We're pleased to announce some new and exciting features here on the AADL website.

First, we are happy to announce that we can now accept credit card payments online for fines and fees. All payment is done through a secure, encrypted connection and will allow you to pay down account balances from the comfort of your own home. There is a $1.00 minimum for all online payments.

The payment system can be accessed from the "My Account" section of the website.

Second, you will notice that the catalog screen has changed a little. We have added the ability to rate and review items. Other members of our community can then comment on those reviews, fostering discussion on the material in our collection.

In addition, users may tag catalog items with keywords. This lets users organize items while also providing a mechanism for others to discover new and exciting material.

You must be a registered web-site user in order to write reviews and tag items, though you do not need to be a card-holder. Registered users have also been given tools to manage their reviews, comments, and tags under the "My Account" section of the website.

We hope you enjoy these new features. We are pleased to offer them and anticipate that they will enhance your online library experience.

awesome!

Edward Vielmetti

wow, very cool stuff!

Way to go AADL!

Thanks for the opportunity to share our opinions of library materials. I find this very helpful. The tag cloud is fascinating. How long do you build your tag cloud before it gets too big to publish?

I use MelCat quite a bit and it use to be that when my search didn't turn up anything in the Ann Arbor system, there was a link to "Search other libraries". That link is gone and now I have to open a new window and find Mel.org and long story short, it's a big hassle. Please return that link.

Messa,

Thank-you for your comment, we are working on restoring this link and should have it back within the next week.

John

I'm unsure if this is a factor of the new website or if it's my lack of understanding of the reservation system, but I have some books on hold which are listed as "1 of 1 holds", yet when I click over to the catalog entry for those books, they're both marked as "available".

Another family member has a video which has been marked as "in transit" for 4 days now, which seems like a long time - usually it's only "in transit" for a day. I've used the reservation system many times and have usually gotten things in a timely manner, but I'm not sure what to think of these recent issues. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks!

We had some delivery problems in the last few days which have now been resolved. This caused the longer than usual wait for the 'intransit' items, although we were able to get most items moved a little faster than those 4 days. As you know from our previous emails, the items did get to their location for pickup shortly after you sent this.

The '1 of 1' item is a human error. We missed finding the available item to fill that request from our original lists of materials to pull from the shelves. We do catch those things through other means but it may take a few days. When you notice something like this with an item that seems to be available although you have requested it, please use the 'contact us' link or call us at 327-4219. We'll get it fixed more quickly and on its way to you.

Thanks for bringing this up and giving me the chance to respond.

Diane Dahlem
Circulation Manager

I think the original posting and reply concerning the reservation system, and Melcat, in the "Library News" blog show a need for a questions and comments blog. I find reading these comments interesting and instructive-- not only do I learn how to avoid certain problems, but I learn about issues and library uses that never occurred to me. In addition, providing a public forum for these comments and questions can motivate members of the community to participate who might otherwise be less inclined to do so. And I'm sure that community involvement is consistent with the Library's goals.

We agree! To view patron comments and AADL responses, please go to "Contact Us" and then "Browse Comments." There you will find a searchable history of a wide variety of comments submitted both electronically through our site as well as in hardcopy at each of our locations. We are always interested to hear what our users have to say. Thank you for letting us know how we can better serve you!

Terry Soave
Outreach & Neighborhood Services Manager

I see the link is back....Thanks so much !!

LOVE the reader reviews! It'll be just like BookCrossing! I've wanted this for years. Honestly.

How do I add an image to this post?

messa:
Yes, thank you for pointing out the fact that they were missing. Please let us know if you run into any further trouble.

larkspur:
We're glad you like the new enhancements. We think they'll add value to the online library experience.

Regarding adding images to your comments, you can embed img tags into your comment. We will not host images for you, however.

John

Two questions about top searches:

1. The searches for the week, month and year are all the same. Is that really correct? If it is, are the lists just perpetuating popular searches by being only one click away, do you think?
2. "next" is the #10 search term. Is it possible that's just a cgi variable being incorrectly counted?

A friend of mine who is ecstatic about tagging everywhere he finds it (but is shy) asked me to ask you if you have started building in mobile access to tagging?