| USMAI Consortium of Libraries |
| University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions |
The Olybris seminar was a wonderful opportunity to learn from ExLibris technical staff as well as from other ExLibris customers. I am providing notes below on most of the sessions that I attended; however, I found that there were also many great things that happened outside of the sessions, in the hallways, coffee breaks, lunches, etc. We met some special people. So, I would like to share some of the highlights from those meetings.
One topic of interest that was mentioned in a few of the sessions was shibboleth (which was mentioned along with CAS). Since I have some particular interest in the subject, I sought out some ExLibris folk to discuss the subject and let them know our interest in their developments. I spoke with Carmit Marcus, Jenny Walker (VP Marketing) and Cassandra Targett (Manager of Support Services). They are planning on testing their PDS-shibboleth integration on a few sites early this summer. They will be keeping us in mind as they near those dates.
I had a chance to discuss two other related topics, oracle and report writing, with colleagues from other aleph sites. I talked in depth with Kevin Kidd, from Boston College, about their use of Crystal Reports to do their report writing. I also gained some insight from him on reporting on live data vs reporting from a data warehouse. The general consensus, at least among individuals that I spoke with, was that they did not need a data warehouse, and were reporting on live data.
This seminar has helped us develop and strengthen some relationships within the user community and beyond (ExLibris folk, Sun reps). And now some notes from the sessions I attended:
Configuring Local Resources in MetaLib (Chris Roberts)
This session was basically a training session for how to add local resources to MetaLib. The first method of doing so is to copy the configuration that is already provided in the knowledgebase. Chris also discussed ALEPH_X and Z39 methods, when the database to be searched adheres to these methods. She also went into some detail on how to create new configurations using the WEB_CONFIG_SIMPLE method. She used an example to show the steps to create one of these configurations. This was very helpful.
Efficient Media Handling with RFID (Gregor Hotz)
This 3rd party vendor discussed RFID and showcased their products for efficient media handling with RFID. This technology looked very interesting. It allows media to be identified at several locations in the library, even by the security gates. All have the ability to communicate to Aleph using SIP2 protocol. This technology could replace barcodes, but the cost may not outweigh the benefits.
Optimizing the Metalib System (Nina Keren-David)
Nina presented on different ways to optimize performance on a MetaLib system. She discussed tweaking number of web servers, number of search servers, other system parameters, and Oracle parameters. According to her presentation, most of the performance bottlenecks that ExLibris has experienced have been I/O driven. (This has not been the case at USMAI). Service Pack 1 to MetaLib 3.12 is supposed to have greatly improved performance. Another interesting bit of data that came out of this session is that MetaLib performs much better on Linux than Solaris; however, the presenter was not able to understand or explain why. She did discuss different monitoring tools for gauging performance bottlenecks.
MetaLib Support: Tools for Analyzing Where the Problem Lies (Nina Keren-David)
In this session, Nina started by introducing the new CRM system that ExLibris is now using for customer support. This system is to replace all support systems that have been used for the various ExLibris products, and tie them into one system. She also went into some details for troubleshooting problems on customers' installations. She discussed log files, points of failure, performance monitoring tools, and some common problems that customers have experienced.
CJK Implementation in ALEPH (Judy Levi)
In this presentation, Judy gave some background as to the languages and characters that are used in CJK. She discussed the history of these languages and how they are represented on computers. She discussed how the different character sets are represented within Unicode, and the different cataloging practices used within Aleph. There was some as to these practices and also as to how well these languages are represented in Unicode. The consensus was that users are used to Unicode, so are used to how things are represented in Unicode, even if they are not exactly correct.
Patron Directory Serices and Authentication Issues (Nina Keren-David)
Nina presented on PDS, by giving an overview of why ExLibris developed PDS and what it can provide for the suite of ExLibris products. Her diagrams and explanation were a little hard to follow, but the presentation did have a few highlights. One point of emphasis was that ExLibris is developing hooks to have PDS compatible with campus IM infrastructures, such as CAS and Shibboleth. Nina also introduced a method to bypass the PDS login page and replace it with some existing login page/method. Future plans for PDS is to have it implemented as an apache module, similar to how Shibboleth is implemented.
Introduction to ALEPH Reporting Center (ARC) (Barbara Rad-El)
Barbara gave on overview of ARC's architecture and provided a prepared demo of the software. The demo was continually interrupted by poor internet service, and so was hard to follow. This presentation was very similar to the one presented at NAAUG last year. A few new points were that there is the ability to add a few (5) extra bib fields to the reports and that ARC is available for aleph 15.2 and 16. There are future plans to incorporate the other ExLibris products into ARC.
ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) Processes (Omri Gerson)
This presentation was more of the meat and potatoes of ARC, what is involved from a system-perspective. Omri discussed the extract, transform and load processes in detail. He discussed how, currently, this process is done on the whole database and not incrementally. ExLibris recognizes some problems with this and is developing an incremental process. The recommendation from ExLibris is to have the data warehouse on a separate server and separate instance of Oracle, so as not to conflict with processing and I/O for the live system.
Cognos Reporting (Luda Cherinsky)
Luda gave a demonstration of how the Cognos Reporting interface works. She briefly discussed the layers of access and the licenses that are associated with each user. She spent a lot of time showing each step in creating a report, how to save reports, how to schedule reports, and how to create new reports. One point of emphasis was that the data model is not configurable by the customer. For us, this may mean that we will not be able to use ARC.
Service Pack (Omri Gerson)
This was one of the most encouraging sessions that I attended. Omri discussed service packs as well as the development process. He went into a little detail about the QA process. It seems as if ExLibris has made great efforts to improve the quality of their products and the review process for changes. All new changes are developed in such a way that they are optional. One point that I liked was that all code changes are evaluated by one of three senior programmers.
Authentication in ALEPH (Tsach Moshkovits)
Tsach tried to explain authentication vs authorization and also discussed LDAP and Kerberos. This presentation was actually pretty confusing. I did learn that PDS was going to be optional in Aleph v 17 and, I believe, mandatory in Aleph v 18 and above.
SIP2 protocol and functionality (Birgit Thede)
Birgit discussed the SIP and SIP2 protocols. She discussed the available commands and methods available in each protocol. She also discussed what is supported in Aleph's SIP2 server. She also discussed what is involved with configuring the Aleph SIP2 server.
Oracle Maintenance and Configuration (Jeff Stravsky)
Jeff Stravsky covered a lot of material in a very short amount of time. He discussed a lot of important details in administering an Oracle instance and software installation. His discussion covered so many topics that his focus was on giving customers enough information to know what they needed to know. There were many points in the session where he introduced a topic to the audience that he said would be a good homework assignment. He also showed a lot of ExLibris menu options for administering Oracle. Included in this discussion was a discussion about backup/recovery.
ALEPH Monitor (Jeff Stravsky)
In this session, they introduced the Aleph Monitor. This is an add-on to Aleph, and is a way to monitor all running servers, routines, etc in Aleph. The monitor has a web interface and also allows for different methods of notification, including sending messages to a cell phone. This monitoring tool monitors aleph processes, oracle processes, as well as system resources. This tool has a lot of bells and whistles, but they did not talk about its cost. They also did not talk about the possibility of adding extra scripts to check for user-defined processes.
Routine Maintenance (Jeff Stravsky)
This session was heavy on Oracle backup/recovery techniques and strategies. I did not agree with the recommendations of the speaker. One point to take from this is to always be suspicious of your backups, check tapes regularly, etc. Paranoia makes for good strategy. Other topics in this session were apache logs, job daemon, and startup/shutdown scripts for aleph.
Managing Standing Orders and Year-end Procedures (Yifat Lulav)
This session was basically a step-by-step explanation for the different Year-end procedures and for managing standing orders. This was taught straight from the powerpoint, so I won't go into a lot of detail here. The year-end procedures are very familiar to Yalan and I. Managing standind orders was new to me, but I was obviously not the target audience for this discussion.
SFX Exports (Lieve Rottiers)
Lieve discussed exporting from SFX. In version 3 of SFX, there is a command-line interface to export records. This would allow us the ability to batch this up. Command line tool is export.pl. Lieve also discussed the SFX API. This could be useful for us in the Aleph catalog. The SFX API uses XML messages, and could allow us to conditionally display the SFX button in the catalog.
Working with EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) (Yifat Lulav)
Yifat introduced EDI and discussed the supported EDI message types in Aleph EDI ordering process. She discussed also the setup and jobs that are run to either transmit or load these EDI messages. This was taught straight from the powerpoint, so I won't go into the details of the discussion.
Integration Options (Nettie Lagace)
Nettie showed a lot of examples of how people are using SFX and integrating it with other systems. Some very interesting examples were shown, one of which was the citation linker available at USMAI.
SFX Menu Configuration (Lieve Rottiers)
This was a very interesting session for me, mainly because it was filled with so many new topics for me. New features in sfx menu configuration are grouping services, collapsible groups, and customizable headers. Lieve discussed how to group services and how this is different from v 2. An improvement in v 3 is that many configurations are in a control table rather than in the (html) file. Lieve discussed configuring TargetDisplayers and HTML Templates. We can include our own templates if desired. She also showed us how to use a direct link to skip the sfx menu completely and go directly to an object.
Upgrade Express: Introduction, Methodology, and Upgrade Steps on the Current Version (Martin Buscher)
Martin stepped through the basic process of running Upgrade Express. This, by itself, was by and large review for me. However, at the end of this session, Omri spoke for a few minutes about the future plans for Upgrade Express from version 17 and on. He stated that the normal development process now includes upgrade express, so it is no longer an afterthought. This makes integration of changes much easier to do through upgrade express. Also, there is no longer an export and import of oracle data. The transfer of data is done through an oracle cloning process by which a copy of the database is created and then upgraded. The downtime is now down to a day and a half.
What's New in Z39.50? (Omri Gerson)
Omri gave an overview of the Z39 server and Z39 gate in Aleph. He discussed the configuration of each and the changes that have come in version 16. Two big changes in the z39 server is that element set names must be specified and there can be multiple formats configured.
Knowledge Base Update (Lieve Rottiers)
Lieve discussed how the monthly update process works and how it is changing. She also discussed how it can be applied by the customer. One point of note is that the customer must now have root access to the machine in order to install the updates. Updates come in two pieces, software update and database update. The revision update can now be run from the command line and can so be scheduled to be ran as a cron job.
Optimizing the SFX System (Lieve Rottiers)
This session was not so much about optimizing the SFX system as it was about administering the SFX system. Lieve presented on topics like server admin utility, startup/shutdown scripts, cron jobs, etc. She noted some changes in the wasy sfx is used by apache, particularly with the addition of mod_perl, which will make SFX more efficient, but will require restarts for changes to take effect. The addition of the server admin utility adds functionality for some of our staff that had to previously ask for someone with root access to perform.
Advanced SFX KB Management (Nettie Lagace)
Nettie presented some advanced topics, such as DOI linking, Dropdown Targets, local document delivery and citation linker. This session was basically a hands-on how-to implement these advanced features. Her powerpoint does provide some of the hands-on details, so I will not include them here.
| USMAI | ITD | Metalib/sfx | Aleph |