Our new search interface Aladin Discovery has undergone a few improvements lately. Most notable is that the default location for search is now Catholic University. If you would like to expand your search to include all WRLC libraries, click on the option for “Show items from all locations“. Alternately you can use the drop-down menu to the right of the search results to select a specific school.

As we now have a CUA specific version of Discovery, we can make modifications that will best suit our students and faculty. Discovery is still in beta, and we will continue to tweak and make changes throughout the semester. Please send us your thoughts and comments to help us improve Discovery.

The CUA Libraries, in collaboration with our partner libraries in the Washington Research Libraries Consortium (WRLC) are launching a new search interface for the Libraries resources this semester.

Aladin Discovery offers an intuitive search interface and has new features, such as faceted browsing, edition clustering, and improved relevance ranking.

Please give it a try, give us your feedback, and expect a few glitches as it is still a pilot. We are excited to provide this opportunity and a new, enhanced search capability.

The Berkman Center at Harvard University has created a tool that allows researchers to compare subjects across various blogs and online newspapers.  Called ‘Media Cloud’, this tool shows, among other things,  how a new topic trend spreads across different countries and compares how a topic is being covered in different publications.   From the web site:  “Media Cloud automatically builds an archive of news stories and blog posts from the web, applies language processing, and gives you ways to analyze and visualize the data.”

The three tools available allow you to view the coverage of the top 10 most mentioned terms in a particular blog or publication, show the top 10 most mentioned terms in a source on a particular topic, and a world map showing the degree of coverage in other countries on a particular topic.  The Berkman Center intends to expand the number of tools and it encourages solicitations from researchers.  Furthermore, open source is available for researchers who want to develop their own programs and tools.

The University Libraries have received new copy machines. These new machines will use Cardinal Cash from your Cardinal Card or new copy cards that are now available. For a limited time, we will run the old copiers alongside the new copies where space permits. The old copy cards will continue to work on the old copy machines only.

Anyone with a Cardinal Card should be able to add value to their Cardinal Cash account using a credit card at the Cardinal Card website. First select “Manage Your Cardinal Card Account”, then select “Manage Your Account Online”. From there you should be able to log in and add value.

You can also add funds to your Cardinal Card at vending machines located in Mullen Library and the Music Library. These vending machines will also issue copy cards for visitors.

Please be aware that the new copy machines use a new type of copy card. Copy cards you had previously purchased will not work with the new machines. It is for this reason that we will continue to run some of the old copy machines for a limited time.

If you have questions or problems regarding the transition, please stop by the Information Desk on the first floor.

Thanks for you patience and cooperation!

Beginning Monday, December 8th, you will be able to send call numbers to your mobile phone from the Aladin Catalog. No more pencil and paper!

To use, click on the new ‘Text it’ button on the item record page.

When you click on it, a window will pop up.

Enter your phone number and provider and that’s it! The call number, title, and author will instantly be sent to your mobile phone.

Written by: Joel Shields, WRLC

The ALADIN Catalog is operating normally again. We thank you for your patience and apologize for the inconvenience while the system was repaired.

If you have any questions please Ask a Librarian.

Access to the ALADIN Catalog continues to be problematic. In the meanwhile there are still options for conducting research in the library and electronically.

Access to electronic journal articles and databases
The problems we are experiencing with the catalog should not affect the subscription databases. You should still be able to access them as normal.

Finding books and journals in CUA Libraries
Although you may not be able to search our library catalog right now, there is a database known as OCLC WorldCat that can serve as a catalog to libraries nationwide. After you conduct a search, look through the results for items labeled Catholic Univ of America. These are items we actually own. Click on the title to see the full record and a partial call number – this will help you locate the item in the stacks. However be warned – WorldCat does not have circulation data, so it will not tell you if an item is checked out, nor if it is in a campus library as opposed to Mullen. Ask at the Information Desk if you are unsure.

You can also specify that WorldCat list only items from CUA Libraries in the search results. From the main WorldCat page, select Expert Search, scroll down until you find Limit availability to: and check the box next to Items in my library. This is actually a fairly decent way to continue your research while the catalog is down.

If you have any questions please Ask a Librarian.

The ALADIN Catalog is back up and functional. However, the catalog continues to experience problems that may lead to slow or failed searches. WRLC is working on the issue and hopes to have it resolved soon.

You should be able to access the Article Databases as normal since the problem does not affect them.

The Voyager server that powers the ALADIN Catalog is currently experiencing problems that prevent access to the catalog. WRLC is working on the problem and hopes to have it corrected soon. We will post a message when the catalog is up and running again.

You should be able to access the Article Databases as normal since the problem does not affect them.

There are several printers in Mullen Library that available for printing over the wireless network. If you would like to take advantage of this, please see the instructions for adding library printers to your personal laptop.

Changes to printer settings
In order to resolve some of the issues you may have recently experienced while trying to print in Mullen Library we have changed the IP addresses for all of the printers. If you had previously used your personal laptop to print in Mullen library, you will have to update your settings. The best way to do this is to delete the old printer settings, then add a new printer following the directions on our website. If you have questions or need help setting up your laptop, please ask at the Information Desk.

New first floor printers
The library has purchased two new printers and set them up at the Information Desk and in the MERIC Computer Lab. You may have noticed as these are quite a bit larger than the previous models! It is our hope that the new printers and network changes will improve the reliability and speed of the printing services we provide. If you do experience any difficulties we first ask for your patience, and second that you notify a library staff member right away. These printers receive an incredible amount of use all day long, and they are not perfect – but we will try to rectify any problems as soon as we can.

Happy printing!