We only require one side block, and that's the KnowItNow block of services (you can see an example on Perry County District Library's site). For the rest, we work with your library to determine what is needed and what will work best.  We're pretty flexible!

This is a free feature included in all OPLIN Dynamic Website Kits. In the Kits, this banner ad for the Ohio Web Library databases will pull directly from the OPLIN servers; this means that we'll update it for you periodically with additions/deletions to the database collection.  The banner will change approximately 1x/week.

The basic site will be published on the Internet from an OPLIN-provided server, which will include the following services:

• Firewall to protect the site against intrusion
• Regular upgrades to software used to maintain and publish the site
• Upgrades to server hardware when advantageous
• Retaining current web site domain name
• Pro-active fixes for network, system and software vulnerabilities
• Mirroring of server hard drives to allow quick recovery from hardware failures
• Problem resolution through the OPLIN Support Center

The most basic definition of web site usability is whether or not users can quickly accomplish a given task on a website without obstacles.  Obstacles can be long download times, scattered navigation, poor design, dated styles and many more issues, all of which can affect how users access your site and/or perceive your library.

Many of the web sites developed by public libraries do not adhere to web design standards or best practices. When Laura Solomon did a study (PDF) of Ohio public library websites in 2004, she found that only 17% of Ohio libraries met more than 80% of accepted criteria for usability. As new devices for accessing the Internet, such as the iPhone and other such smartphones, become more prevalent, it will become ever more critical for public libraries to have well-designed, standards-compliant web sites. OPLIN can help by fulfilling an original purpose -- enabling libraries to compete with other Internet information providers -- in a new way, focusing on building good library web sites as well as building good library Internet connections.

A favicon ( a mishmosh of "favorite" and "icon") is a small icon that shows up in the address bar of your browser when you visit a site, and it also shows up in your list of favorites/bookmarks when you bookmark a site.  It makes your site easier to find in a bookmark list, if it has its own special icon.  Learn more at Wikipedia.

Unknown to many, other than professional IT staff or web developers, specific standards exist for the code that runs a web site.  These standards apply to most web-related markup languages, such as HTML, XHTML, XML and even CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).   Often, the code that is generated by a program like Microsoft Frontpage or created by a non-professional is not compliant to these code standards.  This can result in many problems, including poor display in many types or versions of browsers, or even a total absence of display!  With the increasing prevalence of web-enabled cell phones, standards-compliance is becoming more and more critical.  Standards are set by the the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international organization.  From the W3C site:

"W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web standards and guidelines. Since 1994, W3C has published more than 110 such standards, called W3C Recommendations. W3C also engages in education and outreach, develops software, and serves as an open forum for discussion about the Web. In order for the Web to reach its full potential, the most fundamental Web technologies must be compatible with one another and allow any hardware and software used to access the Web to work together. W3C refers to this goal as “Web interoperability.” By publishing open (non-proprietary) standards for Web languages and protocols, W3C seeks to avoid market fragmentation and thus Web fragmentation.

Tim Berners-Lee and others created W3C as an industry consortium dedicated to building consensus around Web technologies. Mr. Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web in 1989 while working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), has served as the W3C Director since W3C was founded, in 1994."

If you have further questions about the W3C standards, please contact OPLIN Support.

This means that your staff will be able to upload (for example) a PDF document that will be attached to a particular web page in your library's site.  For instance, you could attach a PDF version of an event flyer to the calendar listing of the event.  Keep in mind that this is an attachment; it works just like with email.  So the content of your attachment will not show up inline with the other web site text; rather, it will show up as a link that the visitor will click at the bottom of the page content.

Just add the following to the code of your web site, where you want the information to appear:

<script language="JavaScript" src="http://oplin.org/dbase_widget.js"></script>

First off the vendor has to be able to do authentication based off of ip only. This usually isn't a big issue, and I've only ran into one small vendor out of the hundreds that libraries subscribe to that couldn't handle it in some way.

Second we need a generic link to the resource. By generic I mean that it doesn't have any information in the url that is specific to any one library. We keep a database of generic links here at the office, which lets us add database links to your locally purchased databases tab pretty quick, since the same link will work for any library.

Lastly you just need to give the vendor your OPLIN proxy IP address. All the authentication in the world won't save us if the proxy ip address doesn't have access. OPLIN proxy ips always start with 66.213.41 and have a 4th octet of whatever their FSCS is. For example, Ada (OH0001) is 66.213.41.1. We will try to setup authentication for anything that you ask for, so as usual if you need anything, give us a call.

It's a long "O" as in "Ohio." In other words, it's not pronounced "AH-plin." It's actually "OH-plin."

To make a search box that will search the OPLIN "about:books" web page, you need to make a web form that:

• uses the 'get' method, with
• 'http://aboutbooks.info' as the action, and
• has a text element named 'query'.

An example of this is below.

<form action="http://aboutbooks.info" method="get">
    <input type="text" name="query" />
    <input type="submit" value="Search" />
</form>

...which makes a search box like this:

The Oh!Teach web site was originally maintained by Kent State University, but has not been kept up since 2006 and had very minimal usage.  Usage numbers for Oh! Kids and Oh!Teens were also very low.  The decision was made to eliminate these sites after a survey of Ohio's public libraries found that very few of them linked to or used these sites.

When this new site was created, content for public libraries and librarians (the customers of OPLIN) was separated out from that intended for the public.  The information still on the www.oplin.org site is intended for libraries & librarians.   "Discover Ohio" was moved to a separate site, http://www.exploreohio.org/.  This was not only because of the needed separation of content for different audiences, but also because some time ago the Ohio Department of Development, Division of Tourism had taken over the name and domain name "Discover Ohio" and it was causing significant branding confusion between the two sites for users of either.

It needs to be able to run JavaScript.  The Ohio Web Library uses a lot of it in order to display search results. 

Yes!  A screencast is available from Westlake-Porter Public Library's web site, and the State Library also has online 30-Minute eClassroom sessions (check their schedule for upcoming sessions).

OPLIN has created an Ohio Web Library search widget that you can add to any web page. Simply put this line in your page where you want the widget to appear:
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://oplin.org/common/owl_widget/owl_search.js"></script>
...and now you have the Ohio Web Library search box!

If you prefer to build you own web form, use the GET method with an action of http://ohioweblibrary.org and a text box named q.

Ohio Web Library accepts all the variables listed below through the GET method. All variables can be used alone, or in any combination with others.

Name: q

Effect: Specifying this variable will set it as your search term, and fire a search on page load.

Example Usage: http://ohioweblibrary.org?q=puppies

Name: defaultcat

Effect: Lets you specify the default target category on load.

Example Usage: http://ohioweblibrary.org?q=puppies&defaultcat=Health

Name: targets

Effect: Lets you specify custom target categories for the "Category" drop down box. Note: Targets must first be configured in Ohio Web Library; contact OPLIN Support for a list of currently configured targets.

Additional Info: The format that should be used in the variable is: {category name},{target}|{target};{category name 2},{target}

Example Usage: http://ohioweblibrary.org/?q=dog+training&defaultcat=All&targets=SEO+Catalog,seoipac.seo.lib.oh.us:210/horizon

The ODURT (http://www.oplin.org/odurt) reports on queries and articles for each specific database delivered by OPLIN to Ohio's public libraries. Counts of database sessions are also available through the zip code stats reporter. These numbers are most useful in spotting trends in usage over time.

The counts of queries, documents, and sessions in an individual month mean very little. What is important is how these numbers change over time, and the "trend" is the direction of activity. It may be increasing by a certain percentage, for example, or decreasing by a certain percentage over a given span of time. Data that are measured and reported consistently over time can be useful for observing trends since the manner of reporting remains the same. Change may be assumed to be due to some other variable, such as increased usage.

The database vendors are not required to have their stats to OPLIN until the end of the first week of each month.

A single query is any event in which a patron or staff member types a keyword or other search term in a query box and clicks on 'search' or 'find' or 'go,' causing the database to conduct a search and issue a results list.

For our purposes, an article is a full text document. It might be an actual magazine or newspaper article from other sources (as is the case in most of the EBSCO databases). It might also be an informational document created for the database itself (as is the case in some of the encyclopedias, almanacs or NoveList for example). It specifically is not an abstract, or a citation. Our count is the count of every full text document patrons or staff members view, download, email or print. It is the count of documents "used."

Because the databases delivered by OPLIN come from a variety of database vendors, the technology that allows for browsing varies. Some of them use menus and subject trees in their overall design. We do not track the hits or click-throughs in a central fashion because we do not believe they can be reported consistently across products. Some of the vendors report this activity, however, in their own reporting tools.

In addition to the stats provided in ODURT, there are other stats available directly from most database vendors. A list of the vendor stat sites and how to log into them is available at http://oplin.org/content/statistics-0

It varies from product to product. Vendors may give some indication of browsing, number and length of sessions, and particular sections or component titles that were viewed.

EBSCOadmin is EBSCO's own tool for checking EBSCO database usage statistics, creating reports, and customizing certain interface options. Since it is maintained by EBSCO and not OPLIN, a separate ID and password are required. If you do not know your ID and password, please contact the OPLIN Support Center, support@oplin.org for assitance. For further details on how the tool itself works, click on the "Help" link at the top of the screen after logging in.

This page lets you view how many times databases were accessed from within particular zip codes during a selected month. The OPLIN authentication mechanism stores the domain name of the resource (e.g. ebscohost.com, heritagequestonline.com), the month and year, whether access is in-library or remote, and the zip code of the user. We began collecting these statistics in August 2006.

Sometimes multiple resources have the same domain. For example, all of the separate EBSCOhost resources, including NoveList, are recorded as "ebscohost.com." The vendors have web-based tools that you can use for more detailed statistics. Visit http://oplin.org/content/statistics-0 for more information.

Our system records all authentication requests, even unsuccessful ones. So if someone tried to access a subscription resource that your library doesn't subscribe to (either by being in your library or using one of your library cards), then our system records the attempt. This can be useful information; perhaps there is local demand for a resource that your library currently does not have.

If the session is from within a library, the zip code we store is that of the main library. This is true even of branch libraries; the recorded zip code is the main library zip code. For remote sessions, we either ask the user to enter her zip code or her library card number. We record the zip code as entered, or for library card validation we record the zip code of the main library in that system.

Most OPLIN databases are licensed for all of Ohio, so we have tried to remove barriers and make it easier for remote users to get to subscription content. Using geographic data on IP addresses, we are able to tell when users are in Ohio, and we wish to let them into the databases as quickly and easily as possible. Usage in these sessions is not credited to particular libraries, but to a generic statewide account; therefore we ask those users for their zip codes so that we can get some picture of the distribution of usage locally. Previously, OPLIN has only tracked the number of searches and the number of documents viewed in subscription databases. A count of the number of sessions is a third statistic that is recommended by various groups (ICOLC, Project COUNTER, NISO). We had no measurements of how much of our database usage originated from within libraries and how much was remote; our objective was to start collecting some numbers to help us track this.

Except for in-library usage, you can't. We know that library service areas overlap, and that libraries can have patrons registered all over the state. It doesn't matter if several libraries track stats in the same zip codes. These numbers are not reported to the State Library, and they are not used to determine funding levels between library systems. What is ultimately important about database usage statistics is not the actual numbers, but how they change over time. What we want to see is a constant, steady rise in usage. Removing access barriers is the first stage of raising usage (and entering a library card which can be up to 14 digits long is definitely a barrier).

Yes! OPLIN can provide a website for your library built on a standard model we have developed. The website can be customized with your logo and some special features can be added. Once the site meets your needs, we turn it over to you so you can start adding your own content to the site.

We prefer to host your website on the OPLIN web servers. That allows us to keep all the software that runs the site up-to-date and secure. If you really want to have the site hosted elsewhere, we can give you the site, but from that point onward we cannot provide any support for the site.

We ask each library that uses one of our websites to send some selected staff to our office in Columbus for an hour or two of training. We then provide you with a "sandbox" for practicing once you return to your library. The next step is for you to begin adding content to your site before it goes "live" on the Internet. Throughout this process we are available to assist you. Finally, when you are confident that your site is ready and you know how to keep it current, we launch it.

No. When your site is ready, we will replace your current site at the same address. So if your current site address is mylibrary.org, your new site address will also be mylibrary.org.

If your site is hosted on an OPLIN server, contact us and we will work with you to resolve the problem.

Contact the OPLIN Support Center: support@oplin.org or 1-888-966-7467, or chat online at http://support.oplin.org

A complete list of appropriate URLs can be found on this page: Linking to the OPLIN Website.

If you run your cursor over the link, the URL usually appears on the status bar at the bottom of the browser window.

Individuals and organizations are allowed to use photos or illustrations from these identification guides so long as it is strictly for noncommercial purposes and OPLIN is given proper credit. To be more specific, these guides are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

OPLIN itself does not issue library cards. Every Ohio public library has its own policy regarding whether they will or will not issue cards to out-of-state patrons. You can use the Find an Ohio Public Library tool to contact an Ohio public library and ask about their policy.

Send an e-mail to the OPLIN Managing Editor, stating clearly what needs to be changed or updated.

General comments or questions can always be sent to the OPLIN Managing Editor by using the form found here.

Please fill out the form found here. (And thank you!)

WordPress automatically creates an RSS feed for your blog, which allows readers to subscribe to its content via RSS readers such as Bloglines or Google Reader. Although The OPLIN 4cast is available via RSS feed, we are well aware that many people in the library community are not used to this method of distribution and would prefer to either visit the website itself, or to receive the information via e-mail. For that reason, whenever we add a weekly 4cast to the website, we also send an e-mail via The OPLIN 4cast electronic mailing list, which we set up at the beginning in order to reach as many potential readers in the Ohio public library community as possible.

We also registered The OPLIN 4cast with Technorati (a major blog search engine) and a free service called Ping-O-Matic, which automatically notifies a large number of blog search engines (such as Google Blog Search and Yahoo!) when an update is made to your blog.

We decided early on that in addition to the weekly OPLIN 4cast, we also wanted to add a biweekly podcast to the mix. In order to do that, we used a free plugin designed for use with WordPress called PodPress. PodPress seamlessly integrates with the "Dashboard" (administrative interface) of WordPress, and allows you to easily add media files to a regular blog post.

In addition to being free and fairly straightforward in terms of installation and administration, WordPress has a large, active user community that provides forums for tips and support (WordPress Support).

Because the software that runs WordPress is open source, any amount of customization is possible and in fact, encouraged (WordPress is Infinitely Extensible). For example, there are a large number of themes out there to change the look of your site (Blog Design and Layout). In OPLIN’s case, we simply used the default theme and added our own banner at the top

To use WordPress, OPLIN simply downloaded the latest version of the software and followed the extensive instructions on the Installing WordPress page, which clearly explains how and where to install the software on your local web server. We created a new subdirectory on the OPLIN web server (called www.oplin.org/4cast), and installed the WordPress files there.

Once the software is successfully installed and registered, you receive a login and password from WordPress that allows you to access the administrative interface for the blog (called the Dashboard). From there, you can control just about everything you need to.

The OPLIN 4cast is published using WordPress blog-publishing software. WordPress is written in PHP and backed by a MySQL database, and is available as a free download under a GNU General Public License.

• Getting Started with WordPress

WordPress also offers a blog-hosting service, which is similar to Blogger and LiveJournal, but allows for less customization and direct control.

The OPLIN 4cast is a weekly compilation of headlines, topics, and trends that could impact public libraries, published in a blog format. You can read it at www.oplin.org/4cast, subscribe to it via RSS feed (the URL is www.oplin.org/4cast/index.php/?feed=rss2), or sign up for The OPLIN 4cast electronic mailing list.