Helping us keep track of it all

Volume 17, Number 3 • March 2000

Helping us keep track of it all — See how Web-enabled databases can make for smarter work
by Marshall Breeding

THE SYSTEMS LIBRARIAN column focuses on a project that might be of practical use to a systems librarian or to someone managing a systems office. Says that author chose this project to write about because it involves exciting technology - Web-enabled databases - and practical experience the author has gained by providing support for the Vanderbilt University libraries. Explains how the library technology team developed a Web-based problem-tracking system (PTS) and the features needed to make it effective. Notes that the technical portion of PTS consists of a database that holds information about each task, Web forms for retrieving information, Perl scripts that process the requests, and a piece of middleware that allows information in the database to be presented on the Web. Says that the project is just one example that demonstrates how useful Web-enabled databases can be.