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Creating a New Faceted Browsing Function for

Millennium WebPAC Pro

Li, Yiu On, Senior Assistant Librarian

Leung, Roger, Information Technology Officer

Hong Kong Baptist University Library

9th HKIUG MeetingUniversity of Hong Kong Library

8th Dec., 2009

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Outline

1. What is Faceted Browsing?

2. Implementations of Faceted Browsing in Traditional WebPAC: Two Approaches

3. Architecture of the New Faceted Browsing Function in WebPAC Pro

4. BU Faceted Browsing Function and Encore: A Comparison

5. Conclusion

1. What is Faceted Browsing?

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1.1 Definition of Faceted Browsing

Faceted Browsing also known as faceted searching, or faceted

navigation is a special navigation interface designed for

record searching and browsing to display aspects of result sets in multiple

classification and categorization schemes, (e.g. related authors, titles, subject headings, material types, locations, languages, publication years, etc.)

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1.2 Advantages of Faceted Browsing

Unlike a single, pre-determined, hierarchical scheme, faceted browsing gives users the abilities:

To find items from multiple dimensions and attributes

To explore new directions in dynamic taxonomies (i.e. divisions into ordered groups or categories)

To refine/narrow down the searches

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1.2 Advantages of Faceted Browsing (Con’t)

To easily switch between searching and browsing, users can use their own terminology for searching, while browsing the organizations and categories suggested by faceted classifications

To display the number & contents of each suggested category

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1.2 Advantages of Faceted Browsing (Con’t)

“For experienced Web users, faceted navigation isn’t something that needs to be explained”

-- Marshall Breeding. "Next-Generation Library Catalogs". Library Technology Reports, vol. 43, no. 4, July-August 2007, p.12.

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1.3 Use of Faceted Browsing in Commercial Sites

Indeed, faceted browsing has become part of a well-established user interface convention

A 2003 survey reported that: 69% of 75 leading commercial sites made use of faceted browsing. In fact, all sites of computers, gifts, kitchen ware, music/video categories used faceted browsing

-- Use of Faceted Classification, http://www.webdesignpractices.com/navigation/facets.html

e.g. Amazon, the largest online book stores

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In Amazon, faceted browsing includes:1. New Releases

2. Department

3. Formats

4. Binding

5. Shipping Options

6. Award Winners

7. Promotion

8. Avg. Customer Review

9. Condition

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1.4 Implementation of Faceted Browsing in WebPAC

If librarians can implement this common faceted browsing function in WebPAC environment, then

we can change WebPAC from a traditional searching tool to a powerful information discovery tool

2. Implementations of Faceted Browsing in Traditional WebPAC:Two Approaches

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2.1 Need for Adding New Web 2.0 Functions to WebPAC

More and more librarians are discontent with the insufficient functionalities of the traditional WebPAC interfaces

To win the support from the new generation of web users, we need to add new Web 2.0 technologies such as faceted browsing, interactive cloud tags, federated search, and social networking tools, etc.

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2.2 Next Generation WebPAC

Different names of WebPAC equipped with new Web 2.0 functions include:

Next Generation Library Catalog, SmartCat, Library Catalog 2.0….

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2.3 Two Different Approaches

In Hong Kong, two different approaches are adopted to build the Next Generation Library Catalog. They are:

1. New Functions in New WebPAC (NFNW)

2. New Functions in Current WebPAC (NFCW)(Note: in this presentation, we use faceted browsing

function as an representative example of the Web 2.0 functions)

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2.4 NFNW Development Logic

The development logic of the New Function New WebPAC approach may be summarized as :

1. We MUST add faceted browsing function to WebPAC

2. Existing Millennium WebPAC Pro environment is too old and CANNOT accommodate this transformation

3. Thus, we need to develop a new WebPAC to implement new Web 2.0 technology

(NOTE: this argument is invalid, we will talk more in NFCW later)

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2.5 Two Models of NFNW

Two different development models of New Function in New WebPAC :

1. Encore III product Relatively high annual subscription fee CUHK, HKU, PolyU have purchased

2. Scriblio an open-source software enhanced & used at HKUST

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2.6 Disadvantages of NFNW

Many existing powerful functions of WebPAC Pro are missing in Encore

1. Exact Author, Title, Subject Searching

2. Scope searching

3. Limit results to items with "Available" status

4. Search History

5. Author/title/subject authority list (e.g. Author search = Strauss, Johann, 1825-1899)

6. Modify/Limit this Search command

7. Advanced Keyword Search Form

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Existing WebPAC Pro powerful functions are missing in Encore

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2.7 NFNW = Dual WebPAC System

1. As a result, Encore cannot replace “traditional” WebPAC Pro

2. If patrons want to use those “old” advanced search functions, they have to use the “Traditional” WebPAC Pro

3. Thus, Encore (New Function New WebPAC) approach, in reality, is a dual WebPAC system

Encore (New WebPAC) + WebPAC Pro (Traditional WebPAC)

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Encore in University of Queensland Library http://encore.library.uq.edu.au/iii/encore/search/C%7CSStrauss%7COrightresult%7CU1?lang=eng&suite=def

click on to access WebPAC Pro for more “old/classic” advance searching capabilities

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2.8 Disadvantages of a Dual WebPAC System

1. Patrons have to learn how to use two different WebPAC systems. This may cause inconvenience and confusions

2. Library staff spend more time and effort to maintain two searching interfaces, therefore, maintenance cost is high

3. Systems people waste time to re-invent a “new” interface rather than concentrate on the design work of faceted browsing function

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2.9 Building Next Generation Library Catalog – the Second Approach

1. The development logic of New Functions New WebPAC approach is based on an invalid argument:“the existing Millennium WebPAC Pro environment is

too old and CANNOT accommodate any Web 2.0 functions”

2. But, our study shows that WebPAC Pro is a comparatively open and flexible environment, and we can add in-house developed scripts to the interface

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2.9 Building Next Generation Library Catalog – the Second Approach (Con’t)

3. Thus, we decided to add faceted browsing function to the existing WebPAC Pro interface

4. This is a more logical, simple and direct approach, and I call it:

New Functions in Current WebPAC (NFCW)

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2.10 Merits of the NFCW Approach

1. Faceted browsing is inserted to WebPAC Pro and becomes an integral part of it

All the existing WebPAC Pro powerful functions are kept

The new add-on faceted browsing functions are fully compatible with the existing WebPAC Pro functions

2. The new add-on faceted browsing functions strengthen the existing WebPAC Pro searching capabilities

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2.10 Merits of the NFCW Approach (Con’t)

3. Single interface avoids unnecessary inconvenience, inconsistency and confusion caused by a dual WebPAC systems

4. Save library staff’s time and efforts in maintaining two different WebPAC systems

5. No need to re-invent a new WebPAC interface, therefore, software development cost and cycle is largely reduced

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2.11 New Faceted Browsing in HKBU WebPAC Pro

1. Based on the NFCW development logic, HKBU has recently installed a new faceted browsing function on the staging port of WebPAC Pro

2. Currently, only some 222,000 records are uploaded to this database for testing

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2.11 New Faceted Browsing in HKBU WebPAC Pro (Con’t)

3. HKBU WebPAC Pro staging port:

http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk:2082/search~S11/?searchtype=a&searcharg=plato&searchscope=11&SORT=D&extended=0&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=asmith+adam

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New In-house Developed Faceted Browsing Function in HKBU WebPAC Pro

3. Architecture of the New Faceted Browsing Function in WebPAC Pro

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3.1 Systems Requirements

1. Hardware X86 based PC/Server Our Server configuration:

Dual Xeon Q-Core CPU 32GB Memory 1 TB HDD space

NOTE: 220,000 bib records are uploaded for testing, and use 7.8 GB for MySQL and Sphinx

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3.1 Systems Requirements (Con’t)

2. Software Perl 5 with marc2xml and marc-charset (for

MARC to XML conversion) MySQL 5 (for data storage) Sphinx (for building index and searching data) IIS with ASP 3.0 (for user interface & data

conversion)

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3.1 Systems Requirements (Con’t)

Systems requirement is minimal Don’t need a dedicated server Don’t require special high end programming

language (Perl, MYSQL, and Sphinx are freeware)

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3.2 Program Workflow

Two major parts:

1. Construct a bibliographic record database for facets analysis

2. Create a special iFrame in WebPAC Pro for displaying facets

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3.3 Construction of a New Bibliographic Database

1. Metadata are required to calculate facets

2. Thus, we build a separate database to store the raw data for creating facets instead of using the records in Innopac system

3. All MARC records are exported from Innopac system, and uploaded to our in-house developed bibliographic database

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3.3 Construction of a New Bibliographic Database (Con’t)

4. An indexing program is designed to extract facets according to 11 categories below:

Variable Fields Fixed Fields

1. Author 5. Scope

2. Title 6. Language

3. Subject 7. Material Type

4. Publisher 8. Location

9. Publication Year

10. Call No. (browsing only)

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3.4 Facets Variable Fields

Below is the facet variable fields for

Author Search = Smith, Adam

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3.5 Facets Fixed Fields

Below is the facet fixed fields for

Author Search = Smith, Adam

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3.6 Insert Facets on WebPAC Pro

1. WebPAC Pro is an open environment, we can insert scripts and create an iFrame to display facets on brief citation browse page and bib record page

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3.7 iFrame Tag on Briefcit.html

An example of iFrame tag:

<iFrame src="http://lib.hkbu.edu.hk/facet/browse/index.asp?searchterm " width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no">

</iFrame>

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1. Input search variable by extracting the search term in the WebPAC search URL, http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk:2082/search~S11/?searchtype=X&searcharg=china&searchscope=11&SORT=DZ&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=Xchina

2. Pass the search term to bibliographic database and made a SQL search query

3. Extract search results from the in-house bibliographic database, and then, calculate and group the facet values

4. Display faceted categories and values on iFrame

3.8 Facet Display Program

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1. Create

facet

iFrame in

briefcit.html

2. Extract search term and pass to iFrame

3. SQL to bibliographic db

4. Return facets values

4. BU Faceted Browsing Function and Encore: A Comparison

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1. Encore cannot provide facets values for variable fields like Author, Title, and Subject

2. Thus, Encore cannot provide a meaningful refinement alternative for variable field categories

3. An example: Author search = Smith, Adam

4.1 Facets Variable Fields

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Encore Variable Field Facets No facet values Indeed, only keyword

search links are provided Keyword-Author Keyword-Title Keyword-Subject

Fail to provide meaningful alternatives for users to refine/limit their search

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Author Facets in HKBU Names of Chinese

translators are provided Ebook collections

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Title Facets in HKBU List of Adam Smith’s most

important work: Wealth of Nations Theory of Moral Sentiments

Chinese translation titles for Wealth of Nation 原富 , 國富論 are provided

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Subject Facets in HKBU Contributions of Adam Smith

in subject areas: Economics Ethics

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1. BU provides “Publisher” as a new facet variable field

2. Users may choose to refine the search by publisher like Oxford University Press

4.2 New Facets Variable Field -- Publisher

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1. In BU, the publication year is sorted in a 10-year range instead of a long list of single year as in Encore

2. A 10-year list is easier for browsing, searching, and collection analysis

4.3 Publication Year Facets

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1. In Encore, keyword searching is the only searching capability

2. Without exact Author, Title, Subject search, it will make the searching process more complex, and difficult

3. In BU, users can still use exact Author, Title, and Subject search, and refine the search by facets

4.4 Encore Only Provides Keyword Searching

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4. It is difficult to do a keyword search on authors with common last names and first names

e.g., Adam Smith

4.4 Encore Only Provides Keyword Searching (Con’t)

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Find all records containing Adam and Smith

NOTE: the first two are not written by Adam Smith, the British economist, that we are looking for

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An exact Author search is much easier and straight forward

Adam Smith was born in 18th century, entry #2 is the one we are looking for

Facets is also helpful to refine the search

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5. It is also difficult to search subject headings containing common terms by Keyword

e.g. Philosophy – History -- China

4.4 Encore Only Provides Keyword Searching (Con’t)

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In Encore, find all records containing philosophy and history and China

NOTE: Many are irrelevant records

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An exact Subject search is much easier and straight forward

Facets is very useful to refine the search

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4.5 Call Number Analysis

Unavailable in Encore: e.g. Keyword = Plato To facilitate users to browse the class

number list, the program will display both the class number and scope of content

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4.5 Call Number Analysis (Con’t)

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4.6 Fully Compatible with All WebPAC Searching Functions

Unavailable in Encore:1. Exact Author, Title, Subject Searching

2. Scope searching

3. Limit results to items with "Available" status

4. Search History

5. Author/title/subject authority list (e.g. Author search = Strauss, Johann, 1825-1899)

6. Modify/Limit this Search command

7. Advanced Keyword Search Form

5. Conclusion

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Created new faceted browsing function in existing WebPAC Pro environment is beneficial

1. WebPAC Pro can be re-engineered and upgrade to become a Next Generation Library Catalog

2. This upgrade can keep all the advanced searching functionalities of WebPAC Pro

5.1 Benefit

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3. Upgrade cost is low because there is no need to re-invent a new WebPAC

4. Annual maintenance cost is low because there is no need to maintain two different WebPAC interface

5. Development circle is faster because we can concentrate our work on designing new functions

5.1 Benefit of NFCW (Con’t)

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In the second phase, we will add the following new Web 2.0 functions

1. Cloud Tagging

2. Newly Added Book List

3. RSS*

4. User Book Rating

5. User Book Review/Comment

6. Adding Google/Amazon table of content*

7. Most Common Search Terms*

*Not available in Encore

5.2 Future Development

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Cloud

Tagging

Recently

Added

List

RSS

User Book Rating

User Book Comment/Review

Google/Amazon table of content

Demo

Thank you

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BU WebPAC Staging Port

http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk:2082/search/X?SEARCH=plato&SORT=D&l=&m=&p=&b=&Da=&Db=&searchscope=11

KW = Plato (scope = Multimedia) AU = 張五常 (publisher = 香港經濟日報 ) AU = Strauss, Johann, 1825-1899 (subject =

Waltzes (Orchestra)) SU = Kant (author = 牟宗三 ) KW = China (pub year = pre 1900)

Demo examples