Introducing Librarian Recommends: Lists

Today we’re pleased to announce Librarian Recommends: Lists—a new enrichment in Syndetics Unbound, free to subscribers, that allows librarians to curate lists within the catalog, showcasing topics, genres, staff picks, and more. Lists can also be showcased outside the catalog, on library or catalog homepages.

Check it out in this quick video.

By default, lists are shared between libraries, so your patrons can benefit from the expertise and creativity of librarians in thousands of libraries around the world.

Librarian Recommends: Lists display on detail pages in your catalog, with the other Syndetics Unbound enrichments. As with all Syndetics Unbound enrichments, you can reorder, turn off/on, and customize the header text in the Syndetics Unbound Admin.

See how easy it is to create lists.

Librarian Recommends: Lists aren’t limited to your catalog, though. You can use the Lists Widget to showcase lists you’ve made on your homepage, or elsewhere on your library website. You can also now use lists as a data source when making Book Display Widgets.

In addition to lists created by your library and others, Librarian Recommends: Lists includes more than 125 lists from the Syndetics Unbound staff. Some of these show what’s “new and trending” by genre, with genres geared to both academic and public libraries. Other included lists are quirky takes and deep dives created by our team of librarians.

Try it out

Try Librarian Recommends: Lists out in a Syndetics Unbound library.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can libraries control the lists that display in their catalog?

Yes. Libraries can set which outside lists to show by category, such as Syndetics Unbound staff lists, and those from other libraries, divided by type (public, academic and school libraries).

Libraries can also “hide” lists from their catalog on a list-by-list basis.

Is this just for books?

Lists works for anything in your catalog, including books, ebooks, audiobooks, DVDs, CDs, and periodicals. Lists can also include web resources so, for example, a list of COVID-19 resources can start with the CDC website.

What if a list includes something not in my library’s holdings?

As with other Syndetics Unbound enrichments, Lists only show books and other media held by your library.

Not seeing many lists in your catalog?

Make sure your holdings are up to date, so we know about all the new releases you’ve acquired! Lists from Syndetics Unbound staff and from other libraries will only display if your collection includes at least four items in the list.

Who can create lists?

You can decide who makes lists, using the Syndetics Unbound Admin to send invite codes to staff. You control how many (or few) of your library staff to invite. You can also copy/paste a general open invite to your staff. “List Creators” do not have access to the Syndetics Unbound Admin.

Can I turn this off?

Yes. Libraries can turn the Lists enrichment off entirely in the Syndetics Unbound Admin.

They can also choose to display lists made by the Syndetics Unbound staff or by other libraries, but not contribute lists themselves.

What else?

Get all the details on how you can configure and create Librarian Recommends: Lists in A Guide to Creating Lists.