Web Services

Web Services builds and maintains websites for Library departments, exhibits, collections and events, and develops and maintains web-based technologies that help the Libraries' faculty, staff, and users. Our projects include the following:

Apps and Widgets

Web Services is developing a number of web-based applications to help our users navigate the Libraries' collections. The MSU Libraries Facebook app, which allows Facebook users to search the Libraries' resources from their Facebook profiles, and the LibX extension for Firefox and Internet Explorer, which lets users search in their browser anywhere on the Web, can be downloaded at the Library Downloads page. We are also helping make the Libraries' website more accessible to users with mobile devices–a version of the website for simple cellphones can be accessed at http://library.msstate.edu/m, and an iPhone app is in development now.

Blogs

MSU Libraries are entering the blogosphere! We currently maintain three blogs: our Web Services blog, the MegaResource School Librarian Blog, and the MSU Libraries eResource and Emerging Technologies Summit Blog.

Book Orders Online (BOO)

BOO is a web-based request system for book orders submitted by library liaisons and faculty in academic departments. 

Digital Collections

The MSU Libraries use OCLC's CONTENTdm software to manage their digital collections. Web Services customizes CONTENTdm interfaces for the MSU Libraries' digital collections. Digitization efforts (run by the Digital Preservation and Access Unit) currently concentrate on the Charles Templeton Sheet Music Collection, the Congressional and Political Research Center, and the CHARM (Consortium for the History of Agriculture and Rural Mississippi) Collection, but the Libraries also partner with other academic units to digitize and publish materials.

Database Portal

The Database Portal provides access to the Libraries' databases and indexes. It includes a federated search function provided by Serials Solutions. Databases and indexes are listed both alphabetically and by subject.

HelpDesk

The Help Desk is our problem reporting/ticketing solution. Website users and library staff can enter tickets to Systems/Web Services, Access Services, the Instructional Media Center, Stacks Maintenance, Technical Services, or the Digital Preservation and Access Unit. Web Services and Systems sort and assign tickets as they come in.

LibGuides

LibGuides is a content management and information sharing solution which the MSU Libraries have adopted to present their research and course guides. LibGuides enables librarians to create their own guides and manage their own content. Web Services administers and reviews each guide as it is published and at intervals afterward.

Microsoft SharePoint

Web Services is in the process of implementing Sharepoint as the Libraries' new intranet solution. SharePoint gives users a means to track projects and deadlines, create wikis, store and modify documents, hold discussions, create checklists, surveys, and lists, and post important links.

MSU Faculty Authors

The MSU Faculty Authors website presents the scholarship and research of MSU faculty members to the world by listing the books, book chapters, articles, and conference papers they have created while employed at MSU.

RSS Feeds

Web Services has created RSS feeds for library news, spotlighted events and collections, upcoming workshops and events, and new materials. We also create custom RSS feeds for departments that require them.

Time Clock

In order to meet the Libraries' need for a timeclock application without adding a cost, Web Services developed Timeclock, and deployed it throughout the libraries. Other departments on campus have also expressed interest in the application. 

We will use this blog to keep Library faculty, staff, and users updated on our projects and news. Check back often or subscribe to our RSS feed to read the latest!