Display the list of libraries holding the current item

[pkiraly]

In the record display the list of catalogues holding the current item might be displayed - either in an existing subtab or in a new one (called "Libraries"?). It would be nice for research on book history, but it might be useful for others. WorldCat also has this feature, but it implements it in a "smart" way, filter libraries which are thought to be close to the users' location. I would like to display the whole list. @nichtich Do you agree?

[nichtich]

QA Catalogues supports grouping, is this what you mean? The record display could include a list of groups (=library names) for each record based in this grouping.

Apart from that, the UI could display arbitrary information not included in the data, such as similar records, current availability, link to other catalogues etc. To show a list of other libraries, not part of the data, it needs a third-party webservice - but this is likely beyond the scope of qa-catalogue, it is not going to replace the OPAC.

[pkiraly]

Since this external data is needed for the grouping functionality, we can be sure that this is available. Moreover this feature should be turned on/off by configuration or by user settings. My general intention with QA catalogue has two sides: it should primarily support libraries, but also secondary it should support the DH researchers who analyses catalogue as a historic/social phenomenon (Bibliographic Data Science). This feature would be more useful for this second group. They can answer questions, such as whether a given book is relatively rare, or widely available, or how literature prizes change the spread of the works of authors. Later it could be developed to integrate with a map etc.

[nichtich]

How about some plugin system for additional tabs in record view?

[pkiraly]

I am fine with separating this (and maybe other possible features) from the "core". It requires some API design to set up a messaging mechanism between the core ('Does anyone want to add something?') and the plugin ('Here you are in a required format/structure!'). Also a subscription model is required. Do you think that plugins should be outside of qa-catalogue-web repository, or they can be part but in a dedicated place (e.g. plugins)?

[nichtich]

If you expect other people to write such plugins, then a dedicaded repository is better but a simple plugins directory in qa-catalogue-web should be enough to start with. Just make sure plugins do not need to be in this location. I'd support the config directory (customizable via variable templates) to also include optional plugins.