Sam Houston State University’s Newton Gresham Library introduced a brand-new software system over the summer. Although the change seems recent, the library’s staff has been discussing a library service platform for the past five years.
Molly Thompson, who has been the systems librarian for the past three years, noted that the “old integrated library system was technologically outdated.”
Thompson explained that the old library platform system was hosted on a Linux server by information technology. The old platform presented limitations and challenges with upgrades.
“Our new systems Ex Libris’ Alma and Primo were created to handle the complex workflow of electronic resources,” Thompson said.
According to Ex Libri’s website, it offers revolutionary technologies to optimize outcomes for library users and staff.
Rebecca Yantis, research, instruction and subject librarian for the College of Arts said, “It hosts catalogs, e-books, databases. It organizes our system, information and data.”
The library has another system that deals with discovery called Primo, which was created to handle the complex workflow of electronic resources.
Primo is what replaced Engine Orange, and unlike the old system, it does not need additional programming to get all the resources.
“As with any huge system migration, there is a learning curve and lots of data clean-up that happens before and after,” Thompson said. “We are still cleaning up data and making sure we have the correct access turned on for all of our resources.”
Thompson also brought up how Primos uses outside supplied data that can sometimes go unverified. Some of the data is incorrect and it can cause confusion when researching sources.
Neither Yantis nor Thompson had a chance to talk to students or professors directly.
“Some don’t even care or notice the change because they aren’t doing in-depth research,” Yantis said. “Others might be a little annoyed simply because they were used to the old system.”
If there are any suggestions or feedback, students have the opportunity report the issue via a form on the library website.
