1. 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.

2. 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

3. 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

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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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]

13. 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.

14. 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.

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

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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.

20. 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

21. 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.

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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.

25. 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

26. 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)