The College of Charleston Libraries are now in the palm of your hand with CougarCat, the library’s new mobile catalog. Offering access to more than half a million books, journals, video recordings, maps, musical scores, manuscript collections, and more, this mobile version of the website and catalog can be used on any browser-enabled phone or mobile device. College of Charleston is one of the first institutions to make this technology available.

You can access the mobile version at http://mcat.library.cofc.edu. You will also be automatically redirected to the mobile interface by going to http://www.cofc.edu/library, or by clicking the “library” link on the College’s mobile website. Quick Response (QR) codes are also available in the library so students can just point a camera phone at the code and access the mobile catalog. For more information on finding and using QR reader apps, visit the Library’s Research Guide.

CougarCat was developed using a free open-source platform, saving the College thousands of dollars a year charged by third-party sources. The College of Charleston is the first university in South Carolina to use this technology for library catalogs.

Patrons can also use CougarCat to check library hours, contact info, log in to your library account to view/renew books, email/text call numbers and titles to your phone, save items in a cart, and view the library’s news and events feed.

“CougarCat enables students to search the catalog or learn more about the library from any where, at any time, says Chris Vinson, Head of Library Systems. “According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 53% of people between the ages 18 -29 use the internet on a handheld device, and the number will keep growing.  CougarCat enables our libraries, and the College of Charleston in general, to keep pace with the increasing mobility of our students and the new ways in which they access information.”

For more information, contact Jolanda Van Arnhem at 953-3604 or vanarnhemj@cofc.edu