eResources in Aspen

Your Aspen catalog supports the integration of most eBook and streaming platforms, as well as integration with the EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) to provide access to your articles and databases.

Downloadable eResources

SWAN offers the following methods to integrate your downloadable eBook and streaming collections into your catalog.

API 

eBook, audiobook, and some streaming media use an API to add content to the catalog. API connections allow for real-time circulation. The titles borrowed from the vendors using APIs will appear in My Account and can be downloaded or returned. 

SWAN offers API connections for the following vendors:

  • OverDrive (Libby)
  • Hoopla
  • B&T Boundless
  • cloudLibrary

OverDrive

The following OverDrive consortia are integrated in Aspen using the API:

  • eMedia Library
  • Media on Demand
  • Digital Library of Illinois
  • Rolling Prairie Digital Consortium
  • OMNI Libraries

Hoopla

Currently, Aspen can only support 1 Hoopla collection. Each Hoopla library with records in Aspen, will have a scope. Scopes have additional settings that further customize what Hoopla records patrons see in Aspen. Libraries that have the Hoopla integration in Aspen will have the following settings by default:

  • Exclude Hoopla records when copies are available from other electronic content vendors
  • Binge Pass will be excluded
  • Abridged titles will be excluded

Other customizations that can be requested include whether the following formats are indexed in Aspen:

  • eAudio
  • eBooks
  • eComics
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Television

Also, the max cost per checkout for the above formats should match what is set for the library through Midwest Tape for Hoopla. This is not an automatic process in Aspen; please open a ticket. Please note that titles blocked in the Hoopla dashboard are not blocked in Aspen; there is no setting for them.

Any questions or changes to the above settings? Submit a ticket.

Sideloading

Sideloading adds MARC records directly into Aspen, and these records do not appear in the ILS. Checked-out content will not show in My Account. Please note, sideloaded content uses the 856 URL in the MARC record to connect to the vendor website and those websites do not have a direct connection to the patron account in Aspen.

Sideloaded records must meet these criteria:

  • The collections must allow unlimited use.
  • The vendor must provide standard MARC records of good quality.
  • Authentication methods and the 856 URL must pass the patron directly to the specific record.

Regular sideloading will occur a maximum of once per month unless there has been a major change to your subscription such as a large collection change, interface change, or cancellation.

Vendors supported

  • Kanopy
  • Flipster
  • Creativebug
  • Tumblebooks
  • PressReader
  • EBSCO

SWAN loads the records to Aspen in a batch. If you have a vendor that has offered to provide MARC records for the catalog please submit a ticket and SWAN will evaluate the records.

What are the benefits to having econtent in Aspen and the SWAN+ app?

Benefit

Reason

Searching

Patrons can search across multiple electronic content vendors at once.

Central access to holds

Patrons can keep track of all titles placed on hold, through varying econtent vendors, in Aspen and the mobile app.

Central access to checkouts

Once a title is checked out in Aspen and the mobile app, patrons can always get to that title, regardless of where it's checked out from.

Potential cost savings

Patrons do not become reliant on only one vendor. Cost is disbursed amongst different vendors and gives patrons more options.

EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) integration

Your Aspen catalog also comes with an integration with EDS, which provides access to your databases including those provided through the State of Illinois and the RAILS Flagship Package.

You can access the EDS integration by selecting Articles & Databases in a search, and through the Explore More bar in catalog search results.

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