Month: August 2019

We have updated our library services platform, which includes the catalog, acquisitions, resource description, user accounts, and everything else. The new platform is Alma by Ex Libris and the update includes changes to the public-facing Primo discovery product.

I created a basic user guide which includes how-to information on basic tasks as well as temporary access to previous systems. I’ll be updating these pages for the next several months for sure.

Based on the last search update we did, it was important we do this to reassure users about the change and provide options for them to reach us to ask questions and report issues, which we can analyze later to determine next steps. We started publicly promoting the upcoming change in late June.

The public started seeing changes on July 29. I have been fielding user questions coming from the web side, making changes to web content where necessary, and forwarding things to our liaison and discovery departments where appropriate.

Expect more posts about search for the rest of the year.

Long-term, I’m optimistic about what this change will allow us to do with search experience. We already have simplified our search box considerably, which I posted about at the time. Now that our services platform is basically a single system, I feel like we have a lot of flexibility and can introduce interesting new features.