Story posted Friday, June 12, 2009
New Catalog System Coming To MP Library
By RICHARD MAYER Assistant Managing Editor
In the next couple weeks, the Mt. Prospect Public Library will implement a new catalog system, which is expected to be more user-friendly and save time for patrons.
According to Dale Heath, head of reference services, the new catalog will include features such as a thesaurus, spell checking, and word stemming.
To better understand what the new catalog system will entail, take a simple subject like baseball.
Under the current catalog search system, Heath said if a person types in baseball, results will come back only from what the library last collected. With the new system, results more relevant to what that person is looking for will be provided.
"It's a simple search box and it should be easier and a nice thing, because once you execute a search you will be able to refine it by a dozen different criteria, which will be displayed on the screen," said Heath.
In addition to looking up information with more ease, patrons of the library can also write reviews and rate books, tag books with their own subjects and create lists to keep for themselves or share with the public.
Heath said he and other staff members are conducting final troubleshooting issues and staff is currently being trained on the system.
"As soon as we are comfortable, we will roll it out, " said Heath. "It will definitely be out by the end of the month."
Heath added staff and trustees chose this new system last fall and been actively implementing it into the library's curriculum since then.
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