Library web development : beyond tips and tricks

Title:

Author:

Bengtson, Jason author

ISBN:

9780838918302

Publication:

Chicago : ALA Editions, 2019.

Physical Description:

viii, 134 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Contents:

The problems we need to solve -- Tracking just about anything in the clients -- Moving data between your web pages -- Wrestling same origin policy (or, why won't my app read this data?) -- Using FIFOs to extract data without an API -- Using sideways development to improve web interfaces -- Pulling data from multiple sources for a single interface -- Making a mobile-friendly image map -- Using server side scripting to re-shape troublesome data -- A few last rules to follow.

Subject Term:

Library web sites -- Design.

Web applications in libraries.

Web site development.

Library Web sites -- Design. (OCoLC)fst00997605

Web applications in libraries. (OCoLC)fst01920749

Web site development. (OCoLC)fst01173243

Local Subject:

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE COLLECTION

Available:

Library	Call Number	Material Type	Status
Searching... State Library of Oregon	025.0422 Bengt	4-Week Loan	Searching... Unknown

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On Order

Summary

Plenty of resources offer you snippets of code and a variety of tutorials can show you the solutions to web development problems. But it's much more valuable (and a better investment of your time!) to learn some core problem-solving skills. This book shares key rules and strategies that will empower you to become a confident coder and web developer, ready to think through whatever complications present themselves. Bengtson, an expert developer, describes 11 challenges typical of a library setting and ones he has faced himself. He then walks you through his thinking, with explorations of alternate approaches, as he works toward a solution. As you follow along, you'll gain wisdom involving scenarios such as

integrating a reader app with Dspace; tips when using a public API; troubleshooting a Google Analytics Event hook in a new application; building a database from a collection of CSV files; collecting information from a university's web pages to display in the library website; and moving mass quantities of information to the next page of your app.

Armed with the conceptual foundation outlined in this book, you'll be ready to meet the web development challenges you face in your library.

Reviews (2)

Choice Review

Many resources offer coding instruction and tutorials; this book focuses on how to systematically solve web coding puzzles using critical thinking and holistic examination of the task in context. A full stack web developer, Bengsten (Kansas State Univ. Libraries) recommends reusing code to understand why it works and how it can solve problems. Though he includes a mini-primer on coding and terminology and recommends basic knowledge of JavaScript and PHP, the author emphasizes promoting new thinking patterns to problem solving using any language that be can run on a server. He identifies 11 challenges specific to library settings and shows how he solved them. The author writes in a chatty, personal style, and he intersperses code snippets, black-and-white (hard to read) screenshots, and links to pertinent tutorials for specific tools, such as Google Analytics. Specific scenarios include using a public API, creating a database from CSV files, building a responsive client-side image map, using Chrome development tools, moving information to the Next Page in My App, using cURL to "scrape" HTML, DSpace, and using FIFIDs to extract data without an API. Conceptional frameworks alternate with real-life code solutions to illustrate issues from a library perspective. [Disclosure: Choice is part of the American Library Association, which published this book.] Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, professionals. --Sharon G. Almquist, Veritas Classical Academy

Library Journal Review

Increasingly in need of staff with robust coding and web development skills, libraries have begun hiring experts to provide opportunities for library professionals to develop these skills. But according to Bengtson (head, information technology svcs., Kansas State Univ. Libs.), library professionals interested in basic coding skills might not know how to troubleshoot like a seasoned coder, and expert coders who are not information professionals might not fully understand user needs. In addition to discussing the many challenging scenarios that he has experienced as a library web developer, such as customizing Google Analytics or building interactive maps, the author shares his ten rules for thinking critically and solving coding-related issues in libraries and demonstrates how these are applied in practice. VERDICT Though Bengtson offers many introductory resources throughout the book, this title is not intended to be a primer or introduction to web development. Library staff who are mostly self-trained web developers will likely find this helpful in navigating the dynamic and complex web development landscape.--Amanda Folk, Ohio State Univ. Libs., Columbus