On Fri, Apr 22, 2016 at 4:58 PM, Teague Allen <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Hello collective,
>
> I've been given the opportunity to replace a much-detested PDF form used
> to request cataloging for items by our researchers that are published
> outside our organization. My hope is to create a web form that will
> automatically populate with title, author(s), and appropriate citation
> information if a URL/URI is entered.


This really depends on the URL. My concern would be that asking someone to
provide a URL is more onerous than filling out citation information because
the latter is error tolerant and can be done from memory while anyone who
can provide a URL will already have/know all the relevant citation info

If I understand your need correctly, I'd consider listing ISBN/ISSN at the
top of your form as an optional field. When a javascript event detects a
complete number has been entered, use your method of choice to retrieve the
other info and fill unpopulated fields. Even that wouldn't be great since
just presenting ISN as optional is tantamount to asking people to look up
this info and key it in -- which takes more time than keying in an author
and title. However, it could lead to more complete forms and reduce
confusion for everyone.

Before doing anything, I'd make sure I understood why this form is so
unpopular and address those issues. Otherwise, you may wind up with another
unpopular form that just happens to have a little more automation built
into it.

kyle