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ResourceConnect

This plugin allows different ResourceSpace systems to connect to each other to allow searching between installations.

ResourceConnect has several advantages over other methods of centralising content:

  • No need to issue a new URL to users.
  • No duplication of content - content remains on the target systems.
  • Ownership - content remains under the control of the regional administrators and they can opt to restrict access to individual resources, so they remain in control of distribution.
  • Reliability - there's no central system, failure of any one system will not prevent network searching among the other affiliates.
  • More economical - existing hardware and hosting infrastructure can be used with no additional purchase/lease necessary.

There are however some caveats for using ResourceConnect:

  • The interface for remote search results and viewing remote resources is trimmed down compared to the standard non-remote interface.
    • Some features may be missing or may be rendered differently.
  • It is not currently possible to search for remote resources using Advanced Search.
  • It is not currently possible to move between resources when on the resource view page.

Setup

Navigate to the ResourceConnect config folder on the server (plugins/resourceconnect/config) and create a copy of the config.default.php file, naming it config.php. Change the $resourceconnect_affiliates array so that the baseurl for the first element is the baseurl for your current system.

Enable the ResourceConnect plugin through the plugin manager and go to the options page for that plugin to see the access key for this installation. Enter that value in the config.php file for the 'accesskey' element of the first system.

Repeat the steps for your second system, entering in the base URL and access key for the second array element, be sure to do this on both systems.

For the user groups that should have access to ResourceConnect, add in the custom permission 'resourceconnect'.

A new drop down list should appear in the simple search panel that allows you to select the database to search in.

resourceconnect

Further configuration

The $resourceconnect_user value in the config.default.php file sets the user that will be used to get the resources from another system. The initial value 1 is the User ID of that user.