NYPL Debuts Integrated Catalog & Other News

LEO and CATNYP are dead! Long live...The Catalog? Yeah, NYPL's new integrated catalog doesn't have a catchy moniker, and design-wise, function has triumphed over form. The Encore OPAC sports a simple, fresh-outta-the-box interface, below which lurk all the now-familiar options of a next-generation catalog.

As with most things new, there are some blatant imperfections. The Encore interface, for instance, is not the only portal into the catalog; most links bring you to the (old-gen) Millennium interface and less intrepid patrons probably won't make it to the sassier Encore "Quick Search." No doubt this will change in the weeks to come. You can learn all about The Catalog and the blessed demise of the dual library card system here.

METRO introduced their Netvibes portal, a conglomeration of news and info about METRO itself, plus library news feeds, world news, and twitteriness from the adorably named tweetmetro. The Google events calendar embedded on the right-hand side had me all pouty and put upon until I noticed the Shelved @ NYC feed at the bottom of the center column. Thanks, METRO!

Finally, NYPL caught some flack last month when members of the glitterati noticed the library didn't own a single copy of Michael Gross' Rogues Gallery, an exposé of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. According to a library official interviewed in Norm Oder's Library Journal blog, In the Bookroom, there was no conspiracy, just a cataloging delay. Hmmm.

Summer, METRO-Style

METRO hosted a cool-sounding program today, "Internet Access to New York's Historical Record," that I neglected to pressure you to attend. Well, there's plenty more where that came from. Scroll through METRO's calendar, download their summer catalog, or read their June Digitech Newsletter to learn about their free-to-cheap seasonal offerings.

New York Heritage: 3,016 Newly Digitized Items

From techMETRO: "The Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) recently added 14 digital collections to the New York 3Rs collaborative digital heritage website, www.NewYorkHeritage.org." The contributions came from eight NYC institutions and are also available via the Digital Metro New York site.