Accessit Update 9.3.13: Bringing the Library into Students’ Digital World

See how Accessit 9.3.13 sends school library notices through Microsoft Teams and redesigns Web App resource records for students.

At its heart, education is about finding ways to communicate with your students.

Whether it be Maths class, the sports hall or simply on the corridors, being able to speak to students in a language that resonates can build trust and form long-lasting relationships.

For school and college librarians, these relationships are essential.

If circulation is the lifeblood of a library, your connection with borrowers is its beating heart.

A regular exchange of dialogue – from rave reviews to correspondence about overdue items – can help turn part-time readers into prolific visitors. Along the same lines, a catalogue that speaks students’ language can spark enthusiasm and inspire that all-important buy-in.

Maintaining this engagement in educational environments is an ongoing challenge for librarians.

Students can be elusive, tied to timetables and extra-curricular commitments. Their digital experiences are also more evolved – time spent on other platforms means they have specific and high expectations when visiting your library online.

So how can you engage with students in a world in which their time is at a premium?

How can you offer an online experience that compels them to keep coming back?

Accessit’s two new features have been designed to help librarians answer these questions.

On the same team

We often hear: “Our students just don’t use emails anymore.”

For organisations on Microsoft Teams, this integration moves library correspondence onto a platform they do.

Overdue reminders, notifications about reserves and holds, My Interests alerts, and more. All communication that may have gone unread and unanswered can now land directly in Teams, bringing the library into the online workspace that students monitor each day.

But not just students!

Librarians who send Supervisor Reports – whether automated or manual – can deliver them straight into Teams chats with their colleagues. PDF attachment included!

Opening these channels of communication, on a platform that’s relevant and accessible, helps keep the lines of dialogue open:

“No worries, I’ll bring that back at break…”

“Thanks for this, I’ve reminded the students…”

Even that ultra-modern stamp of approval, the 👍 !

These regular exchanges don’t just help books come back into the library. They build relationships between librarians and students. Forge connections with colleagues.

They bring your library outside its four walls and closer to the classrooms, helping you and your catalogue become a part of the everyday – and everyone’s – conversation.

To find out more about the integration, including how you can set it up in just a few clicks, see Enabling correspondence to be sent on Microsoft Teams.

For the record

On the Web App, the resource record redesign supports the library in talking to students on a level that makes sense to them.

Digital browsing often comes with its own unwritten rules and expectations.

Students anticipate that if they click here, it will open something there. They expect that, if a product has multiple reviews, there will also be an overall rating. Information should be displayed and flow logically, in a way that helps them find what they need as quickly as possible.

These are behaviours learnt and practised from hours of fun scrolling and clicking on a variety of different platforms. Our redesign allows librarians to offer the same kind of experience in Accessit.

While also offering more!

You know your students better than anyone. You know what they look for when they click a resource, and which key details will keep them coming back to explore more of the library’s catalogue.

So the creative freedom to pick and choose which information gets priority listing is an invaluable tool in engaging students.

A separate section for Genre, Subjects and Keywords helps shine a spotlight on the more colourful and thematic elements of a resource, leaving prominence elsewhere for the more fact-based information readers need.

This added flexibility is just another way for librarians to engage and connect with students visiting their online catalogue, offering a redesigned resource record that talks on their level and speaks to their world.

To find out how you can prioritise information to best suit your students, see Selecting which fields display in Web App resource records.

For full information on the new-look resource record, see Exploring the Web App resource record.

In this increasingly digital age, a library’s online presence becomes ever more important.

Whether it’s opening up new channels of communication, creating recognisable online experiences or simply an overdue reminder that gets a ‘thumbs-up’ back, these interactions – both large and small – enable librarians to communicate with students and staff in language and environments they understand.

Created in consultation with Accessit librarians across the world, both new features show our ongoing commitment to making school and college libraries even more relevant in the modern world.

Learn more about Accessit Library

Discover how Accessit can help your library build stronger connections with students and create a more engaging experience for your whole school community.

👉 Discover Accessit Library by Follett Software.

Frequently asked questions about the latest Accessit update.