Hi,

One approach to the UI might be to use Cooliris (was piclens) and generate 
a media rss file in call number order.  It's limited (to people who have 
installed cooliris) but it's essentially a coverflow.   You can do other 
things within the browser, but few are going to feel as immediate and 
tranparent to the user.

Again, maybe not for all users, but maybe a cool enhanced version for a 
subset.

Generating that media rss file may get tricky (you need uris to thumbs and 
"fulls") depending on the API from, and agreements with syndetics.

-t

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008, Charles Antoine Julien, Mr wrote:

> I've done some work this.
>
>
> " What I don't know is whether there are any indexing / SQL / query techniques that could be used to browse forward and backword in an index like this."
>
> Depending on what you want to do exactly, yes.  Look at
>
> Querying Ontologies in Relational Database Systems - ►hu-berlin.de [PDF]
> S Trissl, U Leser - LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, 2005 - Springer
>
> If you need more you're looking at CS literature concerning treatment of graphs, directed graphs, cyclical, transitive closure, etc.
>
> This can all be done without to much difficulty but as Nate pointed out updating the data is a problem...I've not tackled that part but there is much literature on dynamic graphs and I'm assuming this could also be adequately solved.
>
>> a decent UI is probably going to be a bigger job
>
> Yes, that's the real issue.  Could call numbers be placed within a hierarchy?  Then display this in an outline view (Windows Explorer) that is also item searchable?  Seems to me there is structure in the call numbers that is hidden in current UIs.  I also think the actual "Call number" should disappear and replaced by a textual label describing what the numbers mean.
>
> Fun stuff to think about...
>
> Charles-Antoine
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Emily Lynema
> Sent: September 17, 2008 11:46 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] creating call number browse
>
> Hey all,
>
> I would love to tackle the issue of creating a really cool call number
> browse tool that utilizes book covers, etc. However, I'd like to do this
> outside of my ILS/OPAC. What I don't know is whether there are any
> indexing / SQL / query techniques that could be used to browse forward
> and backword in an index like this.
>
> Has anyone else worked on developing a tool like this outside of the
> OPAC? I guess I would be perfectly happy even if it was something I
> could build directly on top of the ILS database and its indexes (we use
> SirsiDynix Unicorn).
>
> I wanted to throw a feeler out there before trying to dream up some wild
> scheme on my own.
>
> -emily
>
> P.S. The version of BiblioCommons released at Oakville Public Library
> has a sweet call number browse function accessible from the full record
> page. I would love to know know how that was accomplished.
>
> http://opl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1413841_mars
>
> -- 
> Emily Lynema
> Systems Librarian for Digital Projects
> Information Technology, NCSU Libraries
> 919-513-8031
> [log in to unmask]
>
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