda: Environmental Scan Portals in Libraries2 Portals in Higher Education3 Overview1 Summary4 Questions5

Library Portal Information Channels Customizable Library EResources/Services EJournal Lists, New Book Lists, Indexing and Fulltext Database Links, Book Renewal Course Management Integration Integration of specific Eresources/Services with Course Management Systems ex. WebCt, Blackboard, Desire2Learn MetaSearch Services This can be tied to a MetaSearch Service that includes relevance ranking and de-duping or can be a drop down of web based search services. University Web Services Web Services tied to course registration, financial services, documents on demand or extracurricular associations such as sports ticketing. Web Browser Authentication

User IdentityInstitutional Identity Web Search of Campus and Departmental Web Pages Student/Customer Ecommerce Web Services Course SyllabiCourse GradesTranscriptsCourse Fees INSTITUTIONALINSTITUTIONAL WEBLINKSWEBLINKS Institutional and Departmental Announcements Customizable News Feeds Library Portal Feeds/Links Library MetaSearch Tools Individualized Announcements

Portals in Libraries Customizable EResource Portals –MyLibrary (NCSU) Discipline Based Organization –Scout Portal Toolkit (Internet Scout Project) Collection Based Organization –phpWebSite (Open Source) Web Content Based Organization

Portals in Libraries Integrated Web Services –Integration with Campus Portal Royal Holloway University - London – New Books RSS Feed/SCT Luminis –Integration with Course Management Systems University of Maryland – WebCT/Metalib –Integration with Course Reserve Systems University of Rochester – HTML/MyLibrary

Portals in Libraries MetaSearch Systems with Portal Features –Iowa State University ZPortal –Kansas State University Encompass –University of Maryland Metalib

Agenda: Environmental Scan Portals in Libraries2 Portals in Higher Education3 Overview1 Summary4 Questions5

Portals in Higher Education Customizable Institutional Portals –UPortal (Open-Source) Cornell University –SCT Luminus (Proprietary) Royal Holloway University –Locally Developed Systems - MyUW University of Washington

Agenda: Environmental Scan Portals in Libraries2 Portals in Higher Education3 Overview1 Summary4 Questions5

Summary More Libraries are working with portal type features – Not just for the interested 10% but for all customers. –The “KillerApp” Idea must be rethought with this integration. –If we force all constituents through a portal? ex. Need=Use Needing Access to Grades will drive use of easily available library EResources.

Summary Many Parent Institutions – (Universities/Municipalities) are starting to work with portal concepts for their customers who expect ecommerce web services.

Summary Work must be done with integrating library portal systems as Web Services within Institutional Portals or via other standards yet to be named. Early Adopters will ensure that the Library has a channel within the parent institution portal.

Portal Working Groups ARL Scholar’s Portal Project – ARMPIG (ARL Metalib Portal Interest Group) – Java Architectures Special Interest Group (uPortal) –

Agenda: Environmental Scan Portals in Libraries2 Portals in Higher Education3 Overview1 Summary4 Questions5