We started this release with some accessibility updates to make Aspen even easier to use with a screen reader. We added header markup to the search results to make it easier to jump between search results and details in full record pages. We also made it easier to use Aspen without a mouse.

We've been working on adding new eCommerce providers to Aspen. This release adds the ability to make payments using Comprise as a payment processor. Additional eCommerce providers will be announced over the course of the next couple of releases.

Our integrations with the underlying ILS and eContent platforms have also received attention. Koha, Polaris, Sierra, and Symphony have all had updates to improve integration. Axis360 and OverDrive have also been updated. Notably, eComics from OverDrive will be separated out into their own format to make it easier for patrons to find and use those titles.

The WebBuilder functionality has also received some attention with the ability to embed PDFs in cells and the ability to change the justification and alignment of individual cells.

Finally, we updated how information about records in the catalog is stored to minimize the amount of data stored on the file system, the memory needed for indexing, the CPU usage during indexing, and runtime performance. These changes enable many exciting new features now and in the future!

About Aspen Discovery

Aspen is a full-featured Discovery System that integrates with e-content and other 3rd party providers, giving your patrons comprehensive access to all of your materials in one place. Aspen combines your library catalog with e-content, digital archives, and enrichment from all major third-party providers improves relevancy and ease of use, provides native reading recommendations, displays all formats of titles within one result (FRBR/record grouping) and much more. Aspen was created to give users an improved experience over other Discovery systems with less of an impact on library budgets. For more information about Aspen please visit https://bywatersolutions.com/projects/aspen-discovery.