WSU Libraries’ Search It launches on Dec. 18

By Nella Letizia, WSU Libraries

Search-It-logo-200PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University students and faculty leaving campus after finals this week will see a change when they return in a month for spring semester: a new shared library management service called Search It.

WSU Libraries is on track to launch the system on Dec. 18. Once it goes live, patrons will use a single search box to find journals, books and digitized collections. They will be able to access some 9 million titles and 26 million resources from 36 other higher education institutions.

For more about the changes, including a video introduction to the system, visit http://libguides.wsulibs.wsu.edu/search_it.

“After several months and an incredibly dedicated effort by libraries’ staff, including many late nights and weekends, we’re very close to having a library management system that will make our users’ search experience even better,” said Beth Blakesley, associate dean of WSU Libraries. “We look forward to hearing what patrons have to say and encourage comments and suggestions.”

A form to submit feedback about Search It can be found at https://libraries.wsu.edu/content/search-tool-feedback.

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, Wash.) and Willamette University (Salem, Ore.).

WSU will join the second group of alliance libraries to migrate to Search It by 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