GMILCS, Inc. ENHANCES CATALOG

by Dianne Hathaway, Chair
GMILCS PR Committee
Goffstown Public Library
(603) 497-2102
www.goffstown.lib.nh.us

GMILCS, Inc., a twelve-member multitype library consortium in southern New Hampshire has recently added some enhancements to its shared online catalog. LibraryThing for Libraries and ChiliFresh have been successfully integrated with the SirsiDynix Horizon library system, attracting attention from librarians and users alike.

LibraryThing for Libraries works with our system to give you suggestions for more books you might like that are similar to what you searched for. For instance, I searched Girl with a Pearl Earring and once I clicked to the full record I could see a list of similar books I might also want to read. Below that is a tag cloud that shows me the keywords, or tags, people have identified for this specific book. The bigger, bolder words mean they are used more often. So I can see for this same book the most common tags are "historical fiction" and "Vermeer." From the tag cloud, you can link to other books in the catalog that share that tag. These tags provide an additional entry point for users to search in addition to Library of Congress Subject Headings. It's important to note these tags are much less specific and can occasionally be misleading.

ChiliFresh is an independent book review engine that provides reviews from readers around the world and gives all of us the ability to review and rate the books we read. For our consortium this is truly a cost-effective way for the public to engage in the catalog and become a community with other readers. At the Goffstown Public Library and others, book discussion groups are working to put reviews on books read and discussed... without giving away the ending, of course! Marilyn Borgendale, the GMILCS System Administrator, works with several other librarians in the consortium to moderate reviews for inappropriate language and other content. Feel free to register and add reviews of your own!

To take a look at these enhancements for yourself and to evaluate them for your own library, link to our shared catalog at www.gmilcs.org. The GMILCS, Inc. consortium serves the libraries of Amherst, Bedford, Derry, Goffstown, Hooksett, Manchester, Merrimack, Milford, Salem, Southern New Hampshire University, New England College, and the New Hampshire Institute of Art. (Our name is pronounced "gee-milks.").