Library search engine receives a technological makeover

‘ ‘ ‘ Students searching for resources in the library can now choose between a new format and… ‘ ‘ ‘ Students searching for resources in the library can now choose between a new format and the original catalog to track down the perfect book. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Web services librarian Jeff Wisniewski said PITTCat+, the updated version of PITTCat, the library’s in-house search engine, offers library-goers a more intuitive search method that mimics Web sites like Amazon.com. ‘ ‘ ‘ The new catalog allows users to start with a broad search and then refine the search terms with a few clicks of a sidebar, unlike the old version, which requires first switching to a different page and then completing an advanced search to narrow the options, said Wisniewski. ‘ ‘ ‘ For each search, PITTCat+ produces a word cloud, a web of related words based on the original search term that helps the user brainstorm to find a more accurate search, he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ A search for ‘enlightenment’ on PITTCat+ conjures a list of books in English, a sidebar offering other languages, formats, publication dates and more, a word cloud offering such alternatives as ‘postmodernism,’ ‘liberalism,’ ‘lumieres’ and ‘Buddhism.’ On PITTCat Classic, the search brings up a list of books in English and other languages and an immediate display of the resource’s status and call number. ‘ ‘ ‘ Currently, the word cloud uses a color-coded system to tell the user if the suggested word is an associated word, a spelling variation, a translation or a thesaurus term. However, the key for the color code is obscured when opened on Internet Explorer. ‘ ‘ ‘ The PITTCat+ system also brings in new content, including the cover, table of contents and reviews for about 1 million books and contains new digital collections of academic resources compiled by Pitt, such as the Historic Pittsburgh Collection, which includes documents and photographs from Pittsburgh’s past, said Wisniewski. ‘ ‘ ‘ PITTCat+ will automatically search Google Books, as well, for partial- or full-text online copies and provide links to available texts, he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘That expands exponentially the amount of content available online,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ As another feature, the system allows users to subscribe to an RSS feed. This means that when the user can choose to receive updates when the library adds something new to one of their previous searches. Through this, students can find out almost immediately when new content relevant to their interests becomes available. ‘ ‘ ‘ The library has recently done an ease-of-use test on PITTCat Classic and plans to conduct one soon for PITTCat+ in order to compare the two systems, said Wisniewski. ‘ ‘ ‘ For now, the library plans to keep PITTCat Classic to allow people who have grown used to the old system to continue to use it, he said.