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An Introduction to

Library à la Carte

Kimberly Griggs �Oregon State University Libraries�

http://alacarte.library.oregonstate.edu/

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What Is Library à la Carte?

Custom content management system (CMS)
Create:

Course assignment pages
Subject and general guides
Research and assessment tutorials
Portal pages

Free & open-source
Customizable and extensible

"Library à la Carte is as easy to use as blog software and as familiar as Facebook. Nice design!" -Librarian

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Customize | Collaborate | Connect

Build guides by creating and adding reusable modules

Use web-based text editor and forms to add text and images, insert links, create quizzes and more.

Search YouTube, Google, Flickr, and your own catalog to easily embed interactive features and library resources.

Attachments
Book Search
Comments
Course Reserves
Custom Content
Databases
Images
Instructor Profile
Librarian Profile
Multi-Media Widget
Quizzes
RSS Feed
YouTube Videos
Web Links

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Customize | Collaborate | Connect

Create and reuse modules across multiple guides (or tutorials)

Reuse

Copying modules, guides, and tutorials to easily build new content

Share modules, guides and tutorials with other users to create content together

Copy

Share

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Customize | Collaborate | Connect

Collect comments and feedback from students

�Learning assessment for real time evaluation.

Bookmark and share with social networking sites

Suggest related guides and resources for further exploration

Chat with a Librarian for help at the point of need.

Print versions and RSS feeds to stay updated

Tags and search for easy discovery.

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Portal Page Example

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Course Page Example

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Subject Guide Example

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Tutorial Example

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Tutorial Lesson Example

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Quiz Example

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Creation Tool

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Edit Course Page

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Admin Customizations

Throught the admin interface you can add a new banner, you can link to an external or internal location. I am going to link to OSU’s banner. Next I can add a logo and add an image map for the logo to make it linkable.

I can customize the Portal Page titles to match the terminlogy and the footer information we use on our website

I can link to an external style sheet to override the look of the templates. I am going to add one that changes the font and links styles and colors

I can add my library and university names and link. This infomration is used in the templates metadata and as links in the header.

I am also going to add a link to ask a librarians page and code snippet for a meebo chat.

You can also add search engines to search the guides, your catalog, or a site search for your library or institution.

Clicking save and then refreshing the page and I have customized the portals and the guide templates with my library brand.

I can go back and add in a

Library Catalog and site Search: I can also add a GSE to search within the guides.

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Customization Map

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CSU-SM Customization

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Building Community

CSU-San Marcos
CSU-Monterey Bay
Portland Community College
Reed College
CSU-Northridge
CSU-Channel Islands
University of Georgia

Humboldt State University
University of Puget Sound
Washington State Community College
Montana State University
University of Arizona
Oregon Health and Sciences University

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Local Install or Hosted Solution

Tech Stack

Ruby (1.8.7)

Gems (1.3.1)

Rails (2.3.2)

Database (MySQL)

Server (Apache)

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http://alacarte.library.oregonstate.edu/

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