TORRINGTON – Goshen County Library has updated its library catalog to Aspen Discovery for the WYLDcat catalog. This new system will enhance and enrich the patron’s experience with the library. You can find the catalog on Goshen County Library website at goshen.wyldcatalog.org.
According to bywatersolution.com’s description of the system, “Aspen is a full-featured discovery system that integrates with e-content and other third-party providers, giving your patrons comprehensive access to all of your material in one place.”
This cataloging system replaces the outdated Sirsi Enterprise system. The old system used 20-year-old algorithms to complete searches. This system would easily miss books if the title or author’s name was misspelled. Aspen Discovery uses algorithms developed by Google to complete more successful and intuitive searches.
“We’re incredibly excited about the launch of Aspen Discovery for our patrons,” Library Director Cristine Braddy said. “Searching for just the right book, audiobook, other item or resource is easier and more intuitive. Aspen improves the ability to find just the right title in just the right format. Placing books on hold and requesting interlibrary loans is simpler with our new catalog.”
The old catalog only listed the names of the books and a small amount of info. This new system shows an image of the front cover, the title, themes discussed in the book and reviews. In addition, all of this information is also searchable with the system’s intuitive searches.
“Sometimes you can’t remember what book you read, but you can come up with two words to describe it,” Braddy said. “We have people in all the time that say it had a bird on it and had a blue cover. Now if you type in bird, you’re going to see all of the covers of the books with birds.”
Braddy also said Aspen makes searching for books and resources easier by putting all of the library resources together in one search. Users can create and share lists of materials and online content or peruse curated lists created by local library staff. Readers will now have an easier time finding a title in every format available at the library, read book reviews and rate items for others.
Patrons can also keep track of authors and make a “To Be Read” (TBR) list as they come across books. The new system will list all of the places a book is available whether it be the Goshen Library, a digital copy on Libby, or available on interlibrary loan. It will also list all of the editions available and book club kits.
“One of the things that I love about the new catalog is it allows you to link accounts,” Braddy commented. “This allows parents to see exactly what their kids are checking out both digitally and within the library, or even just help pay attention to due dates. Also, you can link to other people, it doesn’t have to be family.”
If you have a friend who enjoys the same type of books, this is a great way to share them with each other.
Braddy explained because of privacy laws the library cannot keep records of the books that an individual checks out. As soon as a book is returned it is deleted from the library’s records. This can make it hard for patrons to keep track of what they read or find a book later.
With this new system, the catalog keeps a history for the patron, but it stays private to them. The only people who can access the history are the account holder or someone who is linked to that account. Another example of the many features of this system is if a book or other item is unavailable, a “while you wait” feature offers suggestions for similar titles.
Braddy said a few years ago the state librarians did a survey and evaluated the things that needed to change for the state’s libraries. A new and improved catalog was one of the first things on the list. One of the next changes will be to update the system to make interlibrary loans easier.
Over the next six months, all of the county libraries in Wyoming will be using this system. At this time, about half of them have already made the switch.
Access the new Goshen County Library catalog at goshen.wyldcatalog.org. For assistance, contact the library at 307-532-3411 or read@goshencountylibrary.org, or visit the website at goshencountylibrary.org. There is also a mobile app called WYLDCat that you can download to your phone.
The online catalog has a sign-in link for you to log into your account. The online login for the library is your library card number and the default pin is WYLD.
