You might notice something different the next time you visit our website. We’ve been working hard over the summer to update our virtual presence so both faculty and students can have the best possible experience using library services in the fall. Don’t worry—all the library content you know and love is still there. We’ve just done a little reorganizing to make things easier to find, more compatible with mobile devices, and allow for exciting features that will make your life easier and keep you in the loop with what’s going on at the library.

What’s Different?

Visit www.csn.edu/library and the first thing you’ll notice is our brand new home page. In addition to our OneSearch bar that searches almost all of our online collections, we have easy navigation buttons to get you straight to books, articles, our list of databases, and our help contacts. These buttons are easy to find on a computer, and even easier to tap on a smartphone or other mobile device. You might also notice our rotating carousel of news stories from our brand new blog that will keep you informed on library events, new resources, and more.

Our site also offers easy top menu navigation that’s visible on every page. “Find” helps students locate everything from research materials to textbooks while “Research Help” has online tutorials that guide students through the research process.

Want to know what the library can do for you? Click on “Library Services”! Here you can renew books, suggest materials for the library to purchase, and even schedule a librarian to come to your classroom. We talk about how to find quality resources through the library website, and tailor our presentations to your specific upcoming assignments. If you teach online, we have resources here just for you, including instructions on adding library links into Canvas.

Why Change?

While our previous website offered a lot of content, user surveys showed that much of it could be hard to find or overwhelming and hard to access if you were using anything besides a desktop computer. With the hiring of our new Digital Librarian last July, we knew we could make some changes that would benefit our users and respond to their concerns.

As the main portal to credible research materials, it’s an important goal of the library to keep our website current and accessible to students and faculty throughout the year. While this website is not part of the CSN’s move to our new content management system, it does allows us to prepare for the transition by streamlining the navigation of our content and providing a superior user experience while we are planning how the library services will fit into the CSN’s new web presence. To ensure uninterrupted service, all bookmarks and links that you currently have to the library website will still work.

Can’t Find It?

If you can’t find something you used to use on the library website, please don’t hesitate to ask! While our new site is designed for ease of use, transitions can be a little disorienting. We’re always available to walk you through the features of our site or let you know where to find the favorite resources you used to access. Get in touch with a librarian via online chat, email, phone, or in person—all our points of contact are listed on our contact page.

You can also contact our Digital Librarian or eLearning Librarian directly from our staff directory.

The library is here for you! We look forward to working with you this semester!