A Look Back: 2011 New Services at BiblioCommons

2011 was a very big year for BiblioCommons, and thanks to all our partner libraries, BiblioCommons grew from 500,000 to 1,600,000+ registered users. A number of new services were developed in 2011:

New Connectors to Millennium and Evergreen Developed

With the new ILS connectors built in 2011, BiblioCommons can now work along with Symphony, Horizon, Millennium, and Evergreen, and a connector to Polaris will be developed by mid-2012.

Android and Mobile Web Browsers Delight Patrons

After the launch of the iPhone app in late 2010, the Android app and a mobile web browser versions were added to the BiblioMobile suite in 2011 featuring faceted search, account management and borrowing, detailed branch information, and custom branding.

“I love this app. I want to kiss and hug it and have its babies! It is concise and quick and efficiently organized.” ~ Patron comment, March 2011

“Love this app!! You can do everything you need with this app. Check holds, pay fines, put on holds, search collection, see what’s on order, or just arrived, any other library looking for an app, use this model. So well integrated with the online version, it will blow your mind.” ~ Patron comment, Jan 2012

“Wow-Powerful-Mobile-the best! This app is what mobile apps are all about—full integration of the website with useful mobile/location-based functions…The presentation is fantastic, useful, and crystal clear.” ~ Patron comment, June 2011

BiblioCMS Launched to Provide Complete Website Hosting and Catalog Integration

For libraries that would like more complete hosting and catalog integration, the BiblioCMS launched in 2011. BiblioCMS is live at Yarra Plenty Regional Library and is coming soon at Santa Clara County Library.

BiblioSchools Launched to Enhance Collaboration between Public Libraries and Schools

In addition to extended consortia capabilities, BiblioSchools was launched as a pilot with New York Public Library.

Fully-Integrated Summer Sites Pilot Project

BiblioCommons ran a pilot Summer Sites project in 2011 with ten libraries.  Summer Sites is fully-integrated with BiblioCore:  one login, integrated shelves and user generated content, and most importantly – one user experience.  The pilot was a success and additional functionality is being developed for summer 2012.  Stay tuned.

Many more enhancements and new functionality was added to BiblioCore in 2011, the heart of our service and our complete OPAC replacement software. Read more. We look forward to a busy and innovative 2012.

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