We received so much positive feedback and excitement around our announcement to support EBSCOhost last month that for this release we added even more customization options to that integration. In addition, we released dozens of other enhancements to Aspen Discovery and LiDA!"

Jordan Fields, Aspen Product Librarian

This month we're releasing Browse Category enhancements for both Aspen Discovery and LiDA. Aspen Discovery also gets additional options for the new EBSCOhost integration and LiDA will now allow patrons to bulk-manage holds.

Many libraries use Aspen's Browse Categories page as the homepage on their library OPACs and some libraries are starting to implement browseable touchscreens in the library! To better support these libraries, Aspen can now display large covers for Browse Categories as well as a "grid view' that aligns the covers in rows. The LiDA app also got an update to Browse Categories with a "Load All Categories" option after displaying the library's top few Browse Categories.

We're pleased to add a few more features to the EBSCOhost integration we released last month. Libraries can configure when each of their EBSCO databases is searched, where those search results display, and you can upload default covers per database for the Explore More bar.

As always, we included numerous partner-suggested enhancements. Aspen will now display a closed captioning symbol whenever indicated in the MARC 655 field. Libraries can also choose to add additional custom MARC 0XX and 9XX fields to the Aspen keyword index.

For LiDA we've added bulk options to holds so that patrons can freeze, thaw, or cancel multiple holds at a time.

Of course these are just a few of the 40+ changes Aspen libraries get with 22.07 release!

About Aspen Discovery

Aspen is a full-featured Discovery System that integrates with eContent and other third-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. It also improves relevancy and ease of use, provides native reading recommendations, displays all formats of titles within one result (record grouping), and much more. With included features like web builder and mobile app (Aspen LiDA), Aspen was created to give users an improved experience over other Discovery systems, with less impact on library budgets.

For more information about Aspen please visit https://bywatersolutions.com/projects/aspen-discovery.