Villanova, PA -- September 20, 2021. Version 8.0 of the VuFind Open Source discovery software has just been released. This major release includes significant new functionality and technical improvements.

Some key additions and changes:

• Significant enhancements to the record indexing process, including a new tool for loading data from CSV files, significant performance and functionality enhancements to XML indexing, and improved handling of creator names in MARC records.
• Improvements and updates to citation generation.
• Expanded support for user management of holds (including freezing and editing capabilities).
• Support for displaying bookplate images on record pages.
• Significant architectural improvements which will support the development of third-party plug-ins and more future-proof theme designs.
• Full compatibility with PHP 8.
• Updates to bundled tools, including Solr 8.9 and SolrMarc 3.4.

Additionally, several bug fixes, new configuration options, third-party integrations, performance enhancements and minor improvements have been incorporated.

Questions about the new release or VuFind in general can be directed to Demian Katz, the lead developer of the project at Villanova University. The software and its documentation may be found at https://vufind.org.