Starting next semester, students and faculty will be able to conduct more convenient and extensive searches on the CSU Libraries website.

The new technology will integrate the CSU Libraries’ resources and allow for a more convenient and expanded search, according to Suzi White, Business and Systems Analyst for CSU’s Morgan Library. It will also allow CSU Libraries to better manage and transfer resources to and from other libraries.

In order to implement the new system, White said that CSU Libraries had to temporarily take down the Prospector search tool since it relies on old software that is being replaced. Prospector gives access to over 30 million books, journals, DVDs, CDs, videos and other materials from 44 participating libraries in Colorado and Wyoming.

Currently, items can be searched for on the Colorado State University Libraries website using three primary search tools, Discovery, Sage and Prospector. CSU Libraries are replacing the technology behind the Discovery and Sage search tools and their integrated library catalog system with something different.

“We are moving to a system that’s a little bit more modern,” White said. “A lot of things factor into how you get access to the material the library purchases.”

White said it should be up again sometime next semester. Meanwhile, students can use their Ram Card or a Poudre River Public Library District card to gain access to Prospector through the district’s website. Items can be obtained relatively quickly this way, according to White.

CSU Libraries’ InterLibrary Loan and Local Document Delivery can also be used to obtain items outside of CSU’s collection. If you request an interlibrary loan for an item, CSU library staff will search for the item at libraries that are part of Prospector as well as at other libraries.

When it comes to searching for something in the CSU Libraries’ collection, people will be able to use a new search tool, called Primo, after it is implemented on Dec. 22.

Currently, the Discovery search tool searches the CSU Libraries’ catalog, the digital repository and collections and their website. After searching for a term, one has the option to repeat the search in Sage, which only searches the library’s catalog, by selecting it in the advanced search tab to the right of the search bar.

Primo, which is replacing these two search tools, will allow for a more extensive search. It will search the CSU Libraries’ catalog as well as the digital repository and collections.

Currently, the tabs books, articles and databases, journal titles, reserves and guides are listed above the search bar on the CSU Libraries website. To search for an item under one of those categories, they have to be clicked on individually. Primo will enable people to conduct a single search that will contain results from within all of those categories. However, there will still be an option to refine the search into those kinds of categories.

Another reason for implementing the new integrated library system is so that CSU Libraries can interact better with other libraries in Colorado and around the country.

“(The new system) is becoming less of a Fort Collins campus tool and more of a system wide way of managing things,” White said.

Currently, CSU shares a library catalog with CSU Pueblo, but both are using different kinds of technology for managing library resources and catalogs. The new integrated library system will give the libraries at CSU and CSU Pueblo the ability to streamline and manage resources more easily, according to White. She said that it will also allow CSU Libraries to better manage and exchange resources between CSU Global and Universities around the country.

The CSU Libraries website may be down on Dec. 22, due to the new library system being implemented, according to White. After that, people should be able to search for items using the new system.

Collegian reporter MQ Borocz can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @MQBorocz22.