Aspen Discovery Goals

by Jessie Zairo on Nov 25, 2019

GOAL 1: MAXIMIZE PATRON USAGE OF ALL LIBRARY MATERIALS

Libraries have a wealth of information accessible to patrons, but a lot of this information is often very difficult to find. Aspen Discovery allows you to easily incorporate lesser-known econtent sources (as well as major sources like OverDrive, Cloud Library, Hoopla, Axis360, and Rbdigital) into your online catalog. Aspen also offers the ability to display archival and special collection content alongside results from the catalog, raising awareness of these valuable resources.

Relevancy within Aspen Discovery is tuned to make it easy for patrons to find what they are looking for when searching the catalog and have confidence that the library owns popular titles.

Integration of NoveList and More Like this functionality help users discover new materials that they hadn't previously heard of.

GOAL 2: COMPLETE INTEGRATION WITH THE UNDERLYING ILS AND ECONTENT PROVIDERS

Because libraries subscribe to so many different sources of materials, patrons often need to learn multiple systems to fully use library materials.

Aspen integrates with the APIs for most major ILS and eContent providers so patrons can easily checkout or place holds on titles and easily see what materials they are currently using and what they have used in the past.

GOAL 3: MAKE IT EASY FOR PATRONS TO USE

Over the years we have done a number of in-person usability studies sitting down with patrons one-on-one to see how they use the catalog, what they find confusing, and what they wish the catalog did. Those usability studies have driven a number of changes both large and small.

A fully responsive interface makes it easy for patrons to use Aspen on any device.

Type-ahead and search suggestions make it easy for patrons to find materials even if they don't know how to spell a specific title or author name.

Many subtle wording choices and placement of buttons help guide patrons to use the library more effectively.

GOAL 4: MAKE IT EASY FOR LIBRARY ADMINISTRATORS TO CUSTOMIZE AND MAINTAIN ASPEN

Only you know how to serve your patrons best so Aspen includes an extensive administration interface where librarians select which eContent collections are included, which facets are displayed, colors, fonts, and much, much more. All implementations include admin training and support so you aren't left on your own to guess what configuration options mean.

We Updated Our Goals as of November 2022

We Updated Our Goals as of November 2022.

Check them out here.