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eResources in Aspen

Your Aspen catalog supports the integration of most eBook and streaming platforms, as well as integration with the EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) to provide access to your articles and databases.

Downloadable eResources

SWAN offers the following methods to integrate your downloadable eBook and streaming collections into your catalog.

API 

eBook, audiobook, and some streaming media use an API to add content to the catalog. API connections allow for real-time circulation. The titles borrowed from the vendors using APIs will appear in My Account and can be downloaded or returned. 

SWAN offers API connections for the following vendors:

  • OverDrive (Libby)
  • Hoopla
  • CloudLibrary
  • Palace Project

OverDrive

The following OverDrive consortia are integrated in Aspen using the API:

  • eMedia Library
  • Media on Demand
  • Digital Library of Illinois
  • Rolling Prairie Digital Consortium
  • OMNI Libraries

Hoopla Instant

The Hoopla integration in Aspen has been updated to support the consortium. This means that each library that has the Hoopla integration turned on in the library catalog will now see their individual Hoopla Instant Collections instead of sharing one collection with individual customized scopes. Libraries that make changes in Midwest Tape will see those changes automatically reflected in Aspen. This includes changes to the maximum price set per checkout on Instant titles, as well as titles that have been hidden. Please note, if settings differ between Aspen and Midwest Tape, the more restrictive setting will take effect in the catalog.

Hoopla Flex

Flex titles give patrons access to new, popular, and high-demand eBooks and eAudiobooks. Theses titles appear alongside titles from the Instant collection in both the Aspen catalog and the SWAN Libraries+ app. If a Flex title is unavailable, patrons can place a hold and receive notification when it becomes available. Flex and Instant titles have separate borrowing limits. Borrowing a Flex title does not count toward a patron's monthly Instant borrowing allotment, and Instant borrows do not count towards Flex borrowing limits.

If your library has Hoopla Flex titles and you do not see them in the catalog, please submit a ticket.

Sideloading

Sideloading adds MARC records directly into Aspen, and these records do not appear in the ILS. Checked-out content will not show in My Account. Please note, sideloaded content uses the 856 URL in the MARC record to connect to the vendor website and those websites do not have a direct connection to the patron account in Aspen.

Sideloaded records must meet these criteria:

  • The collections must allow unlimited use.
  • The vendor must provide standard MARC records of good quality.
  • Authentication methods and the 856 URL must pass the patron directly to the specific record.

Regular sideloading will occur a maximum of once per month unless there has been a major change to your subscription such as a large collection change, interface change, or cancellation.

Vendors supported

  • Kanopy
  • Flipster
  • Creativebug
  • Tumblebooks
  • PressReader
  • EBSCO

SWAN loads the records to Aspen in a batch. If you have a vendor that has offered to provide MARC records for the catalog please submit a ticket and SWAN will evaluate the records.

What are the benefits to having econtent in Aspen and the SWAN+ app?

Benefit

Reason

Searching

Patrons can search across multiple electronic content vendors at once.

Central access to holds

Patrons can keep track of all titles placed on hold, through varying econtent vendors, in Aspen and the mobile app.

Central access to checkouts

Once a title is checked out in Aspen and the mobile app, patrons can always get to that title, regardless of where it's checked out from.

Potential cost savings

Patrons do not become reliant on only one vendor. Cost is disbursed amongst different vendors and gives patrons more options.

EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) integration

Your Aspen catalog also comes with an integration with EDS, which provides access to your databases including those provided through the State of Illinois and the RAILS Flagship Package.

You can access the EDS integration by selecting Articles & Databases in a search, and through the Explore More bar in catalog search results.

article search results in the catalog