The Ares Virtual Conference is the best way to pick up new ideas for using Ares, both from your colleagues and from Atlas Systems staff. The conference is open to Ares users as well as those interested in learning more about using Ares for course reserves. There is no charge to attend.

This year’s conference includes:

• Northwestern University Libraries’ collaborative effort to integrate Ares with Avalon to stream course reserves video and audio media
• University of Maryland Libraries’ data gathering for a library-wide course reserves annual report
• Kent State University Libraries’ transition to Ares
• Lots of tips and tricks from Atlas staff

Genie Powell, Atlas Systems’ Chief Customer Officer, will share what’s coming up in the next release of Ares and gather feedback on what you’d like to see in future releases. And, remember, it’s easy to tell Atlas Systems’ staff what enhancements you’d like to see in future releases. Sign into UserVoice and share your ideas!

For more details on the Ares Virtual Conference and to register, please visit https://conference.atlas-sys.com/Ares/Schedule .

If you haven’t looked into Concierge recently, you might be surprised to learn that we now have almost 30 institutions using Access Services Concierge to do what they don’t have staff, time, or expertise to do. Projects for our Concierge customers run the gamut from workflows to custom reports. This story from Dawn Mick at Iowa State University is one example of the value institutions are finding when they tap into our Concierge Service.

“The Concierge Service has been vital in helping us to improve our ILL workflows while not adding extra work to my already overloaded schedule. I love the fact that I can call up support and get help directly from people who know the product very well, who can discuss issues directly with developers, and come back with a solution. I love the fact that I can contact Heather Black about customizations that I need, an experienced Atlas staff member does them, then I get to see the finished product and make refinements. I tend to be a DIYer when it comes to editing ILLiad templates and web pages, but I simply don’t have the time to spend on it. It has been a relief to know that someone from Atlas can make edits or changes, do it well and quickly, and all I have to do is save it on my PC and send it out to my staff. For a long time, I thought the Concierge Service would be an additional expense that wouldn’t really do much for our ILL department, but I was wrong. I didn’t know what I was missing and now I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to have this service for the past year, it’s been a relief to get customizations done and problems solved timely and efficiently.”

Dawn Mick
Access Services Department Head
Parks Library
Iowa State University

As we approach the end of 2017, now’s a good time to think about using end-of-year funds to subscribe to Concierge. For more information, please email us at concierge@atlas-sys.com.

The Access Services Conference will be held in Atlanta, November 15-17, 2017. Atlas Systems staff will be there and we hope to see many of you as well. Please plan to join us for the Ares User Group and Happy Hour.

Please register at https://www.getfeedback.com/r/WM4rmLiG

Want to connect with Atlas Systems staff at the conference? Email, call, or text us—we’d love to chat!

ALA Midwinter Meeting

We’ll be in Denver February 9-13, 2018 for the ALA Midwinter Meeting and hope to see many of you there as well. We plan to follow the same format we did in Atlanta in January, meeting and greeting outside the Exhibit Hall rather than having limited time to really talk with customers and prospects while standing in a booth. We’re working on our plans now and will keep you posted.

To be sure you don’t miss out on meetings and events, please follow Atlas now on Facebook and Twitter. See you in Denver!

REMINDER: Save the Date for Makerspace 2018

Atlas Systems hosted our first Makerspace event at our headquarters in Virginia Beach in March 2017. Months in the planning, Makerspace included blended learning opportunities during which registrants worked with instructors in advance of the event and then completed a project to take away at the end of the onsite day.

More details will follow, but for now, save the date!