Written by Darla Dunning, News Editor / Photo courtesy of Odum Library

VSU’s Odum Library transitioned to a new library catalog system on May 26 so students, faculty and staff would have one catalog to search for materials at Odum Library and other University System Georgia (USG) libraries.

USG decided to transition to what is known as a “next-generation library system,” and the new catalog is part of the transition. All USG institutions made the change at the same time, with the exception of Georgia Tech, who switched to this system earlier.

Michael Holt, Odum reference librarian, explained the changes with the new library catalog system.

“It makes searching for materials from other University System schools a lot easier,” Holt said. “Before you had to visit a different website to request books from another institution, now you can search these books by selecting the option in a regular search. In addition, the catalog is integrated with MyVSU, making retrieving the GALILEO password and renewing books even easier than before.”

In addition, other items have been changed including the removal of the ‘Journal A-Z’ tab which was on the library homepage, the ‘Books’ tab has been replaced with a ‘Books & Journals’ tab and the web address.

Holt shared his favorite change made to the new catalog system.

“I like the MyVSU integration the most,” Holt said. “I stay logged in to MyVSU most of the time and it is nice to not have to worry about how to log in to the library catalog to renew a book.”

According to Holt, the Odum Library staff is creating workshops for students, faculty and staff who want a better understanding of how to use the new library catalog system, but no dates have been finalized at this time.

To learn more about the catalog, Odum Library has created a guide for all the basics on how to use the site at http://libguides.valdosta.edu/new-GIL/home.