Online library searching just got better

Searching the UW Libraries’ online catalog just got better and easier.

The UW Libraries officially launched the new library catalog on Monday, May 21, replacing the nearly 15-year-old MadCat with a catalog featuring a sleek new interface that makes it easier to find the books, journals, and other resources needed for learning, teaching, and research.

To access the catalog, visit: http://search.library.wisc.edu.

First conceived in 2009, the project to improve the library catalog has been an all-library effort, with staff members from across campus supplying their expertise to make it a success.

Interim Director of the General Library System Ed Van Gemert says, “The university spends many millions of dollars each year to purchase, license, and to provide access to electronic and print resources that are not available on the open Web. A talented team of library staff, using modern Web principles, optimized the discovery and accessibility of these costly resources.”

A key feature of the catalog is the ability to search the UW–Madison Libraries catalog and then to seamlessly expand a search to the entire UW System.

That means that students, faculty, and staff can easily search the more than 8.6 million records in the UW System, find materials held by any of the UW System campuses, and place requests for those items to be delivered to Madison.

Curran Riley, project manager for the new catalog says, “Finding items across the UW System is much easier now,” and that this may be his favorite feature of the new system.

The catalog has also been optimized for iPads and other mobile devices, so browsing for books on the bus or within the library stacks will be much easier.

Developer Eric Larson says that the UW Libraries “realize research and discovery happens everywhere, so pursuing a mobile-first web development practice lets us ensure valuable library resources are available from any device at the time and point of need.”

The new catalog has gone through several rounds of user testing. The feedback has guided the development of the catalog and clearly established that students like the new look.

According to one student, “it looks really clean and seems and feels more updated. It seems similar to other popular websites for searching, and those who use those websites may find this one more intuitive.”

Making the interface more intuitive and match patron expectations of search experiences was the initial driving force behind the new catalog. The new catalog allows researchers to keyword search and fine tune searches using common limits such as location, language, and subject.

The catalog contains some content from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections and more will be added during the coming months.

Eventually, students and faculty will be able to find photographs, digitized rare books, maps and more that come from UW Library collections, faculty members, and other cultural institutions.

Riley notes that there is, “a long list of things we can make the library catalog do, and we’ll continue improving it.”

Planned updates include better browsing functionality, increased personalization, and integration of more digital content.