LightSpeed's App Evolution Continues with New Format Home Screens

Welcome to the latest iteration of the hoopla app (hoopla 3.0), or as we've come to call it, LightSpeed! 

This is a sneak peek of what's to come in a few short weeks. LightSpeed represents a major and significant app upgrade. It's something needing to be explored firsthand. Before LightSpeed's release, we will continue to show off some images that will help convey this upgrade before you and your patrons have access to it. Lightspeed covers both our mobile apps and hoopladigital.com.

Last week, we showed you the new hoopla Home Screen. This week, we wanted to show off the new Format Home Screens. These new, graphic driven marquee panels help users quickly discover and connect to featured artists, titles or collections. Part of these new Format Home Screens is the enhanced, high-resolution artwork and improved information that help users focus in on each of the over 275,000 titles now available on hoopla.

With a little help from technology, LightSpeed looks at genres users have borrowed from and suggests additional titles based on borrowing history in the new area marked Recommended. Our current collection New & Notable gets a bit of a change, and is now called Featured. These titles are cultivated by our marketing team, who have been charged with finding titles of user interest since the launch of hoopla. The last filter on the Format Home Screen is Popular. These are titles that are now listed as Top Titles, and are the best circulating titles across the hoopla service. 

If you missed last week's sneak peek, be sure to check out the original post.

January's Library Update Shows the Future of hoopla!

hoopla LightSpeed: App Evolution for Brighter Connectivity

Welcome to the latest iteration of the hoopla app (hoopla 3.0), or as we've come to call it, LightSpeed! 

This is a sneak peek of what's to come in a few short weeks. LightSpeed represents a major and significant app upgrade. It's something needing to be explored firsthand. Before LightSpeed's release, we will continue to show off some images that will help convey this upgrade before you and your patrons have access to it. Lightspeed covers both our mobile apps and hoopladigital.com.

Above is the new hoopla Home Screen, featuring direct access to a user's borrowing history (My Titles) and showcases some of the featured titles per format. New Format Home Screens, reached by choosing (Browse All), give users quick access to both borrowed titles and newly discovered favorites.

We want to thank you for your input and the role you've played in LightSpeed's creation; and, to thank you in advance for the key role you'll play in patron communication of its features and benefits. Please be sure to check library.hoopladigital.com for additional sneak peeks soon! 

hoopla Hits the Midwinter Superhighway

Chicago and Toronto play host to the annual ALA Midwinter Meeting and the OLA Super Conference. As always, hoopla will be in attendance, and we have some exciting news to share with you. If you are in Chicago or Toronto, we want to see you!

Please be sure to stop by our booths:

• ALA Midwinter January 30-February 2 (Chicago): Booth 2029
• OLA Super Conference January 28-31 (Toronto): Booths 413/415  

If you are unable to attend, be sure to visit library.hoopladigital.com for further details on this exciting news!

hoopla Error Messages Explained

As you may know, library.hoopladigital.com reports on the various error messages your patrons are seeing when using hoopla digital.  We have heard feedback from multiple partners on these error messages and what exactly these messages mean.  Finally, we have a place to share with you our top error messages and how your patrons are experiencing these error messages. 

We are excited to be sharing with you some of the further enhancements we are making to the registration process, and how we are simplifying the way your patrons register for hoopla.  Please stay tuned to library.hoopladigital.com for future updates.

If you have any questions on what your library can do to reduce the number of error messages that are being reported for your library, please contact your hoopla Coordinator.  

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All Aboard! 'Locomotive' pulls into hoopla Station!

All aboard! Recently named a Top 10 DVD of 2014 by School Library Journal, hoopla users young and old will enjoy "Locomotive" from Dreamscape, available instantly on hoopla digital. 

It’s the summer of 1869. Trains, crews and family are traveling together, riding America’s brand new transcontinental railroad. Locomotive’s pages come alive with the details of the trip: the sounds, the speed, and the strength of the mighty locomotives; the work that keeps them moving; and, the thrill of travel from plains to mountains to ocean. Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, and watch the landscape race by. Come ride the rails, come cross the young country with Locomotive!  

Locomotive

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A Top 10 DVD of 2014
“Locomotive speeds ahead of the rest…” – School Library Journal

Starred review. “Dreamscape Media delivers a visual work worthy of its inspiration...Locomotive speeds ahead of the rest” - School Library Journal (video review)

★★★  “Backed with a folk-like soundtrack and sound effects of engines and crowd murmurings, the handsomely-produced Locomotive features realistic colors in illustrations reminiscent of the style of Quentin Blake. Recommended.” - Video Librarian

A Helpful Video Guide to Using hoopla on Apple TV

Our support team answers many questions throughout the day, including questions on using hoopla with Apple TV. Currently, we support Airplay Mirroring to allow hoopla users to enjoy their borrowed content on their television. For assistance in enabling Airplay Mirroring, be sure to check out the below video:

hoopla On AppleTV Tutorial from hoopla digital on Vimeo.

Revisit the Top Sounds of 2014 with Our Best Albums of 2014 Collection

With 2014 coming to an end, our users have sounded off on the sounds they loved in 2014. Our content selectors have selected some of the biggest musical hit makers into one collection, Our Best Music of 2014. With albums from popular artists like Maroon 5, U2, and Lana Del Ray, and new albums from exciting artists like Iggy Azalea, Florida Georgia Line, and Ariana Grande  2014 was a fantastic year for music.

Encourage your patrons to revisit these albums, and discover a new favorite as they celebrate the close of 2014 and look forward to 2015!   

Fly the hoopla Flag at Your Library with our hoopla Scrims

Providing our Partner Libraries with fun and engaging ways to connect with patrons is our continued goal into 2015. The hoopla scrim is an easy to way to set a temporary promotional conversation piece with your patrons. If you are interested in hosting one of our scrims in your library branches, please let your hoopla Coordinator or Account Executive know!

A staff member at Traverse Area District Library shows off the hoopla scrim. 

It's Never Been Easier to Refresh Your Digital Assets and More with hoopla

To quickly access the new Dropbox link, simply click on the image above.