Big changes have occurred on the digital side of the Salzmann Library! Several months ago, I wrote a blog about some of the physical changes and new or moved collections, now I want to give you information about our computer changes.

As I hope most of you are aware, we are part of the Switch consortium, along with seven other college libraries in the greater Milwaukee area. I will not get to technical, but we used a library computer system named Millennium that has become old and rather dated. After a lot of testing and trying different systems, we have now switched to a new system called Koha. I know the technical, behind-the-scenes aspects will bore you, so I just want to mention some of the changes with the catalog website, topcat.switchinc.org. This is the same website that we had before, so, thankfully, none of that changed.

For the first time logging into your account, please click on the link at the end of the first paragraph entitled “listing of default usernames here” for information regarding the reset password and username.

Searching will be somewhat easier. This system utilizes a search method similar to those used by Google and Amazon to, hopefully, bring what you are searching for right to the top of the page. You can again search by keyword, title, author, etc., however you can also limit your search to a particular library from the main page (in the pulldown menu “All libraries”).

The bigger changes are once you have found a book record. Thankfully, we now no longer have initials, the individual institutions are fully named. We are St. Francis Seminary. It will then give you more information including where the book can be found (Main Collection, DVD Collection, etc., as well as availability and call number, in what I think are pretty convenient charts and graphs). The tab for requesting an item is no longer at the top of the page, it is now named “Place Hold” and is on the right-hand side.

It is different from our old system, but I believe it is more user-friendly, and just needs a little getting used to. If you have any problems or questions, both Marijo and I will be happy to help you, whether you come into the library and ask in person or over the phone. We are excited about this change, and hope that you will come to enjoy the new Topcat as well.

As always, if you have any ideas or comments for things I could change, please let me know. If you have any books that you have read or have read the books I mention, please leave a comment. We here at Salzmann also want to know what people are reading. Remarks are always appreciated – anything I can do to make this better I will strive my best to accomplish.

Here is some basic information about the library:
• Our standard hours are Tuesdays, Thursdays, 12 to 8 p.m.; Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Our address is 3257 S. Lake Dr., St. Francis, WI 53235, right next to Henni Hall, due west of the South Parking Lot.
• The library’s phone number is (414) 747-6479. If you would like to contact me through email, it is mschrauth@sfs.edu.
• There is free Wi-Fi available.
• “Like” us on Facebook – Salzmann Library