In a recent email chat with my colleague, Mark M., we discussed the pros and cons of several OPACS, and he shared his insight regarding Follett's Destiny system. Here are a few key points:
"As far as Destiny goes, there are 2 parts to the system that almost look like different websites:
1. Destiny "Back Office"-This is where I do the administrative librarian work in Destiny-checking in and out books, adding titles, uploading MARC records, running overdue notices and reports, circulation statistics, etc. Kids can also see a version of this to find books in a catalog, but it is ugly and outdated looking. I looks like a public library catalog with an overwhelming amount of text, sub categories, and options.
2. Destiny Discover-This is the new, hip, "Netflix-y" looking website which students can browse and place holds in. This is becoming a more popular search option in Destiny rather than having students using the Back Office Catalog. It is stripped down with big, beautiful covers and easier to navigate. It also has a lot of filters to have categories like "Most Popular Titles" and "Recently Added" which is harder to do in the back office version.
Frankly, having the two separate catalogs is a little clunky and Discover seems to be the future for Destiny, but they still seem to be developing it. I don't love many aspects of Destiny, but I will explain those in the Slides."
It seems that the big draw here is the Destiny Discover page, which is simple, and a bit flashy, and thus more likely to get the kids' attention. Having this tool can benefit your library program by:
-increasing engagement and, hopefully, circulation
-increasing overall library usership, and benefitting your return on investment status
-improving accessibility among a larger student and teacher audience through ease of use
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