CORAL is an open source electronic resource management system that UW-Parkside implemented to better manage their e-resources. They installed CORAL on a Windows server and customized the Resources and Licensing modules to track information about their 200+ e-journals, 10+ database packages, and licensing agreements. While implementation required work, CORAL now centralizes their previously dispersed e-resources data and provides workflows to track acquisitions and access. Future goals include adding more data, training staff, and exploring usage statistics tracking in CORAL.

1. Breaking the Waves
Implementing CORAL at UW-Parkside

2. • Jay Dougherty Head of Library Systems
• Sue Peacock Web Services Coordinator
• Anne Rasmussen
Copyright Librarian
Continuing Resources and

3. What is CORAL?
• Open source, web-based electronic
resources management system (ERMS)
• Consists of "interoperable modules designed
around the core components of managing
electronic resources"

4. CORAL Modules
- manages the entire e-resources workflow
- provides a way to store and access digital
copies of your licensing content
- stores contact information
- stores uploaded e-journal statistics
• Menu Page (above)

5. UW-Parkside Library Snapshot
• 15 staff members
• 200+ E-Journals
(with about 65 different platforms)
• 10+ E-Journal packages
(containing about 3500+ titles)
• 210+ Databases

6. Problems with Existing Workflows
• Tools used to manage e-journal & database
workflows: Excel spreadsheets, Word docs, Google
Docs, CDC Checklists, Serials vendor websites &
reports, ILS, Follow-up triggers in Outlook,ERMes
• Legacy information not organized anywhere
• EZproxy config file did not include all e-
resources

7. Things That Attracted Us to CORAL
• Web-based
• Different levels of staff access
• Provides workflow tracking
• Easy to customize to individual library's
needs
• Good technical support from CORAL listserv

8. Installation

9. Overview
• CORAL is completely modular
o You choose the modules you want to install. They
are not bundled.
o Authentication is a completely separate module as
well as is the main page.
• Documentation is written for Unix based
operating systems. No formal documentation
for Windows.

10. UWP CORAL Installation
• Windows 2008 Server Virtual Machine (VM)
with 4 gigabytes of RAM and one processor.
• Running a WAMP (Windows, Apache2.2, MySQL
5.5.24, PHP 5.3.13) software stack.
• Our WAMP:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/wampserver/
• MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PHPMYADMIN
INSTALLED WITHIN YOUR STACK.

11. Skills Required to Install CORAL
• Basic understanding of:
o web servers (i.e., what a root directory is, how
pages are served, basic idea of configuring Apache).
o PHP configuration
o database architecture (differences between
user,databases, privileges, etc.)
• Understanding of differences between
database and application users.

12. Our Challenges
• No formal Windows installation doc.
• Understanding how modular CORAL really
is, one module=one database, etc.
• Never had a local open source environment
within Parkside library.
• After installing, constant errors in modules.

13. Fixes
• If you've done Windows or Unix installs in
the past, you can install CORAL.
• Error messages – Contacted CORAL list-
serv.
• Increased level of notices turned on by
default. Adjusted in PHP.ini (the config file for
PHP) the value for php_value error_reporting
to 30711.

14. Testing CORAL
• After adjusting PHP.ini, CORAL installation
worked.
• Tested with Anne and Sue to see if it would
be a usable system for our workflow.
• Went into production mid-June of 2012.

15. CORAL Production Installation
• Worked with our local networking group to
secure a VM with backups.
• Took CORAL test data and exported data
and code onto production server.
• No data migration documentation for
CORAL, but figured it out from doing install.
• Total time for data migration and installation
in production: 4 hours.

16. Resources Module
Adding & Searching Resources

18. Parkside Resources Module
• Data loader script was available but not fully
supported at the time we started
• Parkside decided to manually enter data
o Smaller set of resources
o Data spread across multiple locations (Access
database, Excel sheets, Word documents)
o Parkside subscriptions would benefit from a close
review of data, licensing, & access
o Perl not installed locally on the WAMP server.

19. Add a New Resource

20. Edit a Resource

28. Acquisition Types
DPI (Badgerlink)
Free
Madison
SEC
UWP
WiLS

29. Statuses
Archived
Completed
In Progress

30. Resource Formats
Database
E-book (package)
E-book (single)
E-journal (package)
E-journal (single)
Electronic
Print + Electronic
Streaming License

31. Authentication Types
IP address
IP address + Username / Password
Referring URL
Username / Password

32. Exports records of
the resources
displayed in the
list of results at
the time that you
click on it.

33. Resources Module
Workflows

35. New Item Workflow

36. Customizable

37. Routing

38. My Queue

39. Resources Module Links to
Licensing

40. Organizations Module

43. Licensing Module

44. Licensing Module Home Page

45. Accommodates Multiple Documents

46. Licensing Module - Expressions

47. Licensing Module - Expressions

48. Licensing Administration

49. Expressions Comparison Tab

50. Expressions Comparison Tab

51. Conclusions

52. Issues that CORAL Did Not Solve for Us
• Set up is labor intensive
• Cancellation workflow not yet available
• Usage stats
o Collection of data - Excel is still more useful for this.
o Access to logins/passwords/instructions - Google
Docs is still more useful for this student/librarian
workflow.

53. Benefits of Implementing CORAL
• Information is accessible to all staff via web
• User friendly interface(easy to update, sort & search
information)
• Disparate information organized in one centralized
location
• Workflow clarity for each resource
• Allowed Parkside to calibrate e-resources information

54. Next Steps for Parkside
• Add more detailed information
• Staff Training
o Acquisitions
o Access services
• Statistics
o Keep an eye on enhancements to this module

55. More Information
• CORAL web site http://erm.library.nd.edu
o Documentation
o Live demo
o Forum
• CORAL listserv listserv@listserv.nd.edu