Thing 17 - Please enter your Minnesota public library barcode
I have titled my Thing 17 blog entry on ELM with the error message that made this somewhat difficult to navigate. Some of the exercises I was able to do with OU Libraries databases… but not all.
Of particular frustration was Academic Search Premier. After some moving around on the OU Libraries, I was able to get registered and to my Websites where I could perform the setup. Even then I wasn’t entirely sure what I was actually creating. After it was said and done, I saw that what I was doing was essentially creating my own portal of sorts. Nevertheless, because of the proxied nature of my constituent access, I wasn’t able to create a fully functional page with a search built into it.
I understand from others that have blogged about this Thing already that they were able to use some of their own access into theses systems their libraries. Despite my troubles accomplishing much in this Thing, I do see value in the technologies they are pointing to, but strictly from a backend perspective. I really can’t imagine patrons being patient enough to setup some of these features for themselves. Really it seemed most helpful for library personnel who might want to leverage the tools for use among themselves. (Establish a general rule-of-thumb about how everyone might use it professionally and then collaborate.) This might be a stretch, but it could work.
