Monday 14 March 2011

Loans feeds in library widget

The project may have finished, but in Cambridge widgets are here to stay. The Library Widget in particular is now part of the core functionality we offer to our users - and new developments will be fed into the Widget rather around it.

Such as our new loans feeds functionality. Essentially, the widget will generate a feed of your loans in a format which can be gobbled up by i.e. Google Calendar, or many other calendar interfaces. As the Widget says (if it could speak ...) "Never pay another fine!"


We've already started to build in the concept of space into the services we offer - the right thing in the right place (i.e. links out to map locations for library books, integration with map functionality on smartphones).

But in a place as small and busy as Cambridge, time is a more pressing concern than distance, and we think that anything we can offer our users which helps them save time or organise their time will be very popular. This is our first foray into their calendars, but may not be the last.

Now, as for that talking widget ...