Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Library catalog

Direct Links to Books 24×7 Ebooks Restored

Our catalog update last weekend restored direct links to our Books 24×7 subscription from the Baruch Library Catalog (CUNY+ catalog) . Clicking on the direct link in the Baruch holdings will now take users to the Baruch log-in screen (including on-campus access). Books 24×7 ebooks are available to current Baruch students, faculty and staff only, on and off campus. All users must log-in to reach the resource.

Users who wish to access Books 24×7 directly through our Databases page will continue to be able to do so, and will be presented with the same Baruch log-in screen (including on-campus access).

Books 24×7 ebooks OPAC record display Nov 16-17, 2013

In an effort to update records in our library catalog, bibliographic records for all Books 24×7 ebooks will be unavailable on the CUNY+ OPAC on Saturday and Sunday, Nov 16-17. Only ebooks in our Books 24×7 subscription are affected. These records will not appear in browse or search results as existing records are being removed. On Sunday, users might begin to SEE partially loaded new records (records without holdings or external links). We expect full functionality to be in place by Sunday evening. In the meantime, users can continue to access these ebooks via the publisher’s site (instructions). We hope that this update will lead to restoring direct click-throughs from the CUNY+ OPAC later on.  Thank you for your patience.

New Catalog Feature Lets You Text the Call Number to Yourself

The staff at the CUNY OLS just added a new feature to the catalog today that lets you send the basic holdings info (title, location, and call number) as a text message to your phone.

When you are looking at the holdings screen for an item, you’ll now see a new button, “Send Info via Text.”

Text the call #--holdings screen

 

If you click the button, you are asked to enter your phone number (no spaces or punctuation marks) and select your carrier (Verizon, AT&T, etc.).

Text the call #--enter your info

 

Once you do that, click the “Send Message” button at the bottom of the screen and in about a minute, you’ll get a text from the sender “[email protected].” The body of the text includes the title of the work, the location, and the call number. The end of the message reads, “DO NOT RESPOND,” as any replies a patron may try to send back will go nowhere.

If you find any odd behavior or text messages from this new system, please let me or Mike Waldman know so we can forward the info on to CUNY OLS.

Notable Links on the New Library Website

As we continue this year the process of iterative design (usability test–>tweak–>usability test–>tweak, etc.), it’s hoped that the site will keep pace with our users’ expectations of where things should be and how those things should behave. With that caveat out of the way, here are some notable links on the new website that can offer shortcuts for those of us used to certain paths to key resources and services.

 

Catalog link

  • On the “Help” page, go to the “Books” portion of the “How Do I Find…”

Click to embiggen

 

 

My Account (patron account info the catalog)

  • Go to the “Renew a Book” page in the “Students category.

Click to embiggen

 

Search All CUNY Libraries from the Search Bar

  • Select “Books” in the search bar, then select “Advanced Search,” then choose “All CUNY Libraries” from the drop down menu

 

Click to embiggen

Catalog down from 12/24/12 6am to 12/25/12 12pm

Starting Christmas Eve December 24, 2012, at 6 AM until Tuesday, December 25, 2012, at 12 PM (noon) the online catalog will not be available for anyone to search for, renew, or request items.

This is due to scheduled maintenance for the Aleph Library Catalog during the coming holiday break. (The maintenance may be completed in less time than expected.)

A notice will appear in advance on the Web OPAC informing people of the above plans.

 

Books24x7 Links In Catalog Still Not Working

Just a reminder that the links to Books24x7 titles in the catalog still don’t work. If someone needs to get to a book in Books24x7, they can still do so by going through the main link to Books24x7 on the Databases page and then search by title for the book they need. One thing that you may notice when you are in the Books24x7 database is that the feature that lets users create their own accounts to save books in folders is overridden with a “CUNY Baruch College” account (click the annotated screenshot below for a larger image showing places where this personal account info can be seen).

There isn’t a way for users to create their own accounts right now, as this setup we have is just a workaround that the vendor came up with recently to meet our request that users not have to create personal accounts just to get into the database in the first place (users should be able to click right into a book or launch a search and then decide later if they want to create a personal account where they might save things).

We have been working hard with the vendor, BCTC, and the CUNY Office of Library Services to troubleshoot the problem with the links in the catalog. We’ve also reached out for assistance on several relevant mailing lists and gotten lots of solutions that haven’t quite fixed the problem. As soon as it is fixed, expect to see a new blog post about it (and sighs of relief from Mike and me).

Need Feedback on Beta Catalog

This month, Baruch is joining City College, LaGuardia Community College, and the Graduate Center, in testing out a new interface to the catalog that we are calling the Beta Catalog for now. Our existing Ex Libris Aleph catalog is not going away; instead, we are trying out a new separate search interface developed by SUNY and used at most of their libraries (IDS Search).

We are only exploring whether we want to offer this catalog search tool and absolutely need as much feedback as we can get about its strengths, weaknesses, quirks, etc.

Here are some key things to know about the Beta Catalog:

  • Searches are not run against our records in Aleph but instead against our records in WorldCat
  • Presents records from local and more distant libraries, with the opportunity to ILL the item
  • Once a record is found, it queries Aleph for availability and location
  • The interface is mobile friendly (unlike our existing catalog)

We plan to do usability tests on the interface to learn more about how our students actually respond to it.

In the meanwhile, we need you to try to use it as much as possible and to let us know how it’s working out for you. Send your feedback in whatever is the easiest way for you:

  • Talk to Mike Waldman or me or email us or call us
  • Print out screenshots and mark up by hand any notable things
  • Come to the Tech Sharecase

By the third week of June, the four libraries piloting this project will see all their feedback passed on to the Beta Catalog developers (at the IDS Project).

In the coming weeks, you can expect to find links to the Beta Catalog on the library home page. Right now, you can find the Beta Catalog in the following places: