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Difference between revisions of "DMR Upgrade Project 2013"
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====Embedded Media (Implemented on New Server except "content_main" issue
====Embedded Media (Implemented on New Server except "content_main" issue)====
Providing in-line audio/video resources via MediaSite.
Providing in-line audio/video resources via MediaSite.
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Because there are still some older collections (such as those linked above) that do not use MediaSite, the current plan is for LITS to provide these media files (along with identifying information) to MADI. To be consistent with our current mandate to place all audio/video in MediaSite, MADI will then place these items in MediaSite and add the appropriate Media Identifier to each object.
Because there are still some older collections (such as those linked above) that do not use MediaSite, the current plan is for LITS to provide these media files (along with identifying information) to MADI. To be consistent with our current mandate to place all audio/video in MediaSite, MADI will then place these items in MediaSite and add the appropriate Media Identifier to each object.
A special consideration must be made for 3D Object MOV files, as the new version of CONTENTdm recognizes them incorrectly as videos.
A special consideration must be made for 3D Object MOV files, as the new version of CONTENTdm recognizes them incorrectly as videos. will to it to .
=====Technical Notes=====
=====Technical Notes=====
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The relevant code for adding in-line media to compound objects is in '''OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\views\scripts\cdm\compoundobject.phtml''' around '''line 362'''. It reads from the same bsumediasite.php file mentioned above, but can only show media related to the parent compound object. That is, the in-line media presented is not based on the current ''page'' being viewed. [http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/SrNrmAnMem&CISOPTR=28&REC=4 Example of current compound object with in-line media.]
The relevant code for adding in-line media to compound objects is in '''OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\views\scripts\cdm\compoundobject.phtml''' around '''line 362'''. It reads from the same bsumediasite.php file mentioned above, but can only show media related to the parent compound object. That is, the in-line media presented is not based on the current ''page'' being viewed. [http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/SrNrmAnMem&CISOPTR=28&REC=4 Example of current compound object with in-line media.]
Revision as of 15:25, 3 May 2013
The DMR Upgrade Project 2013 is an initiative by LITS to upgrade the Digital Media Repository's underlying CONTENTdm system from Server Version 188.8.131.52 to 6.3 and from Website Version 4/5/? to version 6.3.
Because of the necessary work involved in carrying forward many major customizations (many of which have been folded into the official release), there is significant need for restraint during this and future upgrades to prevent "over-customizing", or implementing such customizations that will impede or even prevent future upgrades.
In the newest version of CONTENTdm, a set of features has been provided to allow a large number of customizations to be implemented and easily carried over into future versions, with minimal work required to re-implement them. We will be taking full advantage of these features during this upgrade project.
The ETA for this project will be the week of May 6 to May 10, 2013 (the interim period between Spring and Summer Semesters). The current implementation plan is to set up a fully functional duplicate LIBX server and simply "swap it out" with the production LIBX server.
This upgrade process will require several required features to be re-implemented in a sustainable way (one that will provide the least amount of resistance during future upgrades) and, of course, may affect other systems that rely on the Digital Media Repository (via API, Harvest Points, or otherwise). This article will document all of these features and systems, each of which will be annotated with technical/developer notes regarding their implementation, for future reference.
- 1 Nomenclature and Commenting
- 2 Features/Customizations
- 2.1 Class A (Required for Upgrade)
- 2.1.1 Protected Collections (Implemented on New Server)
- 2.1.2 Protected High Resolution Images (Implemented on New Server)
- 2.1.3 Linking (Implemented on New Server)
- 2.1.4 CardCat Linking (Implemented on New Server)
- 2.1.5 Sub-collections and Custom Search Boxes (Mike will need to create new landing pages)
- 2.1.6 Embedded Media (Implemented on New Server except "content_main" issue)
- 2.1.7 Page Analytics (Implemented on New Server but still needs ID)
- 2.1.8 API Access
- 2.1.9 General Usability Concerns (Implemented #1 and #3 on New Server)
- 2.1.10 Browse by A-Z, Subject, Location, Format, and Contributors
- 2.1.11 Migrate and Combine All Collections from the DMR and BoT Servers
- 2.2 Class B (Important but will not prevent upgrade)
- 2.3 Class C (Will NOT be implemented)
- 2.1 Class A (Required for Upgrade)
- 3 Summon/OneSearch
- 4 WorldCat Sync
Nomenclature and Commenting
There are currently three servers running CONTENTdm in the library (soon to be four). To prevent confusion, these will be referred to in this document as follows:
|DMR Server
|Our live DMR server
|New Server
|Coming Soon
|Copy of DMR and BoT servers with newest version of CONTENTdm plus customizations.
|BoT Server
|Board of Trustees Minutes Repository using newest version of CONTENTdm.
|Test Server
|Test server for the newest version of CONTENTdm. (Available on-campus only.)
To help make tracking down customizations in the code easier, all customizations made to the code shall be paired with a comment (PHP, JavaScript, or HTML style) in the format of: BSU initials mm/dd/yy Brief Description.
For future reference, any code modifications will be tracked on the DMR Upgrade Project 2013 Code Changes page.
Class A (Required for Upgrade)
Protected Collections (Implemented on New Server)
User based access control for specific collections.
Current Solution
Currently on the DMR Server this feature is used in three specific ways: The Architecture Images Collection, BSUBrowse and BSUSearch.
- The Architecture Images Collection
- When a user attempts to browse or search this collection, they are prompted with an End User Copyright Agreement and login form. The login form authenticates the user based on AD credentials and, once authenticated, allows the user to browse and/or search the collection.
- There are some minor security issues with this method. While the EUCA page successfully prevents users from seeing any metadata (including thumbnails) associated with the collection in most circumstances, if a user performs a repository-level search (searching across 2 or more collections), it is indeed possible for results from this collection to appear. While users must still enter their credentials to view any specific items returned this way, the thumbnails of these copyrighted images, as well as some of their associated metadata, do appear in the results list. Example results for searching two collections for the word "a" in any field
- BSUBrowse and BSUSearch
- By default, unpublished collections are not accessible in any way to anonymous users. In order to browse or search these collections, users must first authenticate with their BSU credentials via the two links at the bottom of the DMR homepage labeled BSUBrowse and BSUSearch. Both links authenticate through the server (there is no login form), but redirect the user to either the browse or search pages. Once authenticated, there is custom code that allows the user to see unpublished collections.
While the existing solutions work fine, the code behind them is messy and the login methods are not consistent (or necessarily secure). A new method that provides a single login form and is built on top of the existing CONTENTdm authentication code has been found that can easily and more reliably replace the two methods listed above.
Proposed Solution
The out-of-the-box login feature of CONTENTdm 6.3 was designed specifically for administrative users and users who have permission to submit content. It was not designed as a way for end-users to log into the system or to protect anything except unpublished collections. This default functionality would work well for our internal users (such as MADI staff).
The proposed solution (which has been implemented on the Test Server) is to modify the default login page to accept either CONTENTdm credentials (and thus, those domain users who have been specifically added to CONTENTdm as administrative users) or BSU credentials via LDAP authentication.
The solution first checks to see if the user is registered with CONTENTdm and if so proceeds as normal. If not, it then checks to see if the user's credentials work via LDAP and if so, sets the user at a separate level of authentication that allows them to see certain, hard-coded, collections that would normally be hidden, but completely dissociates the user from any administrative privileges.
The only minor drawback to this solution is that it completely hides protected collections from anonymous users, meaning they won't know of the existence of these collections unless they log in. This problem can be easily solved, however, by providing helpful tips on the customized home page (and other pages next to the "log in" button) that would inform the user of the benefits of logging in. We could also highlight these protected collections on the homepage with a clear message stating that users must log in before they can view and/or search them.
For unpublished collections, where BSUBrowse and BSUSearch would come into play, because the group of users who need these permissions is small, we can use the out-of-the-box login feature of CONTENTdm to handle these on a case-by-case basis. If a user absolutely needs to be able to see unpublished collections, but must not be an administrative user, we could simply create a dummy collection, add them as a CONTENTdm user, and assign them minor rights to that dummy collection. This would enable these users to see unpublished collections, but won't give them any administrative permissions, without changing any code.
Technical Notes
In order for PHP LDAP functions to work, the appropriate php_ldap.dll file from the same version of PHP CONTENTdm runs on must be used. CONTENTdm is using PHP 5.3.3, which uses the php_ldap.dll from the PHP 5.3.4 VC6 release which can be found at the PHP for Windows website. The php.ini file must be edited to include it as usual. The relevant location is OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\common\php533\ext\.
The relevant code for all authentication is in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\controllers\LoginController.php around line 110, the authAction() function, and OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\controllers\LogoutController.php around line 106, the end of the indexAction() function.
The code that handles whether or not the "log out" link appears on the page is located in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\layouts\scripts\default.phtml around line 286 at the "if(@$_SESSION['authenticated'])" condition.
The code that controls which collections appear (and thus are available to the user to browse and/or search) is in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\server\docs\dmscripts\DMSystem.php around line 59 (the dmGetCollectionList() function). Unfortunately this file doesn't get any $_SESSION data sent to it. Instead it gets called through a series of other functions that eventually end up using the API code located in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\models\CdmApi.php around line 698 through the api_get_collection_list() function. This function does have access to the session and calls the dmGetCollectionList() function, so we can modify the result it receives to filter out results that shouldn't appear unless a user is logged in as an LDAP user.
To keep consistent with OCLC's file structure, the file containing the list of collections that are only viewable by LDAP users is located at OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\server\conf\bsupriv.php.
In summary: to allow BSU users to log in to the system and view collections that are only accessible to BSU users, and to provide this feature through the existing log in tool, the bsupriv.php file must be created and updated with the aliases of those collections, the LoginController.php and LogoutController.php files need to be updated to handle LDAP authentication if standard authentication fails, the default.phtml file needs to be updated to show the "Log out" text even when a user is only authenticated via LDAP, and the CdmApi.php file needs to include the bsupriv.php file and filter out collections from the general public.
Protected High Resolution Images (Implemented on New Server)
Special server-based access restrictions on a collection of images.
Current Solution
Currently on the DMR Server this feature is only used for the Art History Images collection. When a user attempts to search or browse this collection, they are prompted to agree to an End User Copyright Agreement that does not require them to log in. The only purpose of this EUCA is to make the user agree to the terms presented. This information could just as easily be presented at the page level, especially considering the user doesn't have to authenticate.
Items in this collection have a piece of metadata called "Link to Larger Image". This link points to a separate web server that resides on LIBX. The sole purpose of this web server is to authenticate users, determine what authentication group they belong to, and then, if they are in the appropriate group, serve up the appropriate large-scale image.
There is nothing preventing an anonymous user from accessing the collection, regardless of whether or not they agree to the EUCA.
Proposed Solution
Because the current solution is based solely on server-side components, no code changes are necessary. Instead, a second web server must be set up (whether or not it resides on LIBX is another issue) that prompts users for their BSU credentials and then serves up images based on the authenticated user's permissions.
The only other minor change would be to either modify the code so that the EUCA information appears on each item's page, provide the EUCA on the second web server (so that it won't appear until a user tries to view a larger image), or modify the copyright metadata to reflect it (or simply leave the metadata as it is).
Linking (Implemented on New Server)
Backwards-compatible linking so old links (from 3rd party sites) still function correctly.
Current Solution
All standard links to searches, collections, etc., have been designed to be backwards compatible in the latest version of CONTENTdm. Once the upgrade is complete, if users click an old link to LIBX, it will still work in most circumstances.
However, because of the custom front-end that emulates "sub-collections" (canned searches based on a few particular pieces of metadata), "sub-collection" links will be broken after the upgrade. Here is an example of a collection link that will work after the upgrade. Here is an example of a "sub-collection" link that will not work. As can be seen in the same link modified for the Test Server, the backwards-compatible auto-redirect mechanism still detects the "sub-collection" as a type of landing page, but because, in CONTENTdm, there is no such construct as a sub-collection, it produces an error.
Proposed Solution
There are a few options depending on how much code we want to change.
The easiest option would be to alter the text of the standard error page to be more helpful, perhaps even providing information as to why the link is broken, along with links to the collection itself, as well as links to those collections that have similar aliases. This is the currently implemented solution.
Another option would be to alter the code used by the "landingpage" view to detect aliases that look like sub collections, and automatically forward the user to the main landing page of that collection (since, as mentioned below, "sub-collection" links will be listed on the main landing page for their collection). Of course, this option has a few drawbacks: users won't be actively encouraged to fix their broken links; there will be some significant code alteration involved; this customization will need to be re-implemented with every upgrade.
Technical Notes
The related file for making the change to the error message when a user attempts to view a sub-collection from an outdated link is at OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\views\scripts\cdm\error.phtml
CardCat Linking (Implemented on New Server)
Current Solution
Links from CardCat do not use the items individual reference URL. Instead a script, written by Jim Hammonds and Andy West and housed on the DMR server, is called and given the collection alias and the "catkey" value. The script builds a new URL that performs a simple search on that collection for the value in the "catkey" metadata field. This will bring up one result, the item listed in CardCat.
Example CardCat Page Example Link from CardCat Page
Proposed Solution
Because these links already exist in CardCat, it would be easiest to re-implement this simple customization in it's exact form (using the same URL and arguments). The old URL will still work (due to backwards compatibility), so minimal change will be required.
In the future (post-upgrade) we may want to update the URLs in CardCat to reflect the universal reference URLs used by CONTENTdm. Jim Hammons and Andy West were the original developers of the cdmlink.php file.
Technical Notes
The old cdmlink.php file resides on the DMR Server at CDM6\server\docs\cdmlink.php. Every item that needs it has a catkey metadata field.
Unfortunately the URLRewrite plugin for IIS that CONTENTdm now uses will not allow us to easily just place the cdmlink.php file in the root directory and live happily ever after. (This is because attempting to browse cdmlink.php (or any other file for that matter) will be rewritten using index.php and re-routed accordingly.)
Instead, I'm simply going to add the same customization to \OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\public_html\index.php to check the REQUEST_URI for "/cdmlink.php" and use the passed GET parameters to redirect the user in the same fashion. Same customization, just without the separate file.
Sub-collections and Custom Search Boxes (Mike will need to create new landing pages)
While sub-collections are not a truly self-contained entity in CONTENTdm, and CONTENTdm does not recognize or support the notion of sub-collections, there is definitely a recognized need for a method of providing users with the ability to both browse and search sub sets of various collections.
Current Solution
Sub-collections have been added to the DMR through a major overhaul to the front-end website created by Budi Wibowo. The custom front-end can basically be considered a content management system layer resting on top of the actual CONTENTdm installation. In order to take advantage of the many new features provided by the out-of-the-box front-end, this custom front-end will not be directly carried forward with the new version, but its features and functionality will.
Links to sub-collection landing pages are discussed in the Linking section above.
An example of a collection with sub-collections is the U.S. Civil War Resources for East Central Indiana collection. It includes four sub-collections with their own descriptions and search boxes. However, because sub-collections are not an actual feature of CONTENTdm, they have been implemented by either simply directly linking to the items within the sub-collection and/or providing search and browse functionality across a subset of items in the collection that have been assigned specific pieces of metadata.
For example, the U. S. Civil War Resources from the United States Vice Presidential Museum at the Dan Quayle Center sub-collection isn't really a sub-collection per se, but rather a filtered search within the parent collection that only looks for items containing the string "Dan Quayle Center. United States Vice Presidential Museum" in their metadata.
This collection has been further broken down into "sub-sub-collections", such as the John Cabell Breckinridge Collection, which is really just another filtered search within the parent collection that only looks for items containing the string "John Cabell Breckinridge Collection" in their metadata.
The search boxes in these sub-collections have been pre-formatted to only search the filtered results associated with their sub-collection.
Proposed Solution
Due to problems with linking (mentioned above), sustainability in future versions of CONTENTdm, and the fact that sub-collections are not an actual supported type of collection in CONTENTdm, sub-collections will be implemented in a drastically different way in the new DMR.
While we can continue to refer to them publicly as "sub-collections" so as to not confuse end-users, developers and content creators should understand that, moving forward, sub-collections are simply canned searches on specific sub sets of items with certain metadata values.
Rather than redeveloping the "content management system" from the current system, we will be providing links, descriptions, and search boxes for all sub collections on their parent collection's landing page. An example can be seen in the U.S. Civil War Resources for East Central Indiana Collection on the Test Server. While not complete, this landing page should serve as an example for all future collections that contain sub-collections. Each sub-collection is given a link that, once clicked, will uncover details, links, and search boxes for the sub-collection and any sub-collections that reside within it.
This change does not require any changes to the underlying code of CONTENTdm, but rather a shift in the paradigm of how we think of "sub-collections". Most, if not all, of the canned searches that already exist in the DMR Server can be directly copied and pasted into landing pages, and the search boxes are very simple to construct and copy.
Technical Notes
While no code changes are necessary, for convenience, some code has been provided to make the collapsing sub-collections easier to code. It can be found in ui/custom/default/collection/default/js/bsu.js (this is a "custom script" as CONTENTdm sees it, and is a sustainable method of adding JavaScript code at the global level).
I've also added a custom CSS file using the same method as the JS file above for styling collapsing sub-collections.
Embedded Media (Implemented on New Server except "content_main" issue)
Providing in-line audio/video resources via MediaSite.
Current Solution
Several collections have objects which contain audio and/or video files. In the past, CONTENTdm's out-of-the-box features that provide in-line media players for these objects was not used. Instead, a decision was made to place all multimedia in the university's MediaSite system, a central storage server that provides various streaming features.
Items in the DMR as associated with items in MediaSite through an internal metadata field called "Media Identifier", which contains the URL for the item's particular video/audio stream.
MediaSite does not provide direct access to streaming content, therefore the current solution involves loading a web page that contains the appropriate stream, and positioning that page within an HTML iframe so that only the stream itself (and the controls) appear. This iframe is then placed at the top of the item's page so that it appears as though the media is being directly streamed in-line on the web page.
Not all collections use this method. For example, the Indiana ArtsDesk Radio Archive Collection contains links to WMA files hosted on the DMR server. The Dolls Collection contains 3D QuickTime MOV files that are hosted on the DMR server. The Ball State University Student Art Collection contains direct links to MOV files that are hosted on the DMR server. And the Musical Instruments Collection contains compound objects with WMA files that are hosted on the DMR server. Recently, compound objects in some collections have been given the in-line media treatment as well.
Other collections that may be affected by this issue are: Anatomical Models, Biological Specimens, Geological Specimens, and Fossils.
Proposed Solution
In testing, the newest out-of-the-box in-line media player in CONTENTdm simply doesn't meet our needs. A MediaSite stream can't be associated with it and it appears to be inconsistent with its ability to play back video and audio files. It also mistakenly recognizes 3D Object MOV files as video files and attempts to play them, which doesn't work.
The original customization will be carried forward in almost exactly the same form (with some minor improvements). The Media Identifier metadata field will continue to be both an indicator and source for the in-line media that appears on an object's view.
Because there are still some older collections (such as those linked above) that do not use MediaSite, the current plan is for LITS to provide these media files (along with identifying information) to MADI. To be consistent with our current mandate to place all audio/video in MediaSite, MADI will then place these items in MediaSite and add the appropriate Media Identifier to each object.
A special consideration must be made for 3D Object MOV files, as the new version of CONTENTdm recognizes them incorrectly as videos. Code will be modified to prevent the default CONTENTdm player behavior, and replace it with instructional text similar to that found on the DMR Server.
Technical Notes
To continue with OCLC's design, a file has been placed on the server under OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\server\confg\bsumediasite.php that is similar to the bsupriv.php file. It contains an array called mediasite_collections that contains aliases of all collections that have in-line audio or video enabled from Mediasite.
The relevant code for adding in-line media to single items is in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\views\scripts\cdm\singleitem.phtml around line 232.
There is also a minor change around line 429 that will hide the content_main DIV if an item contains a residual link to a stream (or an outdated URL). This customization has been TEMPORARILY commented out, as it may not be needed in the long run.
The relevant code for adding in-line media to compound objects is in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\views\scripts\cdm\compoundobject.phtml around line 362. It reads from the same bsumediasite.php file mentioned above, but can only show media related to the parent compound object. That is, the in-line media presented is not based on the current page being viewed. Example of current compound object with in-line media.
The relevant code for removing the default CONTENTdm video player (and replacing it with instructional text) is OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\public_html\ui\cdm\default\collection\default\viewers\videoViewer\loader.php
Page Analytics (Implemented on New Server but still needs ID)
Using Google Analytics to more easily track usage and get page view statistics for each collection.
Current Solution
Google Analytics code has been added to several pages on the DMR server in various ways. Some methods include custom tracking for "Silverlight Version", others don't. One method is called from a global javascript file, while another method is run as direct in-line code.
As "messy" as the code is, it gets the job done and Google Analytics is able to track just about every page view from the DMR. However, Google Analytics itself, while being a very useful and powerful tool, doesn't provide an easy way for us to differentiate hits between different collections. To do that, Alex Lemann created a Python script, currently housed on one of LITS' Linux servers, that grabs Analytics data from a given date range and produces distilled numbers for each individual collection (based on a list of collection aliases). This script must be manually run on a monthly basis.
While LITS has obtained administrative access to the DMR Analytics account, it is still listed under Budi Wibowo's personal account. This isn't a problem, but it makes for inconsistencies and LITS would prefer it if personal accounts were not used to set up these accounts in the future (instead, a general LITS account should be used, and personal access can be set up later).
On that note, it also appears that the Python script is connecting to Analytics with the litstablet at gmail account, while Alex also had access to it through an ablemannbsu at gmail account. In the future, all Google Analytics usage for the DMR will be housed under one general LITS account.
Proposed Solution
During the upgrade process we will be able to streamline and possibly improve our usage of Google Analytics, as well as make it a sustainable customization that will be easily carried forward with future version of CONTENTdm.
One problem with carrying this change forward is that URLs in the new version look different. For example, the Musical Instruments collection on the DMR Server uses the following URL: http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/MusInst, while the Test Server uses: http://libcdmtest.dhcp.bsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/MusInst. The actual page used (collection.php) is hidden and parameters now use a new "clean" URL. This won't negatively affect statistics, but it will mean that historic data will not directly match new data. It also means that the Python script we are currently using to glean collection-by-collection stats may be affected.
Because of this, the proposed solution for Google Analytics is to:
- Create a new Analytics account for the new version of the DMR under the firstname.lastname@example.com account (under which several other Analytics accounts are housed).
- Modify the monthly Python script to work with the new URLs if necessary OR totally replace it with a web-based script that can be run from anywhere (this would be preferable, as then ASC could run the script for any date range without going through the extra step of requesting it from LITS).
API Access
There are several applications that use the search API provided by CONTENTdm. These applications have been developed both internally and by other parties not directly associated with the University Libraries. They will need to be tested and updated as necessary. Below is a list of known applications that use the API and any relevant details and contact info.
- BSU Maps Surface App
- Contact: John Godsey, LITS Student
- BSU Photos Surface App
- Contact: John Godsey, LITS Student
- Museum of Art Surface App
- Contact: John Fillwalk (John Straw and Jim Bradley)
- Primarily uses the David Owsley Museum of Art Collection. This collection has been moved to the Test Server so that the developers of this application can test it and update if needed.
- SecondLife and Blue Mars projects
- Contact: Jim Connolly and John Fillwalk (John Straw and Jim Bradley)
- What Middletown Read?
- Contact: Jim Connolly (John Straw)
- All of the code behind the WMR project was scanned for any reference to "libx". Other than direct standard links and canned searches (which will work due to backwards-compatibility) the WMR project doesn't appear to actually connect to the DMR in any significant way. This means the upgrade will not adversely affect the WMR project at all. This was confirmed on 5/1/2013.
In an email from Jim Connolly (which was also copied to John Fillwalk) sent on 3/24/2013, he said "I don't forsee any problems with the Virtual Middletown project, though I am checking with John Fillwalk to be sure. John Straw is in a better position to answer re: the Second Life work we did. I think it does use some DMR assets. As for the WMR material, just let me know if it has an effect."
In an email from John Fillwalk (which was copied to Ina-Marie Henning) sent on 3/22/2013, he said "We will look into this and get back to you thanks for letting us know."
We're still waiting to hear back from John Fillwalk about any of the others.
General Usability Concerns (Implemented #1 and #3 on New Server)
- 1 Repository- and Collection-level Searching
- There is a built-in difference between performing a search on multiple (or all) collections vs. searching a single collection. Once a user gets to the single-collection level, advanced search features automatically adjust to search only the defined metadata field associated with that collection.
- While this shouldn't be a problem, it was made very obvious and caused some user confusion on the BoT Server (as users who thought they were searching the BoT collection were in fact searching "all" collections, which the system treats as more than one, even if only one collection is published).
- There are several factors that work in our favor that will make this search descrepancy less of an issue. The homepage customization (using the design from Outside Source) will give us complete control over the first search method users encounter. Also, the current DMR Server also has these automated features already.
- Experienced and savvy users who are used to our advanced search page will already be more than accustomed to the differences between the two levels of searching. While average users who aren't necessarily interested in all of the advanced search features provided to them won't be confused or overwhelmed by the simple one-box interface.
- To help mitigate confusion, we will be changing the label of the search box so that when a user is not viewing a single collection, it will say "Search all collections". When a user is viewing a single collection, it will say "Search this collection".
- 2 Date-based Searching and Metadata Considerations
- Another usability issue, which was brought to our attention from a user trying to search on the BoT Server, is related to how we set up metadata fields in each collection. It is also related to the repo- and collection-level searching issue mentioned above.
- When a user performs a date search (from any level), CONTENTdm searches the selected collections based on any metadata fields that have been assigned (by us) to those collections as well as mapped to one of the dc.date fields. This has proven to be problematic for users when the "Date-Available" or "Digital Date" field has been mapped to any dc.date field. Most users do not assume that a general date search will return results containing dates related to when an item was entered into the CONTENTdm system. Instead, they are expecting dates related to the original context of the item.
- In order to correct this issue, while still retaining the ability for advanced users to search across the "Digital Date" field if needed, we must unmap the "Digital Date" field from any dublin core Date field. This, of course, could prevent this date from showing up in things such as APIs or Harvest Points, but it would always be available in the DMR as a searchable field.
- The other issue is that, when looking at the defined metadata fields for each collection in the DMR, date fields have been set up as "Text" fields, rather than "Date" fields. While the impact of this is somewhat minor, setting up date fields as "Date" types vastly improves the ability of the system to sort and search those fields. Changing this setting does not appear to adversely affect the collection, and would only require someone to go through each collection and change the type of each date field, then re-index the collection.
- 3 In-Document Searching, Full-Text, and the "Text" tab
- As a result of the Summon/OneSearch project, the current plan is to go through all of our collections and unhide any Full-Text fields as well as possibly map them to some standard Dublin Core field (so that they appear in Harvest Points).
- Unhiding these fields before the upgrade will result in very ugly pages, among other issues, in the current DMR Server.
- Many PDF/compound objects have both an Image or PDF tab above the actual iframe that shows the item, and next to that, a Text tab. The purpose of the Text tab is to show whatever is in the full-text metadata field for that object. By default, however, if the full-text metadata field is hidden (via the administrative interface) the Text tab still shows up, but doesn't display anything.
- By default there is also a standard "Text Search" feature that appears next to the Text tab and allows users to search the full-text of the item they're looking at. This only appears when full-text metadata is not hidden for the collection.
- Full-text metadata also appears under the "Description" area near the bottom of the page if full-text is set as not hidden. This looks messy with items that have a lot of text.
- We would like to still provide the "Text Search" feature, but we don't want the Text tab to appear in any circumstance (as it simply contains jumbled and strangely formatted plain text that may confuse users), and we would like to prevent the full-text from appearing in the "Description" area of the page.
- Preventing it from appearing in the "Description" area is as simple as setting the "Hide full text" in the Website Configuration Tool.
- In summary, to allow in-document searching we must set full-text metadata fields in the administrative interface to not hidden. To hide the newly unhidden full-text metadata field from showing up near the bottom of the page we must change the full-text setting in the Website Configuration Tool. To get rid of the Text tab, we must make some small modifications to the code, detailed below.
Technical Notes
Relevant code for hiding the "Text" tab can be found in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\views\scripts\cdm\compoundobject.phtml around line 378. Commenting the li item out works, and as long as full-text is not hidden, the "Text Search" feature will still appear. Another minor modification to the file around line 537 must be made to comment out "tab window 2" to prevent the contents of the now-hidden tab from appearing.
This tab also appears in "single item view" and will need to be edited out accordingly. Relevant code can be found in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\views\scripts\cdm\singleitem.phtml around line 243, with the corresponding tab content div around line 372.
Changing the search box label text can be done by modifying the code in OCLC\CONTENTdm\Content6\website\cdm_common\cdm\layouts\scripts\default.phtml
Browse by A-Z, Subject, Location, Format, and Contributors
Several navigation links that, when clicked, present the user with a list of collections organized by those fields.
Current Solution
These types of links are not built-in to CONTENTdm. They are also not canned searches that can easily be ported forward. Instead, the way they are handled currently is through the use of our front-end system (which will be going away). The content of the pages is based on the database behind the front-end, and can be edited through the custom Splash Page Automation tool that was created for the custom front-end (to make it work sort of like a mini-CMS).
Proposed Solution
Because the "mini-CMS" front-end and its accompanying database will be going away with the upgrade, the newly proposed solution to this problem will be based on the Collection of Collections. The Collection of Collections is exactly what its name implies: a CONTENTdm collection of all of our published Collections, with associated metadata.
What we've proposed is adding metadata fields to the Collection of Collections to identify each collection with one or more Subjects, Locations, Formats, etc.... anything we want to be able to browse by. Once these fields are set up, a canned search can be created for the Subject, Location, Format, Contributors links that will take users to a canned search on the Collection of Collections.
Because this will only require built-in CONTENTdm functions, this modification can be easily carried forward without hassle.
The A-Z list will either be a custom page using the API to grab a list of collections and then sort them, or it will use the default homepage that CONTENTdm's website comes with, while the real homepage will be the Outside Source design.
Migrate and Combine All Collections from the DMR and BoT Servers
Ask ASC/MADI (all users) to stop all work on collections during the week of the actual upgrade. Copy all collections from the DMR Server and the BoT collection from the BoT Server as they are to ensure that they are fully updated.
Technical Notes
This task can be made much easier through the use of the server/docs/catalog.txt file. This file contains aliases, names, and paths for each collection. Simply copy all collections from the DMR and BoT over, then update the catalog.txt file with the new paths to use. You may need to change the published/unpublished setting of a collection before you see the results in the admin page. This is also a handy way to move collections over with aliases that are too long (like BSU_ArchSlidesCpght).
We will use the DMR Upgrade Project 2013 Collection Status page to facilitate this process.
Some of the collection names do not match between the system name and the front-end name. I'll be working with Mike to make both names match up. This shouldn't cause any problems, but people in MADI who are familiar with the system name will need to find collections through, say, the Project Client, under their new names. Most of the name changes change abbreviations like "BSU" to "Ball State University", among other things.
Class B (Important but will not prevent upgrade)
Outside Source Front-End Design
We will be implementing a new design created by Outside Source for our main home page that will look like this. We will attempt to carry this look and feel forward into other pages as we deem necessary, and within the sustainable constraints of CONTENTdm's customization features.
An actual HTML implementation of the new design has been saved on our development web server for reference.
Currently these provide additional sorting options and allow the user to persist those settings through multiple searches.
Powerpoint Generator
Presently implemented in a primitive form by OCLC with the "favorites" function. The BSU plugin is more powerful. OCLC is promising additional development on this feature. We will submit our suggestions to them and see what they deliver in the next release for this functionality and re-evaluate it.
Spotlight Collections on Homepage
CONTENTdm 6.x offers a number of new user interface elements that need to be explored as options to replicate this functionality.
Grants page
A list of all grant funded collections. This can be implemented using the Collection of Collections functionality needed for the specialized browse buttons mentioned above.
Custom Header for David Owsley Museum of Art Collection
The DMR Server has a small customization that displays a different banner when the user is browsing or searching the David Owsley Museum of Art Collection.
The Museum of Art would like to see this customization carried forward. We may modify it a bit to make it fit better with the new design of the web site, however. Jim Bradley has informed them that it may disappear and come back in a different form until we speak with them about some other graphical modifications they were interested in.
Class C (Will NOT be implemented)
- Hide Header
- Zoomify
- Cooliris
Currently, the OAI-PMH harvest point that we have been using for the Summon ingest process has been somewhat restrictive. OAI-PMH doesn't handle compound objects well because it doesn't associate child pages with their parent object, and as far as we can tell there is no way to fix this.
We are considering switching to an XML export of each collections, as we are able to export data that keeps parent-child relationships that way (and we can customize the XML data in various other ways).
We are also considering saving time by associating Content Types with keywords within existing delimited strings in our dc.source field. This will require Summon to parse out the field and key in on those certain words when associating an object with a Summon Content Type.
Here is Ashley's (from Serials Solutions) response to these questions:
Regarding these questions, it would be possible to switch to XML updates for the repository. We would need to set up an FTP account with the information and we would likely have to start the repository setup over from scratch, but that is not a problem for us if you want to pursue it. For pulling a content type out of a string of data I posed the question to our metadata team and this was their response:
"In general, Summon can identify specific strings within a delimited list. In the client's example, we should be able to match "Digital Video" from "Color images; Digital video; Documents; Typed text" and use that to map "Streaming Video." This sort of mapping could get complicated depending on what's in the records, but as long as we know which specific string takes precedence in a list of strings (regardless of order), I believe we'll be able to do what the client asks."
We have since heard from Summon that they have experienced this "orphan page" issue with other sites and have come up with fixes for them. We are working with our contact at Summon to see if their fix will not only hide orphan pages, but still combine their full-text metadata into the parent object.
One other thing to keep in mind is that the upgrade will change our OAI-PMH harvest point URL. We will need to contact Summon so they can update that on their end to prevent problems with future harvests.
WorldCat Sync
We are planning to do this after the upgrade is complete to prevent Bad Things from happening.
We are currently set up with a main LITS account at the WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway site. This account has also given access to Amanda Hurford and Robert Seaton's individual accounts.
The plan is to go ahead and set up collection metadata on the DMR Server as well as set up metadata mapping and whatever else is needed on the Digital Collection Gateway site so that our records appear in WorldCat. The Board of Trustees collection will need to be set up separately after the upgrade.
Once everything is set up on the DMR Server we simply need to run the WorldCat Sync function in CONTENTdm to write the new OCLC numbers back into our records. After that we can perform the upgrade.
The upgrade will change the URL of our OAI-PMH harvest point. We will need to contact OCLC so they can change our repository's URL on their end (since we can't change it on the administration page). Once that's set up, all of the collections should sync up nicely since the OCLC numbers will already be in the system.


text: Over the past 20 years I have collected about 200 wooden rackets ranging in age from the 1940's to the 70's, representing almost every brand, all in good to excellent condition. Now I'm downsizing and need to let them go. Does anyone know where I could sell the whole group. If I could sell them all at once I'd take $2 each. firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- After months of rumors about Sharyl Attkisson's frosty relationship with her colleagues, the longtime CBS News corespondent announced her resignation Monday.
"It's been one of life's great privileges to work at CBS News, and I'm sincerely grateful for the many opportunities I've had," the veteran reporter said in a statement.
I have resigned from CBS.— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) March 10, 2014
"CBS News veteran Sharyl Attkisson is leaving the news division to pursue other endeavors. We appreciate her many contributions and we wish her well," the network added.
But Attkisson's departure isn't entirely unexpected. The Washington Post's Erik Wemple reported last year that Attkisson had expressed frustration that many of her pieces on Benghazi -- an issue widely investigated by conservative news outlets -- didn't make the cut at CBS Evening News.
Politico said Monday that Attkisson decided to resign over "what she saw as the network's liberal bias."
Attkisson has a book due out this year, titled Stonewalled: One Reporter's Fight for Truth in Obama's Washington.
[Variety, Politico]


text:
FreeLink for the LinkStation Quad
From NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstation Wiki
NOTE - this doesn't actually work yet so please disregard everything in here until I get things working.
This page will describe the steps taken to get FreeLink and subsequently Lenny on my newly acquired Quad (LS-QL/R5). Think of it as work in progress until I actually get Debian on it. And at the same time, any comments or suggestions are very welcome.
PLEASE read through all the steps here before you try anything.
High Level Steps
- Resize partitions (optional)
- Open up for telnet
- Install FreeLink image
- Configure for Debian
- Upgrade to Lenny
- Add software
- Final customization
- Backup the changes (while not technically needed, this is highly recommended)
- ACP Commander
- FreeLink image
- Debian tarball
Resizing the partitions
If you are not happy with the stock Quad disk layout, you have two options:
- Change the layout by unplugging the disk and inserting it in another machine, or
- Clever use of symlinks to move data around
In my opinion and for my uses, the default Quad layout is fine
Adding Software
The following software should really be on it afterwards (personal preference, I know). The packages are listed in brackets after the software name)
- OpenSSH (ssh)
- NFS (nfs-kernel-server??)
- iTunes Media Server (mt-daapd)
- Puppet (this is very much a personal preference, but I manage all my boxes with puppet). Other options are cfengine and chef.


text:
Current Favorite Suppliers of Tea Samples?
Who are your favorite suppliers for tea samples? Thanks!
I'm working my way (slowly) through large orders of samples from different companies. perhaps If you shared what kind of tea or blend, or size of sample, that could help us suggest specifics.
My intention for this thread is to help orient all new members of the Steepster community. Which tea suppliers have favorable polices for supplying samples?
(Our personal interest would be samples of tea that are both full-bodied & smooth: black teas, Earl Grey, Earl Grey Cream, and Pu-erh.)
Upton tea has a million teas and does sample sizes for all of them. Reasonably priced and sized.
Verdant tea also does sample of their teas
Steeped and infused and well as Tea frog off the top of my head as well.
Thanks for the 4 suggestions. (The Steeped and Infused web site appears not to be working currently.)
Oh total deep moment. Della terra teas also does through their try me packs – you can do the custom ones to pick the 5 teas YOU like.
Persimmon Tree, Harney and Sons,Golden Moon, Grace Tea Company, all have sample/cupping sizes also
We offer samples sizes (0.5oz, about 5-6 cups of tea) for all of our teas. We have a wide selection of teas at www.teabar.com. If you have any questions or need any suggestions, just let us know!
i think teajoteas does as well and they're having a sale too.
I've gotten samples from Teavivre, Butiki, Harney, Upton and Teajo. All of them have free and/or inexpensive samples. I checked reviews on Steepster to narrow it down. Stacy at Butiki Teas is great to talk with by phone and will suggest things,and she'll provide free samples (more if you mention Steepster). Teajo's flavored blacks are very good and the large samples are well-priced. I've ordered a lot from Teavivre, and have received lots of free samples-good selection of blacks and pu-ehr as well as other types.
good call donna. it's amazing how many companies you forget about. I've ordered from teavivre as well and they're good. Hoping to pick up something from teajoteas soonish.
Thanks for the mention Donna. Our samples are generous…just about 10 cups. And yes, we are having a sale. If full-body is your preference, I definitely encourage you to check us out. We use primarily Assam teas in our flavored blends.
I've gotten 1oz. tea samples from www.NotJusttea.com, all reasonably priced. Their teas are delicious. Yum!
Joy's Teaspoon does sampler packs where you can pick your own samples – I got the Ocho sampler last year, and loved it.
Adagio's also pretty good, as they're fairly cheap, low shipping costs.
Teavivre and Della Terra are also great.
Upton. I have a different sample to try for pretty much every day of this month.


text:
Vivo Salon
4000 Austin Blvd Suite A
Island Park
(516) 442-5093
In Italian, "vivo" means alive, vivid and vivacious, which is why management chose the name for their new salon. Thanks to a well-chosen team of artists, each of whom is passionate about his or her craft, clients have been claiming that they walk out feeling more alive and revived.
Maggie Pokher and Olga Hyman worked together for many years in a Long Beach salon. They chose to team up and open their own salon because they wanted to do things their way. Providing a place where customers would feel welcome and relaxed while getting great service was their ultimate goal. "We want people to feel at home here."
As in any salon, the people behind it are what make it. Owner and colorist Maggie has been working with hair since before she moved to the United States from Ecuador, 20 years ago. Using high quality products paired with advanced techniques, she delivers beautiful color without damaging the hair. Maggie's partner, Olga, who does everything from haircuts to bridal, has been working in the industry for over ten years. She masters her craft through experience and ongoing education. By keeping abreast with trends and new techniques, she thrives to always satisfy her clientele.
Norma Ramirez does hair styling, make-up and color. Her passion is to make people feel beautiful. She comes to Vivo with a decade of experience, having worked at salons in Long Beach and Oceanside. Stephanie Maglio is a colorist who has been working with hair since 2005. She believes that an important factor in achieving great hair color is a thorough consultation. Anthony Pepino is disciplined, creative, fun and energetic. He has worked for in the industry for six years. Others refer to him as a stylist with a knack for finding the right haircut for anyone.
Besides styling, cuts and color, Vivo offers hair extensions, Balayage, hair relaxing, IQ serum and other texture services like permanents. They do children's hair as well.
Eager to stay involved with the community and to help charities, the staff at Vivo Salon is currently working on a Cut-a-thon Benefit for the Long Island Chapter of Mustaches for Kids. All profits will be donated to Pediatric Care at Sloan Kettering. In Mustaches for Kids, which was started in 1999 in California, participating men cannot shave off their mustaches for a month, and solicit donations, just as one would in a charitable walk-a-thon.
The salon is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday from noon to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Upcoming events and special offers can be found on its Facebook page. Once on Facebook, go to the search box and type in: Vivo Salon NY.


text:
When life is fair, Beaufort County will hire a full-time hostage negotiator available at a moment's notice, instead of a time management expert, in order to assure the council's time is spent efficiently.
This negotiator would instantly appear once the dreaded word "airport" is uttered at any Beaufort County Council meeting. Although the word itself used to invoke images of vacations to faraway lands or the taking of trips to see your family, in today's local government environment it only brings shudders of canceling appointments or being late for dinner because you realize that you are about to hear the same discussions that have taken place over and over again in the past with no hope of reasonable resolution.
Of course, the hostage in all of these cases is the expansion of the Hilton Head runway to 5,000 feet, not 4,900 feet and not 5,400 feet. This expansion has been approved by just about every governing body with the exception of Congress which we all know does not approved anything that does not benefit them personally.
The latest need for the hostage negotiator occurred Monday evening at the County Council meeting. The council was to consider awarding a contract for Data Recovery and Public Outreach in conjunction with the discovery of artifacts and deposits associated with the settlement of the Mitchelville Preservation site for about $443,097 of which $402,750 was to come from a FAA grant. The contract had been vetted and approved by the county airport board and the public facilities committee.
The completion of the work designated within the contract is necessary to satisfy the requirements of the ongoing Environmental Assessment associated with the also approved master plan including the expansion of the runway.
Therein was the opportunity to delay the inevitable expansion of the runway, delay the contract delay the project.
Using the inclusion of the current Mitchelville preservation folks in the contract presented the opportunity to further attempt to derail the runway by delaying a vote on the contract by at least two weeks. If no agreement after two weeks what then? Moreover, failing to mention that some of the people involved in the worthy Mitchelville project were also parties in the current appeal in Circuit Court of the Hilton Head Design Review Board's approval of the tree mitigation plan. So where is the urgency to come to an agreement to move ahead with the Data Recovery project, there is none.
With important decisions facing them next year concerning declining property values, decreased tax revenues leading to the all-important issue of whether or not to implement a millage rollup, council can ill afford to be continually bogged down by decisions that have already been vetted and approved by staff, various advisory boards, and their own sub-committees. Move on or run for Congress.
In the meantime, you can contact Joe Croley at email@example.com.


text:
Mark Twain
About the Mark Twain Room
Made possible by public and private funding, including a $50,000 grant from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, the Mark Twain Room officially opened to the public on May 12, 1995. Leaves from the original handwritten manuscript of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are on display in the center of the room.
In the early 1930s, the Buffalo Public Library (a predecessor of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library,) began to build a unique collection of special English and foreign language editions of the novel. Through the years, this collection has continued to grow. These remarkable items, currently numbering more than five hundred, fill the bookcases lining the walls.
A portrait of Twain hangs prominently above the restored mantel from Olivia and Samuel Clemens' Buffalo home. Norman Rockwell prints from a 1940 edition of Huckleberry Finn published by The Heritage Press enhance the wall space on either side. The steamer trunk, where the leaves of the first half of the manuscript lay forgotten for many years, is also on display
The display area features visually appealing, entertaining and educational exhibits that are changed three to four times a year and highlight Library services, collections, special events, observances and/or community-related activities. Books on the display's theme are available for circulation. The Ring of Knowledge also hosts events throughout the year, such as author visits, panel discussions, book talks and children's programming. Check out the Central Library's current events.
Now On Display
The Underhill Papers


text:
New online talent hub for telecom industry launched
Dubai, October 20, 2013
Telco Exec, an online hub for senior telecom industry professionals in the EMEA region, has launched a new personalised talent and career management service for eligible candidates and a cost effective recruitment process for employers.
The website offers advice for an estimated 100,000 mid-senior level executives in the region, delivered personally by industry experts and accessible directly by registered member candidates.
In the Middle East, where industry deregulation and liberalisation are combining with strong economic growth to create new regional players, more competition and new opportunities for the sector, the development of the talent pool and ability to attract global talent is key to supporting the successful development of the regional industry, said a statement.
According to founder and managing director Jason Bandy, the telco industry's recruitment processes have failed to keep pace with the development of technology and have not adopted online tools to innovate and enhance the recruitment process and experience for those involved - or the recruitment process outcome.
The recruitment industry is perpetuating the problem which means ongoing high recruitment costs for employers and at the expense of a positive recruitment experience for candidates, he said.
"Few people in the telecommunications industry enjoy the current recruitment experience, as generic job boards and giant social media sites have focused too much effort on scale and automation," said Bandy.
The site's offering includes a range of services including a team of impartial advisors, executive and life coaches, third party recruiters, CV writers and journalists combine to make job search and career development easier for individual candidates and help ensure that the best talent is more likely to be identified, less time consuming and less costly to acquire for companies, said the statement.
It operates as a recruitment club, where candidates can search its job database and apply for positions worldwide, once approved. They can also receive personalised job alerts, consult with its independent support team and insight, advice and introductions to accelerate careers.
Telco Exec content fits into four categories: insight (tips by recruitment professionals); people (senior industry executives sharing career experiences); advice (career development advice); and companies (information from employer organisations). - TradeArabia News Service


text:
For-Profit Colleges Get Schooled
Sector Suffers as Students Turn Back to Traditional Institutions
As consumers wise up about education spending, for-profit colleges are getting schooled.
Institutions such as Apollo Group Inc.'s University of Phoenix, DeVry Inc. and Washington Post Co.'s Kaplan—who only a few years ago reported double-digit student gains on a regular basis and posted hundreds of millions in profits—now are hemorrhaging students.
They are facing increased competition from nonprofit and state schools and growing skepticism about the value of a high-cost education. Just last week, industry bellwether Apollo said it would close nearly half of its brick-and-mortar locations to save on overhead.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. After years of government scrutiny and bad press about recruiting practices and questionable academic quality, schools worked to improve their reputations by tightening admissions standards, beefing up student support services and pouring money into rebranding. They received a slight reprieve this summer when a federal judge struck down a series of regulations that could have restricted schools' access to the federal student aid that supplies most of their revenue.
More on For-Profit Colleges
- University of Phoenix Closing 115 Locations (10/17/12)
More on Education
But the hoped-for recovery has failed to materialize as students rethink college entirely, and nonprofit schools muscle in to compete for market share.
Now, some analysts say pockets of the industry may never recover, with school closures and further losses all but certain.
"The decision to enroll is becoming a lot more deliberative," says Jarrel Price, who covers for-profit colleges for Height Analytics in Washington.
Under the old model, schools boosted enrollment by getting students—generally working adults seeking a quick career jump-start—in the door, often with little regard for whether they eventually earned a degree.
"You could be quite profitable as a business even when you weren't successful as an educational institution," says Kevin Kinser, an associate professor of higher education policy at the State University of New York at Albany.
No longer. Apollo said last week that enrollment fell by nearly 14% to 328,400 in the fiscal quarter ended Aug. 31. Student counts have dropped by nearly a third since their May 2010 peak of 476,500. The school says the money saved from closing classrooms will be rededicated to its online programs.The school blames its dwindling enrollment in part on increased competition from more traditional education providers, as well as the fact that many potential students don't move beyond University of Phoenix's free "orientation," a trial period of instruction before tuition is due, spokesman Mark Brenner says.
The economy has also put pressure on schools, which normally benefit from economic downturns as adults seek to bolster their résumés with new skills and degrees. This time around, the weak job market coupled with rising college costs has made many prospective students leery of investing in school without guaranteed returns.
The U.S. Department of Education recently reported the first drop in college enrollment in more than a decade—albeit one of less than 0.2%—based on data for students enrolled in fall 2011. But for-profit colleges saw enrollment fall by 2.8%.
Meanwhile, as states seek to reduce government spending, legislators see financial aid that ends up at for-profit schools as an easy target for cuts. In California, lawmakers this summer decreed that students at 154 schools—nearly all of them for-profit colleges—will no longer be eligible for the state's need-based Cal Grants, citing the schools' low graduation rates and students' heavy debt burdens.
To boost graduation rates and keep student-loan defaults in check, Apollo and peers are now competing for higher-quality students who have a better shot of graduating. But nonprofit schools are successfully courting the same market segment, with more students turning to online degree programs at schools including University of Maryland University College, Southern New Hampshire University and Liberty University, which don't have the reputational baggage for-profit schools do.
That leaves for-profit colleges fighting for an even smaller sliver of a shrinking pie.
"The market is crowded, highly competitive and increasingly commoditized. If you don't have a differentiated offering, you are in deep trouble," says Piper Jaffray analyst Peter Appert.
Mr. Appert says nonprofit institutions have been slow to make a meaningful shift online, but now that they have, students are paying attention and there is a "sea change" in the market.
Enrollment in the online arm of Southern New Hampshire University, which has a ground campus in Manchester, N.H., more than doubled from last October, now hitting 16,700. University of Maryland University College, meanwhile, saw enrollment in its online programs increase by 5% in the last year, to 97,001 students.
Not all for-profit colleges are struggling. Some specialized and niche schools are still posting gains. Grand Canyon Education Inc., a Christian school with a traditional campus in Arizona and online operations, has seen enrollment soar by 60% since 2009, hitting 44,435 as of June 30. And American Public Education Inc., which targets people in the military and public safety, increased course registrations by 45% to 92,900 in that time.
But another dark cloud looms: The Education Department says it is considering its legal and regulatory options in the wake of the July court decision striking down parts of the so-called "gainful employment" rule, which aimed to evaluate programs on how well they prepare students for employment, though industry insiders say it is unlikely much will happen in Washington until after the election.
Still, many institutions are under close watch. ITT Educational Services Inc. and Corinthian Colleges Inc. have both notified investors of a broad inquiry by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, while Universal Technical Institute Inc. and Bridgepoint Education Inc. have disclosed U.S. Department of Justice investigations into how schools incentivize staffers to land new students.
Robert Danford fits the profile of the typical for-profit customer. When the 24-year-old was looking for a program in graphic design this fall, he considered Career Education Corp.'s Collins College, where he had briefly studied a few years earlier. But he says the sales pitch and high cost—he says he took out $12,000 in loans for his first stint there—soured him on the school. "They were telling me everything I wanted to hear to get me in the door," he says.
A Career Education spokesman says the school's admissions officers are trained on integrity and "not to promise outcomes or access to financial aid when working with prospective students."
Mr. Danford enrolled instead in the nonprofit Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Ariz., where he is paying a few hundred dollars per credit hour and takes courses part-time while working at a nearby Office Max. He says he intends to earn an associate degree and hopes to enroll in a bachelor's degree program down the line.
Write to Melissa Korn at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
In this post I will take a look at each stat and show how they relate to each other. I will point out when to focus on each stat, and confront the common myth that Crit is better the Haste.
1. I used this talent build. Build: Link
2. Stats - Spell Power = 1800, Crit = 35%, Haste = 9.17%, Hit = 95%, and your moonkin is level 80.
3. I will be looking the stats using Starfire since this will be our primary raid spell. However, I will comment on how these stats affect the other spells in very general terms.
4. Using the stats above the average Starfire will have the following DPS:
((((1120 + (1800 * 1.2))*1.19)*1.35)*0.95) / (((3-(0.5*0.35))/1.0917) = 1,934.4746Spell Power:
This stat, formally known as spell damage, is our bread and butter. It is the stat that all other stats are compared to because it is always good. Lets look at some math.
Starfire has a spell power coefficent of 1.2 with Wrath of Cenarius. On top of that each point is buffed at 19% due to various talents. Numerically it looks like this.
Hit Capped DPS per Point = (((1.2 * 1.19) * 1.35)*0.95) / ((3 - (0.5 * 0.35)) / (1.0917)) = 0.7077 DPSHit Rating:
If you raided in the Burning Cruisade then you know the importance of Hit rating, in WotLK Hit is still very important. However, there are a couple of changes you should know. First, you will now need 26.23 Hit Rating to improve your chance to hit by 1%. More importantly we will now be able to increase our hit chance to 100%. So we will now need to increase our hit chance by 17%. Balance of Power and Misery (shadow priest talent) will increase our hit chance by 7%. The other 10% will need to be made up by hit rating. Therefore, the soft hit cap in WotLK is 263.
Lets look at the value of hit for the standard stats I listed in the assumptions. One point of Hit will increase your chance to hit by 1/2623 = 0.03812%.
DPS +1 Hit = ((((1120 + (1800 * 1.2))*1.19)*1.35)*0.9503812) / (((3-(0.5*0.35))/1.0917) = 1,935.2509As you can see from this information, an additional point of Hit rating will increase the hypothetical Moonkin's DPS by 0.7763. If you compare this to the DPS change from an additional point of Spell Power, you can see that 1 point of Hit rating is worth 1.09687 Spell Power.
The value of Hit rating does change depending on what your starting level of hit rating, but this isn't something that should be a big concern. Hit rating starts to equal Spell Power in value at just 1,428 Spell Power, and Hit rating will always be more valuable then Spell Power when you reach 1,689 Spell Power. Both levels should be fairly easy to reach in early raiding, so reaching the hit cap should be your first priority as long as your not giving up large amounts of Spell Power to do so.
Crit Rating:
The amount of Crit rating needed increase your Crit chance by 1% is 45.90 at level 80. Another important thing to remember is that our Crit chance in WotLK will be much greater in general. From talents and raid buffs alone we will be able to reach 22% crit chance, and it is not unreasonable to assume that our crit chance will be as high as 35% in early raiding. This is why my example assumes such a high level of Crit.
In WotLK an additional point of Crit rating will increase your crit chance by 1 / 4590 = 0.02179%. So an addtional point of Crit will increase your DPS as follows.
DPS + 1 Crit = ((((1120 + (1800 * 1.2))*1.19)*1.3502179)*0.95) /
(((3-(0.5*0.3502179))/1.0917) = 1,934.8615
This is a DPS increase of 0.3869. When compared to the DPS value of one point of Spell Power you can see that for the hypothetical Moonkin 1 point of Crit rating is worth about 0.5466 Spell Power.
Haste Rating:
The amount of Haste rating needed increase your Haste chance by 1% is 32.79 at level 80. The other change you will find in WotLK is that Moonkin will start with 6% crit due to talents, and can go even higher due to raid buffs.
In WotLK an additional point of haste rating will increase your haste by 1 / 3,279 = 0.03050%. So an addtional point of Haste will increase your DPS as follows.
((((1120 + (1800 * 1.2))*1.19)*1.35)*0.95) / (((3-(0.5*0.35))/1.092005) = 1,935.0151This is a DPS increase of 0.5405. When compared to the DPS value of one point of Spell Power you can see that for the hypothetical Moonkin 1 point of Haste rating is worth about 0.7636 Spell Power.
When looking at Haste in the BC I talked a lot about the break-even point where 1 point of Haste increase DPS just as much as one point of Spell Power. The break-even point in WotLK is very high even in relative terms. In BC the break-even point could easily been reached Kara gear, and a couple of peices from ZA and othe T4 instances. In WotLK the break-even point is 2,543 Spell Power.
Crit vs Haste:
I want to highlight the relationship between Crit rating and Haste rating. After looking at some of the gear that will be available in WotLK, it is clear that moonkin will have to choose between Crit haste quite a bit. My analysis above shows that Haste is better in terms of DPS. I have run the numbers for several levels of crit and haste and feel very confident in saying that Haste will always be more valueable in terms of DPS than Crit for all reasonable levels of Haste and Crit. However, this does not mean that Haste rating is better then Crit rating 100% of the time.
The real question you need to ask when choosing between Haste or Crit is regarding your Mana. Haste has no affect on a spell's DPM. Your DPS will be higher if you increase your haste, but if you have mana issues then Haste is only going to cause you to run out of mana faster. Crit on the other had has a significant impact on your DPM. Not only does it increase your damage, but mana will also be returned you crit.
So, the basic rule of thumb is If you have mana issues you should focus more on Crit. If mana is not a problem then Haste will give you a larger increase to DPS.
1. The basic DPS stat equation has changed slightly. There was some ambiguity as to where Haste fell, but I think that answer is now clear for early raiding. The new stat equation is Hit > Power > Haste > Crit.
2. Crit rating and Haste rating appear to be significantly less valuable in Wrath of the Lich King. Some on the forums have argued that this isn't true and that Crit and haste were not worth very much in early BC raiding either. I don't agree.
I think Crit rating and Haste rating appear significantly less valuable due to the higher starting values of Crit chance and Haste in WotLK.
However, this does not mean that we should avoid Crit Rating or Haste Rating. Both stats are very nice and can significantly increase DPS, but when picking up these stats you should try and maintain your current level of spell power since it has a greater impact on DPS,
3. There are other stats you will need when raiding like Stamina, Intelligence, Spirit, and Mp5. All of these stats are important to performance but none of them have a significant impact on DPS. For the most part you will get as much of these stats as you need, just by stacking the normal DPS stats, and no extra effort is needed.


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WINFIELD TWP — A search this week of a property in the township came up empty in the latest effort to find 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan who disappeared in 1985.
The state police and a team from the Mercyhurst University Archaeological Institute this week searched a property there Monday and Thursday.
Police say the continued investigation and interviews led to the two searches. They brought search dogs to the property and then the Mercyhurst team excavated part of it.
Cherrie Mahan was last seen by a motorist stepping off a school bus near her home in Cabot on Feb. 22, 1985.
Later that year, she was featured on the first "Have You Seen Me?" fliers in the mail.


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Tell musicians: Don't entertain apartheid Israel!
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Because Palestine was stolen under the Israeli occupation and its people still suffering and the world does not know and
Please check the label first to ensure that you're not funding the Israeli occupation and apartheid-related companies
To correct a grave injustice against the Palestinian people
Snowy weather has further crippled daily life for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Stolen Beauty is a boycott campaign against Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories (www.ahava.co.il (http://www.ahava.co.il/)) - a
Tell U.S. officials to take a stand against the ongoing bombing of Gaza and call for a ceasefire immediately!
Spread the word in support of the hero of empty stomachs Samer Issawi who has been on hunger strike for 190 days. Like
From November 14-21, Israel killed at least 182 Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip, including 47
Girls beat Palestinian woman in Jerusalem rail station: TUESDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2013 14:29 A group of Israeli girls beat


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Alex Karras was recently released from a California hospital after having kidney failure so he could spend his final days with family.
``He may be dying of kidney failure because now his body is catching up to the deterioration of his mind,'' Craig Mitnick, Karras' attorney in a lawsuit against the NFL, told The Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon.
The 77-year-old former defensive tackle and actor, who was born and raised in Gary, Ind., has been surrounded by his wife and kids at his home in Los Angeles.
In his day, Karras was one of the NFL's best defensive tackles. The Detroit Lions drafted Karras 10th overall in 1958 out of Iowa and he was a four-time All-Pro over 12 seasons with the franchise.
Karras became a bit of a celebrity through George Plimpton's behind-the-scenes book about what it was like to be an NFL player in the Motor City, ``Paper Lion: Confessions of a Second-string Quarterback.'' That led to Karras playing himself in the movie adaption, and it opened doors for him such as being an analyst alongside Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford on ``Monday Night Football.''
Karras had a well-known appearance as Mongo in the 1974 movie ``Blazing Saddles'' and was a star in the 1980s sitcom ``Webster.''
He took on another role this year as lead plaintiff in a complaint against the NFL by ex-players who claim the league didn't do enough to protect them from head injuries.
``Alex's decision to get involved in this was for the right reasons - to help the game of football,'' Mitnick said.
Follow Larry Lage on Twitter:http://twitter.com/larrylage


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The Ohio Department of Taxation has compiled a list of frequently asked questions covering many different categories.
To view the questions, click on the "Select Category" bar and then click on the category you are interested in. A list of questions will appear pertaining to that category. Then click on the question you are inquiring about and the answer will appear.
I'm retired from the Air Force and reside in Ohio. What tax obligations do I have for my military retirement pay, and if I die before my spouse dies, how does Ohio tax income from the military survivor benefit plan?
Law Change for Taxable Years 2008 and Forward: Effective for taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2007, military retirement pay of taxpayers who retired from the active or reserve components of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or from the National Guard, and Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) benefit recipients, are exempt from Ohio income tax and from Ohio school district income tax. Eligible taxpayers can use Ohio Schedule A, line 26, to deduct such retirement pay included in federal adjusted gross income on the current Ohio income tax form IT 1040.
Eligible taxpayers can request that their Ohio withholding be adjusted by contacting the Defense Finance and Accounting Service at www.dfas.mil or (800) 321-1080.
This deduction also applies to such amounts received by the surviving spouse or the former spouse of each military retiree who is receiving payments under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Please note that child support receipts, regardless of the source, are not included in federal adjusted gross income; so these amounts are not deductible.
Federal civil service retirees who received federal service credit for military service are allowed to deduct only that portion of their pension attributable to military service. A formula for this deduction can be found in the Ohio income tax instructions under the Schedule A deductions. The formula is illustrated in the example below.
Example: The taxpayer has included in federal adjusted gross income (line 1 of the Ohio income tax return, form IT 1040) $60,000 which the taxpayer received as a federal civil service pension. The taxpayer has 15 years of military service and 45 years of combined military service and civilian employment with the U.S. government. The fraction is 15/45 = 1/3. The taxpayer can deduct $20,000 on Ohio Schedule A for Military Retirement Income: 1/3 X $60,000.
Note: Because military retirement income is deducted from federal adjusted gross income and thus is not included in Ohio adjusted gross income for post-2007 years, military retirement income does not qualify for the Ohio retirement income credit.
For Taxable Year 2007 and Prior Years: Ohio residents must pay Ohio income tax on their military retirement income for taxable year 2007 and prior. However, these taxpayers are eligible for a retirement income credit of up to $200, based on the amount of retirement income received during the taxable year. This credit can be found in Schedule B of the Ohio income tax return. Income which a spouse receives from a military survivor benefit plan is also treated as retirement income and is also eligible for the credit of up to $200.
Beginning in taxable year 2013, taxpayers who receive retirement income related to uniformed service in the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service (PHS) are allowed a deduction for the entire amount of such pay to the extent it is included in federal adjusted gross income. This deduction can be taken on Ohio Schedule A, line 26, and then deducted on the current Ohio IT 1040. Prior to this change, the deduction was only available to former service members of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps receiving military retirement pay. See ORC 5747.01(A)(26).
For more information:
You can reach us by e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com. Our toll-free number for individual taxpayer inquiries is (800) 282-1780, and the toll-free number for forms is (800) 282-1782.


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THIS WEEK IN FASHION, BEAUTY, BRAND, AND ENTERTAINMENT NEWS: Get the perfect manicure for spring/Diane Von Furstenberg honored five inspirational women this past weekend at the annual DVF Awards in New York. Among attendees were Gabby Douglas and Robin Roberts/Socialite turned … Continue reading
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The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a case examining whether Americans have a free speech right to lie about having been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
At issue in the case is to what extent the government may ban and punish false statements of fact concerning someone's military service.
In 2006, Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it a crime to falsely represent, verbally or in writing, to have been awarded a military decoration. Offenders face up to a year in prison for falsely claiming receipt of the military's most significant honors, including the Medal of Honor.
The issue arose in the case of an elected member of a water district board in southern California. In 2007, board member Xavier Alvarez identified himself at a public meeting as a retired US Marine who had been wounded in combat many times and had even received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"I'm a retired Marine of 25 years. I retired in the year 2001," Mr. Alvarez said at a board meeting. "Back in 1987, I was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. I got wounded many times by the same guy. I'm still around."
None of Alvarez's claims was true, except his last claim that he was still around. He never served in the Marine Corps or any branch of the military, was never wounded in combat, and has never received a medal of any kind, let alone the nation's highest military award – the Medal of Honor.
After FBI agents obtained a tape recording of the meeting, federal prosecutors charged Alvarez with two counts of violating the Stolen Valor Act.
Alvarez's lawyer asked a federal judge to dismiss the charges as a violation of the First Amendment. The judge upheld the charges, ruling that the First Amendment does not protect "knowingly false statements."
The act is narrowly written to ban only "deliberately false statements concerning a very specific subject matter," the judge said.
Alvarez pleaded guilty, but reserved the right to appeal the First Amendment issue. He was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
A panel of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the conviction in a 2-to-1 vote and declared the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional.
The appeals court's two-judge majority, Judges Milan Smith and Thomas Nelson, said they were concerned that the act might open the door to broader government restrictions on lying.
"We cannot adopt the government's approach as the general rule for false factual speech without turning customary First Amendment analysis on its head," Judge Smith wrote.
He said the government's approach was inconsistent with maintenance of a robust and uninhibited marketplace of ideas.
"The right to speak and write whatever one chooses – including to some degree, worthless, offensive, and demonstrable untruths – without cowering in fear of a powerful government is, in our view, an essential component of the protection afforded by the First Amendment," Smith wrote.
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, in a comment about the case, said it raised the specter of government censorship by "the truth police." He noted that "white lies, exaggerations, and deceptions … are an integral part of human intercourse."
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Jay Bybee said that as a general rule the Supreme Court has not extended free speech protections to false statements of fact. He noted there are some exceptions to the general rule but that prohibiting lies about the military honors one has received does not inhibit or deter protected forms of expression.
Very few individuals are likely to mistakenly claim to have won the Congressional Medal of Honor, he said.
"The majority believes that when the court has said that 'false statements of fact' are unprotected by the First Amendment, what the court actually meant was that defamation is unprotected by the First Amendment," Judge Bybee wrote. He said the majority's approach inverts the high court's First Amendment jurisprudence.
"All things considered, Alvarez's self-introduction was neither a slip of the tongue nor a theatrical performance; it was simply a lie," Bybee said.
"Alvarez's knowingly false statement is excluded from the limited spheres of protection carved out by the Supreme Court," he wrote. "It is therefore not entitled to constitutional protection."
The Ninth Circuit majority was not persuaded. "If the act is constitutional under the analysis proffered by Judge Bybee, then there would be no constitutional bar to criminalizing lying about one's height, weight, age, or financial status on Match.com or Facebook, or falsely representing to one's mother that one does not smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, is a virgin, or has not exceeded the speed limit while driving on the freeway," Judge Smith wrote in the majority opinion.
"The sad fact is, most people lie about some aspects of their lives from time to time," Smith added.
The case is US v. Alvarez (11-210). It will likely be heard by the high court next year with a decision announced by late June.


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Splinter Cell
A new terrorist group has been attacking various parts of the world, including America, and Europe. The group is known as the Shadows, and they are America's next priority. Third Echelon, a secret spy unit, who have single men operatives called Splinter Cells, has come up with a plan to stop the Shadows. They are planning to stop the weapon suppliers of the terrorists. The weapon suppliers call themselves "The Shop." The Shadows are their best co...