Webforms to the Rescue: Deploying a Library Request Webform in Response to COVID-19

When we think of innovation, we think of cutting edge technology, complicated systems, and brand new approaches. However, innovation is not just a purchase. At the University of Georgia School of Law's Alexander Campbell King Law Library we learned through trial and error to put the process before the technology, and not the other way around.  Because sometimes, the most innovative idea is the simplest solution. In this session I will share the story of implementing patron-driven holds in our library as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the lessons learned about using the right tool for the wrong job. Ultimately, we arrived at the best solution, and the results surprised us: a basic webform in our school's website CMS Drupal 7. Webform for Drupal 7 is the second most popular non-utility contrib module, after Views. It is a large, rich module used by hundreds of thousands of sites. If you need to build a lot of customized, one-off forms, Webform 7.x is a more suitable solution than creating content types and using CCK or Field module.