Library Directory Notes

Up to this point in the Library Directory project, of the total effort spent:

55% of the effort has been on data gathering and processing (including clean up, enhancement, normalization),
10% on database design (creation of tables, joins, views, relationships, testing queries (and moving all from spreadsheets to Access to MySQL)
35% on web development and search interface design (coding via the acronyms: HTML, CSS, Javascript & AJAX, PHP, SQL).
7650 lines of code and counting!

Simplified & More Powerful

Single search box with live searching, searches for both libraries and persons simultaneously, so just start typing away
Search by Organizational Affiliations, Alternative Names (such as Memorial Names), Acronyms, First Names, Last Names, Full Names
Filter by:
- Library Type, Library Category, Library Focus
- Person's Job Role, Level of Responsibiliity, and Function, and well as by their Type of Library
- Physical Adddress City and/or County of Library or Place of Employment
Export contact information of returned result sets

Current Features

Improved Data Quality, in terms of:
- Accuracy
  - Data was gathered from library websites, but then compared against other datasets whenever possible, including the prior library directory database, the Public Library Survey (PLS), the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), and any other related online directories I could discover (think Government and Association websites). Duplicate data was removed, urls tested, and data discrepancies fixed, e.g. inconsistent address information was validated using the USPS tool, etc.
- Completeness
  - There is less data missing from records, e.g., 95% of the (non-school) library records now include a website url, previously it had been 70%, inclusion of email addresses in person records are up to 80% from a previous 70%.
- Comprehensiveness
  - Now includes records for School Districts with Libraries (125) School Libraries (1130) and School Library Staff (1175)
  - Special Libraries Data (Government, Corporate, Genealogical, Independent/Volunteer, Law, Medical, Museum/Archives/History, News, Non-Profit, and Theological)
    - Collected and assigned additional attributes.
    - Incorporated more library and staffing data.
    Broader details provided via inclusion of data for the following new attribute fields:
    - for library records: notes on the building, location, closure or open hours, if a library has a particular focus (may be more applicable to Special Libraries), organizational affiliations outside the library, and for particularly large or varied branches within a system, departmental information;
    - for person records: work responsibilities, job functions, trustee term expiration and trustee residential requirements.
    - more ILL Institution Codes
    Special Collections and Special Services information from the prior databases was retained and included in the new directory.
- Consistency
  - - More consistent formatting has been applied to data across certain fields (e.g. phone, fax and extension numbers display as "(###) ###-#### ext. ###", hours display as "00:00 *m - 00:00 *m"
    - Operating schedule includes a second set of ranges in case of daily scheduled closures (e.g. during lunch break);
    - For addresses: directional prefixes and suffixes are capitalized, street types are spelled out not abbreviated, urls always start with http.
    - Edit/Update forms implement more drop down select menus in order limit choices (and therefore mistakes) to set lists of options for fields such as Library Type, Library Category, Library Focus, Job Function, Work Responsibility, Job Role.
- Currency
  - 90% of the data has been collected within the past 18 months and is continuously being updated now that the service is live.
    About 350 person records ranging from a year to 10 years since the last update were transferred to the new database, mostly as place holders in cases where no person data could be found online for a particular library (and there would be no listing otherwise).
- The new Library Directory database includes 474 Systems and 1959 Branches for a total of 2433 Library Outlets (compared to 640 in the old database) and 4109 Persons (compared to 2420 in the old database)
Live keyword name search

Even better than simply not having to click a Search button, you don't even have to hit enter or return.

Collection Tool
- Forms for adding/editing records now more integrated within the directory itself for a more streamlined approach that allows for ongoing updates. Search for a record, choose to view its details, click a link to open a form for editing the record (pre-filled with existing data) or add a completely new record. Submit the form with a valid email address for receiving confirmation email. Form user replies to email to confirm identity and authenticity of submitted data. Record details are reviewed, identitities confirmed, submission approved and database updated. This was a big task that involved security issues, email impementation, forms and an adminstrative page for managing and reviewing record changes.
Successfully search libraries using name variants
- Knowledge of memorial names is no longer necessary, also try searching libraries by acronym.
- Middle names given in either the First or Last Name fields do not need to be included in a search.
Central/Main Libraries no longer equated with the Library Administration/System
- Having only one table for libraries (when complexity of various relationships demanded more tables to reflect reality), the prior directory search results could turn out weird. For example, previously searching for Seattle Public Library returned a listing for Central Library (the name of SPL's main library branch) all references to what should be Seattle Public Library are instead made to the Central Library as though The Seattle Public Library doesn't exist; Colfax isn't listed as a branch of the Whitman County Library System (because it was being treated as the Whitman County Library System itself) and trying to search for it by name will yield absolutely nothing.
Additional Search Facets
- It is now possible to filter results by particular Library or Person attributes. For example, list all the Tribal Libraries in the database or all Library Staff with a Job Function of Children/Teen/Youth Services. Select multiple filter options within an Advanced Filter Group (Library, Person or Location) to combine the search facets using the AND operator. For example, list all Support Staff with a Job Function of Circulation/Access Services. Advanced Filters are exclusive to its category (Library, Person or Location) rather than cascading. Although, advanced filters do work in conjunction with name searches, and Person Filters now include an option for Library Type, e.g. you can limit searches for Youth Services Staff to those from Public Libraries or ILL Staff to those from Academic Libraries.
- Filtering by physical address city or county has been implemented. Selecting a City or County will return all Libraries and Persons located or working within the selected locality.
Export options for librart staff contact and library location details as a CSV file for opening in Excel
- The results of a Name Search, i.e. the Name List, can all now be exported/downloaded as separate csv files by Library System, Branch Library and Library Person matching result sets by clicking adjacent down arrows.
Other Enhancements
- A link to map directions is provided for all physical addresses.
- Phone numbers are now linked, so they can be clicked to call (when browsing on devices that make phone calls).
- The Hours of Operation are more readable for being put it into a formatted table display (required breaking out the times into separate days of the week fields).
- Diretory website is responsive and will do better at rendering pages across a variety of screen sizes.
- Ongoing user interface improvements, e.g. applying sort orders to drop down menus and making Advanced Filters more contextual.
Various Interface Improvements
- Elaborated on the details displayed in a record's sublistings
  - Branch sub-records now include address information
  - Person sub-records now include title information
- Added more hyperlinking to the details section, references to other records are now hyperlinked to that record.
  - In a Library's System/Admin record, clicking on the name of a listed person, library branch of department will take you to its details.
  - In a Person's record, clicking on the name of a library system, branch or department names will take you to its details

To Do status:

Additional Search Facets
- Add filtering by additional geographies: service area, tax code area etc.
- Allow for more complex boolean searching. Did this to a certain extent by adding Library Type option to Person Filter group, and improved integration of name searching with the advanced search filters.
Export Files
- Offer the ability to customizate which data fields to include in the exported csv file or at least provide for a basic and a fuller version of datasets.
Lots of Tweaks
- Clean up code and fix whatever issues I didn't catch and deal with already
Continuing checking accessibility
Explore GIS Integration

Entity Relationship Diagrams