Background and Timeline

New! An Aspen marketing kit is now available at https://library.wyo.gov/wyldcat-marketing-kit/. Promotional assets include logos, a PR template, editable bookmarks, web graphics, and more.

New FreshDesk articles

• Adding New Browse Categories
• Managing Browse Categories
• Relevancy Ranking
• Format order in the Grouped Work Display

Libraries linking their patrons to Aspen now include more than half the public libraries in WYLD, three special libraries, and two academic libraries. As a reminder, patron lists from Enterprise will be migrated into Aspen on December 15th, and this feature will be disabled in Enterprise.

The WYLD Office has hidden the ‘staff view’ option in Aspen from all but logged in, staff-level users. This ensures that patrons will not see staff or circ notes that are available in the 999 extract from Symphony. Contact the WYLD Office with any questions.

New FreshDesk articles about Aspen:

• Searching for Series
• Shadowed & suppressed items & locations

• Several libraries requested that their Enterprise sites start pointing to Aspen on November 1: Albany County Public Library, Natrona County Library, Niobrara County Library, Platte County Library, Northwest College Hinckley Library, and the Wyoming State Library.
• The new WYLDcat app is now available in both the Apple and Android app stores – look for the new branding and the title WYLDcat – New!
• Problem reports specific to record grouping, title information, etc can be entered using This form (you can also open a FreshDesk ticket

All WYLD libraries have access to their WYLDcat on Aspen sites. WYLD has licensed Baker & Taylor’s Content Cafe for content enrichment, including jacket covers, syndicated (professional) reviews, summaries, and more.

New FreshDesk Articles

• Going Live with Aspen
• Create a search box for your website
• Direct Links to sections in Aspen (e.g. My Account)
• Determining Audience level in Aspen
• New WYLDcat Logos

As of October 10th, all community colleges had been given access to their WYLDcat on Aspen profiles for testing. Schools and the remaining special libraries are expected to be ready by the end of the month. We are responding to reported issues and comments logged by libraries.

Mobile App update WYLD will be launching a branded version of Aspen LiDA in November. This app will be discoverable in the app stores by searching for ‘wyldcat’ and will be distinguished by an updated paw logo (see example in the right column of this page). If you have been testing the generic LiDA app, you will not be seeing the wyldcat logo or your library’s logo. We have placed an announcement in all BLUEcloud Mobile templates to alert patrons that it will be discontinued soon. We will be updating patron-related information about the mobile app here: https://library.wyo.gov/wyld/support/wyldcat-mobile/

ByWater Solutions conducted staff training on October 5th, 2022, designed for library staff to learn how to support patrons using the new WYLDcat on Aspen catalog.  View the recording here.

Additional training will be offered at later dates.

As of October 3, all public libraries had been given access to their WYLDcat on Aspen profiles for testing. The next phase of implementation will include all the community college and K12 libraries. Libraries will be given additional training in how to manage their Aspen sites after the initical testing phase is complete.

The WYLD Office has been working with ByWater Solutions over the summer to make sure that bibliographic and patron data is being accurately imported into Aspen, key interactions with the Symphony server complete appropriately, and that the unique holds and ILL process that WYLD uses is replicated. ByWater developers have also created efficiencies in the ILL process that will make the patron experience much more streamlined. We are currently testing the holds process, customizing the interface, and getting ready to open library catalog sites for staff to begin testing as well. We are still on track to have Aspen available for libraries by the end of the year.

Please visit this Frequently Asked Questions article in FreshDesk for details on the transition from Enterprise to Aspen.

Announcements about staff training and any updates regarding the transition timeline will be sent to the WYLDNEWS email list. There will be a presentation on Aspen at the Wyoming Library Association conference in Casper at the end of this month, and we will continue to create more documentation in FreshDesk to support the transition.

Important things to remember

• Enterprise will still be available for patrons for another entire year, but will be lacking some key features (see the FAQ for details)
• The current WYLDcat Mobile app will not be available after the end of October 2022. It will be replaced by the mobile app for Aspen.
• We will be placing a ‘coming soon’ notice in all Enterprise catalogs that will alert patrons to general information about the catalog change.
• The WSL Marketing team will provide libraries with templates for messaging to patrons via print, email, and social media.
• Library staff will be offered patron experience training in early October.
• Library staff who will be working in Aspen Admin to modify the library’s profile, create content, etc will be given training as those sites get ready to go live.

One of the foremost issues identified by the 2020 ILS Review project was the desire to find a new discovery layer for the WYLDcat online catalog. The State Library undertook an extensive look at other solutions for discovery and Aspen Discovery, an open source solution hosted by ByWater Solutions, rose to the top.

Aspen presents an attractive, intuitive layout with thoughtful, user-centered design. Aspen combines the library catalog with e-content, digital archives, and enrichment from all major third-party providers. It also improves relevancy and ease of use, provides native reading recommendations, and displays all formats of titles within one result (FRBR).

Aspen supports customization at the library level, allowing libraries within a consortium to make different design and feature choices based on local needs. While Aspen is designed to be responsive to different screen sizes, the mobile app LiDa is included at no additional cost with the Discovery package. With continuous, user-driven development Aspen presents an exciting solution for the WYLD network to best meet the needs of libraries and their patrons.

The State Library has begun the implementation process with ByWater and expects to be able to go live with Aspen Discovery for WYLDcat by the end of 2022. We intend to have both Enterprise and Aspen available for several months as we migrate libraries to the new platform.

Watch for more announcements on wyldnews and our support website regarding the Aspen Discovery project, including demonstrations, training opportunities, timelines, and frequently asked questions.