For a number of months I’ve been working closely wih development partner libraries and with developers to exploit the technology we now have to provide libraries with the online presence they need to thrive and prosper.

We’ve reached the stage where early adopters such as Southwark Libraries are beta testing the new Talis Prism alongside their existing catalogue. We’re getting some great feedback, not only from librarians but now also from library users.

The new Talis Prism has been designed and built to be highly customisable and extensible. In addition to the branding, we’ve tried out some ideas for the catalogue home page such as Southwark’s book recommendations and comments, and the links in the footer to other parts of the library service.

This is just a start. We’re continuing to work on more ideas for the content and styling, particularly on leading the user into the catalogue and enriching the experience with intersting and unexpected material.

That’s looking at it in terms of the public library experience, but we are also working with academic libraries to explore possibilities and preferences – more on that in later posts.

One of the issues for me at the moment is the relationship between the catalogue home page and the library home page. The library home page is the entrance to the online library and it should be possible to immediately search the library content, meaning the catalogue. The Talis Prism search box can be embedded there (or aywhere else), but what about all the recommendations, new material, most popular, and so on, to enrich the user experience right at the start?

There are some good examples, mostly in North America, where this is managed in one home page, such as the recent Bibliocommons at Oakville Public Library. In the UK, the fact that public libraries are part of the larger local authority with its wider corporate web concerns, is an interesting issue.

I’m keen to hear more views on these home page issues. Let me know what you think.