Mississippi State instituted a new online search application for the university libraries in August. The program, SFX, links all of the online resources, making it easier for students and faculty to access information.
MSU general library system administrator Stephen Cunetto said representatives of various Mississippi universities researched the prices and capabilities of the products under consideration.
The University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi University for Women, Delta State, Mississippi Valley State and MSU decided to jointly purchase the OpenURL linking server, SFX, at a discounted price.
“We were the leaders in the development of the group,” Cunetto said. “We asked all the schools to come to MSU and then brought in the vendors.”
MUW director Pat Mathis said the SFX server best fit the needs of the universities involved.
“We give Stephen Cunetto a lot of credit for the success of the cooperative projects,” Mathis said.
Cunetto said SFX is also the longest-standing and most mature product of those reviewed.
“It has implemented the greatest number of features that we needed,” Cunetto said.
The program will help make all online resources easier to obtain, even if the patron does not know exactly how to access the information, Cunetto said.
“When searching in an online resource such as EBSCO Host, sometimes an article or link will not have a full-text option,” he said. Research can prove difficult when access to articles is restricted.
“It’s always irritating when you’re doing research and you find the article you need, but then you can’t access it,” sophomore William Anderson said.
According to Cunetto, SFX will diminish this barrier.
“When looking at those without the full-text option, you can click on the SFX button, and it will show you where to find the full-text,” Cunetto said.
“It is a wonderful resource that students will be able to utilize,” he added.
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