Libraries on Prince Edward Island now have a virtual front door with the launch of a new web portal providing a gateway to library collections. Material in all the locations of Holland College and all of the holdings of the branches of the Provincial Library Service are now accessible through a single search page at islandlibraries.ca.
The new portal allows the public to search the resources of both of these institutions at one time rather than having to visit two different sites to gather information about library holdings. When holdings are identified, the portal provides a way to request material to be delivered to any of the Holland College or Provincial Library locations convenient to the borrower.
Holland College President Alex MacAulay explained his institution's interest in the project, "As a province-wide institution, our students need easy access to materials from a variety of sources. We, in turn, have specialized resources our partners across the Island can use. This project makes it easier for us to address both of these aims." Gail Shea, the Minister responsible for the Provincial Library Service, said, "The province supports this initiative because it allows Islanders from Tignish to East Point to easily search for resources of interest to them, and it provides a platform we can build on to add more services in the future."
The initiative grew out of a project under the Knowledge Economy Partnership which identified collections of resources in institutions and organizations across the province and proposed bringing access to these collections together. Technical staff from Holland College and the Provincial Library Service contributed to the creation and design of the new site.
Islandlibraries.ca is a component of the Charlottetown Town Square project which has received funding from Industry Canada's Smart Communities Program. Charlottetown's mayor George MacDonald said, "Just as we see Holland College and the public library being a very important part of Charlottetown, the presence of these institutions as part of our ‘virtual downtown' contributes to the city as a Smart Community."
Holland College Librarian Brenda Brady and Provincial Library Director Allan Groen noted that they hope to develop the portal so that library collections in other institutions will be added in the future. "Our objective is that Islanders would have to go to only one place to look for library resources," said Ms Brady. The portal also has the capacity to add links to other library resources.
The portal can be reached on the internet at islandlibraries.ca.