Cataloging, acquisitions, checkout, inventory and reference services are all improved. "This is the software that manages all the tasks a library does, said Kevin Enns-Rempel, interim director.
"Libraries today are a combination of physical items we have in the building and electronic items we subscribe to. We have never had a way to integrate all those," Enns-Rempel said. "A lot of people didn't know what we have because they didn't know how to find it."
While much of what the new system—Millennium from Innovative Interfaces—does will be behind the scenes, patrons may notice Encore. Set up similarly to popular online networks, Encore will help patrons locate the materials they need. "It's a much more visual interface than we've ever had," Enns-Rempel said. To search all the library's electronic holdings, including more than 69,000 ebooks, users once had to navigate close to 40 databases, if they could find them, on several separate sites.
The new system, rolled out in September, is particularly advantageous for those off campus. "This is becoming more important as we add degree completion and graduate courses at the centers," Enns-Rempel said.
Whether for DC, graduate or traditional students, electronic resources are becoming more and more important. Abut $160,000, half of the library's total acquisitions budget, are spent on online publications. The library pays for these databases so students don't have to. "They're not just free on the web," Enns-Rempel said.
Innovative Interfaces serves more than 4500 public and academic libraries in more than 40 countries. The company is based in Emeryville, CA encoreforlibraries.com.