SubjectsPlus is, essentially, a free equivalent of LibGuides. My previous
institution uses it for subject and course guides because we didn't want to
pay for a Springshare subscription:
https://subsplus.trnty.edu/subjects/guide.php?subject=home (We didn't like
the built-in landing page, so the 'home' page is itself a guide.)
I confess I am baffled why the continued duplication of the database and
subject specialist information is the desired outcome in this question.
What you want to do ("assist patrons in identifying where they might find
good information on a topic of interest and which subject
librarian/specialist would be most likely able to provide further
assistance") is the service LibGuides provides.
We use LibGuides as the centralized point of information for our databases
(because it provides more control over the content and presentation than
the database list functionality in Alma/Primo):
https://guides.library.georgetown.edu/az.php. The layout and display
of our research/course
guides <https://guides.library.georgetown.edu/researchcourseguides> are
kept reasonably consistent by internal templates and policies, plus
training provided to the staff creating the guides.
~Cindy
--
Cindy Bowen
Systems Librarian
Georgetown University
[log in to unmask]
she/her/hers
On Thu, Aug 25, 2022 at 12:50 PM Dan Scott <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> SubjectsPlus (https://github.com/subjectsplus/SubjectsPlus/ ) includes a
> database A-Z list which looks like it would meet your needs, based on this
> example in the wild :
> https://research.library.oakland.edu/sp/subjects/databases.php
>
> I think you can hide the rest of SubjectsPlus functionality fairly easily
> if you don't want the Guides, Staff List, etc.
>
> My former (and dearly missed) colleague Kevin Beswick and I built
> database-of-databases functionality as a Drupal customization (one part of
> the overall library website) using a custom "Database" content type (fields
> like Proxy? (boolean), trial (boolean), start date, end date, description,
> public alert note, internal note, resource types (populated by 0 or more
> types such as newspaper, video, journal article, etc)) and a custom
> Database List content type that lets you create arbitrary collections of
> databases (for example, a "Recommended starting databases for Psychology"
> list).
>
> It's still running a decade later and spits out JSON that's useful for
> integrations elsewhere, but I wouldn't recommend Drupal for your limited
> scope. Certainly not if you're looking for a better relational database
> design.
>
> On Wed, Aug 24, 2022 at 4:45 PM Hammer, Erich F <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > (I'm relatively new to the library world, so please excuse any ignorance
> I
> > may display here.)
> >
> > We have a (poorly constructed) legacy database that holds/connects our
> > myriad of online resources to subjects and specialists. The webpage
> front
> > end is our "DBfinder" to assist patrons in identifying where they might
> > find good information on a topic of interest and which subject
> > librarian/specialist would be most likely able to provide further
> > assistance. It gives us (and subject librarians) the ability to
> highlight
> > better resources while keeping the interface consistent for all of it
> > (which our LibGuides is not very good at given the wide disparity in
> > subject librarian technical and presentation skills).
> >
> > We are trying/hoping to design a much better relational database for this
> > that will make the code and logic behind the web application and
> front-end
> > display much more efficient and organized. None of us are DBAs, so I am
> > nervous as we delve into designing/building something and
> > identifying/discussing all the many-to-many relationships that our
> efforts
> > may end up also poorly designed (although it's hard to imagine it would
> be
> > worse). Thus I thought it would be worth asking about.
> >
> > Does anyone here has something similar (a "DBfinder") that is working
> > (well) for them? Would you be willing to share the relationship
> > diagram/structure of the DB so we can think about what works for someone
> > else (and maybe base ours off of some of it)?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Erich
> >
> >
> > --
> > Erich Hammer Head of Library Systems
> > [log in to unmask] University Libraries
> > 518-442-3891 University @ Albany
> >
> > "Without doubt you are not sane." -- Tage Danielsson
> >
>
