Voyager ILS: Difference between revisions
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===Current version=== | ===Current version=== | ||
The Folger transitioned to Voyager 8 around 2012, and currently uses version 8.2.2. In October 2015, we | The Folger transitioned to Voyager 8 around 2012, and currently uses version 8.2.2. In October 2015, we [[2015 Voyager upgrade|upgraded]] to Voyager 9. | ||
==Help with Voyager== | ==Help with Voyager== | ||
Revision as of 16:52, 4 January 2016
The Folger has used Voyager as its ILS, or integrated library system, since it first brought its catalog online. Voyager includes modules for Acquisitions, Cataloging, and Circulation, as well as several administrative tools.
Integrated library systems
Most libraries use an integrated library system, commonly referred to as an ILS, to coordinate the work of different departments and to automate portions of their workflows. An ILS is made up of distinct modules that allow different departments to link their work together and see the same information from different vantage points. For example, when buying a book, Acquisitions staff enter information about the book, the vendor, and the price in the Acquisitions module in order to create a purchase order and a preliminary catalog record; Cataloging staff can access the same preliminary catalog record through the Cataloging module in order to create a full description; and Reading Room staff can find that catalog record in the Circulation module and temporarily link it to a patron record in order to sign the book out to a reader. Some ILSs also include components for preservation services, serials, or licensing, and ways to run reports from or make large-scale changes to a library's data.
Voyager at the Folger
Initial adoption
Seeing the steady advance of online cataloging and automated systems, the Folger decided to bring the catalog fully online and transition to an ILS in the early 1990s (switching to full MARC cataloging in the process). In September 1994, the library put out an RFP for vendors, and received about half a dozen responses. Over the next year, the OPAC Steering Committee met with representatives from each vendor, contacted other libraries who had implemented their products, and compared pricing, implementation timelines, and product capabilities to evaluate their choices. In December 1995, the Folger selected Endeavor Information Systems, then the maker of Voyager, and began planning to install Voyager in the coming year.[1]
The Acquisitions and Cataloging staff went through a training period on the new system in June 1996.[2] The front-facing OPAC component went online in January 1997.[3] Throughout 1997, the Folger gradually refined its use of Voyager, and increased its licensing to allow for more simultaneous users of both its back-end and front-end components.
Current version
The Folger transitioned to Voyager 8 around 2012, and currently uses version 8.2.2. In October 2015, we upgraded to Voyager 9.
Help with Voyager
For questions or problems concerning the Folger's installation of Voyager, please contact the Head of Collection Information Services. For questions or problems concerning the public Folger catalog Hamnet, please email hamnethelp@folger.edu.