LISWire - Latest Releases

Homer Public Library in Alaska Goes Live With Evergreen

LISWire - Thu, 04/04/2013 - 09:27

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Duluth, GA —April 4, 2013

Homer Public Library has gone live on Evergreen. Equinox Software provided data migration and staff training services. They will also provide ongoing technical support for the library’s Evergreen installation. Almost 45,000 bibliographic items, and more than 9500 patrons were moved to the new system. Their new online catalog can be viewed at catalog.ci.homer.ak.us

Located in Homer, Alaska, the public library dates back to the 1940’s when the local women’s club used an old school building to house the community library. By the 1960’s, the library was operating out of an old fire house and staffed completely by volunteers. The current library building opened in 2006.

Galen Charlton, Equinox Manager, of Implementation says, "I lived in Anchorage for a few years and know how welcoming and helpful the Alaska library community is. It has been a real treat to help welcome another Alaskan library to the Evergreen community."

Ann Dixon, Homer Public Library Director, says "Overall, we are very pleased at how smoothly the migration transpired. Thanks especially to Galen for his tireless and quick responses!"

About Equinox Software, Inc.

Founded by the original Evergreen designers and developers, Equinox Software is a leader in open source solutions for libraries. Their goal is to engage and support a rapidly growing open source community while assisting libraries in moving away from expensive proprietary vendors and products.
For more information on Equinox Software, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com.

About Evergreen

Evergreen is a robust, open-source integrated library system best known for its unique ability to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia. However, it has also proven equally successful scaled down for even the smallest libraries. Evergreen now supports almost 1,200 libraries of every type-public, academic, special, and school media centers across 4 countries, 31 U.S. states, and 8 Canadian provinces. King County Public Library System, SCLENDS, and the NC Cardinal consortiums are all currently running Evergreen. For more information about Evergreen, including a list of all known Evergreen installations, see http://evergreen-ils.org.

Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 770-709-5571

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

JISC Collections Purchases the Brill Journal Archive Online Part 2

LISWire - Thu, 04/04/2013 - 03:46

Leiden (NL) / Boston (MA) – 4 April 2013

Brill, the international scholarly publisher, is pleased to announce that JISC Collections has purchased the Brill Journal Archive Online Part 2 on behalf of the education and research community in the UK.

Part 2 of the Brill Journal Archives is available to access on Brill’s new e-journals and e-books platform booksandjournals.brillonline.com. The content will also be made available on the JISC Journal Archives platform as part of the JISC eCollections service. Eligible libraries wishing to sign up for access to the Brill Journal Archive Online Part 2 are invited to contact JISC Collections.

The purchase of the Brill Journal Archive Online Part 2 follows an earlier acquisition of Part 1 by JISC Collections in 2008. More than 100 institutions in the UK have access to Part 1 and are now eligible for access to Part 2 as well.

The Brill Journal Archives consist of two parts, the first part covering the 19th and 20th century, and the second part covering the first decade of the 21st century. Part II covers all 1,254 volumes of 175 journals that were published in the 10-year period 2000-2009.

“Together with the Brill Journal Archive Part 1, the new agreement with JISC Collections gives the UK academic community seamless access to more than 100,000 articles in the humanities, international law & human rights and biology,” says Sam Bruinsma, Vice President Business Development at Brill. “We are delighted that Brill’s journals have been selected by JISC Collections.”

Lorraine Estelle, CEO of JISC Collections, said that “the Brill Journal Archive Part 2 received high marks and was ranked as a high priority by the UK community in our recent call for archives and collections. The central purchase of the archive brings value to our members and we are pleased to be providing users with access to an even larger archive of content to support their teaching, learning and research.”

For more information or customer queries, please contact our sales team at sales-nl@brill.com for customers outside the Americas, or at sales-us@brill.com for customers inside the Americas.

All UK higher and further education institutions and research councils are eligible for access to the Brill Journal Archive Online Part 2. Please contact JISC Collections at help@jisc-collections.ac.uk to set up access.

About Brill (brill.com)
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, BRILL is a leading international academic publisher in the fields of Ancient Near East and Egypt, Middle East and Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, contemporary History and History of War studies, Biblical and Religious Studies, Slavic Studies, Language & Linguistics, Biology, Human Rights and Public International Law. With offices in Leiden and Boston, BRILL today publishes more than 185 journals and around 600 new books and reference works each year. All publications are available in both print and electronic form. BRILL also markets a large number of research collections and databases with primary source material. The company’s key customers are academic and research institutions, libraries, and scholars. BRILL is a publicly traded company and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam NV. For further information please visit www.brill.com.

About JISC Collections
JISC Collections is a division of JISC Collections and Janet Ltd. It supports the procurement of digital content for education and research in the UK. Through its negotiation and licensing work JISC Collections provides annual savings to its members in excess of £50million per annum. For further information please visit www.jisc-collections.ac.uk

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Statistics Canada Library Goes Live With Evergreen

LISWire - Wed, 04/03/2013 - 09:35

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Duluth, GA —April 3, 2013

The Statistics Canada Library has gone live with Evergreen. Equinox Library Services Canada provided data migration and training services and will also provide system hosting and ongoing technical support services. 117,000 bibliographic items and almost 3,000 patrons were moved to the new system. Their new online catalog can be viewed at https://statcan.egcatalogue.ca

The Statistics Canada Library provides support to employees of Statistics Canada through access to bibliographic and information services. In addition to implementing Evergreen in their library, they have also sponsored several development projects that will be included in version 2.4 of Evergreen and beyond.

Equinox President, Brad LaJeunesse, says, “We are very proud to have Statistics Canada live as the first library hosted by Equinox’s Canadian subsidiary in our Toronto datacenter.”

About Equinox Library Services Canada

Equinox Library Services Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Equinox Software and was founded in response to Canadian customers who requested their ILS be physically located in Canada. The parent company, Equinox Software, was founded in 2007 by the original Evergreen designers and remains a leader in open source solutions for libraries. Their goal is to engage and support a rapidly growing open source community while assisting libraries in moving away from expensive proprietary vendors and products.For more information on Equinox Software, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com.

About Evergreen

Evergreen is a robust, open-source integrated library system best known for its unique ability to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia. However, it has also proven equally successful scaled down for even the smallest libraries. Evergreen now supports almost 1,200 libraries of every type-public, academic, special, and school media centers across 4 countries, 31 U.S. states, and 8 Canadian provinces. King County Public Library System, SCLENDS, and the NC Cardinal consortiums are all currently running Evergreen. For more information about Evergreen, including a list of all known Evergreen installations, see http://evergreen-ils.org.

Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 770-709-5571

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Gale to Unify the Humanities Through Artemis

LISWire - Tue, 04/02/2013 - 13:04

Company Plans to Bring Together More Than 130 Million Pages of Content into one Research Experience

Farmington Hills, Mich., April 2, 2013 — Gale, part of Cengage Learning and a leading publisher of research and reference resources for libraries, schools and businesses, today announced plans to unify, over the coming years, its extensive digital humanities collections on one state-of-the-art platform, creating the world’s largest online curated primary source and literary collection. The new research experience, Artemis, named for the Greek goddess who symbolizes new ideas, discovery, power and “the hunt,” will enable researchers to make connections and realize relationships among content that has never before been possible.

“Artemis represents a significant investment in our products and new technology. No other publisher offers this combination of rich full-text content, metadata, and intuitive subject indexing – all enhanced by revolutionary work-flow and analytical technology that breathes new life into the study of the humanities,” said Frank Menchaca, executive vice president, research solutions, Cengage Learning. “We are creating the most valuable curated digital humanities collection in the world through this integrated research environment.”

Artemis moves beyond the limitations of simple search and retrieve – it offers users the ability to search across both primary and secondary materials as well as different subjects and genres. It also adds term clusters and term-graphing tools to allow users to conduct new kinds of analysis on familiar content sets, thematic subject indexing to aid in content discovery, and interface updates that conform to today’s design standards, including sharing and collaboration tools. Overall, Artemis will transform the way students and researchers explore material, giving them the ability to challenge assumptions and create new theories and academic debate.

By being able to search across all collections, students can explore artifacts that had previously been worlds apart in the great digital divide. For example, a student seeking information on dramatic works performed in nineteenth century London, through separate searches, would be able to find: curated critical commentary from Gale’s Drama Criticism series, actor biographies from Literature Resource Center; copies of theatrical reviews from The Times Digital Archive, and original copies of musical scores from Nineteenth Century Collections Online. However, they would likely miss the theatrical reviews in The Financial Times Historical Archive or the play advertisements in 19th Century U.S. Newspapers as they wouldn’t likely consider searching those resources.

“The research process itself is complicated for students even without having to evaluate sources to determine their relevancy for finding information appropriate for completing an assignment or writing a solid research paper,” said Angela Courtney, an associate librarian at Indiana University, who was consulted on the planning for Artemis. “By offering students the ability to access a variety of information in one location, and giving them advanced tools to better explore that information, research can become less daunting and more exciting, and can hopefully lead to new ideas and discoveries.”

Artemis will release in a series of phases and will expand over the next few years. Gale will start by migrating Eighteenth Century Collections Online and Nineteenth Century Collections Online onto one platform. Separately but simultaneously, Gale will integrate its literature resources and Literature Criticism Online into a single research environment. Most of Gale’s literature collections and additional Gale Digital Collections will eventually be added to their respective platforms. From there, Gale will work to unite these two into one comprehensive research experience.

For more information on Artemis, please visit www.gale.cengage.com or stop by the Cengage Learning booth (#701) at the Association of College and Research Libraries meeting in Indianapolis, April 10-12. For questions, please contact Kristina Massari at kristina.massari@cengage.com.

About Cengage Learning and Gale
Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, software and services company for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world's information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet. It is best known for the accuracy, breadth and convenience of its data, addressing all types of information needs – from homework help to health questions to business profiles – in a variety of formats. For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.cengage.com.

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Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

LibLime, a division of PTFS, debuts LibLime Academic Koha 5.4

LISWire - Tue, 04/02/2013 - 12:02

North Bethesda, MD, April 2, 2013- LibLime announces the production release of LibLime Academic Koha 5.4.

LibLime Academic Koha 5.4 represents the innovation, ideas, and talents of many professional librarians within the Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization (WALDO) group with whom LibLime enjoys working and with who we look forward to a continued professional partnership in years to come.

As with each release of Academic Koha, all features were designed and sponsored by WALDO’s Academic Koha design committees.

The arrival of Academic Koha 5.4 includes full RDA (Resource and Descriptive Access) compliance for MARC21 bibliographic records.

To learn how you can implement LibLime Academic Koha 5.4 in your library, email kohainfo@liblime.com.

About WALDO
Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization (WALDO) is a membership organization supporting the procurement & administration of electronic information services for libraries since 1982. Supporting over 900 member libraries, WALDO offers consortial discounts for over 5,000 products and services. For more information, please visit http://waldolib.org or contact Robert Karen at 866-576-6051 ext. 1 or rob@waldolib.org. Other advantages of choosing a LibLime solution through the WALDO consortium include volume discounts, standard contracts, consolidated renewals and invoicing and centralized billing. Participation in the LibLime discounts through WALDO is available to all WALDO full, associate and limited members.

About LibLime - PTFS
LibLime – PTFS is the global leader in providing support for the Koha open source ILS. Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, the PTFS LibLime Division educates libraries about the benefits of open source, enabling them to make choices about how best to provide their communities and staff with better technology services. The PTFS LibLime Division then facilitates deployment of Koha in libraries by providing outstanding consulting, development, implementation, and support/hosting for libraries of all types and sizes. PTFS is also the developer of the world’s leading content management software, ArchivalWare, and specializes in meeting library personnel staffing requirements, digitization, and metadata keying services. For more information, see http://liblime.com or http://ptfs.com or http://archivalware.net.

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Calling All Team Players – Gale and Library Media Connection Seek Nominations for the 2013 TEAMS Award

LISWire - Mon, 04/01/2013 - 12:46

Farmington Hills, Mich., April 1, 2013 – Gale, part of Cengage Learning, and Library Media Connection magazine are calling all media specialists and educators at K-12 public and private schools in the U.S. and Canada to share their collaboration success stories and submit for the 2013 TEAMS Award – Teachers and Media Specialists Influencing Student Achievement. The TEAMS Award recognizes teacher–media specialist teams in elementary, middle and high school settings for their critical collaboration to promote learning and achievement. Examples of efforts that have been recognized include: a collaborative school-wide project involving the art, music, physical education and computer teachers; a program to improve student research skills using authenticated, credible websites; and an integrating digital curriculum with Google Docs. The three winning teams will each receive a cash award, Gale products, a one-year subscription to Library Media Connection and the Educator's Professional Bookshelf from Linworth Publishing/Libraries Unlimited. In addition, the winners will be featured in an article in Library Media Connection. Awards will be presented at a special reception held in conjunction with this year’s American Association of School Librarians annual conference.

What: Gale/Library Media Connection 2013 TEAMS Award honoring teachers and media specialists influencing student achievement through collaboration. The nomination may be submitted by a library media specialist, teacher, principal, student or parent for work done in the 2011-12 or 2012-13 school year. There is no entry fee; however each nomination packet must include six copies of each:
• Completed submission form with appropriate attachments
• One-page letter of recommendation from school's principal or assistant principal on school letterhead
• Signed release form (available at www.galeschools.com/TEAMS) for each person involved
• Photograph of the collaborating media specialist/teaching team

Who: All public and private K-12 schools in the U.S. and Canada. Find complete submission information including entry forms and past winners online at www.galeschools.com/TEAMS

When: All entries must be post-marked by July 1, 2013. Winners will be announced in November 2013 at the American Association of School Librarians annual conference in Hartford, CT.

Why: Collaboration among teachers and media specialists is critical to promote learning, increase student achievement and help students develop 21st century skills. Gale and Library Media Connection want to honor teacher–librarian teams for their hard work and dedication.

Details: Please contact Kristina Massari at kristina.massari@cengage.com for more information or with questions about the award.

About Cengage Learning and Gale
Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, software and services company for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world's information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet. It is best known for the accuracy, breadth and convenience of its data, addressing all types of information needs – from homework help to health questions to business profiles – in a variety of formats. For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.cengage.com.

About Library Media Connection and Linworth/Libraries Unlimited
Library Media Connection (LMC) delivers the insight, answers and encouragement school librarians need to transform their libraries into thriving hubs for 21st century learning and teaching. From practical inspiration from today’s most innovative practitioners to unbiased, insightful peer reviews that support smart collection development, LMC covers technology, tackles the tough issues of budgeting, staffing, and more. More than a publication, LMC is a community of librarians and leaders. LMC is a publication of Linworth/Libraries Unlimited from the collections of ABC-CLIO. Learn more at www.librarymediaconnection.com.

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Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

EBSCO Discovery Service™ — A Valuable Discovery Solution for Schools

LISWire - Thu, 03/28/2013 - 10:22

One of the first schools to implement EBSCO Discovery Service tells why they chose it and what it has done for them. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Lisa

EBSCO Discovery Service™ — A Valuable Discovery Solution for Schools
~ EBSCO Discovery Service™ Creates Buzz on Campus of Prep School ~

BIRMINGHAM, Ala./IPSWICH, Mass. — March 28, 2013 — Nichols School, a Buffalo, New York school for grades 5-12, is one of the first schools in the country to implement EBSCO Discovery Service. Librarians weren’t looking for a discovery service but a demo of EBSCO’s EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) won the library staff over with the ease of searching and breadth of information available in EDS.

Although librarians Nichols School were not initially considering a library discovery service, Director of Libraries & Academic Technology, Susan Allen, saw EDS tying in with the library’s goals to prepare students for further education and to develop the professional skills they will need. “I am always looking for ways to model what our students will encounter in higher education. I am also trying to teach them the information literacy skills they need to be a solid, informed digital citizen.” Since implementation Allen says EDS has really had a positive impact on the library. “It is really nice for there to be an animated buzz about the library on campus.”

EDS provides users with access to a school’s entire collection via a single, customizable entry point. This easy-to-use search experience really impressed Allen. “I was floored by the ease of searching and the breadth of information that was available. I manage the resources but I was flabbergasted by the resources that are available. They were always available but not in a format that was as useful as they are now.” In the future, Allen hopes EDS will minimize their students’ use of Google and since the EDS implementation she has seen “fewer general web searches than in the past.”

The school integrated EDS into their existing library collection by taking advantage of some of the EDS customization features and transformed the search page to match the school colors and the heading of its web pages. Students have really responded well to the new service and Allen says usage in library sources has doubled since implementation.

Allen is also sees EDS as a valuable tool in faculty development “I have an online professional development course planned for our faculty this summer to refresh them in what constitutes research in the 21st century and how best to assign and assess research to meet the resources and methodologies available. EDS plays a prominent role in this class.”

EBSCO Discovery Service creates a unified, customized index of an institution’s information resources, and an easy, yet powerful means of accessing all of that content from a single search box-searching made even more powerful because of the quality of metadata and depth and breadth of coverage.

About EBSCO
EBSCO is the leading provider of resources for libraries including EBSCONET®, EBSCO’s total e-resource management system, and EBSCOhost®, the world's premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives and e-books. EBSCO provides more than 375 research databases and nearly 370,000 e-books plus subscription management services for 355,000 e-journals and e-journal packages. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of journals and magazines than any other discovery service. For more information, visit the EBSCO Web site at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.

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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebsco.com

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Library Journal and NoveList Announce The LibraryAware Community Award Winners

LISWire - Wed, 03/27/2013 - 11:39

Three public libraries have been recognized for making a difference in their community with the LibraryAware Community Award. Please see details below and let me know if you have any questions.

Lisa

Library Journal and NoveList Announce
The LibraryAware Community Award Winners
~ Public Libraries in Canton MI, Skokie IL and Hartford CT are Recognized for Making a Difference in Their Communities and the Cities and Towns That Support Them ~

BIRMINGHAM, Ala./IPSWICH, Mass. — March 27, 2013 — Canton Public Library in Michigan was today announced the winner for the first-ever LibraryAware Community Award with Skokie Public Library in Illinois taking second place and Hartford Public Library in Connecticut taking third place. The LibraryAware Community Award recognizes cities and towns and their libraries, or library systems, that have demonstrated their ability to make the community aware of what the library can do for them—and have delivered on that promise. The award is given by Library Journal and underwritten by LibraryAware™, a product of the NoveList division of EBSCO.

The LibraryAware Community Award highlights the value that communities throughout the United States and Canada derive from their libraries and focuses on the outcomes of work by libraries—through the development of effective programs, services, partnerships, and communications—that result in better communities and an increased understanding of how libraries contribute to a community’s well-being. Criteria for the award included any and all components that create a LibraryAware community: strategic planning, marketing, outreach, partnerships, and programs, product, or service development.

LibraryAware Product Lead Nancy Dowd says each one of the libraries should be very proud of this recognition. “Each of these libraries has gone above and beyond to connect with their communities. They have bridged the gap between library and community and have ignited a successful and long-lasting relationship between the two.”

Canton Public Library Director Eva Davis says it is a tremendous honor to receive this award. “We are elated to receive the inaugural LibraryAware award. Our staff works hard to know our community and anticipate their changing needs and the library’s board of trustees guides us with a patron-based vision and the financial stewardship necessary to help us offer viable, relevant programs and services. Receiving the LibraryAware award is validation of our efforts to connect our community and we are honored to be chosen.”

“Ultimately, what stood out to the LJ editors and to our panel of judges is the scope of Canton’s outreach efforts, programming, and partnership initiatives. Combined, these three things satisfy patrons and create powerful and meaningful community relations,” says Michael Kelley, editor in chief of Library Journal.

Submissions were judged by the following library and community experts:
• Ron Carlee, COO, ICMA (International City/County Management Association)
• Deborah Jacobs, Director, Global Libraries Initiative, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Jorge Martinez, Director, Information Systems/Project Lead, Knight Library Initiative on Universal Wireless Access, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

City or town officials as well as the library director in Canton, Skokie and Hartford will soon be presented the LibraryAware Community Award. Each city or town will receive a plaque identifying it as a “LibraryAware” community. Canton Public Library will receive $10,000, with Skokie Public Library receiving $7500, and Hartford Public Library receiving $5,000.

The winners are also featured in an article in Library Journal. The LibraryAware Community Award will be given annually to a community of any size and its library during National Library Week.

About Library Aware
LibraryAware is available as a subscription service to libraries. Uses for the LibraryAware program include a full range of marketing and communication channels including email blasts, e-newsletters, flyers, bookmarks, brochures, website inserts, letters, invitations, and social media. Learn more about LibraryAware at: www.libraryaware.com.

About EBSCO
EBSCO is the producer of EBSCOhost®, the world's premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives, and e-books. The company provides more than 375 databases and nearly 380,000 e-books. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of journals and magazines than any other discovery service (www.ebscohost.com/discovery). For more information, visit the EBSCO Web site at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.

About Library Journal
Founded in 1876, Library Journal (LJ) is one of the oldest and most respected publications covering the library field. More than 100,000 library directors, administrators, and staff in public, academic, and special libraries read LJ. Library Journal reviews more than 8,000 books, audiobooks, videos, databases, and web sites annually, and provides coverage of technology, management, policy, and other professional concerns. Visit www.libraryjournal.com.

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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebsco.com

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Ask Us 24/7 Library Chat Service Celebrates 10th Anniversary

LISWire - Wed, 03/27/2013 - 11:12

For 10 years, Ask Us 24/7 has been New York State’s “virtual reference desk,” allowing users to instantly chat with a librarian for research help any time of day, from any location.

In honor of the 10th anniversary year, Ask Us 24/7 will be holding commemorative activities including a series of Facebook posts on the service’s history and a contest for users, culminating in a “birthday” celebration at the New York Library Association conference in Niagara Falls in September. You can follow the activities by “liking” Ask Us 24/7 at www.facebook.com/askus247

The service was started in March of 2003 by the Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC). Originally titled “Ask a Western New York Librarian,” it was staffed by seven area libraries. After a few months, the program joined a national cooperative of chatting libraries, allowing participants to offer 24-hour service, and being rebranded as Ask Us 24/7 in September 2003.

Throughout the past 10 years, Ask Us 24/7 has expanded to include participating libraries throughout New York State, now with 8 public library systems, 43 academic libraries, and one school library system. The other library councils in the NY3Rs association have joined WNYLRC in the management of the service. Each library contributes a certain number of hours weekly to staffing the cooperative service, and in return their patrons can access the chat form through their library’s website any time. This gives patrons direct access to a professional reference librarian 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

To find out if your library participates, check out the list at www.askus247.org. Or look for the Ask Us 24/7 logo on your library website.

As of January 1st this year, 173,869 chats have taken place through Ask Us 24/7, with over 100 transactions happening daily. Ask Us 24/7 would like to thank all of the libraries and librarians who have participated over the years, and we look forward to continued collaboration with libraries and patrons.

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

South Sioux City Public Library Joins the Pioneer Consortium and Goes Live on LibLime Koha 4.14

LISWire - Wed, 03/27/2013 - 11:01

North Bethesda, MD, March 27, 2013- The South Sioux City Public Library, located in South Sioux City, NE, has joined the Pioneer Consortium and is now live on LibLime Koha 4.14 for all collection and patron management services.

The South Sioux City Public Library staff worked with LibLime Project Managers to migrate bibliographic, item, and patron data from their legacy ILS system. With the addition of the South Sioux City Public Library to the Pioneer Consortium, there are now over 1.5 million items and nearly 600,000 bibliographic records in the Pioneer LibLime Koha union catalog.

About the South Sioux City Public Library
Located just outside of Sioux City, Iowa, the South Sioux City Public Library in Nebraska strives to be an innovative and responsive community center that supports cultural programming, lifelong learning, literacy, and open access to the world of information and ideas, with a staff committed to excellence and personal service. The South Sioux City Public Library provides activities uniquely created and designed for young children, teenagers, adults, and seniors.

About the Pioneer Consortium
The Pioneer Consortium continues to expand the number of members that share the LibLime Koha union catalog. The successes of the early members of the consortium are noticed by more and more libraries around the state and the consortium membership continues to grow. One of the main attractions is access to the LibLime Koha union catalog.

About LibLime - PTFS
LibLime – PTFS is the global leader in providing support for the Koha open source ILS. Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, the PTFS LibLime Division educates libraries about the benefits of open source, enabling them to make choices about how best to provide their communities and staff with better technology services. The PTFS LibLime Division then facilitates deployment of Koha in libraries by providing outstanding consulting, development, implementation, and support/hosting for libraries of all types and sizes. PTFS is also the developer of the world’s leading content management software, ArchivalWare, and specializes in meeting library personnel staffing requirements, digitization, and metadata keying services. For more information, see http://liblime.com or http://ptfs.com or http://archivalware.net.

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Ryan Higgins, Original LibLime Owner, Returns to LibLime as Software Engineer

LISWire - Thu, 03/21/2013 - 15:38

North Bethesda, MD, March 21, 2013- LibLime, a division of PTFS, announces that Ryan Higgins, one of the original owners of LibLime, has returned to the LibLime-PTFS team full time as a software engineer.

Ryan will be a strong asset to the LibLime team due to his extensive background in Koha development. As an integral part of the LibLime founding team in 2005, Ryan designed and implemented customer development projects, in addition to managing operations and customer support. In this role, Ryan worked with many libraries to implement their sponsored Koha development while also building his robust knowledge of the Koha codebase.

Regarding his move back to LibLime, Ryan says “I've seen some of the work done by PTFS/LibLime to improve Koha, and have been impressed by how far it's come, especially with respect to the Plack environment, the addition of Solr, the circulation system re-writes for performance improvement, and the expansion of the application to support large collections with greater local autonomy in union catalogs. LibLime has taken the application to the next level and they have really transformed the software. “

Higgins remarked further, “LibLime has truly advanced these versions of Koha – LibLime Koha and LibLime Academic Koha. These two versions of the open development ILS application have really distinguished themselves from other versions available throughout the world. The LibLime vision is one libraries can benefit from – and libraries who are strategic minded should join with LibLime to continue developing the next generation ILS.”

About LibLime - PTFS
LibLime – PTFS is the global leader in providing support for the Koha open source ILS. Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, the PTFS LibLime Division educates libraries about the benefits of open source, enabling them to make choices about how best to provide their communities and staff with better technology services. The PTFS LibLime Division then facilitates deployment of Koha in libraries by providing outstanding consulting, development, implementation, and support/hosting for libraries of all types and sizes. PTFS is also the developer of the world’s leading content management software, ArchivalWare, and specializes in meeting library personnel staffing requirements, digitization, and metadata keying services. For more information, see http://liblime.com or http://ptfs.com or http://archivalware.net.

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

HAN University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands Selects EBSCO Discovery Service™

LISWire - Tue, 03/19/2013 - 13:37

The release below announces that HAN University has chosen EBSCO Discovery Service and details the reasons for choosing it. The release can also be found here:
at http://www.prweb.com/releases/EDS/HANUniv/prweb10532316.htm

Thank you,

Lisa

HAN University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands Selects
EBSCO Discovery Service™
~ EBSCO Discovery Service™ Chosen as Library Discovery Solution
Based on Functionality and Coverage~

IPSWICH, Mass. — March 19, 2013 — HAN University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands has chosen EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) from EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) to provide easier access and increased usage of the institution’s resources. HAN University is one of the top universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands and believes implementing EDS is an essential element for a top university.

With a selection of almost every type of professional course, HAN University was seeking a discovery solution providing excellent coverage in many areas. Librarians at HAN University looked at a number of discovery solutions and appreciated that EBSCO is constantly looking to expand coverage, including the addition of Dutch content. HAN University’s Coordinator of the Digital Study Center, Maarten Hekman, says the decision to go with EBSCO Discovery Service was strongly influenced by the fact that EDS delivers the content and breadth of coverage they need. “Our old service was slow and yielded less and less results than the students and staff were expecting. We looked at a number of discovery solutions and EDS provided the best content and coverage for our needs—there was no reason not to choose EDS”.

HAN University is one of many institutions worldwide that were influenced by the content coverage in EDS. EDS provides content from approximately 20,000 providers and includes partners from the world’s largest scholarly journal and book publishers. EDS draws upon EBSCO's extensive publisher relationships to feature a far more robust collection of rich metadata for most indexed content, ensuring that users can obtain the most relevant search results for their queries.

Due to the extensive coverage, Hekman hopes that EDS will lead to increased usage of the library’s resources and databases. “We are excited to see what impact EDS will have on our users’ experience. We feel a lot more students will find what they need in just a few clicks”.
Heckman says librarians were also impressed with the technical support that EBSCO offered throughout the set up process—particularly the ease of setting up guest access for non-authorized users. Guest access allows unauthenticated users to access the data through EDS. Hekman says, “EBSCO’s support team quickly arranged proxy setup for guest access. We were very pleased with how efficient they were and we are very happy with this feature.”

Another important part of the university’s decision was that EBSCO Discovery Service is the only discovery service to provide platform blending. Through platform blending, EDS allows information from important subject indexes that don’t otherwise participate in discovery services to be infused into the EDS result list. Because these full records can’t be made freely available on the Web (much like full text), EDS provides limited detail from these resources which is displayed in a guest access record, authentication is required to see the complete detail of the records. No other discovery services is able to incorporate full records from these important subject index resources.

While many discovery services offer guest access, there are a select few components that are not available in other discovery services and require authentication to view in EDS. These components are a unique benefit to EDS customers. EDS is the only discovery service that displays PDF full text (when available) directly in the result list. When clicking on the full-text PDF icon, guest access users would be prompted to log in, and would remain authenticated for the remainder of their session making it an easier experience for the user. EDS offers a cleaner, simpler process for requesting authentication to access full text, with far fewer clicks than other discovery services.

HAN University took advantage of customizations to make EDS its own. The discovery service has been branded as HANQuest and 19 different profiles were created to accommodate the needs of users. Hekman was particularly pleased that librarians could set up widgets for the website of the HAN Study Centres in three different languages (Dutch, English and German) each linking directly to EDS in the corresponding language. Hekman noted that with EDS they are able to offer their students a service that is, “faster and more precise.”

EBSCO Discovery Service creates a unified, customized index of an institution’s information resources, and an easy, yet powerful means of accessing all of that content from a single search box-searching made even more powerful because of the quality of metadata and depth and breadth of coverage.

EBSCO Discovery Service provides a foundation upon which each EDS subscribing library builds out its custom collection. Each institution extends the reach of EDS by adding appropriate resources including its catalog, institutional repositories, EBSCOhost and other databases, and additional content sources to which it subscribes. It is this combination that allows a single, comprehensive, custom solution for discovering the value of any library’s collection.

About EBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing is the producer of EBSCOhost®, the world’s premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives, and e-books. The company provides more than 375 databases and more than 370,000 e-book titles to choose from. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of journals and magazines than any other discovery service (www.ebscohost.com/discovery). For more information, visit the EBSCO Publishing Web site at: www.ebscohost.com, or contact: information@ebscohost.com. EBSCO Publishing is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.

###
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebscohost.com

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Equinox Software’s Galen Charlton Named One of Library Journal’s “Movers and Shakers” for 2013

LISWire - Tue, 03/19/2013 - 11:28

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Duluth, GA —March 19, 2013

Equinox Software is proud to announce that Implementation Manager Galen Charlton has been named one of 2013’s “Movers & Shakers” by Library Journal magazine. This prestigious award recognizes 50 outstanding library professionals and their commitment to excellence and innovation in the field of librarianship. More information about all of the new inductees can be viewed at http://lj.libraryjournal.com/movers2013.

Selected by the editors of LJ, the 2013 “Movers & Shakers” will be prominently featured in the March 15th issue of Library Journal magazine. They will also be celebrated during a special luncheon during the annual American Library Association conference in Chicago this June. The luncheon and awards ceremony is made possible by the support of sponsors, including Baker & Taylor, Collection HQ, DEMCO, Info Group/Reference USA, Library Aware from Novelist, ProQuest, and Rosen.

"Each member of this year’s Movers & Shakers class embodies service to their community and a passion for advancing libraries and their profession," said Mike Kelley, Library Journal Editor-in-Chief.

Galen is active in the Koha and Evergreen open source ILS projects, contributing code and knowledge, and was release manager for version 3.2 of Koha. Galen joined Equinox Software in 2009, where he is primarily focused on migrating libraries to open source ILSs.

Galen said, "I am happy to be recognized by Library Journal for my efforts in open source software for libraries, but I would also like to tip my hat to the hundreds of library folk across the world who have come together to build and improve our tools for the benefit of all."

Equinox Software, Inc.

Founded by the original Evergreen designers and developers, Equinox Software is a leader in open source solutions for libraries. Their goal is to engage and support a rapidly growing open source community while assisting libraries in moving away from expensive proprietary vendors and products.
For more information on Equinox Software, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com.

About Library Journal

In its 137th year of publication, Library Journal is the oldest and most respected publication covering the library field. Considered to be the "bible" of the library world, LJ is read by more than 100,000 library directors, administrators, and staff in public, academic, and special libraries. Library Journal is a publication of Media Source Inc., which also owns School Library Journal, The Horn Book Magazine and Junior Library Guild.

Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 770-709-5571

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

University of Nebraska Omaha is 100th OCLC WorldShare Management Services user in production

LISWire - Tue, 03/19/2013 - 11:18

The University of Nebraska Omaha is now live with OCLC WorldShare Management Services, making it the 100th institution worldwide to fully implement the new Web-based, cooperative library management and discovery services.

“We wanted a library management system that was cutting-edge,” said Steve Shorb, Dean of the Criss Library at the University of Nebraska Omaha. “Moving to WorldShare Management Services is going to allow us to keep pace with current and emerging trends in technology and take full advantage of new developments and applications created specifically for libraries as they become available.”

WorldShare Management Services provide a Web-based environment that streamlines cataloging, acquisitions, license management and circulation workflows, and offers the WorldCat Local discovery service for library users. WorldShare Management Services (WMS) were released for general availability in the United States in July 2011. Today, just 20 months later, 100 libraries on three continents—Australia, Europe and North America—are already using the services and some 65 more are in the implementation process to begin using the services in the future.

“As we commemorate the 100th implementation of WMS at the University of Nebraska Omaha, we are also celebrating our shared commitment to library cooperation,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO, on campus Wednesday to help introduce the services to students and faculty. “Throughout its history, OCLC has been fortunate to work with leading libraries to help create innovative new services. The OCLC cooperative worldwide is grateful to the Criss Library staff for its part in helping to improve library workflows and provide exciting and powerful discovery tools for library users.”

Working together with WorldShare Management Services, libraries can share data, applications and workflow improvements with peer institutions, end users and partners. Since WorldShare Management Services are built on an open, collaborative platform, libraries can add the features and functions needed to support their unique communities. Libraries without development resources can take advantage of applications developed by others in the library community.

“We wanted a platform that was more flexible and open to APIs,” said Rene Erlandson, Director, Virtual Services, Criss Library. “We wanted a more full-featured ILS, and WMS gives us the flexibility and features that will help us continue to grow and add new services as they are developed within the community.”

That spirit of cooperation in the WMS community was a key to the decision to move to WorldShare. “It’s wonderful to work in a dot-org environment, rather than a dot-com environment,” said Mr. Shorb.

Moving to WorldShare Management Services meant that Criss Library staff would change the way they approached their work. “Our staff has been open to the process; Steve has created an atmosphere that is receptive to change at the library,” said Ms. Erlandson. “Staff has been looking forward to using a system that is more flexible and allows them to streamline their processes. We have been able to cut down steps in our workflows—in some cases from seven steps to two.”

“The Criss Library laid the groundwork for a successful change effort,” said Rob Ross, Director, Implementation Programs, OCLC. “It was clear that staff members had already considered how their roles might change, what professional growth opportunities this transition presented them, and what new value they could create for patrons. This adventurous spirit, along with tremendous energy, creativity and passion from the library’s leadership, contributed significantly to the overall success of their transition to WMS.”

The move to WorldShare Management Services has already generated cost and time savings for the Criss Library. According to Mr. Shorb, the move has helped the library to acquire 300,000 e-book titles for the campus, and in the future they plan to reallocate library staff to create an institutional repository for the university.

“In the future we hope to have the ability to stream video and become more involved with distance learning, online education and MOOCs,” said Mr. Shorb. “By streamlining other processes and eliminating server maintenance, some of our IT staff might have more bandwidth to focus on streaming video and help us grow our digital collections.”

Moving to WorldShare Management Services helped Mr. Shorb save time in his plan to replace his library’s ILS. “Once we made the commitment to WMS, my two-year plan was cut down to six months,” he said.

More about OCLC WorldShare Management Services can be found on the OCLC website at www.oclc.org.

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Companies Working Together Benefit Los Gatos Library

LISWire - Tue, 03/19/2013 - 10:04

The reading recommendations and other benefits of NoveList Select have been integrated into the Koha open source Integrated Library System. The release below details it use at Los Gatos Library. The release can also be found at http://www.prweb.com/releases/NoveList/ByWater/prweb10544804.htm

Companies Working Together Benefit Los Gatos Library
~ NoveList Select Now Available Through Koha Open Source ILS ~

IPSWICH, Mass. — March 19, 2013 — Patrons of the Los Gatos Library in Los Gatos, Calif., and other libraries who use the Koha open source Integrated Library System (ILS) supported by ByWater Solutions, will benefit from the recent integration of NoveList Select content into the library’s catalogue.

ByWater Solutions is an open source community supporter and the United States’ forefront provider of Koha support. NoveList Select, a division of EBSCO Publishing, integrates information including, reading recommendations, series information, events, reviews, and book jackets into a library’s catalogue so users can find the information where they need it, when they need it.

Henry Bankhead, Interim Town Librarian at Los Gatos Library, reports that the library’s patrons will have an improved experience with the integration of NoveList Select into the Koha system. “The enhanced content adds reviews from Goodreads, up-to-date series information, recommendations of similar titles and authors as well as links to NextReads newsletters and more. Because of this integration, this content is available right in our library catalogue and is available to any NoveList Select customer using the Koha integrated library system.”

The use of NoveList by the Los Gatos Library is an example of how libraries and their readers benefits when companies work together to support library success. “Libraries that choose Koha as their catalogue solution can now easily integrated the rich content from NoveList Select into their online catalogue and put expert reading recommendations and other expanded content into the place where it is most visible to library patrons,” said Duncan Smith the Vice President of NoveList.

The strength of open source along with the willingness of EBSCO to contribute NoveList content is a win-win for EBSCO, for the Koha community, for Librarians and most importantly for library patrons according to Nicole C. Engard, Vice President of Education at ByWater Solutions. “When educating librarians about open source, I always stress how choosing Koha and exposes people to all kinds of new freedoms. This partnership between ByWater, Los Gatos Library and NoveList shows how multiple groups can come together to improve an open source product for the benefit of everyone using it.”

For more information on NoveList, go to http://www.ebscohost.com/novelist and for information on Koha, please visit http://koha-community.org.

About Los Gatos Library:
Los Gatos Library, located in Los Gatos, CA., serves a population of over 30,000 residents and houses a collection of more than 100,000 volumes. The library sponsors many community activities aimed at connecting people to the world of information. Programming is offered as a library resource that provides information, education, recreation and enrichment to all. For more information please visit: http://www.losgatosca.gov

About Koha:
Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha’s impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base. It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships, and more.

Koha’s OPAC, circulation, management and self-checkout interfaces are all based on standards-compliant World Wide Web technologies–XHTML, CSS and Javascript–making Koha a truly platform-independent solution. Koha is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). For more information about Koha, please visit: http://koha-community.org

About ByWater Solutions:
With over 10 years of experience, ByWater Solutions offers customized hosting, data migration, configuration, installation, training, support options and development of the enterprise class open source library system, Koha. Offering a 24/7 technical helpline, ByWater Solutions’ clients have the support system they need to make their software work for them. ByWater Solutions pledges to share 100% of all developed code to the Koha community for the strengthening and advancement of the Koha ILS. For more information about ByWater Solutions, please visit: http://www.bywatersolutions.com.

About EBSCO Publishing:
EBSCO Publishing is the producer of EBSCOhost®, the world’s premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives, and e-books. The company provides more than 375 databases and nearly 390,000 e-books. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of journals and magazines than any other discovery service (www.ebscohost.com/discovery). For more information, visit the EBSCO Publishing Web site at: www.ebscohost.com, or contact: information@ebscohost.com. EBSCO Publishing is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.

###
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebscohost.com

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Who Says Spring Can’t Be COOL? Blanchester and Wornstaff Memorial Public Libraries Go Live on Evergreen

LISWire - Mon, 03/18/2013 - 13:57

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Duluth, GA —March 18, 2013

The Blanchester and Wornstaff Memorial public libraries have gone live on Evergreen making a total of 8 library systems on the new Consortium of Ohio Libraries (COOL). More than10,000 new patrons will now be part of the COOL consortium and over 90,000 bibliographic items have been added to the combined catalog. For more information, the COOL combined catalog can be viewed online at http://www.cool-cat.org/.

Equinox Software oversaw data migration and will continue to provide advanced technical support. OHIONET will partner with Equinox to provide hosting and primary system administration. The COOL project received initial funding from the local libraries and an LSTA grant from the State Library of Ohio.

Shae Tetterton, Equinox Project Manager, says, “I'm truly amazed by what this consortium has accomplished in the last year. Last year at this time, the very first library was going live. Today the COOL consortium has eight library systems live. Blanchester and Wornstaff are great additions to this group, and I look forward to the continued growth of the COOL consortium.”

Equinox Software, Inc.

Founded by the original Evergreen designers and developers, Equinox Software is a leader in open source solutions for libraries. Their goal is to engage and support a rapidly growing open source community while assisting libraries in moving away from expensive proprietary vendors and products.
For more information on Equinox Software, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com.

About Evergreen

Evergreen is a robust, open-source integrated library system best known for its unique ability to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia. However, it has also proven equally successful scaled down for even the smallest libraries. Evergreen now supports almost 1,200 libraries of every type-public, academic, special, and school media centers across 4 countries, 31 U.S. states, and 8 Canadian provinces. King County Public Library System, SCLENDS, and the NC Cardinal consortiums are all currently running Evergreen. For more information about Evergreen, including a list of all known Evergreen installations, see http://evergreen-ils.org.

Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 770-709-5571

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

ByWater Solutions Names Joy Nelson Director of Migrations

LISWire - Mon, 03/18/2013 - 09:44

3/18/2013
CONTACT:
Nathan Curulla
(888) 900-8944
sales@bywatersolutions.com

ByWater Solutions Names Joy Nelson Director of Migrations

ByWater Solutions, an open source community supporter and the U.S.’ forefront provider of Koha support, is happy to announce the promotion of Joy Nelson to Director of Migrations.

As Director of Migrations, Joy will be responsible for managing the migration team and processes. Her goal is to provide seamless data migrations for ByWater’s library partners to their new Koha systems.

“I’m proud to announce the promotion of Joy,” said Brendan Gallagher, CEO of ByWater Solutions. “Her knowledge of the industry and customer focus has helped drive the company forward. She will continue to make a big impact in her new role.”

With more than 10 years of combined experience in database management, software development and libraries, Joy brings a breadth of knowledge and a true love of library data to ByWater Solutions. She will continue to work from the Fort Worth offices with her feline assistants, Dewey and Decimal.

About ByWater Solutions:

With over 10 years of experience, ByWater Solutions offers customized hosting, data migration, configuration, installation, training, support options and development of the enterprise class open source library system, Koha. Offering a 24/7 technical helpline, ByWater Solutions’ clients have the support system they need to make their software work for them. ByWater Solutions pledges to share 100% of all developed code to the Koha community for the strengthening and advancement of the Koha ILS. For more information about ByWater Solutions, please visit: http://www.bywatersolutions.com

About Koha:

Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha’s impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base. It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships, and more.

Koha’s OPAC, circulation, management and self-checkout interfaces are all based on standards-compliant World Wide Web technologies–XHTML, CSS and Javascript–making Koha a truly platform-independent solution. Koha is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). For more information about Koha, please visit: http://koha-community.org

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

Automated Robotics System For Library Staff To Streamline Media Circulation

LISWire - Fri, 03/15/2013 - 14:08

Library Automation Technologies, Inc. (LAT), a leader in library automation products, is pleased to announce a new media automation system aimed to improve library staff operations in dispensing media to patrons. LAT-Stena, a new product from LAT, is designed to assist circulation staff in servicing patron’s requests for any optical media (CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Wii, PS2…etc.). Designed to work with all library ILS systems, LAT-Stena dramatically streamlines circulation of disc media, reduces staff requirements and provides 100% security and accuracy.

“No more shuffling drawers or looking on the floor for misplaced CD volumes. All we have to do is to scan Barcode or RFID label and discs will start popping out automatically. We just take them from LAT-Stena and give to patrons. It is that easy!” – says Ms. Danielle Zubiller, Head of Circulation for he Library. “It’s fast too,” Ms. Zubiller adds. “We can service three to four patrons now in the same amount of time it took us to gather all discs and service one just one patron before LAT-Stena!”

LAT-Stena has zero footprint. Due to its flexible configuration, it fits perfectly into existing cabinet or shelving arrangement or in any space that the library has available. The system can easily be expanded to grow in capacity, as library requirements dictate and budgets permit. The library can add capacity at its convenience, one storage pod at the time, anytime. Multiple staff can simultaneously access LAT-Stena to easily accommodate multiple patrons.

“Stena was designed with the library circulation in mind,” says Oleg Boyarsky, CEO of LAT. “In a typical day, staff will literally perform thousands of repetitive operations to get patrons their media, which is normally stored in boxes, cases or folders. Dramatic time reduction, elimination of repetitive stress injuries, efficient storage and a happy, satisfied patrons are just a few of the many benefits of LAT-Stena.”

“Designed for librarians by librarians with sophisticated automation, we have made the initial system configuration very affordable at less than $1,899 - so even in current tough economic climate no library is excluded.”, continued Boyarsky.

To see ‘Stena in action’ video and for more information about all of LAT's technologies and products, visit: http://www.LATcorp.com or look at: LAT-Stena in Action Video

# # #

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

British National Formulary Information Available Through DynaMed

LISWire - Thu, 03/14/2013 - 11:01

Healthcare professionals in the UK now have access to the drug resource from the British National Formulary directly from DynaMed drug topics.

British National Formulary Information Available Through DynaMed
~ Healthcare Professionals in the UK Can Access Vital Drug Resource ~

IPSWICH, Mass. — March 14, 2013 — Clinicians in the United Kingdom can now access authoritative and trusted guidance on the selection and use of medicines from the British National Formulary (BNF) directly from DynaMed, the premier evidence-based clinical information resource. EBSCO Publishing announced that DynaMed drug topics now include links to the corresponding BNF topics which can be accessed by BNF subscribers.

The links allow clinicians to consult UK specific information on selecting, prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines at the point-of-care in concert with the evidence-based reference information available in DynaMed. BNF is the latest UK resource to be accessible through DynaMed, joining the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines; Patient UK Links; and links to electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC).

DynaMed Editor-in-Chief, Brian S. Alper, MD, MSPH, FAAFP, says that the addition of the BNF links is another example of how DynaMed strives to meet the needs of healthcare professionals around the world. “DynaMed is committed to providing content and features that clinicians throughout the UK need. It is important that clinicians can access drug information that is specific to their particular region.”
The BNF provides UK healthcare professionals with authoritative and practical information on the selection and clinical use of medicines in a clear, concise and accessible manner. Published monthly online and biannually in print, the BNF is a joint publication of the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Duncan Enright, the Publishing Director of the BNF at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, believes that the inclusion of the BNF links in DynaMed will ensure that subscribers using DynaMed will have access to the most trusted UK drug information. “DynaMed users already rely on that tool to provide the latest evidence-based information. By accessing the links to BNF, our subscribers can be certain that they are using the most recent edition of BNF for making clinical decisions.”
DynaMed is a clinical reference tool created by physicians for physicians and other health care professionals for use at the point-of-care. With clinically-organized summaries for more than 3,200 topics, DynaMed provides the latest content and resources with validity, relevance and convenience, making DynaMed an indispensable resource for answering most clinical questions during practice.

Updated daily, DynaMed editors monitor the content of over 500 medical journals on a daily basis. Each article is evaluated for clinical relevance and scientific validity. The new evidence is then integrated with existing content, and overall conclusions are changed as appropriate, representing a synthesis of the best available evidence. Through this process of systematic literature surveillance, the best available evidence determines the content of DynaMed.

About EBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) is the world’s premier database aggregator, offering a suite of more than 375 full-text and secondary research databases. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals, magazines, books, monographs, reports and various other publication types from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all medical professionals (doctors, nurses, medical librarians, social workers, hospital administrators, etc.). The company’s product lines include proprietary databases such as CINAHL®, DynaMed™, Nursing Reference Center™, Patient Education Reference Center™, Rehabilitation Reference Center™, Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Source™ and SocINDEX™ as well as dozens of leading licensed databases such as MEDLINE®, PsycARTICLES® and PsycINFO®. Databases are powered by EBSCOhost®, the most-used for-fee electronic resource in libraries around the world. For more information, visit the EBSCO Publishing Web site at: www.ebscohost.com, or contact: information@ebscohost.com.

###
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebscohost.com

Categories: LISWire - Latest Releases

New Brill Fellow at the Warburg Institute in London

LISWire - Thu, 03/14/2013 - 09:15

Leiden (NL) / Boston (MA) – 14 March 2013

Brill, the international scholarly publisher, and the Warburg Institute are delighted to announce Alexander Bevilacqua (Princeton) as the second Brill Fellow at the Centre for the History of Arabic Studies in Europe (CHASE) at the Warburg Institute in London.

Brill, the international scholarly publisher, and the Warburg Institute are delighted to announce Alexander Bevilacqua (Princeton) as the second Brill Fellow at the Centre for the History of Arabic Studies in Europe (CHASE) at the Warburg Institute in London. He will take up the position for a three month period between 1 May and 31 August 2014. The topic of his research will be “Islamic culture in the European Enlightenment”.

The first Brill Fellow, Dr. Nuria Martínez de Castilla Muñoz, will be taking up the Fellowship from 1 May to 31 July of this year. She will hold a public lecture on 23 June 2013 entitled “Readings and Counter-Readings of the Qur’an in the Spanish Golden Age,” which is also the topic of her research during her Fellowship period.

The Brill Fellowships at CHASE have partly been made possible by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for publishing, which was awarded to Brill in 2012, and they include free access to all online reference works and research tools published by Brill in the fields of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies. Postdoctoral researchers may apply for a two-, three- or four-month Fellowship for research projects on any aspect of the relations between Europe and the Arab World from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

For more information about the Brill Fellowship at CHASE, please visit: http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/fellowships.

About Brill (brill.com)
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, BRILL is a leading international academic publisher in the fields of Ancient Near East and Egypt, Middle East and Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, contemporary History and History of War studies, Biblical and Religious Studies, Slavic Studies, Language & Linguistics, Biology, Human Rights and Public International Law. With offices in Leiden and Boston, BRILL today publishes more than 175 journals and around 600 new books and reference works each year. All publications are available in both print and electronic form. BRILL also markets a large number of research collections and databases with primary source material. The company’s key customers are academic and research institutions, libraries, and scholars. BRILL is a publicly traded company and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam NV. For further information please visit www.brill.com.

About CHASE (warburg.sas.ac.uk)
The Centre for the History of Arabic Studies in Europe (CHASE) is dedicated to the study of the history of European-Arab relations from the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century. The objectives of the Centre include the promotion of research on the transmission of Arab scientific, philosophical, medical, theological and geographical knowledge in the Middle Ages and in early modern times; the deepening of our understanding of the historical flow of ideas and knowledge between the Arab world and Europe; and the enhancement of our appreciation of the impact of the Muslim/Arab world on the development of European science and civilization.

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