All clients with a current Inmagic maintenance subscription for either DB/Text for SQL or WebPublisher PRO should soon be receiving an email from Inmagic with the download information for version 14.  Version 14 of the non SQL version of DB/TextWorks was released last year.

If you have a current maintenance subscription but have not received a notification email in the next week, please email advantage@inmagic.com with your serial number and email address so it can be resent.  Please also remember to let us know if your contact information has changed so we can update our records and pass this on to Inmagic.

New and enhanced features in WebPublisher PRO include:

• Support for renaming query logs and starting new ones on a scheduled basis.
• Ability to edit validation lists.
• Ability to expose the Find button and disable find-as-you-type in InmagicBrowse.
• InmagicBrowse can now update records after a validation term is changed to another term already in the list.
• Improved support for Internet Explorer v10.

Please contact us if you would like assistance upgrading or would like to renew an expired maintenance subscription. We can also help you update your current interface to include the latest features available in the software itself, or with our add-on products.

 

Many of our clients have been using the same server to host their Inmagic software and other database and collection management systems for many years now. The software may have been upgraded and modified over the years and the server may now contain an undocumented collection of no-longer-in use files, databases and older versions of software. It may be running an older OS such as Windows Server 2003 and the hardware may be getting long in the tooth as well.

Given all of the above, it may very well be time for some server retirement planning. It’s always better to replace a server while it’s still running than to have it fail and have to scramble to get a new one going with all your applications and data. Assuming you have good backup procedures in place, you should be able to recover from a failure, but it’s still better to replace in advance.

The first step in a server renewal process is to audit and document the current server, looking in particular at:

• the applications and data currently installed;
• users who need access or may have desktop components on their workstations; 
• backup procedures; and
• folder permissions.

With a clear picture of the current environment, the next step is to provision a new server. The trend these days, at least among organizations of a certain size, is to spin up a new virtual server dedicated to a particular workgroup or business unit. This is usually a Windows 2008 server, but we expect Windows Server 2012 to become the norm soon. Virtual servers do require a license for the operating system, but as they are virtual, there is no new hardware required.  Multiple virtual servers can be hosted on one physical machine and can be readily moved to new hosts, simplifying ongoing management.

The next step is a fresh installation of Inmagic DB/TextWorks, WebPublisher, Genie and other software on the new server, and migration of data and specific configuration settings or applications. Andornot often assists clients with planning and implementing this step. 

With the new server running, be sure also to ensure that appropriate backup procedures are in place, and tested.

This approach gives you a well-built, correctly-installed, fresh, reliable platform on which to work, using the latest versions of all your applications.

An alternative is to outsource some or all of the software hosting to Andornot. Our data centre hosts both Inmagic and other applications at costs competitive with managing your own infrastructure.

This can also be a time to look at adding new features or programs to improve your service delivery. For example, a discovery interface style of search engine for your data provides the features that users now expect of web applications.

As always, contact us for advice or our help planning and performing any upgrades. We can help with both Inmagic and other applications and data on the server. Even if you don’t need to replace the server itself, we can help you organize and clean up your Inmagic files and textbases, test your backup procedures, and ensure the server is in good shape, both now and for a future replacement time.

 

The PG Family Resource Library in the Maternal Child Department at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia was established with the generous donation from the Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities and provides access to a large number of materials about child health issues. The resources cover topics such as ADHD, bullying, dyslexia and Tourette's syndrome. 

Anne Allgaier, the British Columbia Northern Health Regional Librarian, included the bibliographic records for this collection of over 230 books and DVDs in her current library catalogue, and has also made them available on the library website. Users can search the catalogue database for just the Family Resource portion of the collection or chose from a list of topical searches on a webpage with a fun image of Ronald MacDonald in the background. 

Once the topic link is clicked, the user can see a list of items, with details about the item.  Most of the records for the books include book cover images, which link to Google Books for even more information about the resource and the ability to purchase, if desired.  Users can also add the items in their search results to a list and order them from the library. 

The Northern Health Regional Library has been a long time user of Inmagic DB/TextWorks as well as WebPublisher PRO software.  Their website is hosted by Andornot and the canned searches were designed using the Andornot Search Cannery Wizard. 

Anne says, “The images and links to the Family Resource Library will facilitate access to the resources for the patients and their families in the UHNBC Maternal Child department. The materials can all be borrowed and library staff will also help with accessing information not available in the Family Resource Library.”

“Thank you to Andornot for creating the special page for this unique collection.”

Parents and children in Prince George and indeed the whole Northern Health Region, will be delighted to have Ronald McDonald guide them through these wonderful resources. 

With each new release, SharePoint becomes both more useful and more prevalent in organizations of a certain size. Used both for intranets and public-facing web sites, SharePoint provides tools to help users communicate, collaborate and share and manage documents and information.

While SharePoint offers document storage and search capabilities itself, many DB/TextWorks users prefer the interface and features they are most used to, and wish to continue using DB/TextWorks to manage their databases and collections. Replicating administrative workflow in SharePoint is often not practical or cost effective. Those with WebPublisher PRO may wish to continue providing web browser search access in that fashion.

Fortunately, it’s quite feasible to use DB/TextWorks and WebPublisher PRO with SharePoint as there are many options for integrating one into the other. However, before rushing to do so, one should consider the consequences, such as:

 

• If users are used to a particular search interface or syntax, will a switch to SharePoint cause confusion or frustration? Will you continue to provide access to the previous interface?
• How many records are in an existing SharePoint site compared to ones in the DB/TextWorks databases? Will including the latter in SharePoint overwhelm the site?
• Will significant capabilities be lost, such as the ability in WebPublisher PRO to create See Also hyperlinks, browse indexes or bring in book covers from Google?

 

A few of the options for integrating DB/TextWorks databases into a SharePoint site are:

 

1. Use the SharePoint Page Viewer web part to iframe Inmagic WebPublisher PRO search and results pages. This is the simplest approach, but requires that you have WebPublisher PRO and has usability drawbacks (iframes are harder to bookmark, navigate and size correctly). Search results will not appear in any SharePoint site-wide searches, which may be the desired approach if they would overwhelm the results.
2. Export data from Inmagic databases to a CSV format and import into SharePoint Lists, where they can be searched, sorted, filtered, etc., the same as all existing data in the SharePoint site. A search scope can be defined in SharePoint to allow users to focus a search only on the imported data, if desired. This approach does not require WebPublisher and can be done manually with one or two connector tools, or automated with one or two more.
3. Export data from Inmagic databases to XML and import as a SharePoint Data Source. As with #2 above, this can be automated. However, the data is less usable without further effort in SharePoint as a Data Source compared to a List.
4. Set up a connection to the WebPublisher PRO SOAP interface as a SharePoint Data Source, either to import data, or to construct a real-time search interface. As with #1, this requires that you also have WebPublisher PRO installed, and will require further effort to make good use of the data within SharePoint.
5. Write a custom .NET connector to WebPublisher PRO within SharePoint Business Connectivity Services either to import data or for real-time searching. This requires that you have WebPublisher PRO and requires the most initial effort and skill, but also offers the most options for customization to meet very specific needs.

 

Each of these options has pros and cons based on the effort and skill required to implement, and the features that result. For those with DB/TextWorks but not WebPublisher PRO, option 2 is an excellent choice in that it is not too complex nor costly to implement, but provides reasonably useful results.

This blog post outlines just a few of the issues and options for using DB/TextWorks and WebPublisher PRO with SharePoint. We would be pleased to advise you on the best strategy for your organization and needs.

Provincial and territorial medical associations (PTMA) in Canada set policies on various issues such as emergency room overcrowding, nurse practitioners, electronic medical record keeping, prescription drug usage, etc. for their particular jurisdiction. The Health Policy and Research (HP&R) department of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) was asked to create a repository of these policy documents and make them available to all PTMAs. The library was already managing a database of CMA policies and was asked by HP&R to set up a similar database for the PTMAs.

Andornot worked with the CMA library team, led by Reference Librarian Elizabeth Czanyo, and the association’s IT department, to set up a password protected database using the Andornot Starter Kit (ASK), DB/TextWorks and WebPublisher PRO, with the following features:

• Full text document searching and display
• Link to PDF document
• Referring URL security
• Email, Save and Print cart
• Permalinks to each policy
• Search, display and cart all in same template
• Bilingual: English and French
• Search result sorting by Title, Date and PTMA Author

Now researchers at each PTMA can access and compare policies from various jurisdictions, assisting them in the creation of their own policies.

Elizabeth Czanyo says, “I think the database will be a useful tool for our provincial partners, and help them collaborate in policy creation across the country. Working with Denise Bonin and her team at Andornot was great – they were fast, professional and really knew their stuff!”