...
- Each institution wishing to use Sakaibrary will have to configure can set Sakai to work with their own metasearch tool (e.g., MetaLib, SIRSI SingleSearch). A metasearch tool allows searching across multiple databases.
- A canned search (in this document) is a search where the search terms and other constraints are pre-specified.
- A constrained search (in this document) is a search where some search terms and other constraints (such as which databases or groups of databases to seach) are in place, but the user can specify one or more search terms.
...
Code | Description | Priority | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
U1 | Users can create citation lists consisting of references to and links (if available) to materials from licensed databases, the public web, materials uploaded within Sakai, or links to canned or constrained searches. | high |
|
U2 | Users can embed citation lists within other document types in Sakai, whether structured (e.g., a template-based syllabus or assignment) or , unstructured (e.g., a discussion posting, an announcement), or a research guide. | high |
|
U3 | Within Sakai and from a single search box, users can search across licensed databases or other relevant resources to locate and add citations to a citation list. | high |
|
U4 | In addition to a simple search, users can specify fielded search terms and other constraints for a search, including which databases, journals, or other resource collections or resource types are searched. | high |
|
U5 | Users can name, annotate, and save predefined (canned or constrained) searches for future modification and use by themselves or others, or for inclusion into research guides and other document types. | high |
|
U6 | Users can save citations as standalone objects (e.g., resources) within Sakai to facilitate use and reuse in a variety of contexts. | high |
|
U7 | Users can edit and repurpose citation lists. | high |
|
U8 | Users can add custom citations to a citation list. | medium |
|
U9 | Users can import from/export to other citation management tools such as Endnote or Refworks. | medium |
|
U10 | Users can test a citation list and receive a report of broken links. | medium |
|
U11 | Librarians can have appropriately limited access to courses in their subject areas in order to provide citation lists, research guides, or other aids. Such access can be granted by the instructor or by administrators in accordance with local policy create research guides as a distinct document type within Sakai, associating the guides with relevant classes according to the local policy, access control, and workflow. | high |
|
U12 | Librarians can put such objects as citation lists, canned or constrained searches, and unstructured document content (text, pictures, etc.) into research guides. | high |
|
U13 | Librarians can communicate with instructors and students with the Sakai context visible (e.g., the librarian can tell what course the student "coming from", even if the student doesn't mention it). | medium |
|
...
- Is built-in support for version control and local modifications (i.e., branching) needed? If not, do we need to provide a way to compare citation lists to identify differences? (Preliminary decision: do not provide version control or sophisticated branching, merging, and diff-ing.)
- Unlike the Open Source Portfolio (OSP) Sakai doesn't seem to have the notion of templates and forms, which would be useful ways to incorporate citations and citation lists into structured documents such as syllabi and research guides. Do we need to float some requirements to the rest of Sakai to support this kind of thing?
- What support does/will Sakai provide for "learning objects" and how are they included in the citation list?
- Do we need context-sensitive presentation of citations? What contexts are relevant?
- Is a canned or constrained search a citation? Or is it a different kind of object? Even though it may be able to be represented as a URL, it also needs to be turned back into a set of editable search terms in an advanced search form.
- What should the relationship be between citations and resources? Between folders of resources and citation lists? Conceptually they are similar enough to be confusing to users. Currently in Sakai, a resource is a document with a very limited amount of metadata. Do we want to make a citation just another document type? Or do we want to generalize the resource model to include citations (without, of course, requiring extra metadata to be added). One justification for the latter approach is that objects such as canned or constrained search are more naturally conceived of as resources than as "citations". Also, we already know we want documents uploaded to resources to be listable within a citation list.