InfoSoup Development Blog

We have been working hard on WebpacPro, the next upgrade to the opac. WebpacPro has been installed on our testing server, and we have been tweaking some old features, testing some new ones, and generally trying to make InfoSoup even better than before. A list of the highlights and changes is available, so please take a look at the PDF and see what we've been working on. You can view the testing server and WebpacPro at http://tstils.owls.lib.wi.us from within the OWLS and APL networks, but not from the outside world. There are still a few things we're tweaking, but we're getting very close to being ready to go. Please take a look ASAP and share your comments and questions below. Thanks!

One of the things we can do in WebpacPro is to set all verifications to log users into My Account. For example, if a patron is placing a hold but hasn't logged into their account, they will be prompted to log in, can place their hold, but then they stay in a logged in state. Right now, they can place a hold, but they don't actually log in to their account to do so.

There are advantages and disadvantages to doing this. The main advantage is that the auto login makes it easy to continue to place holds or view My Account or enter databases without forcing them to log in again. The main disadvantage is that people using a public workstation who aren't used to being logged in automatically might walk away from the workstation without logging out of their account because they haven't had to in the past. The workstation will eventually timeout, as they do now. WebpacPro on the testing server is currently set up to do the auto login if you want to try it out and see what you think.

What do you think about this? Is the auto login benefit more important or a greater advantage than patrons in the libraries possibly walking away without logging out of their account? Can we train patrons in the libraries to log out after using public workstations? Or do we need to protect their privacy and keep things as they are now? Please weigh in with your opinions in the comments below. Thanks!

We have activated "Related Subjects" on the InfoSoup test server. Related Subjects will appear in the search box when you have performed a keyword search. Here is an example of how it looks:

When you click on the "more" link, a pop-up window displays additional subject searches related to the current search. You can click on them to initiate a new search based on that subject. We can't control how it functions, meaning, we can't dictate if it goes into a pop-up window or not. But even though we aren't very fond of how it appears, we are liking the idea and what it can offer patrons and staff.

What do you think? Any problems with enabling this feature? Love it? Hate it? Post your comments, please.