SFX Documentation

Citation Linker gets a facelift

Almost two weeks ago, Citation Linker suddenly looked different. You may not have noticed, but I thought I should tell you a little about what has changed, and why.

First, here's a brief summary of the differences you'll see in the newer version:

• Journal Title search defaults to "Begins with" instead of "Contains"
• ISSN appears directly under Journal Title
• Improved Date handling through manual entry or pull-down choices
• Author Name and Article Title fields have been removed
• DOI and PMID fields have been added
• Simple instructions attempt to indicate what fields the user should complete

I made these changes to our SFX test instance over the course of three or four weeks. I solicited feedback about all the changes (especially the radical ones) from the Public Services email list and the Library Interfaces Team. Didn't get a chance to comment before implementation? Now's your chance. Want to know the whys and wherefores? Read on.

SFX's summer tan

Because everyone looks a little younger and fresher at the end of the summer, right? So does SFX.
This week we leaned hard on two of the big changes we've been working on for a while. Many details are below....

Multiple Object Menu

The Multiple Object Menu is finally stylin', and off the whiteboard!
The modified template files for this menu are located at:
/exlibris/sfx_ver/sfx_version_3/<instance>/templates/multiobject/head.tmpl
<instance>/templates/multiobject/main.tmpl
<instance>/templates/multiobject/tail.tmpl

The original templates were not deleted. They are:
<instance>/templates/multiobject/head-bak.tmpl
<instance>/templates/multiobject/main-bak.tmpl
<instance>/templates/multiobject/tail-bak.tmpl
To re-implement them (shudder), one would need to rename them and re-establish the symbolic link with the same templates in sfxglb3.

Here are the changes made to each template.
.../multiobject/head.tmpl contains the html header and a brief body: the Get It @ K-State banner image and language selection option:

• Added metadata to header matching metadata in SFX Menu: <instance>/templates/sfxmenu/banner.tmpl
• Changed page title in header
• Inserted properties matching Get It @ K-State banner to same image in SFX Menu: align left, specify height, width, border, add Alt tag and text
• Inserted javascript auto resize, matching window behavior to SFX Menu's resize behavior
• Commented out language selection option

...multiobject/main.tmpl contains the tables and template scripts forming the menu's body. Dale helped me make these changes:

• Modified container table properties to match SFX Menu page left alignment
• Commented out unwanted page elements: "Close" link at top right of menu; "Display _ records per page" line at top of menu
• Created "PICK" icon to replace SFX logo icon; saved pick.gif to <instance>/templates/img/citation/pick.gif; redirected main.tmpl to this logo
• Resized container tables to accept "PICK" icon from 90% width to 95% width
• Modified alignment properties for cell containing "Title:"; text was centering on wrapped title elements in second column; now stays aligned at top of cell

.../multiobject/tail.tmpl contains the page footer:

• Modified footer text to match SFX Menu footer text; Dale updated copyright date
• Modified footer properties to match SFX Menu footer: cell height, alignment, class

All changes were made in sfxtst3, and will roll to sfxlcl3 overnight.

Citation Linker is live!

Citation Linker, which allows anyone with an article citation to enter part of it and look for a full text copy, is now available from all database pages. Try it out!

It still has a small bug I'd like to fix, but it isn't significant enough to delay its general release. It concerns the attributes of the services menu popup.