Week 1 - Post Launch

Like getting ready to throw a big bash - are the tablecloths ironed? Is there enough food? Are we sure we sent invitations to all the right people? Well, launch happened on Thursday and while we are sure we sent invitations out, maybe all the tablecloths weren't pressed........

Thank you ~ one and all ~ for your input and insights and feedback. They are much appreciated. From you we have learned that you loved our Coming Soon lists on the old website, that you very much use the Prospector link for obtaining materials and seek easy access to the downloadables.

For those of you following or finding the blog, answers to the findability of these three things is provided here:

• Coming Soon lists have been replaced by Recently Ordered lists. Look for these in the Books, Movies and Music tabs in the Browse boxes
• Prospector can be found when you are looking at your search results. In the left box labelled Search scroll down to find the Search other libraries using Prospector link. At this time, the search you performed does not carry over to Prospector.
• Downloadables can be found under the Books tab > Browse box > Audiobooks or the OnDemand tab > Online Books.

Issues we quickly resolved include handling items placed in your cart for ease of checkout. Next on our list ~ this week ~ is improving the loading speed of the site.

Keep your comments coming!

Whoo Hoo - Launch Week!

Our final list of to do's are being worked on this week in anticipation of our launch on Thursday. Thanks for your comments and for your patience during this process. We hope you will enjoy using the new website and the features it provides.

Even as we prepare to launch, we are asking ourselves questions about how you use the library ~ specifically recently ordered materials. We are going to some of the computer classes to ask patrons about recently ordered. If you would like to participate, the questions are provided below.

1. Do you use the "Featured Lists of recently ordered items" in our catalog?
If no, how do you find items to place on hold?

2. How would you like to be able to view recently ordered/new materials?

Newest first
Alphabetically by title
Alphabetically by author
Format
Genre
Subject
Reading level
Other

3. What information would you like to see about each item in a recently ordered list?

Title
Author/actor/artist
Ratings/reading level
Tags
Availability
Summary
Other?

4. How often would you like the new material lists to be updated?

5. Is there any other information you'd like to tell us about finding/viewing recently ordered or coming soon library materials?

Tick tock, tick tock

As the countdown continues for us we hope you are enjoying the look, the feel, the different approach taken for the new website.

We have continued on with our to do list and can now cross off the databases. It takes some internal configuration to have them connect for you - both internally when you are in the libraries using the databases and externally when you are anywhere else connecting to us. What a great deal databases are for us all! Free access to tons of magazine and newspaper articles ~ practice SAT and GRE tests among others ~ free language learning ~ online books for your kiddies to become engaged with reading ~ Consumer Reports full text ~ and tons more! If you haven't had the opportunity to check out these rich resources, try 'em now!

The countdown continues

Til launch date later this month. It's hard to believe we flipped the calendar and it is April already. The weather has been holding out and my daffodils have enjoyed blooming for a few days now without the snow to bother them......until tomorrow........

We have continued to work on making use of the tagging feature on the new website. While the current site does not let us search for tagged items, you can find them once you click on a title (if that item has been tagged) or within someone's Pick page. Clicking on the tag will take you to a list of further discovery.

For instance Diana Gabaldon books have been tagged outlander series and you can find the alex rider series. Other features we have been working on include adding links in staff reviews to more content - like booklists in our fabulous teen and Tales websites.

The preview continues through the next two weeks - keep those comments coming!