Aspen Discovery 21.15.00 Release Notes

by Mark Noble on Dec 8, 2021

Aspen Discovery announced this week that the 21.15.00 release is now available. See the Release Summary here.

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

The customizations that we've added to the Aspen Discovery homepage in this release are designed to help patrons personalize their experience to better engage with the library and the library catalog."

Aspen LiDA App Updates

• On the Contact screen, the action buttons will only populate if valid data is provided in Aspen Discovery.
• Browse Categories that are based on lists will now display.
• When placing a hold and selecting a pickup location, valid locations options will properly return as such.
• When updating a pickup location for an existing hold, valid location options will properly return as such.
• After a patron completes a checkout or hold action, updated data will automatically be pulled from Aspen Discovery to reflect any changes to their account.
• When renewing individual items, Aspen LiDA will now send the correct information to Aspen Discovery to complete the task.
• Lists created by patrons, as well as their saved searches, will now display as Browse Categories, if enabled by the library.
• Patrons can hide and show Browse Categories for a more personalized experience.
• The Account screen has been split into different screens to accommodate the addition of patron settings.
• Both the Login and More screen now both display the installed version and build number.
• Patron messages from the ILS now show up on the Account screen.

Browse Category Updates

• Libraries can now let patrons bring their lists and saved searches into private Browse Categories on the homepage by using the "system_user_lists" and "system_saved_searches" textId in a browse category. These are created by default and may be disabled by deleting.
• If a browse category has no additional results, the "Load More" button will be hidden.
• Browse categories can be hidden by patrons (must be logged in) using "Hide" in the button toolbar at the right of each category heading. This includes individual sub-categories as well.
• Admin users can track how many times a browse category has been hidden in the Browse Category settings.

Course Reserve Updates

• Course reserves can now be automatically loaded from Symphony systems. There is a new module for course reserves that will allow settings to be modified for the import and indexing.
• A new indexer adds relevant information to a new search index. Libraries can choose which courses are indexed within library settings in the new Course Reserves section.
• Course reserves are displayed similarly to User Lists. Administrators can add Course Reserves to the Browse Screen and make Collection Spotlights from them.
• Course reserves can be emailed or printed.

eCommerce Updates

• eCommerce report will now include the library interface where the transaction was initiated in the Paid From column.
• PayPal Payments will report the subdomain of the library where payment was initiated and the subdomain of the patron's home library in the reference_id field.
• PayPal transaction ID is now reflected within Aspen eCommerce Report to make it easier to reconcile payments.
• PayPal settings are stored within the settings table under eCommerce within the Admin Menu and have been removed from the library settings.
• The Pay Later option for PayPal can now be disabled within PayPal settings.
• Administrators can control if payment settings for the active Aspen instance are used or if the payment settings for the patron's home library are used when making payments.

  • New Settings

    • eCommerce > PayPal Settings
    • System Variables > Library to use for fine payments

Donations Updates

• Added a new module for supporting donations for libraries which is available to patrons who are both logged in or out.
• Libraries can allow users to send their donations to a specific location. If enabled, locations may be individually turned on/off from the list of available locations.
• Libraries can allow users to choose an earmark that they'd prefer their donation to go towards. If enabled, libraries can provide a list of specific options.
• Libraries can allow users to make their donation in dedication of someone. If enabled, libraries can provide a list of options for users to select. By default, "In honor of" and "In memory of" are provided.
• Libraries can provide predefined values for suggested donation amounts. By default, the values are 5, 15, 25, 75.
• Donations can be found in the Aspen eCommerce Report.

  • New Settings

    • eCommerce > Donations Settings
    • Primary Configuration > Locations > Show Location on Donations page

Hoopla Updates

• Use language in Hoopla metadata when determining language for a grouped work.

Indexing Updates

• When determining if a rating is a lexile score in the 521b check that the field starts with lexile.

OverDrive Updates

• Added support for displaying the new fulfillment interface. (Tickets 89144, 89167)
• Added option in OverDrive settings to enable/disable the new fulfillment interface, which is disabled by default.
• Allow library to enable/disable Libby promo in fulfillment interface.

• New Settings

  • OverDrive > Settings > Enable updated checkout fulfillment interface
  • OverDrive > Settings > Show Libby promo in checkout fulfillment interface

Polaris Updates

• Show the date a hold must be picked up by within the account. (Ticket 88930)
• Show Checkouts where the bib has been hidden from the PAC in Polaris. (Ticket 89773)
• Number of renewals allowed for a title is now shown on list of checkouts.
• Add a buffer to the last extract time when exporting records to account for server clock differences.
• Supplemental responses from ILS functions were added to clean up alert displays in the app.

Sierra Updates

• Updates for loading holds for WVLS.

Symphony Updates

• Always show call numbers for checked out titles and call numbers.
• Supplemental responses from ILS functions were added to clean up alert displays in the app.
• Fixes to Reset PIN when the patron is not logged in.

Other Changes

• Permission matrix table has been updated to move the permission groupings into accordions.
• Update the order of branches listed in the Available Now At and Owning Branch facets to show branches at the current library first followed by eContent and other branches in a consortia sorted alphabetically.
• Allow preventing loading covers from OMDB without matching on publication year and identify cases that have been loaded without the year.
• Increase the length of the Valid Pickup Library Systems.
• Header text for a library is now translatable.
• Optionally log request information from additional external systems (Carl.X, cloudLibrary, Hoopla, OverDrive, Symphony)
• Ensure OverDrive client secrets are not displayed in clear text anywhere.
• Do not automatically email errors from the user interface. Add monitoring of errors to status report.
• Release Notes will now include additional information about things for administrators to pay attention to as well as testing suggestions for the new release.
• Site Status page can now only show sites/checks with errors.
• Location settings will now highlight the fields that affect Aspen LiDA.
• Description/help tooltips in Administration Options have been converted to a popover initiated by the help symbol next to the label.
• Settings in Administration Options that affect nightly reindexing are more visibly flagged.
• Form fields which are required now have a badge that more clearly indicates that they are required.
• Make staff password in account profile non readable by administrators.
• Add additional time between New York Times API calls to avoid rate limit errors.

Watch the 21.15 Aspen Updates in an Instant Recording

Watch a short highlight video of the some of the new features available in 21.15.