VuFind is an
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
library search engine that allows users to search and browse beyond the resources of a traditional
Online public access catalog (OPAC). Developed by
Villanova University, version 1.0 was released in July 2010 after two years in beta.
VuFind operates with a simple interface and offers flexible keyword searching. While most commonly used for searching catalog records, VuFind can be extended to search other library resources including: locally cached journals, digital library items, and institutional repository and bibliography. The software is also modular and highly configurable, allowing implementers to choose system components to best fit their needs.
The project wiki lists around two hundred institutions running live or beta instances of VuFind including the
Georgia Tech Library, the
National Library of Ireland,
Yale University, and the
DC Public Library
The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) is the public library system for the District of Columbia, in the United States. The system includes 26 individual libraries including Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (the DCPL's central libra ...
, as well as a dozen of instances run by
finc
''finc'' (find in catalog) is an open consortium comprising various university libraries that jointly operate and develop bibliographic search engines (cf. discovery systems) for their users. The consortium focuses on free and open source softwa ...
in Germany.
Features
VuFind offers a number of features that enhance usability:
*
Faceted search results that allow users to narrow items by format, call number, language, author, genre, era, region, and more
*Suggested resources and searches
*Browsing capability
*Personal organization and annotation of resources through favorites lists, texting, e-mailing, tagging, and commenting features
*Persistent URLs
*APA or MLA citations
*Author biographies
*Multi-language capability with translations available in Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Bengali (India)
and more
References
External links
* {{official website, https://vufind.org
Code repository
Free library and information science software
Free software programmed in PHP
Search engine software