Looking for books that won the Women’s Prize for Fiction? This year’s finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award? We’ve revamped how Awards and Honors display in Syndetics Unbound, making it easier to spot what awards a book might have won, and to find all the other books under that award. On an item page in the library catalog, you’ll now see all the awards, distinctions and honors, and notable lists that apply to that item, along with the stage (so you can easily find nominees, longlists, and winners), and the year.
In March we released Librarian Recommends: Cover Upload, much to the delight of our customers. Librarian Recommends: Cover Upload allows librarians to source, upload, and display cover images for items in the catalog that were either missing an image or were incorrect. This element was originally intended for book, video, and journal images, but what surprised us were how many librarians are using it to showcase the wide variety of materials that libraries collect.
Today we are announcing Talpa Search, an experimental, AI-powered library search. For a limited time, Talpa is available to all libraries that use Syndetics Unbound. Talpa uses the power of new technologies, together with the know-how and authority of traditional library data, to find books and other media in your own library’s collection. Try it out on our launch partners Mid-Hudson Library System, Lafayette Public Library and Waverly Public Library.
Use Cover Upload to upload images to the Syndetics Unbound image repository. Utilizing an easy drag and drop upload tool, Syndetics Unbound helps to streamline the process for updating images in your catalog, enhancing discoverability. This new service is available for all Syndetics Unbound subscribers. You can use Cover Upload to either add an image where one is missing or to replace an incorrect or low-quality image. Uploaded images will be reviewed by Syndetics Unbound librarians before being included in the image repository.
Syndetics Unbound has released Audio Clips, part of the Look Inside element, which allows users to listen to a snippet of the audiobook. This enhancement includes an audio player that contains a sample sound bite from the audiobook, so that patrons can hear an excerpt. Audio Clips give patrons the chance to discover the narration of a title they may be interested in, and is another useful way to curate their reading list.
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.
