Libology’s Scriblio installation.
Scriblio, the open-source Library OPAC that runs on a WordPress installation, has been installed on Libology. Several notes about this software installation:
- The library catalog contained within this installation of Scriblio is Capital University’s, located in Columbus, Ohio. I could have used any of dozens of libraries, but since I work there, it made sense to create something I could use on a regular basis.
- The software is fairly close to the default installation, although I plan to tweak the design over the next few weeks. I have several projects on my plate, and I am happy to have reached a “live” status for this, so I may put it aside while I finish the book.
- Many of the links, especially the related subject and author links, do not work. I haven’t looked into this yet, so it may be something I didn’t do, or activate, or something.
- It runs very slowly, most of the time. I am not sure how much of this is due to my hosting service’s specs (a new service, for me), how much is due to database clutter (I have neither indexed the tables, nor adjusted the cache settings yet), or how much is due to factors in how I set it up. The database is about 2GB, so I would imagine that it might take a bit of time to conduct a search.
- Most of the time delay over the past couple of weeks has been due to my chasing a ghost in the php code. I had been attempting to set up the “real time status” reporting (this tells the location, call number, and availability of each item), and couldn’t get it to work. As I am relatively new to php, I assumed that I was missing something there. It wasn’t until I decided to try to work backwards and find the reference in the html code that I found out that it wasn’t working because it was made invisible via the style sheet. From there it was a very quick fix.
- To see a very well implemented Scriblio installation, check out Plymouth State University’s Lampson Library’s OPAC. They have nearly twice the number of records in their system, but their response time is much faster. They have also done a great job with the page layout… very little wasted space.
My feeling about the software, at this particular point, is that it is an incredible demonstration of what can be done with a solid piece of software (WordPress) and some well-focused creativity. Casey Bisson and the rest of the people who created this software have done a terrific job.
The downside is that it seemed, to me, harder than it should have been to get my installation this far. To set things up properly one needed be comfortable working with WordPress, PHP, HTML, and CSS. And this is only to get everything installed, imported, and configured to show the real-time status of the items. I am not complaining… this is a young project, and what might be easy for one library (or one developer) might be tougher for others.
So, the question is : should you try to do this. If you are interested, I say go for it! If you have ever installed WordPress before, then there isn’t much that won’t be familiar (mostly editing URLs in PHP and editing a style sheet). This is a great way to push your own envelope, and to learn a few things along the way. This has certainly been a good learning experience for me….
