AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML): This Isn’t the Web I’m Used To By Jason A. Clark
excerpt:
" Have you heard of Ajax? No, not the kitchen cleanser, the Dutch soccer (football) team, or Sophocles’ play. In the technology world, Ajax (sometimes spelled AJAX) is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and eXtensible Markup Language (XML). It’s one of the hottest new technological buzzwords. Depending on the source, you might hear that Ajax will reinvent people’s expectations of Web sites or that it’s the latest Web trend that’s bound to fizzle. The truth is somewhere in between. Ajax changes how users are able to interact with online content by allowing Web page data updates without the usual routine of clicking from Web page to Web page. Chances are good that you have seen Ajax before; you just didn’t know it. Popular Web sites such as Google Maps, Amazon, and Flickr are leading the Ajax charge. It’s only a matter of time before these implementations trickle down into library catalogs and Web sites.
What’s in it for Libraries?
Libraries and information agencies have been slower to embrace Ajax, but it’s not for a lack of library-use cases. In a library setting, Ajax could be used for speeding up digital library search applications using a link to activate a process that matches multiple ISSNs to compile a list of electronic journals, or even making quick requests to validate a user’s personal information as they log into a “My accounts” section of the catalog.
Let’s look at registering for an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and requesting a book. Say Susan, a hypothetical academic library user, needs to perform these tasks. In a traditional Web interaction, she would have to navigate through the registration form to enter data for basic contact info, a username, and a password. She might have to submit possible usernames, wait for the form to talk to the server, only to come back and tell her that the username she entered is taken—at which point she also realizes that every bit of data she entered into the form has disappeared. An Ajax Web interaction can provide shortcuts to this process. Rather than sending the whole form to the server for an answer, the Ajax method sends a request on the piece of the form in question behind the scenes to see if Susan’s chosen username is already in use. Because the response from the server is returned almost immediately, Susan receives instant feedback telling her to choose another username. There’s no loss of data or waiting for pages to reload for an answer."
Full Article: http://www.infotoday.com/online/nov06/Clark.shtml
What’s in it for Libraries?
Libraries and information agencies have been slower to embrace Ajax, but it’s not for a lack of library-use cases. In a library setting, Ajax could be used for speeding up digital library search applications using a link to activate a process that matches multiple ISSNs to compile a list of electronic journals, or even making quick requests to validate a user’s personal information as they log into a “My accounts” section of the catalog.
Let’s look at registering for an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and requesting a book. Say Susan, a hypothetical academic library user, needs to perform these tasks. In a traditional Web interaction, she would have to navigate through the registration form to enter data for basic contact info, a username, and a password. She might have to submit possible usernames, wait for the form to talk to the server, only to come back and tell her that the username she entered is taken—at which point she also realizes that every bit of data she entered into the form has disappeared. An Ajax Web interaction can provide shortcuts to this process. Rather than sending the whole form to the server for an answer, the Ajax method sends a request on the piece of the form in question behind the scenes to see if Susan’s chosen username is already in use. Because the response from the server is returned almost immediately, Susan receives instant feedback telling her to choose another username. There’s no loss of data or waiting for pages to reload for an answer."
Full Article: http://www.infotoday.com/online/nov06/Clark.shtml
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