Darien Library is pleased to announce the forthcoming launch of its new website (www.darienlibrary.org) on June 1, 2016.
The new website is designed to be a user-centric portal to library events, services, and materials. The new website will launch with SOPAC3, Darien Library’s ground-breaking new catalog system.
The new website overlaps with the catalog and provides a feature-rich patron account experience that includes integrations with the website’s event calendar. Users will be able to register and RSVP for events and keep track of their library activities from their profile screen.
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— an announcement from Darien Library
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The system now also seamlessly includes both physical and digital checkouts on the account page, giving users the information and tools necessary to manage all of their circulation activity.
Users are given direct control over their checkout histories and will now have the ability to maintain a wish list of items from the catalog they may want in the future. Numerous other features have been introduced, such as integration with Darien Library’s eCommerce system, Envisionware, so that users can now check their account balance in addition to their fines and fees.
An example of what one of the Darien Library catalog pages will look like.
The new system introduces linked accounts. Linked accounts allow family members to link to other family members’ cards so that they can, for example, conveniently see what their children have checked out without having to log in separately.
This is a feature that was designed and introduced as a result of direct patron feedback. We believe this will make the web experience for parents and caregivers much easier.
Darien Library has adopted a completely new paradigm when it comes to the new catalog interface. SOPAC3 abandons the bibliographic record level search and uses its own works level concordance at the discovery layer.
From a user-experience perspective, this is a game changer because it organizes all content types for a title into a single record. No longer will a user see one record for a book, another record for large type, a record for each ebook vendor, and yet another for audiobook.
They will see one result with a simple, easy-to-use interface to select the format of their choice. E-Content from Overdrive and Bibliotheca (formerly 3M) can be checked out or placed on hold directly from the catalog with a single click. Work views feature a “look inside” option for previewing titles as well as embedded audio excerpts. Integrated book recommendations are powered by Zola Books’ “Bookish Recommends”.
The website has been designed to be clean and responsive so that it may be viewed on mobile devices. The new website has been in planning for several years and in active development since October, 2015. Design decisions were influenced primarily by direct member feedback. The User Experience department at Darien Library wants the new site to feel natural, be a pleasure to use, and become a seamless companion to the library experience.
About Darien Library
Darien Library is a Library Journal Five Star Library. The library is among the busiest in the state with over 1,300 people visiting on an average day, the highest per capita circulation in Connecticut, with more than 32 items per resident, and nearly a quarter of a million Wi-Fi and computer uses a year.
The library collection includes 125,000 books and 300 newspaper and magazine subscriptions. In addition, the library presents over 1,500 public events annually, hosting a lineup of bestselling authors, the latest in coding and technology classes, and workshops for small business owners and entrepreneurs.