Cover Images

Sources for Cover Images

Cover images can be pulled into Aspen from various outlets. Administrators can use free resources such as a COCE server for book images and OMDb for movies, or connect to third party services like Syndetics or Content Cafe.

Free Services:

• COCE Server -  is a remote image URL cache. With this option, cover images are not fetched directly from Amazon, Google, and Open Library. Their URLs are requested via a web service to Coce which manages a cache of URLs.
  • Coce currently will check Amazon Web Services, Google Books or Open Library.
  • Uses fields UPC (024) or ISBN (020)
• OMDb (Open Movie Database) - The OMDb is a web service to obtain movie information where all content and images on the site are contributed and maintained by OMDb users. If in the OMDb settings, Fetch covers without dates is checked, Aspen can check title only, but we typically do not suggest this as mismatches are much more likely.
  • These are pulled in by Release year (Publication date field, 260/264) and title.

Paid Services:

• Syndetics or Syndetics Unbound (ProQuest)
  • Uses fields UPC (024) or ISBN (020) or ISSN (022)
• Content Cafe (Baker & Taylor)
  • Uses fields UPC (024) or ISBN (020) or ISSN (022)

To be able to update and upload cover images, users must have the following permissions:

Upload Covers - Allows the user to upload covers for a record

This is a global permission which would usually be reserved for Admin at the consortial level because changes to a cover image will impact all catalogs on the server. 

How to Set Up Third Party Enrichment

During implementation, an Aspen team member will request credentials to set up any credentials you have for third party vendors. If you need to remove or add an account, you can access them under Aspen Administration > Third Party Enrichment. 

• Coce Server Settings - This URL will be set up by the Aspen implementation team (free)
• ContentCafe Settings - Will need the Content Cafe Id and profile password (requires paid subscription)
• OMDB Settings - The Aspen team will set this up with our API key (free)
• Syndetics Settings - Will need Syndetics Key. If you have Unbound, you need the Unbound Client Code. (requires paid subscription)

Click Here to learn how to set up Syndetics/Syndetics Unbound.

Click Here to learn how to set up Content Cafe.

If you are uploading a cover image on a record, you may want to size the background of your image to match a book jacket.

To do this, you might use a custom size template like: 150px x 200px, 150px x 225 px or 150px x 225px. As long as you choose or create a consistent template, these will make things like your covers and browse categories look uniform.

If you are adding text to your custom cover image upload, keep in mind that this will be very small and can be hard to read. You may be able to try higher ratios of those specifications (exp: 300px x 400px).

You can use free software like Canva to create a custom size.

This will help standardize things like browse categories.

Before:

After:

When a title has no cover image or the cover image is incorrect, you have the ability to manually update the cover image. The cover image doesn't need to be missing or wrong to use this feature, though -- uploading your own cover images can also be a great way to draw attention to special collections that your library might have, such as museum passes or Library of Things collections.

To do this, staff must have an Admin role with the Upload Covers permission included. 

Upload from the Bib/Record Level - Only Record on the Bib

To upload a cover image on a bib record that is the only record on the bib (no other formats grouped), click on either one of these to get into the cover image settings:

Then scroll down to Staff View to see the different buttons related to cover images.

Click on Upload Cover from Computer

Click on Select Cover and choose the file from your computer. You can upload jpg, gif, or png files.

When the record is the only one on the grouped work, the default of Also Apply to Grouped Work should be selected.

When you click Upload Cover, you will get a success message.

Due to browser cacheing you will most likely need to reload your screen in order to see the image.

Upload from the Bib/Record Level - Mutliple Records on the Bib

To upload a cover image on a bib record when there are multiple records on the bib (other formats or bibs are grouped), click on either the singular format button (in this example - Audio Book) or if there are multiple editions, click Show Editions and then More Info

Then scroll down to Staff View to see the different buttons related to cover images.

Click on Upload Cover from Computer

Click on Select Cover and choose the file from your computer. You can upload jpg, gif, or png files.

Now, you have a choice to decide which image(s) you want changed.

Also Apply to Grouped Work in this case will change both of the covers in the image below. This will be the cover that shows in search results, Browse Categories and lists to represent the entire grouped work.

Apply to This Record Only will only change the cover related to the record/edition and NOT the cover that represents the entire grouped work that shows in search results, Browse Categories and lists.

Upload from the Grouped Work

To upload a cover image to the entire grouped work you can click on the bolded title at the top of the grouped work.

If you have clicked into one of the formats or editions, you can also go to Staff View > Go to Grouped Work to get to the grouped work instead.

A tip to know you are in the grouped work is by looking at the URL of the page you are on. You will see a grouped work ID in the URL, like /GroupedWork/a3254dbb-ceed-481a-c504-c65ea2043d04-eng 

Within the grouped work go to Staff View > Upload Cover from Computer

Click on Upload Cover from Computer

Click on Select Cover and choose the file from your computer. You can upload jpg, gif, or png files.

Now you have choice(s) to decide which image(s) you want to change.

Also Apply to All Records in Grouped Work with Default Covers will replace any other formats that do not have an image coming in from: enrichment, upload, ILS, or econtent provider. These are commonly identified as the auto-generated covers based on the catalog's theme colors. See example below. If selected, one upload would change all of these images.

Apply to Grouped Work Only is if you only want to apply the image to the Grouped Work - the cover that represents the entire grouped work that shows in search results, Browse Categories and lists. This will not change any of the images on the individual bib records.

Note: If uploading a cover for a grouped work with only one record that cover image for the individual record will be used for the grouped work as well

What Are Default Cover Images?

When Aspen cannot find a cover from one of its many sources, it will auto-generate a cover based off of the library's theme with a variety of shapes and lines.

These covers will look something like this:

Replace Default Cover Image With Custom Image 

In Aspen, you can apply a custom image to the lower half of all of the default covers instead of the auto-generated image.

To do this, go to Aspen Administration > Theme & Layout > Themes > click into the theme you want to apply this too > Background Image for Default Covers > Upload an image and save.

We recommend an image of 280x280px. Images in the covers will automatically resize depending on the screen size.

You can use free design software like Canva to create a custom size.

This is a great way to apply library branding throughout the catalog.

Once you upload your logo, you may have to do a hard refresh on your catalog page to force a reload of your cover images. 

To perform a hard rerefesh:

• On Mac: Command + Shift + 'R' key
• On a PC: Shift + F5
• Or, hold the shift key while clicking the Reload button on your browser.
• Right click and select Reload

Once reloaded, you will see your cover images applied:

If you use a smaller image and do not fill the entire 280x280 space, there will be a white background behind your image. 

Remove the Default Cover Image 

To remove the image and go back to the default autogenerated image at any time, go back into your Theme settings and remove the uploaded Background Image for Default Covers. When you do a hard refresh again, the covers will return to the default cover image based on your theme.

Add Same Custom Cover Image to Multiple Catalogs at Once

For consortiums using Aspen, you may want to apply the same custom cover image to mutliple or all catalogs at once.

To do this, you can utilize an existing default theme or create a new one. You may already be using a theme that you are extending for things like footers, favicons, base colors, or CSS. This theme is often labeled 'default'.

If you are already using this, you'll likely find this theme repeated in the Extends Theme column.

If you are unsure, you can try searching your themes.

If you don't see a custom or default theme, simply scroll to the bottom and click on Add New to create a new theme.

In the default theme, upload the custom cover icon following the instructions above.

Once you have the icon uploaded, either select libraries and click Batch Update Selected or select Batch Update All.

From the dropdown, select Field to Update - Extends Theme and Extends Theme - select the theme you uploaded the formats icons into from the dropdown > Update. 

Now, check your library catalogs to confirm the format icons are showing.

Other Default Cover Images

Learn about replacing the default cover images for Website Indexing results

Learn about replacing the default cover images for Open Archives results

In a grouped work with a lot of formats from different vendors, you will get a list of all the cover images available in the record under Grouped Records.

Type describes where the cover image is coming from, such as the ILS, cloud_library, overdrive, or hoopla.

Identifier describes the record ID or grouped work where the image is attached to.

You can browse the images by clicking on Preview Cover.

While you are browsing, you can click on Use Cover when you select a cover you'd like to use. 

Under Book Cover Information, you can see the Image Source of the current cover.

Once you change the image, you will see a Reset button appear in your Grouped Records list.

This will show what the last cover image was and you can reset back to it by clicking on that. 

When changing cover images, there is browser cacheing at play. If you want to test changes, try opening a new browser (exp: Chrome vs. Firefox) and seeing if they show in another browser. You can also try clearing your cache and reloading.

In Staff View, select Upload Cover by URL. Paste in the URL of an image hosted on an external website, and Aspen will download the image from its source and load it into Aspen for you. The URL is only needed once, so if the URL ever changes or is taken down, this will not affect the cover image in Aspen.

Refer to the Upload Cover Image from Computer section of the Help Center for detailed options when uploading covers.

When changing cover images, there is browser cacheing at play. If you want to test changes, try opening a new browser (exp: Chrome vs. Firefox) and seeing if they show in another browser. You can also try clearing your cache and reloading.

Defining Covers in MARC

If you want to use the same cover for a large number of records in the ILS, it can be easier to set the cover for all of the records using an 856 link within the MARC record.

To use this method, you will first need to make sure that the cover is available to Aspen. This can be done by either uploading it to the Aspen server using Web Builder functionality (in the Images section) or by adding it to one of your own content servers.

After the cover has been uploaded, you will add an 856 field with the following subfields:

1. First Indicator = 4
2. Second Indicator = 2
3. Subfield 2 = Aspen
4. Subfield 3 = CoverImage
5. Subfield u = {Full image URL}

Note: For the cover to show properly, you may need to click the Reload Cover button within Staff View of the record.

To adjust the cover image layout of cover images, go to Aspen Administration > Themes & Layout > Themes > Cover Image Style.

You can select from:

• Border/Picture Frame
• Shadow/Floating

Border/Picture Frame

Shadow/Floating

Once you've uploaded or changed an image, you will get a success message.

However, you will typically not see the updated image immediately due to how web browsers cache images; this can vary depending on an individual's browser settings.

To see an updated cover right away, you can do a "hard refresh" to update the cover image in your image cache.

To perform a hard refresh:

• On Mac: Command + Shift + 'R' key
• On a PC: Shift + F5
• Or, hold the shift key while clicking the Reload button on your browser.
• Right click and select Reload

You can also try bringing up the record with the new cover image in a different browser to see the changes.

This mostly comes up for library staff who are working closely with cover images in Aspen. Keep in mind that even if you don't see the image right away on your computer, other users on the catalog will be able to see the updates to the image(s) without performing any refresh.

Note that refreshing the image cache in your browser is not the same as clicking the Reload Cover button in Staff View. Clicking that button will force Aspen to re-fetch the image from various paid and/or free sources to try to find a cover image and update it if necessary. This will not clear your browser cache for you.

Clicking Reload Cover button in Staff View will force Aspen to re-fetch the cover image from paid sources first (if applicable) such as Syndetics or Content Cafe, then search through free sources (coce server, OMDB), to find a cover image and update the image if necessary. Clicking this button will not force a refresh of the image cache on your browser.

In Staff View, clicking Hide Third Party Cover Image will remove the cover image if it's from a third-party source and display the Aspen default cover image instead. This action will apply to the entire grouped work, whether you click the button on the grouped work page or on a record page.

After clicking, a success message will pop up saying, "Covers for this work will no longer be pulled from a third party."

The button will then change to say, Allow Third Party Cover Image. Click this to allow Aspen to fetch covers from third parties once again. You'll see a new sucess message telling you that a third party cover image will load in if one is available.

To turn on covers within the grouped work display, go to Aspen Administration > Catalog/Grouped Works > Grouped Work Display > click into your corresponding settings > check Show Covers for Editions.

When Show Covers for Editions is checked, the covers of the different editions will show when users click on Show Editions. 

Here is an example of Show Covers for Editions checked and Show Related Record Labels unchecked.

Here is an example of Show Covers for Editions checked and Show Related Record Labels checked.

For better performance, the Show Editions button will now fetch data on demand instead of at the time of search.