If you use OCLC's CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management Software for your digital collections, integrating Aeon with CONTENTdm by way of an Aeon request button affords your users a convenient way to request items through Aeon directly from the CONTENTdm Web interface. You can add the Aeon request button by downloading and configuring the custom CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script and applying it to your CONTENTdm item display pages. The script can be configured to provide users with the same request options available to them in Aeon. Users can request a higher quality reproduction of an item and/or permission to publish it using the Request for Copy button and request to view the original item in a reading room using the Request for Reading Room button.
The custom script can be configured and applied to individual CONTENTdm collections or used globally. Once the script is configured and installed, an Aeon request button will appear on the item display page in the row of buttons that include the native CONTENTdm buttons for View Image & Text, Download, and Print (if enabled). The script can also be configured to work with both simple and compound CONTENTdm object types.
Click the Download button for a copy of the custom CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script (compatible with the latest version(s) of CONTENTdm, versions 7.0+). For a copy of the CONTENTdm-Aeon Request button compatible with versions up to 6.7, download the zip file at the bottom of the article.
Configuring the CONTENTdm Request Button Script
The CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script is a text file that includes javascript functions that control the appearance and functionality of the request button. The file contains commented instructions explaining how to configure the button options as well as the metadata field mappings from your CONTENTdm collection to your Aeon request form(s). Please refer to those instructions and the product documentation referenced there before contacting your Atlas Customer Service Agent for assistance with configuring the script. The CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script also includes sample variable settings as examples for you to follow in configuring your script. We recommended first configuring the variable settings for the BaseURL and request form names so that you can test the basic functionality of the button before proceeding to edit specific field mappings. In selecting which Aeon request forms you would like your Aeon request button to point to, keep in mind that you can create new request forms in Aeon for the specific purpose of receiving requests from CONTENTdm collections. Advantages of doing so include the opportunity to include fields that are specific to CONTENTdm collections and to facilitate the distinction of CONTENTdm-generated requests for statistical and workflow management purposes.
Note: When configuring the plugin, sites using the Atlas Dual Authentication Portal logon page should configure the BaseURL setting with the URL pointing to the authentication portal page on their Aeon server (typically https://localhost/logon).
Note that the CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script includes field mapping options for both Simple and Compound CONTENTdm objects. Again, examples of field mappings for both are included and may be edited according to your local CONTENTdm metadata and Aeon transaction field usages. You may configure different versions of the CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script to work with different CONTENTdm collections. This is useful in situations in which CONTENTdm metadata schemes vary between collections. If you do create multiple versions of the script, we recommend that you devise a file naming convention that will enable you to easily distinguish and apply the script to the appropriate collection. We also recommend including a version date or name in the filename or as a comment in the file itself to help you keep track of any changes you make to the file over time.
Uploading the CONTENTdm Request Button Script
Once you have configured your CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script, the next and final step is to upload it to your CONTENTdm website. To check the basic configuration of the functionality of the script, you may want to configure and upload a version of the script to a sample collection that is not publicly accessible. Log into your CONTENTdm Server Administration site and use the Website Configuration Tool to access the Custom Pages/Scripts option. Further options will allow you to apply custom scripts globally or at the collection level. You should choose the global option only if you want the Aeon request button to appear on all of your CONTENTdm collections and only if you want all collections to use the same Aeon request forms and metadata mapping specifications. Also keep in mind that in CONTENTdm, collection-level scripts override global-level scripts. The Custom Pages/Scripts option will prompt you to upload the script as a "top include" (in the <head> tag) or as a "bottom include" (before the </body> tag). We recommend uploading the CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script as a "bottom include." Please contact OCLC support for further advice and assistance with uploading the CONTENTdm-Aeon Request Button script.