LSU Libraries recently upgraded its online catalog and related library systems by moving them to new servers on the cloud. The move was part of a statewide migration conducted by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network, which had been hosting the services on the LSU campus. The systems are now hosted by a dedicated cloud facility in Atlanta, Georgia.

The migration offers many advantages. Greek symbols and diacritics are supported, and diverse languages, such as Chinese, Hebrew, Cyrillic, and Arabic, can now be used to describe and display the materials in the catalog. The catalog is also much faster, which means faster searches and quicker online renewals.

LSU Libraries uses software developed by SirsiDynix, and by moving to their SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) hosting, the Libraries are able to take advantage of the economies of scale. The move saves time, money, and the environment, because the dedicated facilities use less energy and space than local servers. The facility is more secure, with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) security certification and standards. Disaster recovery is even more robust than before, which is important in hurricane-prone areas such as south Louisiana. And historically, SirsiDynix SaaS hosting has a network uptime of better than 99.9%, so that the catalog will be available whenever it is needed.