Working with Drupal

We've spent the last two weeks installing and configuring a basic Drupal site. This week was focused particularly to installing a dizzying array of modules to essentially make the site more workable as a collection for an archive of digital objects. In addition to the requested modules such as faceted search, .... I installed a module called Lightbox2. Initially it didn't do anything but I continued reading through the how to pages and found the settings info on the page Using Lightbox2 with TinyMCE or FCKEditor which made everything come together. Now the truly cool thing about Lightbox2 is that when you click on your thumbnail the module places images above your current page, not within. You can then click to see more detail, go to the next image if they are grouped or close it. The floating image also displays descriptive information.

I have not tried them yet but the module works with video and slideshows. All things considered this was a very easy module to setup. Based on our prior instructions I also went in and granted permissions to authenticated users to use the module and I also knew the commands and places to go to make the whole thing come together.


Below is how one of the images in my collection looks after installing and enabling



Personally I think it's pretty slick.

So is Drupal suitable to display my collection. Yes and no. Yes, because I was able to within minutes find a new module, install and setup to improve the look and feel of my image presentations. There are a whole suite of modules to work with to improve navigation and the overall presentation of my content.

However, I can also say "no" because Drupal is not a turn-key out of the box solution. It takes work and lots of experience to grasp how all he components work together and finding just the right tools to make a usable collection worthwhile.

Furthermore I have just scratched the surface of working with Drupal. I only have had a glance at how it works and also am not really cognitive of the problems that may arise. I feel that Drupal in itself probably isn't the solution. It can help with the presentation certainly but the management and ingestion of material will probably require something else entirely. I think building web development skills with a service like Drupal is very important,useful, and workable but gaining knowledge on metadata tools, and other data management software is required. If anything to know the strengths and weaknesses of system you are working with.

Tech assignment so far

Drupal, Drupal, Drupal...

To date my most proud accomplishment has been installing and initially configuring a Drupal site. It truly is not much to look at, or use, but it works and that is a huge step. I have worked with Drupal in the past but only in the area of content management and not design. Being able to configure the navigation, look and feel, and ontology of the site will be a huge, huge step in being a better project manager and web developer.

In the process, I have installed two separate virtual servers reinforcing what I learned in the last class and hopefully making systems administration less intimidating. Having a peak into the world of systems administration means having a greater ability to communicate and work with the "real" systems administrators out in the field.

The assignments seem to be going at a nice, moderate pace. Being sick this past week slowed me down a little but I have still been able to keep up with class and not fall behind, which is always my worst fear.

Although I am only enrolled in one course this semester, having two instructors means I have to stay on my toes about what I need to do and have done. It's not quite as linear as the prior class (IRLS 672) in the sense that we are running two parallel paths that occasionally (and ultimately) merge. The last course was a bit more intense but followed a very straightforward progression. Also having to do more analysis about management issues while dealing with the tech issues means my attention is progressively divided. So I welcome the slight change in pace.

Beyond HTML... back for IRLS 675

Our first blog assignment for IRLS 675 was reviewing the 2006 special Content Management addition of Library Hi Tech. The article titles alone indicate this is a great resource for libraries struggling with migrating their web resources from static html pages to a robust CMS. I chose to cover the article “Beyond HTML: Developing and re-imagining library web guides in a content management system” by Doug Goans and Guy Leach. Although three years old, the lessons learned can be carried forward to current technologies as they pertain to organizing and understanding a move to a CMS from a static html (FrontPage or Dreamweaver) way of doing things.

The article talks about how a Georgia State University Library web librarian, web developer, and a team of liaison librarians implemented a new system of subject guides and utilized user testing and surveys and how it met and exceeding their expectations. A key finding from the report illustrated how libraries need to give as much attention to user interface issues as to technical (behind the scenes) issues. Organizational buy-in is critical and from my experience I find this true.

The GSU library went from liaisons having full access (with a range of abilities) that created inconsistent and un-credible resources. Content, time and enthusiasm differed between the pages within the website. Thousands of pages were amassing and in one instance an entire directory was accidentally deleted.

The team realized they needed a database driven system that took the content away from form the layout and navigation. This would also allow content to be more readily reusable and object oriented. By limiting the liaisons access to the visuals it actually freed them up to concentrate on their content. The system would need to be flexible and meet the needs of users while still maintain adequate security.

The GSU team investigated commercial solutions but found them to costly. They also looked into open source options but felt at that time (2003 – 2006) that those options were not robust enough for the needs of a university library and instead chose an in-house solution. This was a very similar process that the ASU libraries took, but ultimately chose the open source Drupal option since it was robust enough to handle our needs by the time we started our investigations for the same issues.

The key to their success was their involvement of user testing, surveys, training manuals and workshops designed to educate and get buy-in from the rest of the staff. Usability seems to get overlooked on many projects and in the case at ASU was not taken into consideration as much as it should have been during and earlier assessment of the website, prior to the Drupal migration. Our second venture into updating the library website was far more successful because it involved training, user testing, and also the dynamic web environment, similar to the GSU example, that gave the back control of content to the librarians while keeping the navigation uniform and in the hands of the designated web team.