Pitt Library System Simplifies PITTCat+

Pitt’s University Library System (ULS) has revamped its massive catalog—PITTCat+— to make the system even easier to use. All books, CDs, DVDs, maps, and several million academic articles accessible via ULS can now be searched in one computerized index.

“Prior to this, users would search the library catalog for books, several databases for academic articles, and different databases for newspaper articles,” said Jeff Wisniewski, a ULS Web services librarian. “Resources were scattered in different silos. Now we have a single comprehensive index for all of the content to which the ULS has access,” he said.

Another convenience for students: More items are now available with the full text online.

In addition, there are more ways to refine a standard PITTCat+ search. Users can search just within scholarly publications or only in newspaper articles, for example. Users also can extend their search to items beyond ULS’s content to sources identified as useful, but with content that doesn’t belong to any particular library.

“Our goal in the ULS is to make searching for information as easy and seamless as possible from as wide an array of sources as we can. We are excited that this new version of PittCAT+ adds journal articles into the search results along with books and other materials,” said Rush Miller, ULS director and Hillman University Librarian.

The new system, which will retain the PITTCat+ name, is also available to be downloaded on mobile phones.

The ULS is the 23rd-largest academic library system within the United States. Under the administration of the Hillman University Librarian and ULS director, it includes 20 libraries and collections and holds more than 6.2 million volumes and world-class specialized collections, among them the Archive of Scientific Philosophy and the Archives of Industrial Society, as well as major foreign-language materials from around the world totaling 1.4 million volumes. The ULS offers state-of-the-art facilities and services, with innovative digital library collections and capabilities.