Voyager ILS and WebVoyage

Published Feb. 14, 2013

Background and Description

The Geospatial Information Library (GIL) within the US Army Geospatial Center (AGC) is part of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The GIL utilizes Ex Libris (USA) Inc. Voyager integrated library system (ILS) to catalog its library holdings. Voyager is an ILS with modules for cataloging, circulation, acquisitions, reports and others. Additionally, Voyager’s online public access catalog (OPAC) WebVoyage is the interface between the customer and the library’s catalog. WebVoyage is available to customers with a .mil address or CAC card. WebVoyage reflects the GIL’s collection, which consists of image maps, topographic and other physical science maps, area studies, as well as sources on the physical sciences and geography of regions and countries, and other geospatial data.

Key Capabilities

WebVoyage is available through both the AGC’s Intranet and SIPRnet portal. It provides the user with easy access to the catalog at the desktop. WebVoyage allows users to conduct four types of searches: simple, advanced, country/regional and geospatial. Voyager’s geospatial searching allows researchers to navigate the AGC’s map collection. The search engine pinpoints maps that include the coordinates entered. Users may also Search by author, title and/or keyword. WebVoyage maintains a search history for each Work session. WebVoyage holds a list of titles for each current search, which allows users to move about the search results quickly. A search limit feature sets limits for the search results, such as language, date, and country name. There are also browse features for call numbers and subjects. Relevancy rankings are built into each search.

Benefits

Flexibility is the major benefit of WebVoyage. As new records are saved in the catalog, they are immediately available to the patron in WebVoyage. Each search screen and display screen reflects the unique research requirements of the AGC. Additionally, cataloged records with imbedded urls may be linked directly from WebVoyage to its digital counterpart as a .geopdf, .jpeg, or other file formats.

Product Development

Geospatial Data Branch, Warfighter Support Division, US Army Geospatial Center, US Army Corps of Engineers.

Current Status

The AGC utilizes Voyager version 6.1, the most current version available. This version implements imbedded Unicode. Unicode maintains the integrity of foreign language records from one medium to another. In addition, the expanded search functionality of version 6.1 includes expanded keyword search options, which serve as additional access points for patrons. The GIL’s approximately 30,000 records can be accessed via the OPAC: https://voyager.agc.army.mil.

Point of Contact

Commercial (703) 428-6903, DSN 364-6903.