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The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) Library recently switched from an in-house built library catalogue system to Inmagic’s DB/TextWorks and WebPublisher PRO, becoming the fifth British Columbia health authority to do so.  The new system provides staff in all the VIHA hospitals and health-related offices (and from their homes and elsewhere, too) access to more features than were previously offered.  Because the catalogue is on the Internet, the public can use it too, although requesting items is limited to staff only.  Several of the VIHA library staff have used Inmagic software in other library settings and were delighted to be using it again.

VIHAThe VIHA library catalogue on the web: http://viha.andornot.com is based on the Andornot Starter Kit and features Quick and Advanced search screens, a few popular topic searches – using canned searches.  The search results include Google book covers, which add both colour to the site and links to more details about each book; icons for quick material type identification; Permalinks to provide a link that remains unchanged over time (for sharing and bookmarking); and functions for Ordering requests and Email, Save and Print for sharing or personal use. 

HLABCThey now join other BC Health Authorities, including Fraser Health, Northern Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, and Interior Health, and similar health organizations; all using the same backend Inmagic software.  As a result, this facilitated the inclusion of the VIHA catalogue into the popular Health Libraries Association of BC (HLABC) OneSearch where search terms can be entered into a single search box and all the  catalogues can be searched quickly at the same time.  Librarians from all the health authorities have commented how much they like to use the OneSearch system to locate items not in their collection, thus providing a time saving search mechanism and a wonderful resource sharing tool. 

Both the new features in the VIHA catalogue and the inclusion in the HLABC OneSearch system provide greater functionality to all the VIHA users, including both staff and public alike.   Cliff Cornish, Regional Manager, Library Services, comments:

“It is wonderful to finally have a modern OPAC, and it is great to be able to participate with the other Health Authority Libraries in the HLABC search.”

For further information, contact Andornot. 

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