You could do something like what I did and run your own data backend and use
whatever you need to/have to to display content.

Our website is just static HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Everything
dynamic/data-powered is javascript that is pulling from a centralized API
(written using grape: http://intridea.github.io/grape/). We can move the
website to some cloud provider, into a central IT-managed system, or
elsewhere and it won't break.

I originally presented the concept at code4lib 2011 (slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/MrDys/lets-get-small-a-microservices-approach-to-l
ibrary-websites), but it's in production now.

-Sean

On 8/14/13 9:21 AM, "Joshua Welker" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Does anyone have any suggestions as to where the library should or should
> not compromise when it comes to using an institutional CMS rather than a
> custom library one? We are going through this process right now. Our web
> pages are currently all in static HTML and LibGuides. I am wanting to move
> to Drupal, and campus IT wants us to move to their Adobe Contribute
> platform. AFAIK, Contribute does not allow for any server-side scripting
> and does not have any sort of plugin system, and I am very concerned that
> Contribute would harm the library's ability to effectively integrate its
> online resources into a single web portal (server-side caching, indexes,
> scheduled tasks, etc).
> 
> I know the answer to this question is "it depends," but I am hoping others
> can share the fruits of their experience.
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> Josh Welker
> Information Technology Librarian
> James C. Kirkpatrick Library
> University of Central Missouri
> Warrensburg, MO 64093
> JCKL 2260
> 660.543.8022
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Jimmy Ghaphery
> Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 5:49 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] LibGuides: I don't get it
> 
> I have followed this thread with great interest. In 2011 Erin White and I
> researched many of the issues the group has been hitting on, demonstrating
> the popularity of LibGuides in ARL libraries, the locus of control outside
> of systems' departments, and the state of content policies.[1]
> 
> Our most challenging statement in the article to the library tech
> community (which was watered down a bit in the peer review process) was
> "The popularity of LibGuides, at its heart a specialized content
> management system, also calls into question the vitality and/or
> adaptability of local content management system implementations in
> libraries."
> 
> One of the biggest challenges I see toward creating a non-commercial
> alternative is that the library code community is so dispersed in the
> various institutions that it makes it difficult to get away from the
> download tar.gz model. Are our institutions ready to collaborate across
> themselves such that there could be a shared SaaS model (of anything
> really) that libraries could subscribe/contribute to? The barriers here
> certainly aren't technological, but more along the lines of policy,
> governance, etc.
> 
> As for Research Guides in general, I see a very clear divide in the
> public/tech communities not only on platform but more philosophical. From
> the tech side once it is all boiled down, heck why do you even need a
> third party system; catalog the databases with some type of local genres
> and push out an api/xml feeds to various disciplines. From the public side
> there is a long lineage of individually curated guides that goes to the
> core of value of professionally knowing one's community and serving it.
> 
> [1] https://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/view/1830
> 
> best,
> 
> Jimmy
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 11:13 AM, Galen Charlton <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 6:53 AM, Wilhelmina Randtke <[log in to unmask]
>>> wrote:
>> 
>>> There's not a lock-in issue with LibGuides, because it's used to
>>> host pathfinders.  Those are supposed to be periodically revisited.
>>> One of
>> the
>>> big problems is that librarians will start a guide and never finish,
>>> or make one then never maintain it.  Periodically deleting
>>> everything is a good thing for pathfinders and subject guides, and
>>> people should do it anyway.  No one's talking about tools for
>>> digital archives, which have
>> lock
>>> in issues and are way more expensive.
>>> 
>> 
>> Lock-in doesn't have to be absolute to be effective, it just has to
>> has raise the bar sufficiently high to make users think twice about
>> migrating away.
>> 
>> This applies even if the data to be moved is transitory and constantly
>> changing.   For example, if a library has been diligently updating their
>> pathfinders, but wants to switch platforms, if there were no way to
>> export them to load into the successor system, the effort of redoing
>> them or doing a lot of copy-and-pasting could be prohibitive.
>> 
>> As a general statement -- and I know that this battle has been
>> bitterly fought in the ILS space -- I believe that *all* library
>> software services, whether based on F/LOSS software or proprietary
>> software, should provide a way for the library to obtain a full dump
>> of their data, in an accessible format, at no additional charge.
>> 
>> I see that LibGuides advertises the ability to make local backups of
>> individual pages and also provides (via a paid add-on module) an XML
>> export function.  I don't know if SpringShare will also provide free
>> one-time exports on request, but I would hope they do.
>> 
>> Of course, even if one has the data in hand, data migrations can still
>> take a lot of time, effort, and expertise.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Galen
>> --
>> Galen Charlton
>> Manager of Implementation
>> Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
>> email:  [log in to unmask]
>> direct: +1 770-709-5581
>> cell:   +1 404-984-4366
>> skype:  gmcharlt
>> web:    http://www.esilibrary.com/
>> Supporting Koha and Evergreen: http://koha-community.org &
>> http://evergreen-ils.org
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
> Jimmy Ghaphery
> Head, Digital Technologies
> VCU Libraries
> 804-827-3551