UC Library Search wins silver systemwide IT innovation award

The UC libraries’ project to consolidate the ten previously independent campus library systems into a single, shared online catalog — UC Library Search — has won the 2022 Silver Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology.

The University of California’s Sautter Award recognizes technology innovations that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of university operations. UC Library Search, which launched last summer, makes it possible to search all UC library collections at once, providing more than 600,000 UC students, faculty, staff and clinicians with one-stop access to the UC’s entire library collection — collectively, the second-largest in the country, after the Library of Congress.

As described in the nomination, UC Library Search also benefits library users by allowing them to “see [all] items borrowed, request extensions and manage one’s account from a single sign-on. With hybrid learning and work becoming the ‘new normal,’ UC Library Search supports remote students and researchers by allowing them to pick up circulated materials at any UC campus or to have a digitized article sent directly to them.”

For tips on how to make the most of UC Library Search, see our UC Library Search User Guide & FAQ.

UC Library Search is the culmination of a complex, collaborative four-year endeavor by the ten UC campus libraries and UC’s central California Digital Library (which manages systemwide journal subscriptions and other shared online resources).