It’s great to find what you need in the library catalogue, but it is also important to have services and tools to do useful things with the catalogue data. So I’m happy to announce that the ability to export records to reference management tools and the ability to save records in lists are both features of the latest release of Prism, now available for preview.

The export feature allows you to export to Endnote and RefWorks as well as to export in RIS format, which can be imported automatically by tools such as Reference Manager and Zotero. You can export individual records from either the search results page or the item detail page, and you can also export the contents of a saved list. When in a list, you can also export the data as a comma separated file (csv).

The lists feature allows you to create temporary lists as an anonymous guest user when you’re not signed in to your account, and to create permanent lists when you are signed in. A temporary list automatically becomes a permanent one when you sign in. You can save individual items to a list from either the results page or the item detail page and either add them to an existing list or create a new list by specifying a new list name. To view your lists there is a new ‘My Lists’ link in addition to the user tools links to My Account and Logout. The My Lists link shows the number of lists you have and takes you to a page detailing your lists.

You can see the export and lists features demonstrated in the video of the May Prism Development Update Webinar, starting at about 20 minutes in.

This new release of Prism also includes some other new features.

• Classification search. This is an addition to the Semantic Data Model where your local classifications are identified and indexed. You will need the new MarcGrab to refresh your data to get the benefit of this – we are about to start deploying the new MarcGrab and you are invited to raise a Support case to indicate your requirement for it. Your classifications will be searchable along with all other indexed terms, and you will also be able to target them with an expert search qualifier, ‘class:’, e.g. ‘class:641.5’. This is in addition to the existing qualifier ‘dewey:’ which searches Dewey class numbers from field 082 in the MARC record.

• Identifiers. The Semantic Data Model will now also identify different types of data identifier and make them all searchable: ISBN (already searchable), ISSN, ISMN and EAN. Again, this is dependent on the new MarcGrab. A bug is also fixed where the display of ISBNs was duplicated.

• Statement of Responsibility display. Another addition to the Semantic Data Model, this is also dependent on the new MarcGrab. It will provide the contents of MARC field 245 subfield $c displayed as a note. It will display by default but can be suppressed using styling tools.

• Cover images from Syndetics. This new Prism release includes a plugin to retrieve cover images from Syndetics if you subscribe to them. This can replace the existing Juice-based tool that currently retrieves Syndetics images. If you wish to use this, please raise a Support case.

To access the preview, insert ‘/demo/’ after the prism.talis.com part of your URL and before the name of your tenancy, e.g. http://prism.talis.com/demo/worcestershire/. This enables you to search your live data and access your live Local Data Services (e.g. for availability, renewals and reservations) using the new version of Prism. You can also use it with your sandbox tenancy.

The purpose of the preview is to allow you to explore and become familiar with the new features before they are released to your users, and to ensure that everything is working correctly, particularly in relation to any local styling and other customisations.

All being well we aim to release this version to the live service on 14th June.

If you have questions on this or any other issue, please feel free to email me, terry.willan@capita.co.uk, or your Account Manager, or add a comment on this blog post.