Trying again for a new SIUCat

Last summer, Morris Library, along with the other libraries that are part of I-Share, switched to a new version of the library catalog. That upgrade turned into a minor fiasco for CARLI, the consortial organization responsible for I-Share. By the end of summer, the public views of the catalog were reverted back to the old version.

CARLI is slowly, tentatively trying again with the new catalog interface. Sometime next week, it will be possible to go to https://i-share7.carli.illinois.edu to access I-Share or to https://i-share7.carli.illinois.edu/sic to access SIUCat. The old look for SIUCat will still be available, but Morris Library may make the catalogs default to the new interface during part of winter break.

Please let me know if you have comments about the new interface.

Next Generation Catalogs: SIUCat Beta Search

Yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education had an article about library catalogs. One of the open source solutions mentioned in the article was VuFind, the program behind SIUCat Beta Search and behind I-Share's VuFind search.

The Virtual Library Group at Morris Library is looking at some of the other alternatives listed in the article. As the article mentions, the commercial options can cost tens of thousands of dollars each year. Customized open source software can be just as expensive because the programmers need to be paid. Morris Library has an added complication from I-Share. As part of our arrangement to get easy access to the books from other university libraries in Illinois, we all share a catalog. Almost any change that we make to SIUCat is constrained by this (otherwise awesome) arrangement. Nevertheless, the potential in some of these tools could make it a lot easier to find library materials.