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The Olive Tree |
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The Olive Tree |
Our In Focus section offers a glimpse into some of the resources available on the new Fogler web site. The web redesign team was chaired by Sharon Quinn Fitzgerald, Fogler's Web Coordinator. Learn more about Sharon in our "Spinning the Fogler Library Web" feature. If you haven't visited the site recently, we invite you to take a look. (http://www.library.umaine.edu/) |
| Resizing images, tracking IP addresses, learning java script, building web structures: none of these tasks were envisioned by Serials Librarian and Library Web Manager Sharon Quinn Fitzgerald when she first came to work for Fogler Library in the Original Cataloging Department. Her background in maintaining the online catalog and understanding machine readable content has led to playing a pioneer role in bringing the World Wide Web to the University of Maine.Looking back Fitzgerald remembers, "In December of 1993, a handful of University staff attended a seminar offered by UNET (then known as CAPS) to introduce the concept of the World Wide Web using the Mosaic browser. Two of us from the Library jumped at the chance to attend. We came back to our workstations and whittled away with our tiny browser file and helper applications till we finally got our little server and web page up and running. It felt like magic!" The Library was among the first on campus to have a web site and played a key role in a campus wide task force to take the first steps toward building a centralized web environment. Fitzgerald continues, "Only seven years ago, but it seems like ancient history with all that the web is capable of now and its exponential growth in and outside the academic communities where it got its start. |
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As of this writing the Fogler Library web has been through three redesigns to accommodate its continued growth in scope and functionality. Initially the information was very much that of an online brochure, stating the library hours, departmental services and providing external hyperlinks to resources freely available worldwide. The ability to link to e-mail addresses and electronic forms quickly gave the web an opportunity to be truly interactive. Forms could be used by faculty to submit book and article titles for class reserves. Interlibrary Loan requests could be accepted online from students logged on to the Internet from their dorm rooms. New titles could be recommended to the Head of Collection Development from a faculty office. The convenience of remote access to traditional library services was a major point of departure from the brochure model. |
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As Fogler builds its digital library resources, the web serves as a gateway or portal to a vast array of online resources including: full text found in electronic journals and books, audio streamed language and music files to complement faculty course offerings, reserve materials, and access to online reference through the Ask-a-Librarian service. The web is no longer a series of flat information files but rather a user-friendly front end to various databases of information built locally, such as the Maine Census Data or licensed resources such as Books in Print. "The Library looks forward to more partnerships with the teaching and research community on campus in providing central access that supports the tripartite mission of the University," notes Fitzgerald. "We can also give our users an online tour of the history of the Library through our Highlights Tour," says Fitzgerald. [http://www.library.umaine.edu/highlights/] This web within a web gives viewers an inside look at the past, present and future of the Library as well as information about key collections such as the Cohen Archives. At the heart of the web you will continue to find URSUS, our online catalog. "This is where I came in," says Fitzgerald. "And the types of materials we catalog for our users continue to grow as we now add records for online resources such as our abstract databases, locally authored Internet subject guides and yes, even the best of the web!" |