Library Tech
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Automating Tag Creation for the Library of Things
At the Mount Prospect Public Library, our Library of Things collection continues to grow, offering patrons access to unique items beyond traditional books—gadgets, tools, games, and more. To make this collection more accessible, the library’s Marketing Department initially planned to create thousands of informational tags, each featuring key details about individual items. The tags needed…
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Seamless Catalog Transition at Mount Prospect Public Library
When the Mount Prospect Public Library transitioned from a Horizon-based catalog system to a Polaris-based catalog system, it created a potential challenge for the library’s online catalog links. The old system’s deep links, embedded throughout the library’s website and services, relied on the Horizon catalog identifiers. A change to Polaris threatened to break these links,…
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Enhancing Patron Experience with Library of Things Kiosk Software
When it comes to making the library’s collections accessible and engaging, technology can be a powerful ally. At the Mount Prospect Public Library, I developed the Library of Things Kiosk Software, a custom solution designed to make our Library of Things collection easier for patrons to explore and enjoy. This kiosk is now proudly displayed…
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A Journey to MPPL’s New Website
Over the past few months I have had the privilege to create a new website, https://mppl.org in collaboration with the great people at WebLinx. This was a long project, with as much lead time meeting with internal stakeholders, designers, and looking at our research data. What parts of our old website should go, which should…
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Featured List Custom WordPress Block
The Mount Prospect Public Library wanted their staff to be able to leverage their list systems API too easily create lists in their WordPress posts and pages. I created a custom block plugin that allowed them to easily add dynamic lists to their posts and pages.
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Search Tabs for Sirsi Dynix Enterprise
The Mount Prospect Public Library wanted their patrons to be able to search different types of material in a single click. They asked for tabs to be created with the contents of the dropdown. The Enterprise catalog allows for HTML Widgets, a container that you can add CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to. I wrote an…