Getting creative with Visual Search

Accessit Library prides itself on being just what a school needs, with features designed for and by librarians. The power of Accessit as a searching tool is something that provides functionality and agency to students – helping them build confidence and supporting them to be independent readers and researchers. One of Accessit’s key search features is called ‘Visual Search’.

In its basic form, Visual Search is tool that supports students to navigate the library catalogue through visual images rather than relying on the traditional search bar. Users make their way through different categories into subcategories, with each of these units displaying a clear and relevant image.

In its default state Visual Search is an excellent tool for younger students who are just beginning their journey into literacy, allowing them to navigate the library through images instead of relying solely on their still fresh reading skills. In this instance the image blocks can be used to display engaging and inviting images that clearly represent each genre and subgenre a student might be trying to find.

What is most interesting about Visual Search is that, as with many Accessit features, it is completely customisable. Users can alter the images and categories displayed through Visual Search and even the feature’s display name.

Some schools have managed to take advantage of this flexibility by altering the Visual Search feature to better assist their specific staff and students, changing the name ‘Visual Search’ to better reflect its purpose within their unique setup.

Some librarians will choose to go with Genre or Topic Search, maintaining the default functionality of the feature but with a name that is better suited to how it will be used within their school. There are however some more distinct ways that Visual Search can be adapted.

Class Search

Some schools have found Visual Search to be a useful tool for teachers, allowing them to create a list of books or other resources that they will use in their classes as part of the curriculum, or personal recommendations. In this set up the categories and their images are replaced with images and names of staff, leading to their unique book lists.

The title itself can be changed to ‘Class Search’ as an example, with students able to look for their teacher by name and face, to help them find the resources they need for their class.

Reading Level Search

Another excellent way Visual Search has been adapted by schools is by adapting it to focus on reading level. In this instance, books at the same reading level are grouped into categories and placed in sections on Visual Search.

There are many ways these levels can be determined, this can be done as year groups, ages, or even as accelerated levels, whatever is most helpful for the users. This layout not only allows students to get a better understanding of their reading progress, but can also encourage them to focus on improving their ability by climbing that reading ladder.

With its helpful blend of text and images, Accessit’s Visual Search is a remarkably customisable feature, helping students find the right genre, the right book for their class, or the right book for their reading level. This customisability demonstrates how flexible Accessit is in catering to the unique needs of each library.

Special Customer Spotlight

Sydenham School’s visual search combines a few of these techniques to create a comprehensive and engaging Visual Search. Take a look below for some inspiration!

Starting The Year in Your Library

January is here and with it a welcome opportunity to extend the resolutions we make in our personal lives – maybe a fresh hobby or health regime – into our libraries!

What can you do to make the start to 2024 a wonderful, fresh, new beginning?

Your borrowers are a great place to start – bring your records up to date and check for any students or staff who have moved on. Many library management systems, such as Accessit, support an automatic borrower synchronisation that will alert users when staff or students have left, so offering the opportunity to deal with those borrowers as well as any items they had on loan.

Check what your library management system can do and, if you don’t already have an automatic synchronisation, perhaps now is a good time to find out if and how you can get one!

You’ll have students who are still very much at your school and are waiting feverishly for their turn with your latest page-turner! Take a look at the list of overdue items that have been reserved and send an instant recall to keep those coveted titles circulating amongst the school population. Your students will thank you!

Student interaction is one cornerstone of a bustling school library, so use January as an ideal time to look for new ways to engage with your students.  

If your library management system has an interactive, front-facing page – such as Accessit’s Web App – think about a refresh to attract your students. Create eye-catching news items from recently-catalogued titles, promote specific series that you know your students will love, or simply design a Happy New Year message from the library to give your borrowers something different and dazzling. Ringing the changes keeps your students returning to see what’s new.

Perhaps your system allows borrowers to post book review? If so, this is a good time to check that you’ve published all your outstanding – and suitable! – reviews so they can be read and encourage other students to pick up that book. The reviewer will enjoy seeing their hard work published for all to see.

It’s not only online interactions that might form part of your library’s resolutions, talking is always good!  The next time your students are at the issues desk, check whether any overdue items are on-hand to be returned or just a give a gentle reminder to return them if not; In the Accessit issue screen for each borrower, overdue items are clearly visible, making it easy to follow up.  Or keep an eye on the comments or alerts on their profile, to see whether these are still valid and up-to-date, instantly editing any as needed. Any reason to interact with your borrowers will pay dividends.

And remember – a major reason for creating new resolutions is the chance to do things differently or more efficiently. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about generifying your library’s fiction or carrying out a stocktake, and January has given you extra motivation to finally get these done. Signing up to an online forum for librarians, such as Accessit’s online forum – Community – provides the perfect opportunity to seek advice and inspiration from fellow Accessit users. Community is a collaborative space allowing Accessit customers to share ideas and meet new people with a similar passion for books, libraries and ultimately improving student literacy.

What a great way to start 2024!