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Collaborative Librarianship

Volume 1 Issue 4 Article 10

2009

Building Online Content and Community with Drupal

Gabrielle Wiersma University of Colorado at Boulder, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Wiersma, Gabrielle (2009) "Building Online Content and Community with Drupal," Collaborative Librarianship: Vol. 1 : Iss. 4 , Article 10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29087/2009.1.4.10 Available at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/collaborativelibrarianship/vol1/iss4/10

This Review is brought to you for free and by Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Collaborative Librarianship by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. Wiersma: Building Online Content and Community with Drupal

Building Online Content and Community with Drupal

Gabrielle Wiersma ([email protected]) Engineering Research and Instruction Librarian, University of Colorado at Boulder

Libraries use content management systems Additionally, all users are allowed to post in order to create, manage, edit, and publish content without using code, which enables content on the Web more efficiently. Drupal less tech savvy users to contribute content (drupal.org), one such Web-based content just as easily as their more proficient coun- management system, is unique because it terparts. For example, a library could use employs a bottom-up strategy for Web de- Drupal to allow library staff to view and sign that separates the content of the site edit the library Web site, , and staff from the formatting which means that “you intranet. Separately, patrons would have can more easily change either without hav- permission to view the blog and the Web ing to recode your entire Web site.”1 Drupal site to post comments. The combination of appeals to many libraries both because it is libraries-contributed content and the com- free software, and because it munity content results in a Web site that is allows individuals and communities to easi- dynamic and collaborative in nature. ly contribute content to the library’s Web site. Drupal also makes it easy to incorporate feedback from the community through in- Dries Buytaert created Drupal in 2000. He teractive forms that can facilitate communi- was inspired to find a way to collaborate cation and discussion between the library and keep in touch with friends during and and its patrons. Drupal’s administrative in- after college. Drupal began as on online terface collates all comments and feedback message board that migrated into an online so that libraries can manage this information Web site and is now available as open and respond accordingly. source software. Buytaert had intended to use the Dutch word for village, “dorp,” as a Drupal provides the core content out of the domain name for this online community. box, however it requires additional modules However, a typo caused the site to be called to customize it and to make it useful. Ac- drop.org. “Drupal, pronounced ‘droo-puhl,’ cording to the Getting Started Guide, these derives from the English pronunciation of “modules are plug-ins that extend Drupal’s the Dutch word ‘druppel,’ which means functionality,” enabling the addition of ‘[to] drop.’”.2 Although Buytaert’s name for , books, images, and interactive polls.3 his site did not turn out as he had planned, The Drupal.org community has also contri- his vision of creating an open, collaborative buted additional modules that are available Web site where people could develop and to all users. Drupal’s core content also al- share their ideas has been fully realized lows libraries to change the look and feel of through Drupal.org. the site and to dictate how the site displays to the end users. Traditionally, organizations have had a Webmaster(s) in charge of formatting and System Requirements posting content to a Web site. Drupal as- signs permissions to various users based on As an open source platform, Drupal is re- their role (administrator or other user) so quired to comply with the Open Source In- that multiple users can edit the Web site itiative’s (OSI) criteria for open source soft- without going through a designated Web- ware. OSI requires open source software to master. Depending on a user’s assigned role have free redistribution, an open and access- he/she will have permission to edit or view ible , and a non-restrictive li- Web sites, blogs, wikis, or staff intranet sites. cense that allows for derivative works.4

Collaborative Librarianship 1(4): 169-171 (2009) 169 Wiersma: Building Online Content and Community with Drupal

Drupal is available free at http://drupal.org do 2009 and more than one thousand are and is licensed under a expected to attend DrupalCon Paris, Sep- called the GNU General Public License Ver- tember 2009. Like many open source opera- sion 3. tions, Drupal’s greatest asset is its communi- ty of users that contributes modules and Drupal is compatible with Windows, Mac, continually works to improve the functio- and Linux operating systems. It requires a nality of the software, not the least of which , a program, and a pro- are the thousands of modules that have al- gramming language. Drupal is most com- ready been created by the burgeoning monly used in conjunction with an Apache Drupal community and hundreds of Drupal Web server, MySQL database, and PHP Groups have formed to allow people to col- programming language, all open source laborate on projects. software systems that provide open code through a General Public License. This com- Drupal and Libraries bination embodies the powerful potential of the open source movement and is a tribute The Drupal Group for Libraries, to its success. (http://groups.drupal.org/libraries), both includes lists and reviews of the library re- While Drupal is designed to allow users to lated modules and provides information edit Web sites easily, the initial set up can be and updates for various presentations. The challenging for site administrators. Many site contains a directory of public, academic, have criticized Drupal for having a steep school, and special libraries that currently learning curve because it requires both use Drupal. The Drupal community has al- technical knowledge of the PHP program- ready created several library-specific Appli- ming language and familiarity of the cation Protocol Interfaces (): a biblio- MySQL database. This is further compli- graphy module that uses management tools cated by Drupal’s use of a unique set of ter- like EndNote and RefWorks; a MARC minology that describes its site components. record module; a book review module; a For example, Drupal uses “node” as a ge- book post module that links to WorldCat, neric term for “content.” Nodes can be blog LibraryThing, or Google Books; and a Z entries, forums, pages, polls, or stories. For- 39.50 module that is capable of searching Z tunately, Drupal terminology and jargon are 39.50 compliant metadata (including most well documented in the Getting Started sec- Web OPACS). Other modules interface with tion, (http://drupal.org/getting- specific library OPACs including SOPAC started/before/terminology). In addition, (an open source OPAC) and the Millennium Drupal’s online handbook includes The Integration Project Module for connection to Drupal Cookbook (for beginners), Innovative Interfaces Inc.’s Web OPAC. The (http://drupal.org/handbook/customizatio Drupal Group for Libraries tracks the latest n/tutorials/beginners-cookbook). Although updates, announces new modules, and pro- it can be complicated to learn this new vo- vides a forum for discussion. cabulary, persistent will be rewarded with the potential to build a func- University of Illinois at Chicago librarian tional, attractive, and customizable Web site. Leo Klein maintains a listserv for librarians interested in Drupal: DRUPAL4LIB The Drupal Community (http://listserv.uic.edu/archives/drupal4li b.html). Librarians can use the listserv to Drupal is not just a platform; it is an active post questions about Drupal and to connect community of collaborative users. Drupal with peers. enthusiasts meet online and in person at Drupal conferences and camps around the world. More than two hundred Drupal de- votees participated in DrupalCamp Colora-

Collaborative Librarianship 1(4): 169-171 (2009) 170 Wiersma: Building Online Content and Community with Drupal

Could Drupal Work for Your Library? End Notes

Since Drupal is an open source project re- 1 Austin, Andy, and Christopher Harris, leased under the GNU General Public Li- “Drupal in libraries,” Library Technology Re- cense Version 3 (GPLV3), libraries should be ports 44 (May/June 2008): 5. aware that any project developed using Drupal also needs to be released under the 2 Drupal.org, “Drupal”, http://drupal.org same license, “Anyone considering the use (accessed June 29, 2009). of Drupal [needs to read] and understand the requirements of the GPLV3 and how it 3 Ibid. interacts with any institutional policies or 4 Open Source Initiative, “The open source expectations for development projects.”5 definition”, Employing an organized and knowledgea- http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd (ac- ble project manager is key to implementing cessed June 29, 2009). Drupal. As with any open source product, there are concerns that Drupal is not sup- 5 Austin and Harris, 8. ported by a vendor. Therefore the responsi- bility to maintain and develop Drupal is 6 Irene E. McDermott, “! looms.” transferred to the library. Searcher 16 (May 2008): 8-13.

When considering content management Bibliography systems, libraries should investigate their options. For example, there is a significant Austin, Andy, and Christopher Harris, overlap in functionality between Drupal and “Drupal in libraries,” Library Technology Joomla, another open source content man- Reports 44 (May/June 2008): 5. agement system. Many libraries have Drupal.org, “Drupal”, http://drupal.org adopted Joomla because of its ease of use (accessed June 29, 2009). and superior administrative interface.6 However, Drupal supporters argue that McDermott, Irene E. “Joomla! looms.” once it is set up, Drupal provides more func- Searcher 16 (May 2008): 8-13. tionality and room for development. The latest software release is Drupal 6, and Open Source Initiative. “The open source Drupal 7 promises an abundance of im- definition”, provements including more core modules http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd (which means less initial set up), better secu- (accessed June 29, 2009). rity, and an improved administrative inter- face.

Dries Buytaert created Drupal so that people share can resources and information. This brainchild is popular among librarians be- cause they can tailor their Websites specifi- cally to their communities, and Drupal can satisfy the need for better content manage- ment. The collaborative nature of Drupal with its reciprocal contributions by users and developers alike fits the mission of li- braries.

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