WebLUIS Task Force (WLTF) appointed in January 1997 to
advise FCLA on development of a Web version of the NOTIS/LUIS OPAC.
Included
Rich Bennett (UF), Athena Hoeppner (UCF), Judy Depew (FSU), Mary Deane
(FCLA), and Mark Hinnebusch (FCLA).
Recommendation in May 1997 WLTF report (http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/webLuis/wlrept1.html)
resulted in expansion of the WLTF to include reps from all the SUL
(including health and law libraries).
1997-1999 – WebLUIS user interface evolved via
discussions
and (mostly) consensus decisions achieved on the WEBLUIS-L
listserv.
Following the decision to acquire a new LMS to replace
NOTIS, new development of WebLUIS essentially ceased as of 2000.
NOTE: The basic WebLUIS user
interface was used by FCLA not only for SUL OPACS, but also for
delivery of a
number of commercial and free citation databases loaded at FCLA, as
well as for some of the PALMM
databases. Additional variations were developed for delivery of the
locally-loaded Elsevier journal full text (before a decision was made
to switch
to ScienceDirect), and for the Database Locator.
SELECTION OF A NEW LIBRARY MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (LMS)
February 2001: FCLA and CCLA were notified of proviso
language in the governor's budget that specified that the same LMS
software was to be used by both. Collaboration between FCLA and CCLA on
new LMS software selection began.
The SUL LMS Selection Committee process included an OPAC
group chaired by USF’s Pam Tucker; that group’s
discussions included a number of PSPC and WebLUIS Task Force members.
Knowing that there would eventually be a need for some
SUL
Aleph OPAC discussions, a decision to create a permanent PSPC OPAC
Subcommittee (to replace the “temporary” WebLUIS Task Force) was
recommended by PSPC and approved by CSUL in spring 2002.
When the decision was made for both the SUL and the
Community Colleges to acquire Aleph concurrently, there was a vision
that there should be a good deal more in the way of a common OPAC user
interface than there has turned out to be; this resulted in
establishing a joint SUL/CC OPAC
Task Force to report to the joint Aleph Implementation
Steering Committee. Rich Bennett served as
co-chair
(Bob Jones and USF’s Jim Michael were the other SUL members). That
joint group’s November 2002 report (http://www.fcla.edu/FCLAinfo/lmsimp/opactfreport.pdf
or http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/alephopac/report/)
provided the basis for a number of FCLA’s basic decisions in designing
the initial Aleph OPACS for the SUL. NOTE:
There was also a joint SUL/CC Indexing Task Force that made made
decisions about core indexes that would be applied to the SUL and CC
implementations and as well as to a joint "Giant Union Catalog" that
was envisioned
at the time.
April 2003: Decision to delay SUL implementation of
Aleph
from May 2003 until May 2004; schedule for all SUL pushed back a year.
Because the SUL implementation of Aleph needed to unfold
in three phases over 3 years (2004-2006), group involvement by the OPAC
Subcommittee was challenging (and limited). Most OPAC implementation
discussions occurred between FCLA staff and appropriate staff at each
SUL prior to their implementation of Aleph.
May-August 2004: Phase 1 Libraries UF, UNF, and UWF
migrated to Aleph.
August 18-19, 2004: Face-to-face meeting of the OPAC
Subcommittee at FCLA offices to receive background information about
the Aleph OPAC.
December 2005: PSPC asked to verify their OPAC
Subcommittee member prior to beginning significant discussions; several
reps changed.
January-February 2006: The OPAC subcommittee was
actively
getting organized to initiate systematic Aleph OPAC discussions (since
completion of all three phases of Aleph implementation was near and all
SUL would likely be very interested and active in discussions); the
subcommittee drafted a revised charge (http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/sulopac/charge_060320.html)
and Web OPAC development process (http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/sulopac/OPAC_devel_process_060320.html)
for PSPC approval and were about to embark on a comprehensive analysis
of options for improving the Aleph OPAC interface when the discussion
of alternate OPAC systems (including Endeca) was initiated by FCLA.
Rather than “spin ourwheels” discussing the Aleph OPAC (which we
hoped
could be replaced in some way), it made sense to delay discussion
further until it was determined whether or not much discussion of the
Aleph OPAC itself would really be productive and worthwhile.
May-August 2006: Phase 3 Libraries FAU, FIU, UCF, NCF
migrated to Aleph. All SUL were finally on Aleph!
ENDECA DECISION
The decision to acquire Endeca was made in June 2006 and
officially announced in July 2006.
The announced plan was for FCLA to
work independently to develop an Endeca OPAC prototype as rapidly as
possible before involving the OPAC Subcommittee (or any other group).
In anticipation of discussions planned following release
of the Endeca prototype by FCLA, multiple invitations were sent to SUL
staff inviting them to subscribe to LIBOPAC-L to participate in the
upcoming discussions. The number of
subscribers grew to 229.
The OPAC Subcommittee was able to begin working with the
Endeca prototype Union Catalog on November 8, 2007; it was then turned
over to LIBOPAC-L discussion forum on December 4, 2006. FCLA Endeca FAQ
at http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/sulopac/endeca/faq.html.
ENDECA AND ALEPH
DEVELOPMENT
December 21, 2006: Michele Newberry sent a message to
LIBOPAC-L and FCLLIST about planning for upgrading to Aleph Version 18
(including the OPAC) in 2007 and its relationship to FCLA's Endeca OPAC
development. http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/lms/version18/NewberryMessage061221.html.