Making the Most with Making the Most with Micro$oftMicro$oft

Using SharePoint Services as a Reference Portal

David Dahl, Emerging Technologies LibrarianKay Kazinski, Library Technology CoordinatorAlbert S. Cook Library , Towson University

Library Reference DepartmentLibrary Reference Department

13 Reference Librarians

1 Library Associate

1 Administrative

Assistant

1Library

Technology Coordinator

Towson University & Albert S. Towson University & Albert S. Cook Library - Fall ‘08Cook Library - Fall ‘08

8,823 Reference Transactions

52,543 Patrons/month

10 Known Library Committees

285 Library Instruction Sessions

What is a reference portal?What is a reference portal?

Available Options for a Reference Available Options for a Reference PortalPortal

Create our own

Purchase an intranet solution

Open source options

Choosing SharePoint, or…Choosing SharePoint, or…How SharePoint Chose UsHow SharePoint Chose Us

already used by the universityhosted on university’s serversscalable for future expansioncan use active directory for accountswe own our sitecustomizable for library and reference

department’s needsno ‘high level’ IT expertise requiredgood customer service from campus ITcampus beginning to offer training

ArchitectureArchitecture

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS)

collaboration, content management, RSS, wiki, blogs, master pages, calendars, surveys, mobile

required free

MS Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007)

Search, page layouts, LADP, SSO, slide libraries, repository, social networking

optionalstandard or enterprise $$$

Microsoft Office (2007) use office applications from within SharePoint

optional

SQL Server 2005 backend database required$$$

MS SharePoint Designer 2007

Create web parts,master pages, css, customize sites

optional$$$

MS Project Server 2007 project management, project servers reporting and report server in MOSS 2007

optional$$$

Out of the box siteOut of the box site

Reference PortalReference Portal

SharePoint Web PartsSharePoint Web Parts

Other features:RSS FeedsSite Aggregator

Stats Tracker

Usage StatisticsUsage Statistics

Creating the REFFY awardCreating the REFFY award

Gathering Feedback for AssessmentGathering Feedback for Assessment

Feedback and assessment cont’dFeedback and assessment cont’d

“potential is fully maximized…”

“potential is fully maximized…”

“like to know

more about…”“like to know

more about…”

“has a lot of

potential…”“has a lot of

potential…”

“make it indispensable…”

“make it indispensable…”

“quickest way to share information…”

“quickest way to share information…”

“still learning…”“still learning…”

information deskinformation desk

media resourcesmedia resources

expanding seamless customer service

shared workspaces document control – checkout and

versioningrevising the Reference Portal homepage

Future PlansFuture Plans

student labstudent labperiodicalsperiodicalscirculationcirculation

reference portalreference portal

Tips/suggestionsTips/suggestions

beta site if you canthink about access controls

◦who needs what now◦who may need access later◦who may want access later◦do we have to hide things

groups not individualsbe prepared to work aroundcreate conventions for use (governance)estimate your timeframe, add 15%training, training, training

AppendixReference Portal Screenshots

Reference Portal Homepage

The homepage of the Reference Portal currently contains the library’s online reference transaction collector, announcements, issue tracking, and the latest changes to our Reference Manual Wiki.

Reference Stats Tracker

The Stats Tracker is used by the Reference Department to keep track of reference desk transactions.

The Stats Tracker is not a component of SharePoint. However, it is possible to embed custom-built applications into a SharePoint site using the Site Aggregator webpart.

Announcements

The Announcements section is used to communicate important or useful information amongst all members of the reference department. This feature allows us to stay up-to-date on items of note without receiving an email each time.

Issue Tracking

The Issue Tracking webpart is used to communicate problems related to public computers, printers, and the network. As the issue is resolved comments can be added, detailing the steps taken to resolve the problem. The issue status can be updated to indicate the current status of the issue.

Reference Manual Wiki updates

The actual Reference Manual Wiki is linked from the left navigation menu on the homepage. This webpart displays the most recently updated pages so reference department staff can view the changes made or pages added to the wiki without having to search the entire wiki.

Reference Manual Wiki Index

Every page in the Reference Manual Wiki is linked from the Index page. Some pages are linked multiple times (e.g. information about employee vacation time is available under the heading “Employee Leave” as well as “Vacation Leave”. There is also a Table of Contents page that has content grouped into several categories rather than alphabetically.

Sample Reference Manual Wiki page

Reference Manual Wiki pages can have a variety of layouts, including tables, paragraphs, or bulleted items.

If using Internet Explorer, the wiki has a WYSIWYG editor, making it simple for anybody to update content in the wiki.

Quick Launch

The left navigation quick launch provides access to all site content.

Links, and RSS feeds , Shared Document discussions relating to Reference Services.

This navigation is also used for quick access to mutually shared services across campus labs – in this case the public printing software.

Top Link Bar

The Top Link Bar provides quick access to the other SharePoint sites located within the library.

The Cook Library SharePoint site has departmental ‘child sites’ for library faculty/staff accessible information.

Each child site can have private sites for departmental access only.

Search Options

The Search offers options to search current section, parent site or all sites.

Advanced Search take you to the SharePoint Server Search Center

Administration

Administration : Site Settings

Manage Users and Permissions

Look and Feel of Site

Galleries create/modify look of pages and content types

Site administration – global settings for parent and child sites

Administration – add child site

An owner of a parent site can add child sites. Child sites can either inherit parent site permissions or break inheritance and have site specific groups and permissions.

Administration –add new features

Create – library, list or web page

A site can have multiple types of objects .

This example adds a PowerPoint Slide Library to the SharePoint Site

Administration-Access Control

Access – managing site access by groups and permissions.

Can also restrict access for individual web parts based on ‘target audiences’

Administration- Add Web Part

Web Part – a component of a site that you can embed into a page – allows for multiple pages of a site to be viewed on one page

Specialized Web Parts are created when the page is created (e.g. – Reference Manual Wiki Web Part is created when the Wiki was created)

Placement of web part is managed in the layout screen when editing the page.

Custom Views

You can create custom views of any page. Custom views show whatever fields the user chooses.

Filters , grouping and counting can be applied.

This example creates a Issue tracker view for Closed Issues and gives a count.

Custom Views (continued)

You can create custom views of any page. Custom views show whatever fields the user chooses.

Filters , grouping and counting can be applied.

This example creates a Issue tracker view for Closed Issues and gives a count.

Alerts

Users can create email alerts for each site components. Frequency and content of alert can be customized.

Administrators can set alerts for users. Users can modify alerts even if created by administrators.