Re: WebSPIRS 5 Feedback

[Kimberly Parker <kimberly.parker@yale.edu>]

I didn't forward prior messages, but they were complaints from libraries 
re: the difficulty of knowing what database you are searching, and the 
problems when a user doesn't logout properly of ending back up in a prior 
database even though they had chosen a different one.

This is OVID's reponse [side note -- the company is now OVID, so this may 
confuse some folks -- the distinction we are told to make is between the 
interfaces -- Silverplatter interface vs OVID interface -- so this is a 
message from OVID about the Silverplatter webspirs 5 interface]

--Kim


>Date:         Fri, 28 Jun 2002 14:21:29 -0400
>From: Gerry Hurley <ghurley@OVID.COM>
>Subject:      Re: WebSPIRS 5 Feedback (Ovid Response)
>To: SPIN-L@LISTSERV.SILVERPLATTER.COM
>
>On June 24, Stacy Pober <stacy.pober@MANHATTAN.EDU> said:
>
> > In Netscape 4 and in Mozilla, the links to Webspirs 5
> > databases only work correctly for the FIRST database a
> > access during particular session. <snip>
>
>We have been investigating issues related to jumpstarting,
>session management and database information and thank
>everyone for their feedback, which has been very useful.
>
>Session management in WebSPIRS 5 has many benefits, the
>main one being its ability to guide a user through the user
>interface on the basis of the user's previous actions while
>retaining the user's history. WebSPIRS 5 also implements
>session timeouts, which automatically log out the user
>after 10 minutes of inactivity to ensure that database
>licenses are used efficiently. When the timeout occurs,
>session information is used to store the user's history,
>so that a user can continue a search session any time up
>to three hours after the timeout. This functionality has
>proven to be very useful for users who access WebSPIRS 5
>from their own workstations. In a typical research workflow
>the user might consult several resources and switch between
>them often as information from one resource informs the
>search process in another.
>
>In web based interfaces we can make a distinction between
>two main session parameters, the HTTP session information
>(maintained by the web browser) and the client (in this
>case WebSPIRS 5) session information. WebSPIRS 5 session
>information is bound to the HTTP session.  Because Internet
>Explorer and Netscape manage HTTP sessions in different
>ways, WebSPIRS 5 users have experienced some problems with
>session management.
>
>Internet Explorer
>Internet Explorer has the same HTTP session for all browser
>windows launched from the link in the web page. For example,
>if you have a web page displayed in a browser window and you
>right-click on any hyperlink and choose "Open Link in new
>Window", the new browser window will share the HTTP session
>with a previous browser window. However, if you click on the
>Internet Explorer icon to open a new window, the new browser
>window will have an entirely new HTTP session, regardless of
>any other browser windows opened at the time. Therefore, the
>session management problem only manifests itself when a user
>remains in the same browser window or launches a new browser
>window from the window in which the original search was
>conducted.
>
>Netscape
>Netscape shares the HTTP session between all the browser
>windows opened at any time, regardless of how they were
>opened. The only way to obtain another HTTP session is to
>restart the Netscape browser completely. Therefore, the
>session management problem manifests itself in any browser
>window.
>
>Currently, the best solution to this problem is to use the
>"Change Database" button on the right hand side of the search
>screen.  Another option requires the user to log out before
>starting from the library homepage again.
>
>Having said all this, we do recognize that there are a
>significant number of users who jumpstart into a WebSPIRS 5
>database from Netscape browsers, and that it is difficult to
>train all users to use the log-out button regularly.  We also
>realize that there is a significant number of users who prefer
>to open resources in a number of different browser windows in
>order to be able to freely move between them. WebSPIRS 5.01,
>due to be released later this year, will ensure that every
>jumpstart resets the client session information, resolving
>the problem for Netscape browser users and users who open
>WebSPIRS 5 in a separate window.
>
>Also, on June 25 Sue Dentinger Sue Dentinger
><sdentinger@LIBRARY.WISC.EDU> said:
> > <snip> I wouldn't mind if it were more obvious which
> > databases were being searched but there is limited real
> > estate on that screen <snip>
>
>WebSPIRS 5 has been designed to support multifile searching
>and deduping. A byproduct of the way WebSPIRS handles
>databases to make this functionality possible is that a
>session usually involves multiple database segments which
>all need to be displayed. We have chosen to handle this
>through a drop down list.  We recognize that our users
>desire a more obvious way of displaying the database(s)
>being searched.  One way we have chosen to address this
>issue is by having the database name display in every
>record. We continue to research this issue and hope that
>we will be able to come up with more a satisfactory
>solution in the future generation of interfaces.
>
>WebSPIRS 5.01, which is due to begin beta on July 1,
>supports both Netscape 4.7 and IE 5.1. Customers
>interested in participating in the beta test should
>contact John Paul Posada, Technical Support Executive,
>via email at <jposada@ovid.com>.
>
>Again, we would like to thank you for your valuable feedback
>about WebSPIRS 5, and we hope you will continue to send us
>your comments.
>
>Pedja Pavlicic
>Director of Software Product Management
>Ovid Technologies