Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/119308
Ne w Smar t S earch sof t ware launched Students see perks for interdisciplinar y research Research became easier and more efficient the beginning of this year for students using the Libraries��� websites. With a single click the websites��� new search software ��� Smart Search ��� has the capability of simultaneously exploring hundreds of databases of information resources. This enables students to conduct searches across multiple kinds of materials quickly and efficiently. With the previous system students had difficulties identifying which database to use for their research. Timothy Peters, director of Information Services, says Smart Search is a great tool for interdisciplinary research, explaining it helps users locate articles, books, videos, websites and other academic resources. The new system searches CMU Libraries��� books and media, research databases such as ERIC and MEDLINE, e-journal collections and other resources all at once. ���Sometimes topics can fall into more than one area of research. Something like interpersonal communication has relevance in business, social sciences, education and psychology,��� Peters says. ���A user can leverage the powerful multidisciplinary index of Smart Search to find articles from different disciplines with one search.��� Much like a Google search, Peters says the search interface is simple and it���s accessible from any computer logged onto the Libraries��� website. 10 10 Graduate student Elizabeth Roelse says research she conducts for the CMU Dietetics Internship is more productive with Smart Search. The Rockford native says she frequently conducted extensive searches of information on patients and their food intake, scholarly journals and medical literature with the prior system. ���Research is something most people cringe at when they think about it,��� Roelse says. ���The new software is easy to navigate through, and I have almost all the information I need with just one search.��� Reference Librarian Stephanie Mathson says Smart Search is a resource that can be utilized in different ways by all students regardless of their academic status. ���Web scale discovery tools such as Smart Search represent the new horizon for libraries, so-to-speak, and more and more institutions are employing them,��� she says. �� ��