Over the years, Springshare has partnered with many different vendors to better integrate our tools with theirs! And while you might have caught those announcements here and there, we thought we'd do a roundup of all our partnerships and integrations into one blog post. So, if you subscribe to any of the below tools, or you're thinking about it, read on to see how you can integrate them with your Springshare tools!
BiblioCommons
BiblioCommons subscribers can make use of a nifty integration between BiblioEvents and LibCal. When creating an event inside of BiblioEvents, our LibCal Spaces integration allows librarians to reserve the space where the event is taking place. This way, you can offer a public booking interface for patrons to reserve library spaces AND still have the authority to set aside spaces for managed library events.
Watch this webinar to learn more about the BiblioEvents & LibCal Spaces integration:
Lean Library Integration with LibGuides & LibAnswers
Lean Library, from Technology from Sage, is a nifty browser application that brings the library to the user's workflow, instead of the other way around. So as patrons are surfing the web and come across a Wikipedia article they're dying to cite in their research paper, Lean Library Tools pop up relevant librarian-vetted information and LibChat reference services where and when patrons need it the most.
Workflow for LibGuides
An integration with LibGuides and the Lean Library browser extension deploys specific LibGuides at the point-of-need. Let's say a patron is using Google Scholar and you have a helpful LibGuide on best practices for searching Google Scholar. Workflow for LibGuides enables you to deploy that specific LibGuide when users navigate to a Google Scholar webpage.
In 2021, Utah State University conducted a pilot project with LibGuides and Lean Library integration. In just two months, they saw a 450% increase in usage of their Google Scholar LibGuide after it was deployed on scholar.google.com via Workflow for LibGuides.
Lean Library Futures
The Lean Library Futures tool goes one step further and, amongst its many other cool features, allows you to integrate your LibAnswers' LibChat widget right inside the browser. Your patrons can literally chat with a librarian from any webpage. This way, your chat service comes to them, instead of the other way around.
PowerNotes Integration with LibChat
One of the hardest parts of the research process is managing, storing, and organizing your research including your personal notes. You know you've read an article, ten articles ago, that you need to cite but you can't remember exactly what article it was - you've read so many! And goodness, now that you've found that article - you need a few more just like it - and now you need help finding those citations.
Cue LibChat integration with PowerNotes! PowerNotes has a browser extension tool that helps researchers keep track of and organize all their research - including the ability to highlight areas of a webpage and write notes. And with our native LibChat integration, your patrons can get help from a live librarian right from the PowerNotes browser plugin! Libraries that subscribe to our LibAnswers 24/7/365 Chat Cooperative can rest assured that their patrons will have access to research help anytime and literally anywhere - even at 3am the night before a paper is due.
Here's a quick video on how PowerNotes works:
Launch LibChat right from PowerNotes on any webpage.
As researchers are using their PowerNotes browser extension, they can chat live with their library right from their browser. They don't need to navigate to any library-owned website to start a live chat.
Bywater Solutions' Aspen Integration with LibCal
When your patrons find a search box, they tend to enter really anything into it - even if it's not the right search tool for their needs. They're searching for articles in your room reservation system or trying to find museum passes in your discovery layer. When they zero in on that search box, they're off and their fingers are running.
Does this sound familiar? If so, you'll be excited to hear that LibCal events integrate into ByWater Solutions' Aspen Discovery. Aspen patrons can search for events right inside the discovery layer! Additionally, patrons can filter events by LibCal facets including Age Group, Program Type, Branch, and more. For events that require registration, patrons will see a registration button which links them directly to the LibCal registration page. This exciting partnership brings patrons one step closer to the information they're seeking right inside the search box they know and love.
Crestron Room Scheduling Panels Integration with LibCal Spaces
We've developed a set of customized UI screens in LibCal Spaces designed to seamlessly integrate with Crestron room scheduling panels. The new interface allows patrons to view availability and check in to rooms/spaces via Crestron room scheduling panels mounted in front of the bookable rooms.
With this integration, library users can:
- View details about a space, pulled from LibCal and displayed directly on the institution’s Crestron room scheduling panels.
- Instantly see whether the space is available, in use, or has a booking starting soon.
- Scan a QR code to book the space via LibCal.
- Check in and check out of their LibCal Space booking on the tablet screen.
More to Come!
And we're not done - we're currently exploring ways to integrate LibCal Spaces with RemoteLock hardware. This way, patrons can reserve a space, check in to that space, and have the door automagically unlock via the LibCal/RemoteLock integration. No longer will you have to confirm reservations and hand out keys or replace locks when keys get lost. RemoteLock is our first in foray into smartlock integration.