Aspen 23.05 Release and Changes to Descriptions, Library Use Statuses

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - 10:00 AM | Tara Wood

The Aspen 23.05 release is now live. In addition, SWAN has implemented changes to the display of record descriptions and library use only items. If you have questions about this release, you can attend our Aspen office hours this afternoon.

Descriptions

Descriptions for titles in the catalog previously used the Syndetics Solutions provided descriptions. With a new setting, the catalog will prefer descriptions in the 520 field of the catalog record in Symphony, and if a description is not present, the catalog will use Syndetics as a fallback. 

This will give catalogers the ability to more quickly replace a description when the Syndetics version is incorrect. Currently, there is a wait time of several months to correct descriptions directly through Syndetics.

aspen search results showing a summary of the title

This is a configurable change, and we are piloting this setting for the next few weeks and monitoring feedback from library staff. If you notice issues with descriptions in the catalog, open a ticket with the SWAN ticketing system.

Library use statuses

Previously, the catalog considered library use statuses (IN_LIB_USE, LIBRARYUSE, STAFFUSE) as "not available." This made these items seem to patrons searching the catalog that the item was checked out and not available for use.

library use item not available in catalog
Library use only item, with a status of unavailable

Based on discussions with our Circulation Users group, we are making a change in the catalog to set these items as "on shelf." This change will show the patron that the title is available for use in the library.

library use item in catalog on shelf
New status in the catalog: Library use only is considered on shelf

 

Note there is a status of STAFF_USE (note the underscore) that is shadowed and will not appear in the catalog.

This is a configurable change, and we are piloting this setting for the next few weeks and monitoring feedback from library staff. If your library is using these statuses for items that you would like to appear as unavailable to patrons in the catalog, open a ticket with the SWAN ticketing system and we can investigate the best course of action going forward.

Bug fixes and minor enhancements

  • OPAC Administrators now can customize tab colors in the theme.
  • Owning location facet now shows the active library at the top of the facet options.
  • Spotlights will not show more than 100 titles at once to help with performance.
  • Tweaks to the Communico events integration, including hiding private and canceled events and changes to direct users to register through Communico.