Contact: Phil Hearn
Mississippi State and four other state universities are subscribing to a new library service--one with SFX appeal--that links all of their online resources and makes it easier for patrons at each school to find information.
Stephen Cunetto, MSU's general library system administrator, said the university is joining forces with libraries at Mississippi University for Women, University of Southern Mississippi, and Mississippi Valley State and Delta State universities in subscribing to an application commonly known as an OpenURL linking server.
He said the application called SFX was developed by Ex Libris, a worldwide supplier of software solutions and related services for libraries and information centers. SFX has been described as a "unique and revolutionary tool for navigation and discovery, delivering powerful linking services in the scholarly information environment."
"After reviewing a number of similar applications, the universities decided to subscribe to SFX, based on the functionality and maturity of the product," Cunetto explained. "SFX is an award-wining, context-sensitive reference linking software."
USM librarian Kay Wall said she was delighted at the cooperative agreement, adding, "These efforts maximize our resources and make the task of finding electronic serials easier for our faculty and students."
Delta State libraries director Terry Latour added: "The SFX OpenURL linking is another excellent example of how Mississippi university libraries are cooperating to reduce costs and improve services and resources for students and faculty."
In signing the contract, Cunetto said the Mississippi universities join hundreds of other libraries around the world utilizing the new navigation resource. Some other U.S. institutions using the library tool are California State Universities, Carnegie-Mellon, Colorado State, Florida State, and Georgia State.
"Previously, if an article was available online in a full-text resource such as EBSCOHost's Academic Search Elite, the patron had to know to look in this particular database," said Cunetto. "With SFX, regardless of the database being searched, the patron will be 'linked' to the full text of the article. If the article is not available online, the patron will be linked to the local institution's online catalog and interlibrary loan online form.
"By working together, these (Mississippi university) libraries were able to combine their technical expertise and their financial resources in order to purchase a product that is being used by other institutions around the country," Cunetto added.
For more information, contact MSU's Cunetto at (662) 325-8542 or scunetto@library.msstate.edu; Terry LaTour of DSU at tlatour@deltastate.edu; Annie Payton of MVSU at apayton@mvsu.edu; or Kay Wall of USM at kay.wall@usm.edu.