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LibCal 2.6.3 – Equipment & Spaces Updates Now Live!

Have you heard about our all new Equipment and Spaces Module? It makes reserving spaces and equipment a breeze, and brings a new level of reservation flexibility along with a beautiful, tile-based public interface. “Spaces” are our all new upgrade to the Room Booking module. They offer more flexible reservations and the ability to book spaces and equipment in a single reservation.

We’re adding more great reasons to try out the new Equipment and Spaces module, including the extremely exciting, much anticipated read/write API for both Equipment and Spaces! Read on to learn more about the latest and greatest…

Read/Write APIs in the Equipment and Spaces Module

Full read/write APIs are now available for both Equipment and Spaces, which makes it possible to view availability and create a new reservation from anywhere! What makes these read/write APIs so exciting? Simple – it enables your in-house library developers to create exciting apps and functionality that will take your LibCal data and content and distribute that data wherever you need it.

A major first use we’re expecting to see with LibCal’s read/write APIs are integrations with existing room panel systems, i.e., touchscreen panels located outside of a space in your library. Our new read/write APIs make it possible to both view upcoming meeting reservations and create a brand new reservation right from that panel. We can’t wait to see what else the LibCal community dreams up for these new read/write APIs, so please don’t hesitate to share what you plan to do with the new tools! To take the new APIs for a spin, admins can head to Admin > API > Equipment / Spaces.

Admins Create Bookings of any Length

adminduedateWhile following the rules is important, we know there are times when librarians just need to break the mold and allow loan periods that extend past normal due dates. We’ve got you covered – now you can create reservations of any length, and renew existing reservations so they’re due back at any time in the future you specify.

Plus more Equipment and Spaces Updates

  • We’ve added a new report for viewing Overdue Items, so you can see everything that’s overdue at a glance.
  • Speaking of overdues, we’ve also adjusted the public display so that if an item is currently overdue, it will not display as currently available for the current day on the public side of the system.
  • We added a new setting to control whether new reservations should default to the longest or shortest possible loan period. Currently, Equipment and Spaces always default to the longest possible loan period when a patron creates a new reservation; with this setting, you can now choose to make the default the shortest possible loan period. You’ll find this setting under Admin > Equipment and Spaces > Edit Category > Booking Default.

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