September 3rd, 2019

Have you recently added new titles to your catalog? Now it's time to get your patrons just as excited about that illustrated Harry Potter set as you are! Here are a few ways you can use Alexandria to let your patrons know what's now available.

Slideshows

Create a slideshow to show off new items! First, you'll need to create a list in Researcher:

  1. Log in to the Search interface.
  2. Use the ((accession::# %today -180)) Search String to find recently added titles. Change the days from 180 to, say, 30 for a more recent selection.
  3. Click on the list icon  at the top of the results to Add All to List > Create New List.
  4. Name the list (e.g. "New Items") and make it Public
  5. Click on My Lists to the right of the search bar, select your new list, and use the share icon  at the top to generate a Search String.
  6. Copy the string and move on to the steps below.

Next, make your Slideshow:

  1. In Preferences > Researcher > Slideshow, paste the search string in the Search field.
  2. Set the Layout, Transition, Speed, and Style, then Save.
  3. You can then display the slideshow on a TV monitor, computer, or tablet.


If you have a main Slideshow set and don't want to replace it, you can create a separate slideshow via URL and link to it from any Explore button. See Custom Slideshow URLs.


Library displays

Need to use some books for a display? Check out those books to the Library Use patron (barcode 3) so you can still keep track of them:

  1. In Circulation, enter barcode 3 in the Command Line.
  2. Scan the books you want on the display.

Special patrons don't have due dates or other limitations. If a patron wants to check out a book from a display, bookdrop the item then check out as normal.

If you want display items to show up as available to your patrons, use the Copy Location or Copy Shelving fields in your copy records to mark where the book is being displayed. 


What other ways do you use Alexandria to promote your awesome catalog? Leave a comment to let us know!


Slideshow is only available in version 7. Still on version 6? Learn about switching to Alexandria 7!