Upcoming changes to Tripod, the Tri College Consortiums’ shared library catalog, over this next week has students—particularly seniors with thesis deadlines looming—nervous. Since January of this year, the Tri College Libraries have been in the process of replacing the systems that power Tripod. On Dec. 20, the new systems will be launched and Tripod will have a new look and feel.
However, in order to complete the final data migration process, some important changes impacting students will be made over the next 10 days.
“Beginning this Monday December 10th, the way in which students request physical items owned by the Tri College Libraries will temporarily change until end of day December 19th,” said Emily Thaisrivongs, the Metadata Librarian at Haverford College and Haverford’s campus lead for the project.
“I know that I’ll have to fill out paper request forms over the next week for any books I want and I’m really really worried about it. I’m writing a thesis right now and my lit review is due at the end of the semester. I’ve requested a ton of books and I feel like this will just be an extra step,” said Allie Corcoran ‘19.
Thaisrivongs said that students should not be concerned over the miscommunication about using paper forms to make requests. Students who use Tripod will start with the request button as before, but the online form behind that button will look slightly different. Students who use Tripod Classic, the older user interface for Tripod, however, will need to either email hccirc@haverford.edu or ask at the circulation desk to request physical materials; or, they can make the request from Tripod instead. The way that students access online articles and other online content will remain the same during this interim period. She encouraged students to reach out to librarians with any questions regarding what is and is not changing.
From Dec. 17 to Dec. 19, librarians will be managing circulation transactions with an offline utility. As a result, students’ library accounts may not be up to date until Dec. 20.
“Librarians are fully aware that the end of the semester is a very stressful time for students. We are here to support students to make sure they get the materials and assistance they need to meet their research and end of semester requirements,” said Thaisrivongs.
On Dec. 20, the new site and system will go live, hopefully providing a better user experience for students, faculty, and staff.
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