February 18, 1999
In response to the growing use of links to Internet resources in the UF online catalog and consequent growing need for methods to improve the quality of that information, the charge of this group was set forth in Sept. 1998. The charge was divided into four parts.
1) Investigate available URL maintenance techniques, compare advantages and disadvantages of each for use locally and recommend the technique(s) which seems most suitable for use.
Cecilia and Daniel researched the available linkchecking softwares and acquired trial versions and tested several of them. We were fortunate that FCLA generates a report on a weekly basis listing all the links in our catalog. This enables us to run a linkchecker on that report. We first acquired and tested the InfoLink checker which had the advantages of low cost and not requiring other software; but eventually did not prove adequate for checking the large files of links from our catalog. Our next choice was LinkBot which was more expensive. This software performed well for us. The entire group tested the results and felt the report generated by LinkBot contained valid and useful information, but was not in an ideal form for further processing of bad links. We felt it would be useful if FCLA would alter their weekly report to sort the items by partition, and they did so when Cecilia contacted them at our request. They also eliminated the Elsevier links (which are maintained by FCLA and are not able to be checked by our linkcheckers) from our report. Lawan developed a procedure for moving the LinkBot report into an Excel spreadsheet and manipulating the data to give a very concise and usable report. Thus, we have found that the FCLA weekly report by partition run on the LinkBot checker and subsequently processed using Excel produces a very satisfactory report.
2) Refine guidelines for adding URLs to WebLUIS records.
The revised Guidelines for the Use of 856 Fields in LUIS document is attached. The previous guidelines had become outdated due to changes in MARC coding of the 856 fields, the hotlinking of the call number area in WebLUIS, and also the need for expansion to describe maintenance processes. There were additional minor changes in wording.
3) Refine guidelines for maintaining URLs on WebLUIS records.
The UMTG worked aggressively to identify and promote the correction of bad links. As recorded in the guidelines referred to above, the Database Maintenance Unit of the Resource Services Department (Much gratitude is due to Lawan Orser and Jerry Molina), has accepted responsibility for generating the broken link report and distributing it to the appropriate processing units in Smathers and in the Health Center and Legal Information Center on a monthly basis. The Documents Department takes responsibility for correcting the broken links in the UD partition. The great majority of links both good and bad are federal documents, so this has been an enormous task, and Documents staff (especially Mary Gay Anderson as part of the task group and Carol Harris who actually corrects the UD records) are to be highly complimented on their achievements so far in eliminating broken links from the catalog. In October 1660 broken html links were reported for all locations in the UF institution group, while in the February report there were only 265. Contacts in the Legal Information Center and in the Health Center Library have expressed appreciation for being provided with their lists of broken links and have used them to reduce the problems in their partitions. UF partition broken links are given to Peter Bushnell who looks at each and makes repairs or refers the record to the appropriate cataloger or to the Serials Unit.
The previous method of expressing location for Internet resources was to use the location display "Electronic Resource" with a message in the call number field "See LINKS." When "See LINKS" became a hot-linked index in WebLUIS, an undesirably deceptive situation for the patron was created. In order to remedy this the group held repeated discussions and incorporated the input of Rich Bennett and public services staff. The group also benefited from Priscilla and Lawan's public service insights into the difficulties faced by patrons in using Internet resources through the catalog. The solution that has emerged and, through Rich's invaluable assistance, been endorsed by public services staff is to change the location display to "See LINKS to connect," omit the message in the call number field and use X in the class code. (We also sought input on desirability of using class numbers for Internet resources, and found it not to be endorsed by public services staff). The location display change for locations "elec" and "elec,jour" will be accomplished in the near future, while the change for "docs,elec" will be postponed until current difficulties with loading of MARCIVE tapes have been resolved. When the new display is implemented, we recommend a cleanup project to bring older records into the new practice. This will involve correction of 618 UF records, and eventually also 3129 UD records.
4) Recommend plan for registering and maintaining URLs created for UF digitally created titles.
The group discussed this repeatedly. We recommend use of an 035 field in LUIS for digitized library resources in the catalog as described by Erich Kesse for the Florida Heritage Project. We also recommend that catalogers of UF digitally created titles create and maintain PURLS using the OCLC PURL system. Daniel Cromwell gave the group a brief training in this simple process, and we feel it would be beneficial and cost-effective.
The URL Maintenance Task Group met on a weekly basis during the past 6 months to discuss issues and developments concerned with accomplishment of our charge. We feel that it would prove beneficial if a similarly constituted group would meet every month or two to keep on top of issues and problems that will arise in the area of Internet links in the catalog. The monthly procedures for identifying, reporting and correcting broken links are expected to be very effective. The cleanup project for eliminating the "See LINK" index from the public catalog will be able to be performed using macros in an efficient manner. Catalogers will need a brief training in creation of PURLS for UF digitally created titles, and will also need increased communication with managers of UF Internet resources to be able to better resolve problems when sites change or are deleted. Lawan, Daniel and Jerry are preparing a poster session based on some of these applications for presentation at the ALA meeting this summer. We appreciate the assistance of Rich Bennett, Dot Hope, Robert Brown, Peter Bushnell and Erich Kesse.
Respectfully submitted,
URL Maintenance Task GroupMembers: Jimmie Lundgren (facilitator), Cecilia Botero, Daniel Cromwell, Lawan Orser, Mary Gay Anderson, Priscilla Williams
Last updated: June 1, 1999
