Using Server-Side Include Commands for Subject Web-Page Management: An Alternative to Database-Driven Technologies for the Smaller Academic Library

Authors

  • Lori Northrup
  • Ed Cherry
  • Della Darby

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v23i4.9664

Abstract

Frustrated by the time-consuming process of updating subject Web pages, librarians at Samford University Library (SUL) developed a process for streamlining updates using Server-Side Include (SST) commands. They created text files on the library server that corresponded to each of 143 online resources. Include commands within the HTML document for each subject page refer to these text files, which are pulled into the page as it loads on the user's browser. For the user, the process is seamless. For librarians, time spent in updating Web pages is greatly reduced; changes to text files on the server result in simultaneous changes to the edited resources across the library's Web site. For small libraries with limited online resources, this process may provide an elegant solution to an ongoing problem.

References

Carla Dunsmore, "A Qualitative Study of Web-Mounted Pathfinders Created by Academic Business Libraries,"Libri 52, no . 3 (Sept. 2002): 140-41.

Charles W. Dean, "The Public Electronic Library : Web-based Subject

Guides," Library Hi Tech 16, no. 3-4 (1998): 80-88; Gary Roberts, "Designing a Database-Driven Web Site, or, The Evolution of the InfoIguana," Computers in Libraries20, no. 9 (Oct. 2000): 26-32; Bryan H. Davidson, "Database-Driven, Dynamic Content Delivery: Providing an d Managing Access to Online Resources Using Microsoft Access and Active Server Pages," OCLC Systems and Services 17, no . 1 (2001): 34-42; Marybeth Grimes and Sara E. Morris , "A Comparison of Academic Libraries' Webliographies," Internet Reference Services Quarterly 5, no . 4 (2001): 69-77; Laura Galvan-Estrada, "Moving towards a User-Centered, Database-Driven Web Site at the UCSD Libraries," Internet Reference Services Quarterly 7, no. 1-2 (2002): 49-61.

Roberts, "Infoiguana "; Davidson, "Database Driven"; Galvan- Estrada,

"User-Centered, Database-Driv en Web Site."

Davidson, "Database Driven," under "Introduction ."

Ibid., under "Development Considerations."

Roberts, "Infoiguana ," 32.

Galvan-Estrada, "User-Centered, Database-Driven Web Site," 55-56.

Jody Condit Fagan, "Server –Side Includes Made Simple, " The Electronic Library 20, no. 5 (2002): 382-83 .

Michelle Mach, "The Service of Server-Side Includes," Information Technology and Libraries 20, no. 4 (2001): 213.

Greg R. Notess, "Server Side Includes for Site Management," Online 24, no. 4 (July 2000): 78, 80.

Ibid.

Mach, "Service of Server-Side Includes," 216.

Ibid., 214.

Fagan, "Server -Side Includes Made Simple," 387.

Ibid., 383.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Apache HTTPD Server Project, "Apache HTTP Server Version 1.3: Security Tips for Server Configuration," The Apache Software Foundation. Accessed Oct. 29, 2003, http://httpd.apache.org/docs/misc/security_tips.html.

Anthony Baratta, e-mail to theList mailing list, May 16, 2003, Accessed Nov. 4, 2003, http:/ /lists.evolt.org/archive/Week-of-Mon-20030512/140824.html.

Mach, "Service of Server-Side Includes,” 217.

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Published

2017-09-17

How to Cite

Northrup, L., Cherry, E., & Darby, D. (2017). Using Server-Side Include Commands for Subject Web-Page Management: An Alternative to Database-Driven Technologies for the Smaller Academic Library. Information Technology and Libraries, 23(4), 192–197. https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v23i4.9664

Issue

Section

Tutorials