by Jessie Zairo on Jan 13, 2022
When we talk to potential Aspen Discovery Consortial users we love to see them get so excited about everything Aspen has to offer. We get to show off all the amazing libraries that have implemented Aspen and how they are maximizing usage of all materials for their system.
Consortiums can build a customized Discovery system for each of their libraries and each library can have a branded catalog helping its library highlight what is unique to its location. In this Aspen Weekly we share some of our favorite Discovery Layouts for consortiums, and how they each are finding innovative ways to engage their patrons with Aspen.
MetroShare Libraries
- ILS: Koha
- Aspen Discovery Implemented 2021
- 7 member libraries
MetroShare formed a union catalog in 2021 and together 7 member libraries share among the Dallas - Fort Worth area. In the example, you can see Benbrook Public Library, Burleson Library and Haltom City Public Library. Each screenshot is what it looks like for a user when they search a specific title. The patron can see what format is available on the shelf at their library or what is available at another library. The grouping together of all formats in one record view makes it seamless for the patron to find exactly what they are looking for.
Aspen Discovery can also individually scope settings for eContent collections. This means each branch or location can have only the specific results for their patrons. You’ll notice in the results for Burleson Public Library, we see an ebook title with cloudLibrary and Overdrive. Wherewith Haltom City and Benbrook, we only see Overdrive. Flexibility with consortiums is crucial, and Aspen Discovery allows systems to define those needs.
Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC)
- ILS: Koha
- Aspen Discovery Implemented 2019
- 125+ member libraries
AspenCat is a union-catalog, integrated library system running on open-source software managed by CLiC, and supported by CLiC staff members. There are currently 129 AspenCat member libraries across Colorado, including public, school, and academic libraries.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Research Library
Seeing consortiums with all types of libraries, including public, academic, school, and special is amazing. They have rich and diverse collections that lead us to endless exploring of the collection. Colorado Parks and Wildlife Research Library, part of the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) has just that. They have created browse categories that allow their patrons to explore everything from state regulations to federal aid reports and employee development.
In this example, you will see their collection of Regulations Brochures. Aspen’s image upload feature allows them to showcase the unique cover for each of the subcategories.
Prairie Heights Elementary
It’s quite amazing to see some of the great collections that our school partners have. In this example, we look at browse categories for Prairie Heights Elementary. Browse Categories are a fantastic way to engage your patrons, get them interested in your collections and all of the great titles you provide. The categories allow students to learn more about new books or award-winning titles. They even take it a step further to break down sub-categories, a way to fine tune the collections underneath the main category, so they can view Caldecott, Newberry, Colorado Blue Spruce, and Coretta Scott King awards.
SWAN Library Consortium
- ILS: Symphony
- Aspen Discovery Implemented 2021
- 100 member libraries
St. Charles Public Library
If you have a population of gamers, then you will want to check St. Charles Public Library. They are part of the SWAN Consortium in Illinois. They have done a fantastic job of bringing in all options from Nintendo, to Playstation, Xbox 360, and more. In the example below you can see how they highlight what’s available for each gaming system, what’s available at their location and what’s available at another branch. They have even taken it a step further with StackMap integration showing the patron just where the item is in the library with the Map It button.
Coastline Libraries
- ILS: Koha
- Aspen Discovery implemented 2021
- 14 member libraries
Coos Bay Public Library
We love to see what libraries have to offer outside of reading, listening, and watching, and Coos Bay Public Library has just that! They are a part of Coastline Libraries in Oregon. The Library of Things collection includes everything from instapots and waffle makers to fog machines and cornhole games! In the example below you will see a Ladderball game.
What perfect summertime options for the user to explore! They can even take it one step further with more like this where Aspen recommends other items in the Library of Things like Croquet, Disc Golf, Bocce Ball, Paddle Balls, and Frisbee.
Coquille Public Library
Who doesn’t love playing games? In this example, Coquille Public Library uses placards to advertise their Game Night! Patrons can enjoy board and card games and you can even share your favorite games with them! Placards are such a great way to promote resources, events, collections, and services.
Crawford County Federated Library System (CCFLS)
- ILS: Koha
- Aspen Discovery implemented 2021
- 9 member libraries
Benson Memorial Library
The web builder feature in Aspen Discovery is very customizable and it is a great way to either integrate a piece of your website into Aspen or use Aspen to create your entire site. Crawford County Federated Library System uses Aspen Discovery as their website! Benson Memorial Library does a fantastic job of highlighting all their resources, what’s available for kids and teens and how patrons can utilize local history.
Museum passes have become a great lending feature of libraries over the years. Benson Memorial created a page using the web builder feature to highlight the circulation of their Drake Well Museum Passes. Patrons of Benson Memorial Library can check out or reserve a Drake Well Museum Family Pass which will give the household free admission to the museum.
Meadville Public Library
Meadville created a kid's page using the web builder feature to show off all the activities they have for their users. Everything from arts & crafts, storytime, new books, and events help the user navigate to exactly what they want to read, listen to, make or attend!
Yavapai Library Network
- ILS: Symphony
- Aspen Discovery Implemented 2022
- 50+ member libraries
Yavapai College Library
This is a great example of the Aspen Discovery team working together to meet the needs of the open-source community. The team at the Yavapai Library Network worked with the Aspen team to integrate course reserves automatically loaded from Symphony (Sirsi Dynix) system. Yavapai College Library needed integration with Course Reserves in Aspen Discovery to allow students, faculty, and college staff to quickly find information about the course they are enrolled in. We are excited to see how sites use course reserves and what the next ILS integration will hold.
Camp Verde Community Library
Libraries provide a wide range of material, events, and resources for their community. We love seeing what events libraries offer, both virtually and in person. Camp Verde Community Library has integration with events allowing their patrons to search for events through the search function. The events will show up in the Explore More section of their catalog search, in an events search, and in the combined search view. In this example, we can see events at the Prescott Farmers Market, storytime, tech assist, book chats, and more.
These are just a few wonderful examples of some of the ways consortiums are utilizing the customizations in Aspen Discovery to create custom catalogs that reflect the needs of the library and their communities.
Read more by Jessie Zairo