|
UNC Digital Library Project |
|
Description The user management console will take the form of a split browser window with a Windows Explorer-style folder tree on one side and a set of administrative functions on the other. Clicking on an item in the tree will expand or collapse that branch. Each node in the tree will correspond to a record in the user management database (specifically the DL_U_Wrappers table). These records, termed "wrappers," may be pointers to objects referenced by the database or simply placeholders ("folders") in the hierarchy. Functions cut: (link) selected object's record is marked for deletion in the database, its wrapper_key is placed in a session variable, and the menu is refreshed copy: (link) same as cut, but the record isn't marked for deletion paste: (link) a copy of the cut/copied object record is inserted into the database. Its parent's wrapper_key is the key of the selected node. As an alternative, there could be two paste functions: 'paste alongside' and 'paste under' set permissions: (link) brings up a dialog with the applicable permissions as checkboxes, a list box with the groups of which the user is a member and a text area into which the email addresses of users to be added to the permissions list can be typed. annotate: brings up the metadata editing tool in a new window, to allow the user to add to or edit the wrapper's annotation. edit: brings up the metadata editing tool in a new window, to allow the user to add to or edit the object's metadata. The distinction between annotate and edit is that annotate works with supplemental metadata, visible only to the user and any persons with whom that user shares the wrapper in question, while the edit function allows the user (if he has sufficient permissions) to edit the actual object metadata. set display: (link) brings up a dialog with controls to set how the contents of the selected folder will be displayed. In the pilot, these choices will be relatively simple, including a slide show, a contact sheet, and a list of links, and perhaps a few more options. Since these options will expand, and become more configurable over time, however, there may be a need to devise tools to help manage the display options. A "display wizard," for example, may be necessary. search: (text box and submit button) there will be a keyword search box, which will allow users to search on multiple keywords. Search results will appear in a new window. The results will be summarized by collection, with links to drill down to the actual content. Discovered records will, by default, be displayed five at a time, with the option to adjust the number of records returned. On the results display, there will be a navigation bar which will give the user access to the full range of results and will indicate, by depth of color, how relevant the results on a particular "page" of the resultset are to the user's query. advanced search: (link) brings up a new window with multiple search options. These will include keyword searching by field (more accurately, by XML element). browse: (link) brings up a new window which contains choices for browsing the contents of the digital library collections. These will include Java applets which will visually summarize the contents of the digital library. log off: (link) clears the user's session, deletes any records in the database that are temporary or marked for deletion, and closes the current window and any child windows. Users should be encouraged to log off rather than simply closing their browsers (although doing so will not cause any harm: if the user do not log off, his session will ultimately expire and the database cleanup will be done the next time he logs in). |