Assabet Interactive, LLC

Easy-to-integrate, easy-to-use. Sophisticated add-ons for library websites.

PRODUCTS

Four modules for library websites that deliver on efficiency and ease-of-use, without any limits on the amount of your data we hold, number of users, or log-in location.

  1. Event Calendar with Registration
  2. Museum Pass Reservations
  3. Meeting and Study Room Booking
  4. Library of Things

Designed with librarian input to take advantage of current technology

Built from the ground up with code that speaks to the latest generation of browsers, mobile devices, and social media, these modules provide an easy, intuitive interface for both site visitors and the staff who manage the presence of your library online. There’s no need for any complicated template work to make our sophisticated looking and acting modules appear as integrated parts of your site.

Easy to use, dependable—and affordable

The system is straightforward, with clear and consistent directions for both the patrons who use the modules on the front end of your site and the staff who manage the details at the backend. Our data—and yours—are hosted on secure servers with redundancy and auto-scaling to meet peak demand. A single, intuitive administration area attends to as many of our modules as you’re using, with real advantages when more than one are leased together—like the event calendar and room reservation modules which talk with each other to eliminate location and time conflicts. Staff maintaining the site are able to log in from any browser with an internet connection.

The modules are responsive—content is always displayed correctly according to viewport dimensions, rather than by specific device. Each listing is search engine-optimized and uses Structured Data to improve the display of search results. Search and filter functions allow users of both the front and back ends to quickly locate what they’re looking for. And, we’re competitively priced!

Retain your site’s design—and your patrons at the same time

Our modules are delivered within the context of your pages—not on another website—so you retain full navigation, the look of your site, and an address that contains your domain name. They work on any platform: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and more. Plus, we provide tools to manage fonts and colors, allowing you to more closely match our modules with those of your site. Visitors will no longer be confused about exactly where they are when they access functionality delivered by your add-ons.

No toll stations that limit efficiency

We’ve figured out an easy way to enhance your productivity and help you stay on top of your budget at the same time: NO LIMITS on where staff may access our administration section. NO LIMITS on the amount of data you can have on our system at any one time. NO LIMITS on how many staff members may access the modules. And NO LIMITS on the number of branches you can have associated with your library’s account. The only limit is on what you get charged—the same, no matter what!

A powerful administration section

Even if you’ve seen our modules on other library websites, you don‘t really know the half of it. What streamlines your workflow is the Dashboard, our administration section which provides a host of tools for managing the delivery and functioning of our modules. User accounts may be set up with different levels of access to assign ownership of specific areas while denying access to sections outside of their responsibility.

Each of the modules is presented in the same consistent way, so getting up to speed on the system is quick. Reservations follow the same approach in each, though may be individually handled in different ways depending upon your needs—things like a waiting list option, auto and manual approval choices, an attendance list, and editable emails automatically send to registrants. Assets such as images and PDF files are easily uploaded to a common “library,” which can be accessed from within any module. A What’s Happening at the Library area provides a list of everything in the system that is taking place at the library, presented within a time range that you determine, providing some important details, and delivering links to records. A Location Utilization page provides a visual view of room usage in weekly increments. Reports collect the information you need to evaluate use and support budget requests.

Contact us for a demo now

Calendar

The Event Calendar with Registration Module

A system designed for libraries to manage the posting of events on their website and social media and handle the complete registration process for those events that require it.

The Assabet Interactive online Event Calendar with Registration module delivers professional-looking listings to your library website and social media postings, as well as intuitive methods to manage the complete registration process, including the status of registrants.

The Dashboard, our administration area, provides tools that allow you to manage your account, create and modify event records, and control every aspect of the registration process, including registrant lists, waiting lists, attendance, and automatically triggered emails. You can easily set up series and duplicate old records from the past as the basis of new events. Reports, created from data collected by the system—and unlimited in amount—may be generated to measure use and support budget requests.

Our method for delivering the module enables you to retain full navigation and the look of your site, with URLs that contain your domain name. That—and a method for CSS experts to customize colors and fonts to more closely resemble the design of your site—means that visitors don’t feel like they’ve been sent to another location. The display of your calendars, event listing pop-ups and registration forms is responsive—always properly rendered, no matter what device they’re using to visit your site.

The calendar may be seen in both monthly and serial views, with filters and a search field for quickly locating events. In addition, there is an upcoming event feed that delivers a condensed presentation on the home and other pages. There are also ways of filtering the calendar for display on category-specific pages, like your children’s section page.

Assabet Interactive’s event calendar module
Assabet Interactive’s Event Calendar module: Portions of the month-in-view and date-ordered listing views, and includes the search function and date navigation that appear in the module’s header.

The Experience for Visitors

No matter the display format, each calendar listing is connected through a single click to a pop-up box containing a featured image and details about the event. If registration is required, a form will appear just below the text in the same box; providing information in the requested fields, then submitting, will initiate the registration process. Automatically triggered emails inform the patron the status of the registration, including—but not limited to—approval, denial, pending, waiting list, and a reminder sent one, two, or three days before the event.

The Staff’s Experience

Event listings are easy to create and publish—as single events or as a series, with the possibility of assigning registration to each instance of the event or to the first. A host of options help you manage registration: capping the number of attendees, auto or manual approval, waiting lists, attendance check, custom fields, registration period definition, and the ability to create and send emails to individuals or groups connected to a particular event. Posting to popular social media platforms is a single click away. Time and location conflicts are automatically identified with any other events in the system. And a “snapshot” of all events taking place in the library during a date range you define helps with the big picture. In addition, a visual representation of location use in the library helps you quickly evaluate room availability.

It’s the details

Like these. A clean look that that can be adjusted to visually integrate into your site’s design. An intuitive user interface—both for site visitors and the staff who maintain the site. Features based on conversations with and requests from librarians. No limits on the number of users, the amount of data kept on the system, and from what IP address staff must access the system. Newly developed, with code that speaks to the latest generation of browsers, mobile devices, and social media. Reports on attendance and room use. And, we’re competitively priced. Isn’t that worth a free look?

Contact us for a demo now

Museum Passes

The Museum Pass Module

A system designed for libraries to manage the online reservation of museum passes and the check-out and return of passes at the library.

The Assabet Interactive online Museum Pass Reservation system delivers professional-looking listings to your library web site and employs easy methods for both patron and staff to successfully participate in the reservation process.

Assabet Interactive provides a listing for each museum that includes a unique icon based on the institution’s identity, an original summary of the institution’s features, contact information, and links to both directions and the institution’s website. Additions by staff about type of pass, pick-up location, privileges, and exception dates complete the listing. During the online reservation process, patrons have the option to search by date or by museum, including filtering the results of the latter by type of institution for quick searches.

Administrators log in through a browser from any location with internet access. From the Assabet Interactive Dashboard, staff can manage their account, create and modify museum pass records, generate reports, and control every aspect of the reservation process. A scanner interface allows for the easy acquisition of bar code information from museum passes and library cards to manage reservation and pickup.

The museum pass module’s responsive design ensures that it is always properly rendered, no matter the device used to access your site, and is delivered in such a way that patrons remain on your site, retaining the look and feel of the design and preserving full navigation. In addition, color and fonts may be adjusted to better match the look of a library’s website.

Assabet Interactive’s museum pass module
Assabet Interactive’s Museum Pass module: Portions of the by-museum and by-date views, either one of which patrons may choose to begin the reservation process.

The Experience for Visitors

Patrons can choose to initiate the pass selection process by date of visit, or by museum, narrowing their search if they wish by using the categories filter. Clicking on the Details/Reserve button below each listing reveals information about the institution and use of the specific pass at your library, with a button to initiate the reservation process. Providing the solicited information in the form and agreeing to the terms and conditions will enter the request into the system. Automatically triggered emails triggered by “events” inform the patron the status of the reservation, including—but not limited to—approval, denial, pending, and a reminder sent before the pass is scheduled for use.

The Staff’s Experience

Listings are created through the combination of institution profiles, pass details, terms of use, and exception dates. Each categorized profile is provided by Assabet Interactive and contains a concise description of the institution, a professional-looking icon, and other important information. Libraries select a museum and add information about pass type, privilege details, the location at which the pass is available for pick-up, and the regular weekly schedule of the institution, then add deviations to the usual pattern of open and closed dates. Limitations may be placed on the number of reservations allowed to a particular patron over a chosen time period at three different levels: global, by institution, and by specific pass.

Reservations can be auto-approved or held for manual review. Library card validation is available, and the bar codes of library cards and/or passes may be captured if used in conjunction with a hand-held scanner during pass pickup or return. Reservation records make it easy to view usage and communicate with patrons.

It’s the details

Like these. A clean look that that can be adjusted to visually integrate into your site’s design. An intuitive user interface—both for site visitors and the staff who maintain the site. Features based on conversations with and requests from librarians. No limits on the number of users, the amount of data kept on the system, and from what IP address staff must access the system. Newly developed, with code that speaks to the latest generation of browsers, mobile devices, and social media. Reports on museum pass use and pass subscription renewal dates. And, we’re competitively priced. Isn’t that worth a free look?

Contact us for a demo now

Meeting Rooms

The Meeting and Study Room Booking Module

A system designed for libraries to manage room booking requests on their website, including tools for handling images, terms and conditions documents, and equipment assignments.

The Assabet Interactive online Meeting and Study Room Booking module provides a way to streamline room requests at your institution—from the clear presentation of room information and equipment availability to easy form submission by patrons and processing by staff via your library website. It delivers automatically triggered emails at important points, the ability to assign equipment to specific rooms, and a method for agreeing to a terms and conditions document delivered throughout the reservation process. Though not a requirement, using the Assabet Interactive Event Calendar system in tandem with this module provides a number of advantages, such as the ability to list a meeting on the public calendar and quickly identify conflicts with rooms already booked for other events.

The room booking module’s responsive design ensures that it is always properly rendered, no matter the device used to access your site. The module is delivered in such a way that patrons remain on your site, while your site’s navigation is preserved. In addition, color and fonts may be adjusted to better match the look of a library’s website.

Assabet Interactive’s meeting and study room booking module
Assabet Interactive’s Meeting and Study Room Booking Module: Portions of the by-room and by-date views, either one of which patrons may choose to begin the booking process.

The Experience for Visitors

Patrons can choose to initiate the pass selection process by date of need, or by the specific room. After providing requested information in an online form and agreeing to the terms and conditions, a patron’s request is entered into the system. Automatically triggered emails are triggered by “events” that inform the patron the status of the reservation, including—but not limited to—approval, denial, pending, and a reminder sent before the room is scheduled for use.

The Staff’s Experience

Accessing the administration system is easy—you log in through a browser from any location with access to the internet. The Dashboard, Assabet Interactive’s administration section, delivers tools that allows you to manage your account, create and modify room and equipment records, and control every aspect of the request process, including communication by email with requesters.

Room listings are created by providing the requested information, an image, and the terms and conditions document that all room users must agree to. Equipment may be added to the system and assigned to various rooms. Once added to the system, a listing is only displayed as an option according to when you’ve made the room available and when the space has already been booked.

Reservations can be auto-approved or held for manual review. Reservation records make it easy to view usage and communicate with patrons. Unique email messages may be easily composed and sent to those booking a room, and all automatically triggered emails may be edited to better reflect the reality at your library, or even turned off as an option.

It’s the details

Like these. A clean look that that can be adjusted to visually integrate into your site’s design. An intuitive user interface—both for site visitors and the staff who maintain the site. Features based on conversations with and requests from librarians. No limits on the number of users, the amount of data kept on the system, and from what IP address staff must access the system. Newly developed, with code that speaks to the latest generation of browsers, mobile devices, and social media. Reports on pass usage and subscription start and end dates. And, we’re competitively priced. Isn’t that worth a free look?

Contact us for a demo now

Library of Things

The Library of Things Module

A system for managing the reservation of a public library’s collection of objects for loan on their website, with filtering by category for quick searches by patrons.

The Assabet Interactive Library of Things system delivers a professional-looking display of your collection of objects to the library website, employing easy methods for both patron and staff to engage with and manage the reservation and check-out/return process. Terms and conditions documents are an integral part of the reservation process, acceptance of which is required for a patron to submit a request. A unique loan period may be established for each object.

Staff can manage their account, create and modify object records, generate reports, and control every aspect of the reservation process, including automatically sent emails, all from within the AI administration area housing any of our other modules you may already be using. If you’ve used our software before, you’ll feel immediately at home with the interface for both patron-facing and staff sides of the module.

Consistent with how we’ve always done things, our method for delivering the module enables you to retain full navigation and the look of your site, with URLs that contain your domain name. That—and a method for CSS experts to customize colors and fonts to more closely resemble the design of your site—means that visitors don’t feel like they’ve been sent to another location. The display of the module is responsive—always properly rendered, no matter what device they’re using to visit your site.

Assabet Interactive’s library of things module
Assabet Interactive’s Library of Things Module: Portions of the by-object-type view, through which patrons may choose to begin the loan process.

The Experience for Visitors

The collection is displayed as a series of images organized by categories, allowing patrons to filter the presentation to focus in on what they’re looking for. A search field provides another tool for locating objects quickly. Each object is connected through a single click to a pop-up box containing an image and specific details of the “thing,” loan instructions, and a user manual, if provided. A reserve form will appear just below the text in the same box—providing information in the requested fields and submitting will initiate the reservation process. Automatically triggered emails inform the patron the status of their reservation, including—but not limited to—approval, denial, pending, and a reminder sent before the loan period starts. A cancellation link is included in each email should a patron change their mind about the reservation.

The Library Staff’s Experience

Object records are easy to create and post within staff-established categories. A host of options help you manage each reservation: auto or manual approval settings; custom fields for the online forms; the delivery of a terms and conditions document for each object requiring patron acceptance before submitting their reservation request; loan period and buffer period definition for each item in your collection; object user manuals delivered if desired; and the ability to create and send unique emails to individuals connected to a reservation. Patrons taking advantage of the cancellation link will return the object’s availability to the patron interface on your website.

It’s the details

Details like these: A clean look that that can be adjusted to visually integrate into your site’s design. An intuitive user interface—both for site visitors and the staff who maintain the site. Responsive design. Encrypted data transfer and storage of patron-provided information. No limits on the number of users, the amount of data kept on the system, and from what IP address staff must access the system. Reports on object use that can printed or exported as CSV files. Newly developed, with code that speaks to the latest generation of browsers, mobile devices, and social media. Isn’t that worth a free look?

Contact us for a demo now

Switch

Looking to replace your retiring or problematic software?

Or just need a change from what you’re using?

Assabet Interactive offers state-of-the-art solutions that checks all the boxes: affordable, easy-to-learn, responsive support, and it’s already a favorite with lots of libraries - a great replacement for other retiring or problematic platforms. For information on how our event calendar, room booking, museum pass, and Library of Things solutions can work hard for your library, request a webinar demo and our materials.

With an interface that makes both patrons and staff happy, our intuitive web-based software delivers functionality that includes registration, card validation if desired, and triggered emails that keep patrons apprised of the status of their requests, and much much more—all at no extra cost.

Our support is an added strength—just ask any Assabet library about our responsiveness. Answers may also be found in our regularly updated help manual, available on every page of our staff dashboard.

On the public-facing side of our software modules, a number of tools help patrons find the events, rooms, passes, and objects they’re looking for, including search, location filtering, and the ability to display listings by category. Registering is a no-brainer—patrons follow a proscribed and clear path and are notified on-screen in the moment, and with automated emails, about the status of their request.

The administration dashboard delivers a number of quick overviews—both visual and by list—of all everything taking place at the library. Activity logs keep track of the history of listings and registrations. And, of course, you may add or edit anything at any time, including copying existing records to avoid starting from scratch.

Okay, how do you make the switch?

The best place to start is to request a demo, so you know that you get to know us and decide whether or not we’re a good fit for your library.

Once you’ve decided that we’re the one, there are a few start-up documents to take care of before we set up your account and create your portal. Once that’s that ready, we’ll get you up to speed on the module with a one-time training. Then, it’s your turn to add your event listings, room bookings, museum passes and Library of Things objects. Once you’re ready, explicit instructions on how to add the modules—found in the administration dashboard—help you make short work of the job. (Of course, we’re always available for questions and hand-holding during the process.)

Get in touch with us now—we can send you more information and get you on our schedule for a webinar demo.

ABOUT

We believe that add-ons for library websites should be easy to install and maintain, appear as an integral part of your website, and take advantage of current technology as it becomes available. Our intuitive tools were developed because of the need to better deliver services to patrons online and easily manage some of the more detail-oriented tasks associated with events, museum visits and meeting room reservation. And, equally important is the fact that they all appear as a visually consistent part of your website.

Started by a designer and a programmer, Assabet Interactive is focused on the positive experience of two important groups: the patrons who visit a site and the librarians who manage it. This approach is based on the unique marriage of design and technology—the two principals we bring to the table. We’ve been close collaborators for over ten years.

Robert Levers is an award-winning designer with a background in advertising. He has lent his expertise to a wide range of projects, including the Goodnow Library in Sudbury, the Concord Free Public Library, and the Harvard University Libraries and Archives, all in Massachusetts. He has also done work for Massachusetts General Hospital, the Concord Museum, and departments and centers at Harvard, MIT, Radcliffe, Wellesley College, and Princeton—everything from the development of websites, design of exhibitions, and creation of collateral materials, ads and presentations.

Jonathan Tegg has been a developer for more then 25 years, using his skills and knowledge on a large variety of projects to bring conceptual designs to life through code. Jonathan has led the production of projects in numerous industries—healthcare, libraries, museums, K-12 and higher education, non-profits, and corporations. He’s delivered practical and functional solutions using a standards-based approach to development for clients such as Philips Healthcare, Handel & Haydn Society, Partners Healthcare, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard University, MIT, Worcester State University, Traveller’s Championship, and has been a featured speaker at the annual HighEd Web conference.

CONTACT

Assabet Interactive, LLC
34 Walden St., #191
Concord, MA 01742

welcome@assabetinteractive.com

978-254-1599

Contact Us for a Demo

Requesting a demo is easy: