If you’ve tried to find a book or a journal through the Queen’s library system today, you’ve met Omni. This new search tool gives students, faculty, and everyone else looking for academic materials, access to more information resources and specialized content than ever before. And, users are now able to move seamlessly between different types of content – from electronic and print, books and journals and more. 

“Now, when researchers search the physical and electronic holdings of the Queen’s University Library, at the same time they can search a vast collection of academic resources from 13 other Ontario university libraries and from additional sources,” says Leslie Taylor, Reference/Technical Services Librarian at the William R. Lederman Law Library.

Omni has replaced both QCAT and Summon with a single tool that streamlines the process.  “Omni offers a modern, intuitive search interface that I think people will find easy to use,” adds Taylor. “It also contains some useful advanced features such as the ability to create search alerts and to store and organize your saved search results into folders.”

All these benefits mean users will experience fast and easy access to a vast collection of diverse, high-quality academic research resources, enabling them to broaden the scope of their research projects and reach their research goals with ease and confidence.

Omni, the product of a partnership among 14 university libraries in Ontario, involved two years of careful planning and work. 

All Queen’s community members have to do now is sign in with their Queen’s ID and password. Then they’ll be able to access all the new system has to offer. 

Law Library staff invite interested students and faculty to their drop-in training sessions offered from now until December 23 and then again in January. On December 13, Queen’s University community members are also welcome to enjoy cake at the Law Library in celebration of the Omni launch. 

“The word ‘omni’ means ‘of all things’,” concludes Taylor. “I think it’s a particularly apt name for this new search tool.”