LTS Newsletter: March 2026

Library Technology Services, Harvard Library

Welcome to Library Technology Service’s occasional newsletter for anyone interested in Harvard Library IT.

Primo VE Launch

Primo VE (HOLLIS Beta) launched on Tuesday, March 17. This updated version of HOLLIS introduces many technical improvements with minimal impact on the site experience. If you missed the open meeting on March 12th, the recording is now available. You can also learn more by reviewing the HOLLIS FAQs and the open meeting Q&A.

DRS Futures Update: Key Dates for Training, Testing, and Cutover to DRS3

The DRS Futures project is entering the home stretch, with the initial release of DRS3 scheduled for April 28, 2026. User training and user testing in the DRS3 pre-production environment will run from March 31 to April 27, 2026, giving units time to test workflows and integrations. To support cutover, there will be a deposit and edit freeze from April 14 to April 27, 2026. During that time, no deposits may be made to Legacy DRS, and production deposits to DRS3 will not yet be available. Delivery for legacy content will remain uninterrupted throughout the transition. More information, including training registration and the project timeline, is available on the DRS Futures Training Schedule and Project Plan and Timeline wiki pages. DRS3 User Guides are also now available.

Please contact the DRS team with any questions.

Viewer Support for Multiple Transcripts in the Emily Dickinson Archive

One of the great features of the Emily Dickinson Archive (EDA) is that users can select from a historical array of editors’ transcriptions which can be by physical line or poetic line. When viewing a poem, such as “The way hope builds his house” from Amherst College, you can open the Transcript panel in the viewer and choose from a list of editorial editions. You can view the poem laid out by physical line (as it appears on the page) or by poetic line, depending on the edition. These options are available thanks to the new viewer and recent updates to the systems that power image and text display behind the scenes.

Annotated screenshot of the Mirador viewer highlighting transcript viewing options.

Upcoming Changes to eResource Authentication

An open meeting on upcoming changes to eResource authentication was held on March 3, 2026. If you were unable to attend, a recording, slides, and notes are available on the project wiki (see: March 3, 2026 Open Meeting – Slides, Recording, and Notes).

These changes will be of particular interest to library staff who support access to Harvard Library eResources, either through direct user support or by maintaining links on webpages and research guides. Key updates include:

Retirement of direct IP-based access: By Fall 2026, campus IP addresses will no longer be used to authenticate access to Harvard Library–wide licensed eResources. All access will use HarvardKey authentication/OpenAthens authorization.
Decommissioning of EZproxy: EZproxy will be turned off for all Harvard Library OpenAthens resources on May 31, 2026. Before that date, any links using an EZproxy prefix or embedded proxy information must be updated to OpenAthens-compatible links.

Name Resolution Service (NRS) and Extensions

When you look at digital materials at Harvard, you’ve probably seen links like this: https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:FHCL:1422031. These are often called “permanent links” or “URNs.” When you click them, you expect to reach the same digital item every time — whether that’s an image, an audio or video file, or even a HOLLIS help form.

The Name Resolution Service (NRS) is the system that creates and manages these URNs. It has been in place as long as the Digital Repository Service (DRS). Traditionally, its main job has been simple: redirect each URN to a URL. If the URL changes, staff can update where the URN points, keeping the link stable. But, NRS can also provide different outcomes from the same URN, beyond simple redirection, by using “extensions” — short terms added to the end of the URN. The feature was added to NRS several years ago, but extensions are now more prominently used in the newly released Viewer. For example, here is a set of extensions that can be added to an image delivery URN:

:IMAGE – delivers just the image by itself (no Viewer)
:VIEW – shows the image inside the Viewer interface
:THUMBNAIL – delivers a smaller version of the image, limited to a set maximum size

Since the extensions are specific to a delivery type (e.g. Image Delivery, Page Turned Object Delivery, File Delivery) there is potential for other useful behaviors without having to create a completely separate URN! The NRS extensions are an innovation that can have an enormous impact on the delivery of content going forward.

Loading Specific Page Thumbnail Images from Page-Turned Objects

Did you know URNs are capable of supporting links and references to the thumbnail image of a specific page in a page-turned object (PTO)? LTS’s presentation service recognizes page offsets for thumbnail images. Take this example PTO from the Harvard Law School Library: https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HLS.LIBR:106685948. You can construct a URN like this…

https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HLS.LIBR:106685948:THUMBNAIL?n=7

…and it will resolve to a URL that loads the seventh image in the PTO’s sequence, returning a thumbnail-sized version of that image. By specifying a specific page’s thumbnail, the first image in the sequence of a PTO no longer has to serve as its representative thumbnail image.

Staff News

Kara Young, Senior Systems Librarian, recently celebrated her 10-year work anniversary at LTS. Below, Kara reflects on what these ten years have meant to her and what they reveal about LTS as a community.

Reflections

Ten years is nothing in Harvard years. In a place with centuries of history and a long institutional memory, a decade can feel insignificant. But when I look back on my time here, it doesn’t feel small. I’ve worked on many projects, from everyday fixes to make things more reliable to major efforts like system upgrades and new implementations. Those big projects were intense and complicated, but also genuinely satisfying, because they were true teamwork and they changed how we support people at scale.

One indelible marker of my time here was the shutdown, which reshaped everything. Everyone has a 2020 story. My campus leave started a bit early when I went out on parental leave in November 2019, expecting only a brief time away from the routines and hallway check-ins that defined our days in our beloved offices at 90 Mount Auburn Street.

Everyone also knows what came next. When I returned from leave, it was to a completely different work experience. We suddenly had to rebuild how we worked and supported each other for a fully online environment. The frequent desk-side questions and phone calls became messages, tickets, and video calls. The shared context we used to get from being together in the same space had to be recreated intentionally.

What stands out most isn’t a particular project or life-changing event; it’s the adaptability and dedication of LTS. Throughout my time here, my team has showed up, pitched in, shared expertise and kept things running in a constantly evolving environment. So yes, ten years is nothing in Harvard years, but it’s been enough time to see what this team is made of, and to know how grateful I am to be part of it.