Aspen 22.12 release adds library-requested enhancements to linked accounts!

by Jordan Fields on Dec 15, 2022

In late October, after hearing interest from several Aspen partners, I sat down to talk with a group of libraries about potential improvements to our linked accounts feature. In November we shared ideas from that smaller group with the larger Aspen community for feedback, and now in December we’re able to offer the first round of updates to linked accounts! It’s so exciting when our community comes together around an idea and within a short time we can make that happen in Aspen. A huge thank you goes to our partners for always helping us make Aspen better!"

- Jordan Fields, Aspen Product Librarian

Patrons now have more control and more options when using linked accounts as of Aspen’s 22.12 release! Previously, libraries could enable or disable linked accounts for patrons, but there was no way for an individual patron to completely opt out of linked accounts if their library had it enabled. There was also no way for a patron to remove a linked account without the patron changing their PIN. Now patrons can both remove individual accounts that have linked to them as well as disable all account linking.

Because a user needs to know the PIN of the person they’re linking to in order to initiate a link, Aspen will also warn them that they might want to change their PIN if they remove a linked account.

Aspen now provides additional messaging when someone has linked to a patron’s account as well as when someone has removed a link. This messaging explains the action that was taken on the link and directs patrons to where they can manage linked accounts within Aspen.

This is just the first part of our updates to linked accounts. Watch for more updates on this feature coming soon and for a full list of the 50+ updates to Aspen Discovery and LiDA for 22.12, check out this month’s release notes.

This release includes code contributions from:

• ByWater Solutions

• Theke Solutions

Thanks to all of our contributors and our community for another successful release!

Read the Full Release Notes

You can find the full release notes here.

Watch a Preview of the Release

About Aspen Discovery

Aspen is a full-featured Discovery System that integrates with eContent and other third-party providers, giving your patrons comprehensive access to all of your materials in one place. Aspen combines your library catalog with e-content, digital archives, and enrichment from all major third-party providers. It also improves relevancy and ease of use, provides native reading recommendations, displays all formats of titles within one result (record grouping), and much more. With included features like web builder and mobile app (Aspen LiDA), Aspen was created to give users an improved experience over other Discovery systems, with less impact on library budgets.

For More Information

Jessica Zairo
Director of Library Sales and Outreach
ByWater Solutions
bywatersolutions.com
Phone:(888)900-8944