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The SUNY union catalog, no longer an Aleph-based catalog, is now using the WorldCat application
programming interface (API) and a developed-in-house search system. This change became official December 22, 2010 and reflects recommendations and work by OLIS, S.A.C. and other SUNY library colleagues.

The change was necessitated partially by the growing pains of the Aleph-based union catalog. That is, unsupported software components would cease to operate and/or be unrepairable as of 2011. Additional details on this aspect have been shared with the community and can be found via links in the July issue of SUNYergy. In addition, the new interface offers the chance to incorporate components of newer search systems (see SUNYergy July 2010).

Thanks to those who have sent in comments and suggestions for SUNYCatalog.  Much of this input has been included during ongoing development of the system. 

Some parts of SUNYCatalog are constrained by particular aspects of the WorldCat API.  But, we are not restricted from making many changes as when the entire software component is proprietary to a vendor.  This approach using open-source software provides flexibility, but is not without costs.  As the saying goes, "free software is free, like a free kitten."  And, who doesn't like kittens?

The S.A.C. recommendation also highlighted the benefit of investigating other open source components as possible portions of SUNYSearch.  That is, the use of the enterprise search platform Solr as part of a SUNY-wide discovery tool tailored to our environment.

For more information about SUNYCatalog, see the FAQ document attached to Footprints Public Solution #8157.