On Monday August 19th, the Blacklight team will release new updates, coordinated with the rollout of the new library website (see Blacklight release notes 8/19/2019). This will include major changes to overall styling of the site and in particular the top menu of the Library Search, so that the interface matches what will appear on the new website.
We’ve also added website content to the Library Search, which can either be accessed via the “Everything” search results or the new “Website” search results. This includes links to pages about people, libraries, spaces, collections, services, policies, forms, and events. Finding Aid pages will also accessible through this search feature. At this time, this does not include research guides.
We are also in the process of finalizing updates to the Library Search that are related to the opening of Charles Library, including the introduction of BookBot request option and changes to improve the visibility of availability information on both computers and mobile devices. For example, we’re moving the availability section higher up on all record pages so that it appears “above the fold” (i.e. a patron will not need to scroll down in order to find this information).
In addition, the Website & Library Search User Experience Research Group is conducting UX testing for our request features, which may lead to additional improvements to our request process online. This has been prioritized because of the increased importance of requests with the introduction of the BookBot in Charles. The Blacklight team is also actively developing a basic call number browse, which we will share a preview for as soon as it is ready.
Library staff may continue to provide input about the Library Search via tul-web-support@temple.edu.