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Thanks, Naomi, I need to try out the latest version (haven't looked at it for a few months now), and then I will do just that. On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 3:56 PM, Naomi Dushay <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Marijane, > > Yes, I would encourage you to ask for help on the blacklight list, with > specifics about the problems you're having. We've set up Blacklight on a > bunch of non-Marc Solr indexes here. > > - Naomi > > > On Jan 6, 2010, at 1:32 PM, marijane white wrote: > > I've read about Blacklight's ability to run on any Solr index, but I've >> struggled to make it work with mine. Honestly, I've been left with the >> impression that my data should be in MARC if I want to use it. Is there >> some documentation on this somewhere that I've overlooked? (Maybe I >> should >> ask this on the BL list....) >> >> >> On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 12:24 PM, Naomi Dushay <[log in to unmask]> >> wrote: >> >> Marijane, >>> >>> It also makes sense to examine the available software for what you wish >>> to >>> accomplish. Available software goes beyond current features to >>> - maintainability (one reason Stanford switched to Blacklight) I'll >>> talk >>> a little bit about this in our Code4Lib 2010 presentation about testing. >>> - community >>> - active development >>> - potential applicability to additional projects. (we like Blacklight >>> for >>> its ability to run on any solr index, regardless of what's in there) >>> >>> probably some other stuff I've left out. >>> >>> Our experience at Stanford Libraries is that the common conventions of >>> Rails give us a lot more ease in reading each others' code. >>> >>> - Naomi >>> >>> >>> On Jan 5, 2010, at 3:04 PM, marijane white wrote: >>> >>> Greetings Code4Lib, >>> >>>> >>>> Long time lurker, first time poster here. >>>> >>>> I've been turning over this question in my mind for a few weeks now, and >>>> Joe >>>> Hourcle's postscript in the Online PHP Course thread has prompted me to >>>> finally try to ask it. =) >>>> >>>> I'm interested in hearing how the members of this list have gone about >>>> choosing development platforms for their library coding projects and/or >>>> existing open source projects (ie like VuFind vs Blacklight). For >>>> example, >>>> did you choose a language you already were familiar with? One you >>>> wanted >>>> to >>>> learn more about? Does your workplace have a standard enterprise >>>> architecture/platform that you are required to use? If you have chosen >>>> to >>>> implement an existing open source project, did you choose based on the >>>> development platform or project maturity and features or something else? >>>> >>>> Some background -- thanks to my undergraduate computer engineering >>>> studies, >>>> I have a pretty solid understanding of programming fundamentals, but >>>> most >>>> of >>>> my pre-LIS work experience was in software testing and did not require >>>> me >>>> to >>>> employ much of what I learned programming-wise, so I've mostly dabbled >>>> over >>>> the last decade or so. I've got a bit of experience with a bunch of >>>> languages and I'm not married to any of them. I also kind of like >>>> having >>>> excuses to learn new ones. >>>> >>>> My situation is this: I would like to eventually implement a discovery >>>> tool >>>> at MPOW, but I am having a hell of a time choosing one. I'm a solo >>>> librarian on a content team at a software and information services >>>> company, >>>> so I'm not really tied to the platforms used by the software engineering >>>> teams here. I know a bit of Ruby, so I've played with Blacklight some, >>>> got >>>> it to install on Windows and managed to import a really rough Solr >>>> index. >>>> I'm more attracted to the features in VuFind, but I don't know much PHP >>>> yet >>>> and I haven't gotten it installed successfully yet. My collection's >>>> metadata is not in an ILS (yet) and not in MARC, so I've also considered >>>> trying out more generic approaches like ajax-solr (though I don't know a >>>> lot >>>> of javascript yet, either). I've also given a cursory look at SOPAC and >>>> Scriblio. My options are wide open, and I'm having a rough time >>>> deciding >>>> what direction to go in. I guess it's kind of similar to someone who is >>>> new >>>> to programming and attempting to choose their first language to learn. >>>> >>>> I will attempt to head off a programming language religious war =) by >>>> stating that I'm not really interested in the virtues of one platform >>>> over >>>> another, moreso the abstract reasons one might have for selecting one. >>>> Have any of you ever been in a similar situation? How'd you get >>>> yourself >>>> unstuck? If you haven't, what do you think you might do in a situation >>>> like >>>> mine? >>>> >>>> >>>> -marijane >>>> >>>> >>>