Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 New Adventures in Discovery October 18, 2018 Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution lcicatalog.iii.com Sam Cook Systems Librarian for Public Services Library Connection, Inc. scook@libraryconnection.info

About Library Connection, Inc. Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 About Library Connection, Inc. 29 public libraries, 1 academic library Migrated from Sirsi in 2014 Decided pre-migration to use Encore, not WebPAC Libraries used to having locally customized versions of the OPAC

About Encore Released by Innovative in 2007 Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 About Encore Released by Innovative in 2007 Proprietary software that integrates only with Innovative’s Millennium and Sierra Much of underlying functionality built on the more traditional WebPAC, but less so as it has been developed

Encore: The 1-Minute Tour Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Encore: The 1-Minute Tour

Encore: The 1-Minute Tour Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Encore: The 1-Minute Tour

eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Currently integrated: cloudLibrary (bibliotecha) Axis 360 (Baker & Taylor) OverDrive (Rakuten) Still requires loading records Uses URL in 856 field or specific coding in 037 field to connect to database

eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Currently integrated: cloudLibrary (bibliotecha) Axis 360 (Baker & Taylor) OverDrive (Rakuten) Still requires loading records Uses URL in 856 field or specific coding in 037 field to connect to database

eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Currently integrated: cloudLibrary (bibliotecha) Axis 360 (Baker & Taylor) OverDrive (Rakuten) Still requires loading records Uses URL in 856 field or specific coding in 037 field to connect to database

eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Currently integrated: cloudLibrary (bibliotecha) Axis 360 (Baker & Taylor) OverDrive (Rakuten) Still requires loading records Uses URL in 856 field or specific coding in 037 field to connect to database

eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 eBook Integration Uses API to allow checkouts and holds Currently integrated: cloudLibrary (bibliotecha) Axis 360 (Baker & Taylor) OverDrive (Rakuten) Still requires loading records Uses URL in 856 field or specific coding in 037 field to connect to database

eBook Integration: Room for Improvement Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 eBook Integration: Room for Improvement More databases need to be integrated, such as Hoopla and Rbdigital Needs integration without loading records Should allow for integration of multiple accounts within same ebook vendor

Enhanced Data Through External Databases Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Enhanced Data Through External Databases Officially Supported by Innovative Content Café: Book jackets, reviews, summaries, tables of contents NoveList Select: Similar titles, series info, subject links, reading level, reviews, awards ChilliFresh: Reviews and ratings Possible to Integrate with Javascript Library Thing for Libraries: Similar titles, other editions, reviews, series info, awards, reading level, tags Syndetics Unbound: Basically everything found in the other services but with more detail and a nicer design [Library Connection uses Content Café and Library Thing for Libraries]

Enhanced Data Through External Databases Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Enhanced Data Through External Databases NOTE: Most of these services rely on the ISBNs and/or UPCs, so accurate cataloging of these fields is necessary. We clean up ISBNs on a regular basis due to ISBNs for other editions/formats appearing in |a instead of |z. Opportunity for improvement: It would be ideal if this type of functionality were designed into the OPAC so that we would not have to send lists of ISBNs to vendors on a regular basis.

Enhanced Discoverability Through Tags Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Enhanced Discoverability Through Tags Hot take: Despite their advantages, formal subject headings are difficult for patrons to use and the use of national standards does not allow for enough flexibility.

Enhanced Discoverability Through Tags Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Enhanced Discoverability Through Tags

Enhanced Discoverability Through Tags Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Enhanced Discoverability Through Tags Tags allow for materials to be grouped together in ways the subject headings would not allow, while still not polluting the formalized approach that subject headings have.

Enhanced Discoverability Through Tags Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Enhanced Discoverability Through Tags Problems with Tags Sometimes patrons don’t understand how to use them. User populations are often not large enough to get enough tags in a catalog to be useful.

Other Standard Customizations in Encore Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Other Standard Customizations in Encore Change nearly any message/text in Encore Provide translations of everything except bib records into other languages Connect to journal databases and either interfile results or display separately Visual changes such as color, icons, logo, header/footer links, etc. Harvested Collections to integrate OAI-PMH data Integration of citation managers

Problem with Customization in Proprietary System Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Problem with Customization in Proprietary System Customizations are limited to whatever the vendor believes you might need to customize.

Problem with Customization in Proprietary System Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Problem with Customization in Proprietary System Example: Classical music CDs in Koha Not possible in Encore

Problem with Customization in Proprietary System Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Problem with Customization in Proprietary System Suggestion #1: Take customization opportunities to their extreme in ways the vendor had not planned for.

Encore Header Customization Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Encore Header Customization June 2014 (Go-Live) May 2015

Encore Header Customization Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Encore Header Customization What Innovative intended the Header to be used for: Nice looking header to match your library website design What we used the header for: Persistent library limiters Limits search results Changes map to highlight town Change “Library Website” link Making “Login” link go to My Account, not home page Hiding OverDrive holds information Small formatting changes to make pages more readable Links to pages on our website that look just like Encore (New Items, NYT Bestsellers, Staff Picks) REQUIRED: A test OPAC

Problem with Customization in Proprietary System Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Problem with Customization in Proprietary System Suggestion #2: Work with your vendor and push them to make the improvements YOU need.

Customization of Innovative’s Encore Discovery Solution CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 Given the problems with customizing proprietary OPACs, should we focus on open source discovery layers? My answer for our profession as a whole My answer if it will help MY patrons

The End CLA Technical Services Section Fall Program 2018 New Adventures in Discovery October 18, 2018 The End (Until I get to play with another OPAC)