catalog system

[kayray]

Exactly - now if I get hit by a truck, everything's in the wiki. :D

Look both ways, anyway :)

[kri]

UPDATE:

sorry this should have been stated a bit earlier, but this catalog project has been started and stopped by at least 5 people, 6 now, so ...

we currently have a prototype catalog database that is:
a) getting tested
b) getting prettied up

we will very likely want some help tweaking/adding some new features. it was built in a modular way, so should be easy enough to understand (PHP using a MySQL database), and update.

so keen programmers, please stay tuned (& keen) for some help needed soon.

Thanks Hugh - I know there's work already done, and I certainly intend to leverage it; I'm just trying to get a fix on our overall goals and design. There would be little point in whatever programmer, me or someone else or any number of someone elses, sitting down and building something and then having to go back and throw it away because of misunderstandings of the process.

The Librivox volunteers and listeners are the customers here, and it's my intention to capture everything possible about how things get done (and how we wish they'd get done) so that whoever works on it is working the same direction all the way.

I see the database design above and it's great work (that I frankly have no experience at), so I'm going to capture it into a design doc on the wiki to make sure it's coresident with the rest of the requirements/design/implementation data.

I am not the leader or setter of direction: I'm only the guy who turns what the real people doing the work do into a tool that helps them do it the way they want to.

Let me clarify things a little. Hopefully you won't have to do any designing. We've got a database created, and the beginnings of a front-end as well. What we'll need are features added, bugs tweaked and fixed, and such things. I only say hopefully, because I don't think we've settled 100% on what we've got so far.

[joemcmahon]

I've captured some more requirements and thoughts into the wiki - I'll continue capture for a while until I'm sure I've got a basic handle on everything. That includes stuff like considering backup strategies for the database, security models, and all that other stuff that keeps the data in the catalog safe.

Contributions welcome, in fact, particularly sought! I'm trying to capture reality and not programming here, so non-programmers should feel strongly encouraged to add to the pages - please sign stuff so I'll know who I need to talk to if I need more information.

I really expect this process to take some time, at least a week or so, probably more due to the fact we're all over the place. The up-front investment before I even start thinking about programming will help make sure that I don't code myself into a corner because I didn't know about something we really need.

You can follow up here if you prefer, and I'll capture into the wiki. I'll also be trolling through the earlier posts in this thread and the other threads realted to this one in search of the best data. Do NOT be afraid to say something that's already been said. Anything I learn will be useful, and if there are postings that I actually should now ignore, that would be good information too.

[joemcmahon]

Let me clarify things a little. Hopefully you won't have to do any designing.

Oh for that to be true. The database is actually the easy part. The design is getting all the functionality that our manual procedures have now in front of that database. Especially critical is making it welcoming, rather than off-putting. How much should anyone be able to see vs. the parties responsible for a specific section of the work? When do we stay in the application, and when do we go to the forum from it? Do we post new projects into the database, and have it post the new thread to the forum, or is this manual, with the bookmanager (or metacoordinator - and which one?) taking care of putting it into the database? And so on.

We've got a database created, and the beginnings of a front-end as well. What we'll need are features added, bugs tweaked and fixed, and such things. I only say hopefully, because I don't think we've settled 100% on what we've got so far.

I have looked at the front-end so far, and though functional, it's not welcoming. I'll pull it down too my local machiine and play with it there to see if we want to patch it up and go on, or work parallel, or whatever. If we keep the layers properly separated, any interface will work with the backend. I'm concerned with security, how do we know what you're allowed to do, etc. The PHP frontend can access the data, but not do all that.

[kri]

We've got a database created, and the beginnings of a front-end as well. What we'll need are features added, bugs tweaked and fixed, and such things. I only say hopefully, because I don't think we've settled 100% on what we've got so far.

I have looked at the front-end so far, and though functional, it's not welcoming. I'll pull it down too my local machiine and play with it there to see if we want to patch it up and go on, or work parallel, or whatever. If we keep the layers properly separated, any interface will work with the backend. I'm concerned with security, how do we know what you're allowed to do, etc. The PHP frontend can access the data, but not do all that.

The database that I've been speaking about hasn't been made public yet, so it's not possible for you to pull it down, or see the front end.

[joemcmahon]

Sorry kri - confusion on my part. I saw some PHP and database code at some URL and another and jumped to conclusions. I'll try some things on my own and take a look at the stuff you mentioned when it's available.

[HeartofTexas]

Hi folks:

I'm not sure where y'all are on this, by now. I have no programming experience, and to my knowledge, no gift for it, either, but I do have some time, and some experience in cataloging in traditional library situations.

I don't know what needs to done, but if the timing is right, and if it's something I can do, I'm willing to lend a hand, if it's a manageable job.
If it's all done, or beyond my skills, I'll just keep listening to some good reading!

[kayray]

http://librivox.org/newcatalog/

Not all data is entered yet, but we're almost there! But thank you very much for offering to help :)

[metal.lunchbox]

My god, I think I'm going to cry. The catalog is insanely great. Sophisticated but not complicated. Kudos

[metal.lunchbox]

I hope I'm not off-topic or repeating someone else's post when I ask:

Does our cataloging system include keywords? I'm not sure this is neccessary but it would be nice to be able to parse through the great number of recorded works with a few featured groupings, such as christmas literature, Afro-American literature, works by women, american political documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Federalist Papers, etc). Groups generate gravity. That is to say, people will want to record works to add to an incomplete group. And it provides a logical way to sort through the materials beyond simply searching. These theme-groups could be periodically featured on the Librivox Catalog Page. Christmas stories for christmas time, African-American Lit for Afro-Amer. history month, etc. If this is something that has already been well discussed then forgive me.

[kri]

I hope I'm not off-topic or repeating someone else's post when I ask:

Does our cataloging system include keywords? I'm not sure this is neccessary but it would be nice to be able to parse through the great number of recorded works with a few featured groupings, such as christmas literature, Afro-American literature, works by women, american political documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Federalist Papers, etc). Groups generate gravity. That is to say, people will want to record works to add to an incomplete group. And it provides a logical way to sort through the materials beyond simply searching. These theme-groups could be periodically featured on the Librivox Catalog Page. Christmas stories for christmas time, African-American Lit for Afro-Amer. history month, etc. If this is something that has already been well discussed then forgive me.

It hasn't been officially announced yet (wait for a bit while we finish data entry!) but just for you I'll give you a link to the soon-to-be-new search page. I think this answers your question. http://librivox.org/newcatalog/

[thistlechick]

We're still working on the Keywords/Categories/Subjects part....but the potential is definitely there for it =)