Libraries on target for December Search It launch

Search-It-logo-200PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University Libraries is on track to launch Search It, a new shared library management service, by the end of December.

Once the system goes live, patrons can use a single search box to find journals, books and digitized collections. They also can access some 9 million titles and 26 million resources from 36 other higher education institutions.

For more about the changes, including any updates, visit http://libguides.wsulibs.wsu.edu/search_it.

“Our library faculty and staff have been extremely busy gearing up for this launch,” said Beth Blakesley, associate dean of WSU Libraries. “They attended training over the fall to learn about the new service applications and certify for the switchover.

“Several working groups are now testing the new system to ensure that library users have the smoothest transition possible when Search It goes live,” she said.

Search It is shared by a consortium of Pacific Northwest universities, colleges and community colleges called the Orbis Cascade Alliance. Six alliance universities were the first to make the switch to the system over the summer: Linfield College (McMinnville, Ore.), Marylhurst University (Marylhurst, Ore.), Pacific University (Forest Grove, Ore.), University of Washington (Seattle), Western Washington University (Bellingham) and Willamette University (Salem, Ore.).

WSU will join the second group to migrate before the end of the year. All 37 libraries are expected to switch by December 2014.

For more about the Orbis Cascade Alliance, visit http://orbiscascade.org/index/index.

 

Contacts:

Beth Blakesley, associate dean, WSU Libraries, 509-335-6134, beth.blakesley@wsu.edu

Nella Letizia, public relations/communication coordinator, WSU Libraries, 509-335-6744, letizia@wsu.edu