Aspen Discovery 21.12.00 Release Notes

by Mark Noble on Sep 17, 2021

Aspen Discovery announced this week that the 21.12.00 release is now available. See the Release Summary here.

Mark Noble, Aspen Discovery Lead Developer, recently commented on the release:

With this release we're thrilled to prepare for the full launch of the Aspen Discovery LiDA app! The other work we've done in this release will continue to help patrons better utilize the wealth of materials available at their libraries."

App Updates

• Added support for release channel preferences per library location.
• The list of libraries on the login screen should now properly generate depending on if geolocation was shared or not.
• When opening the app the initial browse category should always load.
• The currently installed version of the app is now displayed in the "More" screen.
• When placing a hold, users should now have options to select a valid pickup location.
• In the Browse Category dropdown, sub Browse Categories will display their parent label, unless the two are the same.

Cloud Library Updates

• Correct checking out titles in certain cases.

Events Updates

• Update the automatic cover generation for Events for long month names to ensure the month is not cutoff.

Hoopla Updates

• When grouping Hoopla titles, utilize the Hoopla subtitle field if available.
• When loading Music from Hoopla ensure that author names display in the correct order.
• Utilize Hoopla genres and additional ratings to improve determination of audiences within Aspen.

Indexing Updates

• Add the ability to suppress eContent stored within the ILS by matching 856u links.
• Add the ability to determine Literary Form (Fiction / Non-Fiction) based on an item subfield.
• Add the ability to automatically hide Unknown and Not Coded Literary forms from the Literary Form and Literary Form Full facets. These can be disabled within the Indexing Profile.
• Check the 008 field for musical scores, audiobooks, music, and other auditory formats.
  • For records with leader position 6 of C, D, I, or J. The record will be tagged as fiction if 008 position 30 or 31 is f and non fiction otherwise.
• Ensure that the nightly index flag is cleared properly when the nightly index runs.
• Correct Diacritics issues when reading MARC records from the database.

Koha Updates

• Correct the display of birth date when updating contact information.
• If a patron field is both unwanted and required, ensure that it shows when self registering and when updating contact information.

Language Updates

• Update so Placards can be shown only when specific languages are active to give a better patron experience to patrons in their native language.
• Update so menu items can be shown only when specific languages are active to give a better patron experience to patrons in their native language.

OverDrive Updates

• Allow circulation of OverDrive materials to be disabled within Aspen Discovery to support cases where circulation via the API is not allowed, typically when a college or university uses external authentication with OverDrive. In these cases, the user will be taken to OverDrive to checkout the material or place holds.

Permission Updates

• Update Browse Categories to ensure that users with Administer Library Browse Categories cannot modify Browse Categories Shared with Everyone.
• Add a new permission "Edit Library Placards" which will allow the user to edit, but not create placards for their library.
• Prevent administrators from editing Themes they do not have access to if they have Administer Library Themes permission.

Symphony Updates

• Allow account functionality to work properly for patrons who have never logged in.
• Update processing of volume export to look at the short bib number rather than the first field due to inconsistencies in exports.
• Correct logging in patrons that do not have a city and state set within the address.
• Store staff credentials within database rather than config file.

Web Builder Updates

• The HTML Editor has been converted to TinyMCE and now allows for image uploads directly in the editor.
• Images uploaded on Basic Pages will generate all sizes ensuring correct display on Custom Pages.
• Uploaded SVG files will properly load when displaying.
• When displaying resources, ensure that audiences and categories display alphabetically.

Other Updates

• When multiple email addresses are specified, send to all addresses properly using Amazon SES.
• Make the indexes displayed when searching between search sources translatable.
• Make the width of the search bar search button accommodate translations where the length of the button text is longer.
• Translation cleanup and additional translations.
• Update the width of the button for a variation within a manifestation to match other formats.
• Standardize the display of file pickers used when selecting files in the following locations:
  • Importing Translations
  • Selecting images and fonts within themes
  • Selecting images within web builder.
  • Adding images to placards.
• Update Menu Links to display in the hamburger menu if Show Icon in Top Menu is selected, but no icon has been defined.
• Add additional documentation for including cover urls with specially formatted 856 links.
• Allow the email sent field for Materials Requests to be set by Administrators.
• Correct styling of PDFs that within Web Builder.
• Prevent theme from making less desirable table stripe colors.
• Lists of objects within the Admin interface will scroll within the current screen to make it easier to navigate when lots of objects are shown.
• Updates to refresh account information when logging in via Masquerade.
• Allow translations of Browse Category labels when clicking on a subcategory.
• Add a new API to retrieve searchable public lists and ensure deleted lists are not returned.
• When using the Select Interface page with Remember Me enabled, default remember me off.
• When menu links are created ensure they show for all patron types by default and remove old unused HTML contents for a menu link.
• Hide the library selection within the Browse Category form when sharing is set to Everyone

Watch the 21.12 Aspen Updates in an Instant Recording

Watch a short highlight video of the some of the new features available in 21.12.