Online Catalogs to Consider

Our selection committee, made up of staff from our libraries, has done some preliminary reviews of a few products on the market. We would like to get public feedback on these.

Please take a look at the sites below. Each is using a different product currently available. Please leave any comments - likes, dislikes, impressions, what features you would or wouldn't use, etc. - and make it obvious which product you're commenting about. Thank you!

Two good test searchs: bud not buddy (to see if you can find it or if the word NOT is eliminating the word buddy) and harry potter (since there are many formats and lots of added content).

• Aquabrowser - at Old Colony Library Network
• Bibliocommons - in Beta, no live, public sites, not implemented with an iBistro system.
• Encore - Not the classic catalog link, but need to type in a search in the "Search Library Catalog" form.
• Endeca - software behind stores like Walmart, at Phoenix Public Library
• Koha Zoom Browser - Live at Athens County Public Libraries or demo at LibLime
• Primo - at Vanderbilt University
• Scriblio - based on wordpress
• SirsiDynix Enterprise - works on top of iBistro. No public demo available yet, but seriously promising.
• VuFind - developed by Villanova University
• WorldcatLocal - not sure how this would work because the database, from OCLC, only has network level titles for our libraries, not the local library holdings.

Make the search results re-retrievable after placing a hold on an item

Library patron: Currently, after users complete a search and go through the steps to place one book on hold, when attempting to go back to those search results, the page reads unable to display, and the search results are gone even after trying to refresh the page. That’s REALLY exasperating.

SAILS: Use the "Back a Step" link on the iBistro navigation to get back to the results. If you use the browser's Back button, it may work, but will end up being problematic.
If you are using the Back a Step link and still getting the error, that is not supposed to happen and we'd be happy if you emailed support@sailsinc.org the name and version of the browser you're using and we can try to see if there's a browser setting that can/should be changed.

OverDrive & iPods

For those of you who have requested the OverDrive digital audio book & music service work on an iPod, your request will soon be granted! Not everything will be available at once, but it's a great start. You can read the full article or the Overdrive Web site or a related article in Library Journal.

Abridged vs. Unabridged

We had gotten a number of people asking for a clear distinction between abridged and unabridged audio books, as well as the ability to search for specifically abridged or unabridged. If you type in "abridged" as part of your search, for example, Goblet fire and abridged, you will only see the abridged versions. The problem has always been that the word abridged or unabridged was not in every record, so not everything would be found. Last week our cataloging department said they will "make sure that any new records will come through with Abridged or Unabridged in the edition statement."

Give us your feedback

Please feel free to post your comments on the answers below or for any of the features listed to the right. We're hoping that if we can get you, the people who use the online catalog, to speak up and say what features you'd like to have available, we can get a system that the majority of our customers will be happy with.

To comment, click on the word "COMMENTS" below or follow this link.

Be able to request resources not currently available

This is available by clicking on the Contact Us button. You need to be at the library or logged in with your barcode, but under there you'll see a "Recommend to Order" link where you can fill out a form to request a specific title to be purchased. This is also available on the best sellers lists if we don't have a copy in the system already.

Search by isbn #

You can! Just type the isbn in the search field on the home page of iBistro and it will automatically search for the number in all fields of the record.

Ability to search directly from Novelist

This function is available. Ask your library to contact the vendor to have this set up.

Do a dual search - such as for 'beethoven" "symphonies"

On the advanced search page you can combine different search terms. On the quick search page you can do this as well, but you need to put them together with the Boolean operator AND. We're hoping our next catalog will not require this. In fact, it's a requirement. For more information on Boolean searching you can read our search tips.

Would like to be able to download books unto my ipod

This is a very common request and one we wish we could make available. Our media titles, provided by OverDrive, Inc., use DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection technology from Microsoft Corporation. Unfortunately the iPod (and Mac) currently support neither DRM-protected Windows Media Audio (.wma) files nor Windows Media Video (.wmv) files.

Want to know position in the hold queue

This is something that is currently available, but had been turned off years ago because it was so problematic. There are so many factors that determine where you are in the holds queue that we still feel it would be very misleading. Some things to keep in mind:

• Local holds are filled first - if the library in your record, not your pickup location or town of residence, owns a title you have on hold, you will get your hold filled before a patron from another town.
• You can be #2 in line, but if there is only one copy of the title in the network, and it's overdue, you still can't be sure when your hold will be filled.
• There may be 500 holds on a title, but 75 copies in the system to fill the holds.

A better place to get an idea of how many holds are on certain titles is on the list available on the home page of iBistro that links to our weekly titles with most holds list.

tailor interface, i.e., to limit to adult materials (exclude K-12)

I'm assuming this is wanting to log in and have pre-set search criteria? Please add comments if this is off the mark. You can already limit to just items marked as adult in the advanced search option. You can limit by teens and 0-12 years old as well.

Would like to preorder books that will soon be available

There are several on-order records in the system that can be put on hold. Is this really asking to be automatically put on hold for titles that match a certain criteria, like the favorites notice, but instead of a notice, it places a hold?

Several people would like to be sent library notices.

We do have this available as long as you have an active email address in your record. You're library can look this up for you.We have the following notices available:

• Reminders for items that will soon be due
• Hold pick-up notices
• Hold cancellation notices
• Library events & news (if your library participates and after the results of the survey, many more should be!)
• Overdue notices
• Favorites - flag authors or subjects as favorites and receive notice when new items that match these are added.