The Periodicals division of Learning Resources & Technology Services at Saint Cloud State University employs the services of a third-party subscription provider to track and order its periodical resources. This company provides a detailed listing of the subscribed periodicals in XML format. Since SCSU subscribes to several thousand periodicals, a need for a usable representation of the periodicals list was identified. Following the steps of the SDLC, I quickly began work on a solution to this problem.
Upon deployment of the Serials Database solution, another problem involving the procurement of the periodicals listing emerged. The XML listing was being sent via email, at which point a staff member would be required to import the data from the XML file into MS SQL Server. To eliminate this extra step required staff involvement, I began working with the third-party provider on a solution. Utilizing the .Net Framework I quickly devised a client/server application for transporting the data across the internet from the provider to SCSU and into the database.