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Osmosis is a project in conjunction with the National Library which involves uploading the entire eLGAR holdings to the National Library where they are checked against existing records and a new national database created. These holdings are picked up by Worldcat, which is linked to Google and other search engines. This means that a Worldcat or Google search will lead back to the eLGAR catalogue.
Our full holdings load was completed in early December, and an update file completed yesterday. We'll have a further update in late January 2009 before the end of the Osmosis pilot.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
More on Security
I was asked what the error looks like for a customer, so here's a screenshot.
Remember this is for Firefox 3 users only, everyone else is fine. As soon as there is a resolution we will implement it.Monday, December 8, 2008
Payonline Security
Or more specifically the "sec_error_unknown_issuer" error
North Shore Libraries recently had a customer asking whether the Payonline security was up to scratch having received a "security error" message on connecting.
The "invalid security certificate" problem lies not with the Payonline site itself, but with an additional security layer added to Firefox V3. We have not had any issues with any other browsers, and we have tested all commonly used browsers and versions. If the customer has recently upgraded to Firefox 3, they will likely see more of this message as it is an issue with the new browser.
The Payonline site is secured by an SSL Certificate from Thawte, one of the largest security certification companies in the world. This certification is recognised by every other browser. The Payonline secure site is fully PCI DSS-Compliant (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and its security has been independently audited as part of that process. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_DSS)
The certificate itself is issued to Auckland City Council, as this is where the servers are located. All credit card transactions are processed in New Zealand, and no customer card details are kept in the Payonline system.
Please feel free to refer any customer queries to us at the eLGAR office, but at this stage all we can suggest is that if the customer adds the Payonline site to their Firefox exception list the problem will go away. We are working on a resolution on this problem, but we are by no means the only ones facing it, and I cannot give a date for resolution at this stage.
North Shore Libraries recently had a customer asking whether the Payonline security was up to scratch having received a "security error" message on connecting.
The "invalid security certificate" problem lies not with the Payonline site itself, but with an additional security layer added to Firefox V3. We have not had any issues with any other browsers, and we have tested all commonly used browsers and versions. If the customer has recently upgraded to Firefox 3, they will likely see more of this message as it is an issue with the new browser.
The Payonline site is secured by an SSL Certificate from Thawte, one of the largest security certification companies in the world. This certification is recognised by every other browser. The Payonline secure site is fully PCI DSS-Compliant (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and its security has been independently audited as part of that process. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_DSS)
The certificate itself is issued to Auckland City Council, as this is where the servers are located. All credit card transactions are processed in New Zealand, and no customer card details are kept in the Payonline system.
Please feel free to refer any customer queries to us at the eLGAR office, but at this stage all we can suggest is that if the customer adds the Payonline site to their Firefox exception list the problem will go away. We are working on a resolution on this problem, but we are by no means the only ones facing it, and I cannot give a date for resolution at this stage.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Google Analytics
Last month an Austrian computer science professor, Hermann Maurer, raised his concerns about the volume of information being passed to Google as a result of the widespread use of its free Google Analytics analysis package. The NZ Herald article is here.
Professor Maurer's concerns represent the "informational purist" end of the spectrum. eLgar uses Google Analytics to provide traffic data for the OPAC and has proved a valuable tool in our work in that area.
The benefits certainly outweigh the possible risk for us, we aren't running analytics to enhance our position on search lists as many organisations do. We don't use the Google adwords and campaign functionality of analytics, we are using it to track traffic and search terms in order to better understand out customers' behaviours and improve our service.
My "official" answer would be: Using Google for this service, as it's free, is a prudent use of ratepayers money given the cost of the alternatives which are no more accurate.
Professor Maurer's concerns represent the "informational purist" end of the spectrum. eLgar uses Google Analytics to provide traffic data for the OPAC and has proved a valuable tool in our work in that area.
The benefits certainly outweigh the possible risk for us, we aren't running analytics to enhance our position on search lists as many organisations do. We don't use the Google adwords and campaign functionality of analytics, we are using it to track traffic and search terms in order to better understand out customers' behaviours and improve our service.
My "official" answer would be: Using Google for this service, as it's free, is a prudent use of ratepayers money given the cost of the alternatives which are no more accurate.
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