I'm pleased to announce a Chicagoland Drupal4Lib BoF on Friday, 3/20 (1:30p-4p) at DePaul's Loop Campus, 1 E. Jackson (10th fl., Rm# 10028), Chicago.
GOALS OF THE CHICAGOLAND DRUPAL4LIB BoF
The Chicagoland Drupal4Lib BoF will be an opportunity for librarians to get together and discuss how they use (or would like to use) Drupal in a library context. We'll ask people to present projects they're working on and we'll field questions on problems and approaches to implementing Drupal. All levels of knowledge from expert to n00b are welcome.
Also, since we're the 'host' city for the ALA Convention in Chicago in July, we'll have an opportunity to think about what we might want to do for that.
This Chicagoland Drupal4Lib BoF is a follow-up to our successful get-togethers last year at the Metropolitan Librarian System and at the wildly sold-out Chicago Drupal BarCamp in October.
CHICAGOLAND DRUPAL4LIB BoF - QUARTERLY BASIS
We'll be doing one of these on a quarterly basis -- or at least that's the intention. The people at DePaul have kindly made their location available for March; We'll be meeting at McCormick Place as part of ALA in July; After that we'll be meeting at the downtown offices of the Metropolitan Library System (MLS).
PARTICIPATION AND SUGGESTIONS
It goes without saying that your participation and suggestions are welcome. The format is free and open enough to accommodate a ton of different ideas and needs.
Feel free to sign up below and either leave a comment or email me. And everyone start planning for an informative and rewarding event -- on 3/20!
Hope to see you,
Leo Klein
ChicagoLibrarian.org
UPDATE: TRANSPORTATION
LINK TO: Driving instructions to DePaul's Loop Campus...
There are a number of Parking Lots close to the DePaul Center (Jackson & State). You need to come south on Wabash to just past Jackson. There's a Self-Service Parking Lot on the west and east sides of the street between Jackson and VanBuren.
LINK TO: Street map from DePaul (pdf)...
UPDATE: See Draft Agenda...
Comments
Registration for Drupal4Lib BoF
Looking forward to this event.
Looking forward to it.
I'm very glad that we managed to work some library-specific conversations into Drupal Camp Chicago, and that there is some momentum to making these conversations more of an ongoing thing! What are some of the topics people are interested in covering next month?
We've worked on Drupal projects for Skokie Public Library and the Newberry in the past (the former has two current projects with us); I'll check in and see if either or both can send a representative.
Leo, thanks for organizing this!
Dave.
--
Project Manager
Chicago Technology Cooperative
312-480-8051
Drupal For Nonprofits
--
Dave Chakrabarti
Co-founder | Project Manager
Nonprofitable.org - Drupal for nonprofits
(708) 919-1026
Re: Looking forward to it.
First, thanks for the nice comment.
The Drupal Camp Chicago in October was fantastic. It completely blew me away and Kyle and Matthew did a wonderful job.
The advantage of the coming Drupal4Lib BoF of course is that we'll be able to focus a bit more on library-related issues. Anyone who's working on a project -- at whatever stage and at whatever level -- is welcome to discuss the project.
We had a couple of people like that in October and it's one of my regrets that we didn't allocate a bit more time for them.
The other side, as you suggest -- and equally as important -- are topics to cover. I can only repeat what you said and encourage people to suggest topics or issues that they've been wondering about or even that they feel they could cast a little light on for the rest of us.
OG
I would love to discuss if and how libraries are using Organic Groups and successful implementations of workflows/triggers/actions for a big site with many authors in a library setting.
I would also like to point out that a few days later NSLS is having a free and open web group meeting discussing Drupal https://www.librarylearning.info/events/?eventID=5535.
Re: OG
Great suggestions. I recently did a bit of work using triggers and actions to tell me when someone "published" a website on LibSite.org.
I can see how it replaces a couple of single-purpose modules (Commentmail, etc.)
Great Suggestions...
Great suggestions. I've considered OG for rebuilding our intranet site. One of the free videos on Do It With Drupal shows a breakdown of OG methodologies for building a site similar to a site called Basecamp. The video is about an hour long. It's from the Lullabot crew and has many tasty tips.
http://www.doitwithdrupal.com/free-videos
I too would love to learn more about workflows/triggers/actions. You are talking about workflow the module right? I've been using modr8 in Drupal 5 for a content moderation queue. I am thinking of using a workflow/triggers/actions solution when we upgrade to Drupal 6 to get posts to our proofers before going to the public.
Additional suggestions:
To Node or Not to Node - One thing that's always tricky to me is when to make certain things fields in a content type vs when to make a specific content type and reference with "node reference." For instance, we have several book discussion groups meeting at different times. Each group has a web page. Often they use the same books. Should I create a content type for books that has a book jacket image with a link to our catalog along with a summary so that we can add the books via a node reference across different book discussion group pages. Or should I just recreate each book with a book jacket and links for each time I create an entry for a book discussion group page. There are advantages to both. If I use node reference I avoid redundancy. If I use one CCK form for everything I give more control to the content creator for that book discussion group entry. Some groups might want to use a different summary etc. Example using a simple CCK type with fields: http://www.hooverlibrary.org/nonfiction-book-discussion-group
Break the Drupal Mold - The default content types in Drupal are cool and all but what can you do to make content types work for you? Using a combination of CCK, Taxonomy, Custom Fields, Contemplate and Views you can make any content type you want with links to the catalog, images, videos and more. This is an essential skill for anyone planning to allow nontechnical staff to update the website. I may not be up there in March but I would be glad to break down some of my techniques with images and text to show to the group.
Workflow Module
Yes, I was referring to the Workflow module http://drupal.org/project/workflow. The relatively new, well written Using Drupal http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/233931612 has a chapter discussing Workflows/Actions/Triggers. I am mostly curious how libraries are specifically using it if at all.
Re: To Node or Not to Node
Easily one of the top existential dilemmas facing anyone working with Drupal. Could we work out a few benchmarks/Pearls-of-Wisdom?
Off the top of my head:
The Fewer Content Types The Better -- Your User/Content Creator Will Thank You...
More Possible Topics for Discussion
Instructional: Books or Websites in the News?
Has anyone come across a new book or website on Drupal that was helpful? This is inspired by my reading of the new O'Reilly book 'Using Drupal'.
Overview of Civicrm
Civicrm is a customer relations manager that's popular in the non-profit world. As you might suspect, it's good for managing customer (read 'patron') information with well developed modules for events (paid or unpaid), fundraising, volunteering and mass mailing.
I've used it a number of times -- most recently for an event at UIC. I could give a quick run-down of the module -- the good, the bad, the ugly.
Getting Started -- Does It Hurt?
Actually the alternative title might be 'Setting Up Drupal in 3 (or 2 or 8 -- depending on your method) Easy Steps'. This was prompted by an email from someone interested in playing around with Drupal for the very first time.
CivicCRM
I would love to have a demo of this module.
Parking
Anybody know of good spots to find parking?
If Only I were a Driver...
I was the 'designated drinker' back in the day.
I'll ask some of my DePaul friends.
Parking
That area's going to be all paid parking, I'm afraid. There are several lots around the area, but all of them will charge Looply rates.
--
Project Manager
Chicago Technology Cooperative
312-480-8051
Drupal For Nonprofits
--
Dave Chakrabarti
Co-founder | Project Manager
Nonprofitable.org - Drupal for nonprofits
(708) 919-1026
Parking in the Area
LINK TO: Driving instructions to DePaul's Loop Campus...
There are a number of Parking Lots close to the DePaul Center (Jackson & State). You need to come south on Wabash to just past Jackson. There's a Self-Service Parking Lot on the west and east sides of the street between Jackson and VanBuren.
LINK TO: Street map from DePaul (pdf)...
Parking
Thanks
Thinking about making the trip
I'm getting ready to redesign my library's web site using Drupal. I'm also considering creating an Intranet site in Drupal. I'm in the process of finishing up a non-profit organization's web site that I did with Drupal so I have some familiarity with it. I've also worked on the code for the Sky theme. But I consider myself a newbie in the Drupal world. Would this be worth the trip west? Or are the discussion topics going to be beyond my knowledge level with Drupal? Also, I would be interested to know if anyone in the library world has worked with the Acquia version of Drupal and what's the pros and cons of working with a pre-packaged solution versus building up a basic install of Drupal?
http://acquia.com/products-services/acquia-drupal
Thanks!
Andrew Mutch
Hi Andrew
First, it'd be great having you!
Second, I think skill-levels are all over the place. We've got people who have done a few sites; we've got people who've maybe done one; and then we've got people who are completely new to this.
I think an important thing that we'll all be able to bring is how we deal with Drupal, how we approach it, etc. from a library perspective.
Tech-wise it's not going to be too intricate simply because we only have so much time and it's good to maybe cover as many of the subjects and questions that people bring to the table.
Drink or Bite to Eat Afterwards?
Hey, if anyone's up for it, maybe we could go for a drink or a bite to eat afterwards.
Drupal4Lib
Totally new to Drupal..But eagar to learn all about it.
Draft Agenda
Hi All,
Just a final reminder that our Chicagoland Drupal4Lib BoF is this Friday (1:30p-4p) at DePaul Loop Campus (1 E. Jackson, 10fl, Rm 10028).
I put up a tentative Agenda on one of the Wiki pages:
http://groups.drupal.org/node/20201
Have a look and feel free to edit or amend.
Looking forward to seeing you!
LEO
www.leoklein.com (site)
www.ChicagoLibrarian.com (blog)
aim/msn/yhoo/goog: 'leorobertklein'