To add, edit or delete the parameters for an external site:

1. Do one of the following.
   • From the Module Menu, select Maintenance, General and then External Sites Editor.
   • From the Module Menu select Maintenance, General, Global and then External Sites Editor.
2. Select the Database you want.
3. Do one of the following.
   • Click Add to set up the parameters for a new site (see below for details).
   • Click Edit to make changes to a site.
   • Click Delete and then click Yes at the confirmation prompt to delete a site.
4. Click Save or Save & Close.

Active

This allows staff to hide or display sites in OPAC/Enquiry.

ID

The NUC code for the external site. If the site doesn’t have an NUC code then you can assign one yourself.

Display name

The name of the external site as shown on the search pages.

Server URL

The URL for the external site.

Database name

The external host database name as specified by the external site.

Port

The port number for the external site.

Username and Password

If you need a username and password to access the external site then specify them here.

Protocol

Select the protocol for the search, e.g. Z39.50 or SRU (Search/Retrieval via URL)

Category

On the search pages, external sites are grouped into categories (e.g. Academic, State or government, Public). Category specifies which group the site is listed under. As of Spydus 10.5.1, external sites may belong to multiple categories. External Search Categories may be maintained in the XSC table in Table Manager.

Site link

The Site Link (if provided) is used to construct a URL which allows the user to access the record in the native interface of the institution to view holdings, etc.

The site link URL contains a placeholder token which indicates the MARC tag (and subfield if required) in which the record identifier can be found in the MARC record retrieved from the source institution. This placeholder token is replaced with the identifier when the site link URL is constructed and added to the full record display. This placeholder token has the format: #TAGXXX# or #TAGXXXSBFx#, for example, #TAG001# or #TAG020SBFa#.

The following is an example of a site link URL where the identifier is held in MARC tag 001:

http://library.mdis.edu.sg/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/OPAC/BIBENQ?BRN=#TAG001#

The Display name (see above) is used as the link text for the site link URL.

If no site link URL is provided for a site, the Display name is included in the record display without a URL.