HakIm @ WoRk

Admintasia

2011-06-29T15:34:00.000+08:00

Admintasia | Admin Design Template with JQuery 4Live Demo of Admintasia v2.1 Backend Admin UI Template »

U have to try this. It's awesome!

And the design are also really easy to use/follow.

10 BEST PRACTICES FOR WEB FORM DESIGN

2011-04-21T09:37:00.003+08:00

Hola guys... while doing my task at office, I found this interesting tips for designing web form. This tips are given by Luke Wrobleski .

Path To Completion - Use progress indicators to communicate scope, status and position
Label Alignment - Use right, left or top alignment consistently
Helps & Tips - Help visible & adjacent to a data request is most useful
Inline Validation - Provide direct feedback as data is entered
Primary & Secondary Actions - Avoid secondary actions if possible and align primary actions with inputs fields for a clear path to completion
Actions in Progress - Provide feedback when an actions is in progress
Errors - Clearly communicate an error has occurred: top placement, visual contrast
Unnecessary Inputs - Look for opportunities to remove unnecessary inputs
Form Organization - Take the time to evaluate every question you ask and ensure your forms speak with one voice
Gradual Engagement - Try to avoid sign-up forms

Read the details elaborations here .

Change Project..Finally...

2011-03-21T12:13:00.004+08:00

Salam everyone,
Finally after 2 years i involving myself on the development,warranty and maintenance of BHEUU system, i finally has been assigned to join the JPJ REVAMP team at Cyberjaya. This is the on of the biggest project for my company for the year 2010/2011. I started to work at cyber on Dec 2010. My first assignment (like usual) is to help my colleague on their report problem. Here, they're using iReport 3.7.5 (current relase v4.0.1). The last version iReport that i used (for Labuan FSA) report is v3.0.0. And of course at first i'm shocked because the iReport interface and 'way to do' is slightly different. Anyway, the new(v3.7.5/v3.7.6) iReport version has its own strenghts and a better function than v3.0.0.

A part from that, i also has been assigned to do an applet application to perform the pre-printed receipt printing (using printer Wincor Nixdorf). The requirement is quite complicated and user expectation is nothing but perfection. This can help you guys through the development http://java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/Programming/JDCBook/advprint.html, but in my case, i would rather use Doc and send it direct to default printer as the receipt must be printed using the custom made font for JPJ. Here is the reference :
http://java.sun.com/printing/whitepaper.html

Well at last i finally completed the task and now looking forward for a new task (System Design Document(SDD) as well as learning HP TRIM and IBM BAM(monitoring tools)..)

IDE Integration: DSpace and Netbeans

2010-10-28T15:16:00.004+08:00

Salam and hi everyone,

Today i'm gonna write about my experience checking out DSpace source code using netbeans and try to make the it up and running on my local. My primary reference is this : Duraspace. Its the best guide you can find to help you to get DSpace source code and how to make it runs on our local.

Of course i have other references. They are like below:-
a)How to Guide : Tips and tricks for managing common DSpace chores.
b)DSpace manual.

There you go!! You have all the references needed, now what you need is a bit knowledge on java framework / web based project structure. B4 you start you may need this softwares :-

a)Netbeans IDE : I'm using v6.9
b)Apache Tomcat : I'm using v5.5
c)Apache Ant : I'm using v1.8.1
d)Apache Maven : I'm using v2.0.11
e)PostgreSql : I'm using v8.4
f)jdk : I'm using v1.6.0_20

All softwares above are free. Currently DSpace also capable of using Oracle database instead of PostgreSql. Perhaps because of the demands of using an oracle database.

If you follow the steps on the primary reference carefully you may end up successfully.However, you have to make sure that at the end of every steps you have correctly follow the step by doing some test. I several time failed to understand the instructions and caused me a disaster.

Below is my snapshot on the netbeans with DSpace source code.

Don't give up easily, its easier if you understand what are the steps for. You may ask me if you get stuck. Anyway, good luck!! c ya :)

WebService Using JBossWS

2010-09-27T21:30:00.003+08:00

Salam guys,

Recently i've been asked by my boss to research on webservices for the current project. The current project is using jboss 4.0.5 GA and my boss gave me this very helpful website :

The Code Project. After struggle for few weeks i finally able to test the webservices. Hopefully i'll be able to do the webservice task for the project (ITS DAMN DIFFICULT!!).

Previous post i wrote a bit about proposing DSpace to my company. With help from my collegue i finished the presentation slide. This time more on business model rather than technical. There are 5 business model types that i can think of from DSpace and of course its all have a good potential especially here in Malaysia and world overall. I was thinking, what if they like my idea? What if not? Hmm.. Well, all i think now is give the best out of me and pray that whatever happen there must be a good reason behind it.

So, wish me luck and hope that everything goes well..

Selamat Hari Raya

2010-09-13T10:48:00.004+08:00

Salam everyone,

1st of all i would like to wish to all muslims a very happy hari raya and maaf zahir & batin. Perhaps, somehow my writings had hurt someone's feeling. So, back to work story (even though i'm still in the holiday's mode). Recently, i propose DSpace with 'added element' to my company. I can say that the council like the idea but due to lack on business explaination, they ask me to do a re-presentation after raya. Well, its such an experience (selling idea to all CTOs in the subsidiary company). Its also a good exposure to my knowledge in presentation and public speaking skills.

Its been +- 2 weeks since i helped LOFSA project. I responsible in turning 'complicated' report into 'reality'. We use iReport to develop reports and certainly when it comes to open source software, it has its limitations. Similiarly, goes to iReport, it has many functions such as subreport, group, crosstab and much more. However, not all report's structure is 'can do' with iReport. So when it comes to 'toooo complicated' report, you might need to use database views to help you simplified the query in your report. Anyway, i must give a credit to JasperForge for their great effort in developing such a great BA tools available for industry. If you have any questions on iReport please leave a comment here, i'll try my best to help.
Well, that's all for now. Perhaps on the next post i can write about stored procedure, shell scripting and cronJobs. Till then, take care :)

Digital Library OR Institutional Repository?

2010-07-10T16:00:00.003+08:00

Salam guys,

I have been thinking for quite some time, what is digital library and what is institutional repository? How are they differs from each other? So, i come out with a quick research and found this in wikipedia :-
1) "A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media) and accessible by computers. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. A digital library is a type of information retrieval system." - taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_library

and

2) "An Institutional Repository is an online locus for collecting, preserving, and disseminating -- in digital form -- the intellectual output of an institution, particularly a research institution.

For a university, this would include materials such as research journal articles, before (preprints) and after (postprints) undergoing peer review, and digital versions of theses and dissertations, but it might also include other digital assets generated by normal academic life, such as administrative documents, course notes, or learning objects." - taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_repository

So, from the above definition i can say that the different between DL(DIGITAL LIBRARY) and IR(INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY) is depends on its contents and its purpose. When it comes to the large community we use DL and as for smaller community we use IR. Let me give an example, In Malaysia, we have libraries, so whenever you want to digitize all the books/newspapers/magazines/journals/articles etc and put it online we call it DL. However, universities/colleges/institutional etc may develop an IR for their thesis/paper work/journals/articles etc.

Haven't said that, both DL and IR shares the main development purpose that is to preserve the digital assets and to make it accessible by the targeted user. Thus, you can call it either DL or IR and its still means the same (well, at least to me).

:)

Service Provider @ DSpace

2010-06-19T20:52:00.003+08:00

Salam everybody,

In recent post, i wrote about the growth of DSpace and i told about a new page they have that is Service Provider. Well, a few days ago i wrote an email to DSpace and ask them if i am qualified to become the Malaysian Ambassador. They responded and i am very thankful to them as they put my blog inside their page. This will make people all over the world (especially Malaysian) to have 'DSpace Resource' nearer than ever. I will put myself on 'hardworking' mode to study and 'contribute' to DSpace community or at least to DSpace user to be. Here take a look at this page Service Provider and try to find my name there!! :)

DSpace and its growth

2010-06-12T15:54:00.005+08:00

Salam everyone,

Sorry for not posting anything since January. It's not that i too busy for blogging, its just that i have nothing interesting to tell you guys. However, recently i received a call from one of the most established and well known university college. They asked for my consultation on DSpace.

So, i started to 'refresh' everything about DSpace. I have 'left' DSpace for almost a year and i know just where to start it all over again. It's the DSpace website. I'm shocked that not only the interface but also the content and functions that DSpace has to offer is changed. DSpace has growth and it's growing fast! They have a bigger community and better support for users.

Here are some of the functions that i find very interesting :-
1) Who's using DSpace
There are 883 institutions world wide using DSpace and only 4 of them are from Malaysia that are University of Malaya (UM), Islamic Science University of Malaya, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) and Universiti Tanaga Nasional (Uniten).(and i belive many institutions in Malaysia is thinking and some even has already started building its own digital repository.)

2) DuraSpace
"The DuraSpace organization provides leadership and innovation in open source and cloud-based technologies primarily for libraries, universities, research centers, and cultural heritage organizations. DuraSpace software and services are used worldwide as solutions for institutional repositories, open access publishing, digital libraries, digital archives, digital collections, data curation, virtual research environments, and more."-taken from DuraSpace website

3) Service Providers
The list of companies that provides services on DSpace related work such as design, development, installation/configuration, integration, customization, hosting, training and analysis. I wonder how can i put my company on the list.huhu..

4) Relevant Bloggers
Thoses blogs are relevant to digital libraries, open access and DSpace. I guess my blog is less technical so i'm not relevant at this moment.hhahha..

5) DSpace Ambassador
Well, the word 'Ambassador' has describe enough of what it is all about. This program is the best way to get 'in-touch' with the users. Each ambassador is pointed by DSpace and each region should have at least one ambassador. Malaysia? No ambassador so far (HELLO!!! I'M HERE!!!) :p

So, there you go! DSpace is absolute answer for digital repository initiative. Hopefully DSpace can mange to catch up with the latest technology to keep being 'relevant' to the digital solutions.

see ya :)

DSpace at UNITEN Library

2010-01-25T21:25:00.004+08:00

Salam,

1st of all i would like to wish a very happy new year(hope its not too late) to you. Well this 2010 i would like to starts with Uniten's initiatives in developing their own digital repository. Early this month i just found out that Uniten also has a dspace. I have to omit that it looks simple but nice.

They also embed a google search on right side bar which i think is a good idea. However its not a common google search bar, its a google scholar! I have no idea what it is actually. Can someone tell me what is it??? Apart from that the dspace at uniten also consist many collections such as articles, newspaper articles and the most interesting - past year examination paper. Besides, they also have link to Uniten's website and UNITEN Library (which also has links to other universities institutional repository). Maybe for you guys its nothing but a direct simple hyperlink, but not many dspace (here in my blog) did this.

Hopefully, this dspace helps students in doing a research and be the one stop centre for knowledge at Uniten. Here take a visit : http://dspace.uniten.edu.my So, congratulations to the Uniten's dspace team and good luck in enhancing / maintaining the repository. :)

iRepository at Perpustakaan UniMAP

2009-12-22T11:39:00.006+08:00

Salam,

Recently i found out that UniMAP also using DSpace for their library digital collection.Here is the url http://dspace.unimap.edu.my/dspace/. I have to say that it looks a bit mess especially the cyan color for body and the white space between the sections. Well, i'm also bad at web design and creativity but i beleive this repository can be more pleasant to the user.

They can also create a manakin interface out of it. Just like DSpace@UM did. Here is the link http://dspace.fsktm.um.edu.my/xmlui/. Anyway this is one of a good effort by UniMAP. They have thounsands of digital documents consist of final year projects, government publications, researches and innovations and more. Due to some technical problems(no photoshop in this pc) i cannot publish the main interface of the DSpace UniMAP. Hope that soon other university and college will have their own digital repository like this and perhaps we can integrate one and the other in future.

Digital Solutions Enterprise | Malaysia

2009-10-15T22:04:00.010+08:00

Salam,

Its been a while since my last post in this blog. I've been busy with works and training. Well, for this post i'm gonna tell u guys about the Digital Solutions Enterprise. This company provide a services like developing digital library and conduct training / workshop using Greenstone and DSpace.

As far as i'm concern this is the only company that has this services (using Greenstone,DSpace). They also have a consultation on digital library content,indexing etc. Last but not least, they also offer graphic design!! And all this with a very reasonable price. How i know? I'm the founder of this company!!Hahahah..

Digital Solutions Enterprise also has years of experience in developing digital library using Greenstone and conducting a workshop / training for both Greenstone and DSpace software. So, if your organization wants to build up a digital library or institutional repository by hiring some external experts in this field, feel free to contact them via email digitalsolutionsent AT yahoo.com choww..

DSpace @ UM | Malaysia

2009-08-24T20:29:00.013+08:00

Salam,

Today i'm gonna write about dspace. DSpace is an open source software for developing digital library. It is developed by HP-MIT Alliance. Its widely used by most institutions all over the world. Easy to install, configure and customize are among the reasons why this software is the first choice. In fact, at Malaysia there are more than 3 institutions (as far as i'm concern) using dspace for institutional repository.

Well, for me i'm going to tell you a bit about DSpace at University of Malaya as i involved little bit in configuration and customization. The installation of DSpace is not as simple as greenstone. As it builds on java, any changes you made may need to recompile before you can see the changes. Besides the dspace installation pack, you may need apache maven, postgreSQL, apache ant and some more softwares (i can't remember).

However, you don't have to worry as the step-by-step guidelines is availabe on the dspace web for the beginner. Compared to greenstone dspace is totally 100% online repository as the records are submitted through its web and not like greenstone which use GLI to build records. The good thing about dspace is you can easily create a collection, sub collection, community and sub community to better organise your repository. DSpace @ UM is for student at UM submitting their thesis and other related paper work. Its a commitment by our Information Science head of department Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abrizah Abdullah with help from the team and Mr.Nor Badrul.

Now we have come to the customization. hmmm.. i don't where to start actually. At first, i have been asked by Mr.Bad to change the 'look' of the dspace. Then Dr.Abrizah asked me to create another 'face' for dspace using DSpace Manakin. hmm.. its already in the dspace installation package, you just need to configure to enable the manakin interface. Anyway, its a great experienced playing with this software. later, i will tell you on dspace workshop handled by University of Malaya Library for AUNILO.

-DSpace Workshop for Aunilo-

Aunilo is stands for 'ASEAN University Network Inter Library'. The University Of Malaya Library handled a workshop title '3-day Intitutional Repository (IR) Workshop Using DSpace for AUNILO Members.' Started from 25th - 27th May 2009. The modules in the workshop are :
1.Install;
2.Configure;
3.Customize;
4.Harvest; and
5.Use DSpace Interface and its various utility panels.

And as for my part, i did the installation, configuration and customization using Manakin Interface. Its a half day talk of step-by-step guidelines and also troubleshooting for those encounter problems during the tutorial.

If the schedule for the workshop still available you can see it here: http://aunilo.wordpress.com/3-day-institutional-repository-workshop-using-dspace-schedule. Anyway, its my 1st time teaching people who are from outside Malaysia and i can say that i might be the youngest person in that workshop (not really sure, but i think so.). So, at 1st place i was a bit nervous, but from time to time as i start to focus on the teaching my feelings are getting better. Overall, the workshop is one successful program and i have fun attending and sharing some knowledge with others :)

Digital Libraries using Greenstone at Malaysia

2009-08-08T12:29:00.017+08:00

Salam,

Well..It is almost 2 years now i'm working on a digital library for malay manuscipts or pustaka digital manuskrip melayu using an open source software called greenstone. Its a software that build using Perl and macro language (for version 2.82 and below) by New Zealand Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato. At first i was shocked because i have never learn Perl Programming at school and the codes is totally different compared with java. As i don't have much choices during that time, i decided to learn and do some research on greenstone. Alhamdulillah, all documentations provided by greenstone helps me understand better on how the greenstone works. Moreover, they have a maling list that i subscibed, so that i can ask questions about developing a digital library using greenstone while helping others with their problems.

With help from friends here at fcsit at University of Malaya i managed to finish it. There are some features that i have embed within MyManuskrip (as my prof ask me too). Functions like "quick search", view statistics, register and auto calculate total records is hardly to do especially when you are using open source ("not your own codes"). Overall, for me greenstone is definitely one of the best digital library or institutional repository or whatever you call it in market right now.

Features of Greenstone :-
1) Easy Step by step Installation Guidelines.

2) 3 Choiceses of searching engine (Lucene, MG & MG++).

3) Easy to manipulate/alter the interface.

4) Able to create your own new metadata sets.

5) Easy to understand the process of building records and customization.

6) Almost all common plugins available.

7) You don't have to compile/build/export/restart when you change the code, just refresh the page.

--MyMaova--

The word MyMaova stands for 'Malaysian Modern Archive of Visual Art'. This is also the example of digital library developed using greenstone. This is a final year project (for masters) of my friend, shahnim safian. It tooks almost 3 months of hardwork to complete the system. As you can see, the interface can be manipulate to best suit your needs and creativity.

-Summary-

There you go!! As far as i'm concern there are 2 or 3 organizations in Malaysia already used greenstone for their digital library. But, i'm not going to tell you who. hehe.. So, if you're interested of developing a digital library using greenstone, gd lk and all the best. Let me know if you need a help..chow..

Introduction to HakIm @ WoRK

2009-08-06T22:19:00.005+08:00

Salam,

I am not a good writer, but i'll try not to make u fall asleep while reading my blog. I will share my knowledge on Digital Library Development using open source software like Dspace and Greenstone. As i involved directly with these two softwares during my work as a research assistant at University of Malaya.

Right now i'm developing a system called cmsbbg. Its a system for Biro Bantuan Guaman (BBG) , a government department in Putrajaya. Not going to say much about this (kind of boring).. So, if you like to comment anything, be my guess. choww...