Aspen Discovery
Aspen Discovery 24.02.00 Release Notes
by Mark Noble on Feb 14, 2024
Aspen Discovery announced this week that the 24.02.00 release is now available.
24.02.00 Release Notes
This release includes code contributions from:
- ByWater Solutions
- Kirstien Kroeger (KK)
- Kodi Lein (KL)
- Mark Noble (MDN)
- CW/Mars
- Jason Stephenson (JStephenson)
- Independent
- James Staub (JStaub)
- PTFS Europe
- Alexander Blanchard (AB)
- Theke Solutions
- Lucas Montoya (LM)
Administration Updates
- Add the ability to create translatable text blocks within the administration interface to handle blocks of text that are larger than can be handled with the traditional translation interface. (MDN)
API Updates
- Added getSearchSources and getSearchIndexes in Search API to return information about valid search sources and indexes. (KK)
- Added support for searching Events to searchLite in Search API. (KK)
- Added Event API to get details about a given event. (KK)
- Added getLocations to System API get return all locations which are set to showInLocationsAndHoursList. (KK)
Cloud Library Updates
- Fixed issue where On Order/Coming Soon titles and some Checked Out titles were showing as available (KL)
- Updated Cloud Library Scope settings to use a checklist for libraries and locations (KL)
- Updated Cloud Library to index target audience based on the 650a (KL)
Cron Updates
- Clean up unused cron commands. (MDN)
- Automatically optimize additional tables. (MDN)
- Update reading history process to use ils_barcode rather than cat_username. (MDN)
- Extend time limits for some long-running cron processes (MDN)
- Cleanup database usage in PHP cron processes. (MDN)
- Explicitly close cron processes (MDN)
- Do not email when checkSolr restarts solr (MDN)
Donations updates
- Added a checkbox to request users to add their address (address, secondary address, city, state and zip code) when making a donation. (LM, MDN)
- Update Donations to not store form fields in the database because they are generated at runtime. (MDN)
Events Indexing Updates
- Add additional checks for errors while extracting events. (MDN)
Evergreen Indexing Updates
- Load barcode and call numbers from Evergreen for checkouts. (JStephenson)
- Load copy notes from Evergreen APIs when available and display as item notes. (MDN)
- Load copy tags from Evergreen APIs when available and display as item notes. (MDN)
- Add additional information to the display of fines and fees. (MDN)
- When importing reading history for the first time, properly handle titles that are no longer linked to a circulation transaction. (MDN)
General Indexing Updates
- Fixed updating Hidden Subjects (JStaub)
- Added the ability to hide series names (e.g., Thorndike Classics) from Series Facet and Grouped Work Series Display Information (JStaub)
Updated Permissions
- Change Hide Subject Facets to Hide Metadata
New Settings
- Catalog/Grouped Works > Hidden Series
- Added a new Place of Publication Facet. (AB)
- When determining format by item and not all items have a format, use bib level format determination to find the format of the remaining items rather than assuming they are the same format as the other items. (MDN)
- Upgrade to Solr 8 (MDN)
- Allow solr host name to be customized within INI and used within all indexers. (LM)
- Explicitly close all indexers when they complete. (MDN)
- If there are errors deleting records from the index halt the indexer since this normally indicates that solr has gone away. (MDN)
Hoopla Updates
- When indexing Hoopla by day, index after 25 hours has elapsed since the last index even if it is not 1am. (MDN)
Interface Updates
- Updated the design of the Library Hours and Locations popup. (KK)
Koha Updates
- Course Reserves from Koha will be automatically imported into Aspen and can optionally be searched (JStaub)
- Prevent patrons from updating their home library if "Allow Patrons to Update Their Home Library" is turned off in library settings. (MDN)
- Curbside Pickup will now properly fetch available dates for scheduling a pickup again. (KK)
Open Archives Updates
- Allow processing archives in MODS format. (MDN)
- Allow processing all sets in a collection. (MDN)
- Automatically detect thumbnail images in additional locations. (MDN)
- Add Location Facet to Open Archives. (MDN)
- Update date processing for Solr 8 and handle additional date formats. (MDN)
- Add additional diagnostic information when the OAI server does not return a valid response code. (MDN)
- When loading cover images, handle additional errors so default cover can load. (MDN)
- When indexing open archives, give a one-hour buffer when checking the last index time to avoid skipping days. (MDN)
New Settings
- Open Archives > Collections > Metadata Format
- Open Archives > Collections > Index All Sets
Palace Project Updates
- Allow checking out titles from Palace Project. (MDN)
- View titles checked out from Palace Project within My Account. (MDN)
- Instructions for accessing Palace Project can be shown for checked out titles. (MDN)
- Allow titles to be returned to Palace Project. (MDN)
- Allow placing holds on Palace Project Titles. (MDN)
- View holds on Palace Project materials within my Account. (MDN)
- Allow holds on Palace Project materials to be cancelled. (MDN)
- When indexing Palace Project, index by collection and add the collection name within the eContent Source facet. (MDN)
- When indexing Palace Project, remove titles that are no longer available. (MDN)
- Map some Palace Project audiences to default audiences used within Aspen. (MDN)
Polaris Updates
- Increase timeout when loading reading history from Polaris. (MDN)
Reading History Updates
- When importing reading history from the ILS for the first time, allow titles that no longer exist in the catalog to be imported. (MDN)
- When displaying reading history show titles that no longer exist within the catalog based on the title and author. (MDN)
Record Display
- Publication Places can now be shown in search results. (AB)
- Add additional classes and data elements to identify shelf locations and call numbers to aid mapping add ins. (MDN)
RIS Citations
- Added ability to export User Lists and search results in RIS format. (AB)
Help Center Documentation (Lists)
- Added the ability to retrieve the place of publication for records so that this information can be used to complete the 'CY' section of the Ris Citations.(AB)
- Added the ability to retrieve Table of Contents Notes from records to form the N2 tag information for RIS Citations. (AB)
Self Registration & Contact Information Updates
- Added USPS address validation functionality via their API (KL)
New Settings
- System Administration > USPS Settings (Permission Needed: Administer System Variables)
Sierra Updates
- Display more specific location information for Sierra Order Records if available and also set shelf location and collection codes, so they can be used for audience determination.
- If connection to the Sierra Database cannot be established skip processes that require the database connection. (MDN)
Sitemap Updates
- Improve the performance of writing grouped work sitemaps and reduce load on the system while they are being generated. (MDN)
SSO Updates
- For SAML if only authenticating with Aspen database, find matches on the username field when logging in. (KK)
- Fixed a bug when using cardnumber as the unique ILS identifier which wasn't checking the ILS for an existing user with the given value. (KK)
Summon
Note: Summon integration is not ready for production use yet!
- Added ability to connect with Summon. (AB)
- Libraries with Summon accounts can add their credentials to Summon settings to access Summon. (AB)
- When Summon is enabled, users can select 'Articles and Databases' from the dropdown in order to select Summon. (AB)
- Summon titles can be used within Browse Categories both as searches and as part of lists. (AB)
- Summon titles can be added to user lists. (AB)
New Settings
- System Configuration > Modules > Summon
- Administration Menu > Summon > Settings / Dashboard
- Primary Configuration > Library Systems > Summon
Symphony Updates
- Updated custom self registration forms to have sections for a more organized look (Ticket 123300) (KL)
- Fix issue in Symphony self registration where empty sections were showing (KL)
Theme Updates
- Fixed a bug that wouldn't allow color contrast to properly complete if a color field was locked. (KK)
- If a color object has the "Use Default" checkbox checked, display the default Aspen Discovery color to properly check contrast. (KK)
Web Builder Updates
- A new group of Field Types (with prefilling properties) have been added when users create custom forms. (LM)
Other
- After Aspen Discovery sends a password reset email, redirect users to a new page with results to prevent a duplicate request on refresh. (KK)
- After a successful Materials Request submission, redirect users to a new page with results to prevent a duplicate request on refresh. (KK)
- Linked Account alerts will again display in the Discovery interface. (KK)
- After submitting a support ticket in Aspen Admin, redirect users to a new page with results to prevent a duplicate request on refresh. (KK)
- Fixed issue where default values for some facets weren't being generated (KL)
- Fixed issue with Stripe payments where, if no fine was selected or card information was wrong the patron would need to reload the page to re-enable the payment button (KL)
- Fixed issue where calls to the Communico Events Registration API were formatted incorrectly (KL)
- Fix saving Interlibrary Loan Item Types within Library Systems. (MDN)
- Fix Display Options link in menu. (MDN)
- Upgrade Java to version 11 on CentOS systems. (MDN)
- When monitoring for stuck processes, create a warning at 8 hours and a critical error at 24 hours. (MDN)
- Updates for importing lists from Symphony. (MDN)
- Remove old deprecated user manual. Help can be found at https://help.aspendiscovery.org. (MDN)
- Remove unused "Reset Facets To Default" button from Locations. (MDN)
- Remove some unused code. (MDN)
- Update Docker default configuration. (LM)
- Ensure old java processes are killed during complete installs. (MDN)
- Update to use mariadb-dump rather than mysqldump to dump database tables. (MDN)
- Fix issue where grouped work facets using the "Show More" popup weren't honoring the "Num Entries" setting (KL)
- Remove obsolete style type declarations. (MDN)
- Add log rotation of mailboxes for common users. (MDN)
Aspen LiDA Updates
- Request translations for Loading screen message earlier, so they are ready when needed. (KK)
- In the background revalidate the user credentials to ensure it's still valid (i.e. password has changed since logging into Aspen LiDA). If no longer valid, we will ask the user to login again. (KK)
- Update Dark Mode styling for library cards, search facets, login screen, and search inputs. (KK)
- On the Manage Browse Categories screen, the browse category label will now wrap instead of truncate. (KK)
- Creating a list from a search result or grouped work will now properly result in a refresh of the user's lists. (KK)
- The Notification Onboard prompt now has shorter button labels. (KK)
- Cover images for holds and checkouts are now specific to the source. (KK)
- Filters on Checkouts and Holds will now check if an eContent source is valid for the user before giving the option to filter by it. (KK)
- On the Notifications Screen, toggling "Enable All" will now properly set the individual toggles. (KK)
- Fixed a bug where the app would crash on some devices when opening a browser window. (KK)
- Users can now search for Events in Aspen LiDA. (KK)
- Users can now manage their Saved Events in Aspen LiDA. (KK)
- Users can now view other locations other than the one they're logged in with. (KK)
Branded App Administration Updates
- Added fields in Branded App Settings to customize the contact information provided on the Privacy Policy page. (Ticket 125548) (KK)
New Settings
- Aspen LiDA > Branded App Settings > Address
- Aspen LiDA > Branded App Settings > Phone Number
- Aspen LiDA > Branded App Settings > Email
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