Comments in the Catalog: Community Interaction

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Comments in the Catalog Community Interaction

• Computers in Libraries 2007
• April 17, 2007
• Glenn Peterson, Hennepin (MN) County Library

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Comments are

• mini-reviews
• on any title in the catalog
• a blog for every book

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A very brief history

• Four threads
• summer book reviews by kids and teens
• book reviews by adults
• catalog customization
• conversations about books

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• Demo

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Patrons can comment

• From the library catalog
• Full bib screen
• Items out
• From booklists

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Catalog issues

• Editing XSLT stylesheets

Illustration by James Hilston, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
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Catalog issues

• Editing XSLT stylesheets
• Create link with unique bib
• Show number of comments

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• Anatomy of the
• Comments page

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Its a mash-up

• Bibliographic info
• Enriched content
• Patron comments
• Audio reviews (podcasts)
• Amazon reviews
• Related lists
• Recent comments

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Hows it going?

• Most-heavily used feature on our site
• Especially popular with teens
• 5700 comments/3000 users over the first 11 months

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The Long Tail
Number of comments
Number of Titles
Source http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Tail
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Maintenance

• Pre-screened for language

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Maintenance

• Pre-screened for language

Title
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Maintenance

• Pre-screened for language

Title
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Maintenance

• Pre-screened for language
• Batched every 4 hours and sent as an email
  message
• Reviewed by Web Services staff on rotating basis
• Click a link to hide a comment
• Problem comments edited

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Our to-do list

• Ratings
• Avatars
• User profiles
• Tag cloud

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Related developments

• WPopac (Plymouth State U.)
• SOPAC (Ann Arbor District Library)
• Millennium (Innovative)
• LibraryThing for Libraries

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Contact Information

• Glenn Peterson
• Web Administrator
• gpeterson_at_hclib.org
• www.hclib.org/extranet