Proposed Changes for Version 5

by Jonah Winters

2013/2023

Update 2023 January: The redevelopment has begun in earnest, and the new Version 5 (beta) will be online by the end of February!

Update 2022 May: Behind-the-scenes changes have been coming along steadily; see Bahá'í Library Online at 25.

Update 2021 September: The programming has begun! Updates will be posted when I receive them.

Update 2021 August: Progress has begun on coordinating a team of programmers to build Version 5.

Update 2021 March: Version 5 initial development and planning has begun. More details will be posted here when available.

Every few years the Library grows enough to warrant a sub-version number. Once every 5-10 years the Library evolves enough to require a whole new version; see past versions. This document will track proposed changes to Version 5, circa 2022. It will not include all requested changes, as there are too many to possibly consider; see all those in Brett's and my To-Do list. Rather, this document will list changes that are more feasible or more necessary.

Some planned changes:

1. Mobile interface
2. Unified database:
   • wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_catalog
   • wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_public_access_catalog
   • wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_library_system
3. Authority control for authors: wikipedia.org/wiki/Authority_control, which would also solve the problem of multiple spellings, e.g. "Masumian" and "Ma'sumian". Include option to tag other "authors" in a post, e.g. /yazdani_quiet_strangulation or /wilmette_lawh_maqsud_notes .
4. Edit history
5. Licenses and permissions. Separate editor/publisher. Change "open copyright". See http://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical
6. Make public metadata search options, e.g. search Abstract or Parent or Publisher
7. Tag table / master subject index
8. Native push notifications
9. EndNote and Marc export
10. Incorporate diversity awareness, e.g. disclaimers on certain documents with now-outdated racial or non-inclusive terms
11. Document-submission portal, scanned with VirusTotal, allowing for receiving, categorizing, vetting, editing, tagging
12. Ensuring accessibility, e.g. for blind users

Design proposals:

1. Logo, fonts, and colors concept art: zein_logo_design_concept_2022.pdf

Mistakes and other to-do:

• multiple-authorship issues, e.g. Cole and UHJ
• check "published as" fields
• loss of initial punctuation in titles in Editing window
• deal with redirects, e.g. bahai-library.com/ruhiyyih_passing_shoghi_effendi (should be khanum_passing_shoghi-effendi)
• move "ed." from volume field to new "editor" field for books
• deal with surname fields e.g. "van den" / "Hoonaard"
• Begin archiving regional newsletters, including sending requests to the Institutions
• Title search issues: how search for a title that has embedded HTML (italics, ampersands, m-dashes)?