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The use and future of splash pages for CONTENTdm databases Joel Marchesoni, library web master @jmarchesoni CONTENTdm Southern Users Group Meeting, May 20-21, 2014 [email protected] Jill Ellern, system librarian @jillern [email protected] Western Carolina University Outline • What are splash screens • Review of the many types of splash screens being used today • Western Carolina University’s splash screens • Future plans using Customizations API to create dynamically created splash screens What are splash screens? • Splash screens, but we have used "collection homepage”, “jump off pages” and recently “landing pages” • • • Marketing pieces • • • Entry points into the CONTENTdm collections “Screens” because they are often more then one page Give a taste of collection by highlight unique features Describe or emphasize uniqueness of a particular collection within CONTENTdm site Place to put related information and links • • Often more than just a description Guided Searches and in-depth information about an aspect of collection Why splash screens? • Help users navigate collection • • Guided searches point them to items of interest Interpret importance of the collection • Connect and distinguish related collections or groups of collections at a glance • Branding • Connect the generic CONTENTdm site to the institution’s website Basic parts of a splash screens • Individual or multiple collections perspective • Description of the collection(s) • Guided Searches • Static or dynamically created • Highlighted or exhibit of selected image(s) or unique feature(s) • When does a splash screen become a full web site? • Depends upon the amount of information held about a collection beyond the CONTENTdm database Variations in splash screens • Splash screen’s physical location often dictates options available to the users • Inside/outside CONTENTdm splash screens Basic default elements or “out of the box” defaults • Wide range of custom pages/scripts/styles • • Older versions of CONTENTdm allowed for more customization source files • Multiple collections vs individual collections • A library’s collective knowledge of web programming provides variations in what is presented Disadvantages of Splash Screens • Simple splash screens can leads user to think that they’re seeing everything related to topic • Often don’t contain a lot of actual content • Often static and don’t change often • • • Penalized in search engine results Can become outdated if not “loved” Often managed separately from collection content by different library staff Examples of Splash Screens • Look around at other CONTENTdm sites • • • It can help figure out what you like What would look good for your collections and site How you might do this research for yourself • OCLC’s Collection of Collections http://www.oclc.org/en-US/contentdm/collections.html • Google search on: “cdm/landingpage/collection/ ” • “contentdm cdm/subject/” • “contentdm cdm/subject/collection” • • Search for collections like your own Review of other Libraries’ Splash Screens • Often hard to tell how screens were created • • • • • Is the screen an option within CONTENTdm or a local customization? Is this something you can do with your versions of CONTENTdm? How much html knowledge or time would it take to do it? Is the screen static or dynamically created? Which kind of splash screen is shown? • subject, collection, individual, or other? • For this presentation, we had to call the library for the really interesting splash screens to find out more information • I looked at many many of sites to give you this review • There are 2000+ so I only scratched the surface Review in Prezi Take away from this searching • Don’t be afraid to look around • Out of the Box is ok • Call and ask how they did it Current State of Our Splash Screens • All hosted on our campus web server, not CONTENTdm • Built using Dreamweaver templates • Completely static pages • Canned searches created from CONTENTdm and pasted in • • First using CQR and now the API Would like these to be dynamically created but our web server doesn’t support data retrieval • Full website, not a splash page • Images and concepts point to CONTENTdm • First landing page I created • Went back and reworked parts to fit structure of new overall design • Second one I did, and I think it’s the best • Template we used to build others Future of Our Splash Screens • Dynamic pages based on the CONTENTdm API • • Either on CONTENTdm OR Completely outside like Andrew Bullen has done at Illinois State Library • Searches and navigation built from controlled vocabulary – no need to maintain static lists • Images could be pulled from database and scaled within CONTENTdm for Responsive Design • Thought the hurdle would be the poor file management on CONTENTdm • After doing research for our presentation I’ve found a better way... Landing Pages within CONTENTdm • Landing pages in CONTENTdm are customizable • • • May use the CONTENTdm header and footer OR be a completely custom page Possible to pull API data using PHP • File management is still a hurdle but less so than before • One thing to note about static vs. dynamic: VISUALLY, THE DIFFERENCE IS INVISIBLE • The beauty is behind the scenes • • Searches and navigation always reflect metadata No more broken links or missing terms The use and future of splash pages for CONTENTdm databases Joel Marchesoni, library web master @jmarchesoni CONTENTdm Southern Users Group Meeting, May 20-21, 2014 [email protected] Jill Ellern, system librarian @jillern [email protected] Western Carolina University