Geek Librarian stuff...

Part of my work at the library has been transitioning some technology we use for inventory and tracking material from Microsoft Access to an open-source application stack. I have been using Turbogears, an Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework based on a collection of Python web technologies including Cherrypy (which I have used before). The database layer currently uses SQLObject and SQLite. For much of the applications I have developed using Turbogears, I have used straight SQL for report queries because of the limitations (most likely my ignorance) of using an object layer over a relational databases.

My current development project is to create a dynamic web application for presenting a library's electronic resources. Using the MODS standard as a base data model, the application idea is to present multiple ways for users to access our electronic resources.
Here are some initial requirements:

• Browsing of resources by title, subject, and usage pattern (most popular, most used, etc.)
• MODS XML presentation
• Replace web sites and database pages
• Automatically route users to authentication pages for restricted electronic resources if outside IP ranges for the resource
• Track usage of resources from multiple sources including the database publisher
• Access electronic content from both remote and local hosting options
  

I have started the documentation for this application along with an alpha application. Beside coding of this application, I am working with the college's IT department to figure out a way to host this and the internal applications I have developed.

I'm working on some initial documentation that I'll be hosting through Google Docs. I'll post links to these documents when I have them.