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Fretwell-Downing Inc. wins Colorado state library resource sharing deal
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24th October 2000
Fretwell-Downing Inc. (FD Inc.), the US company of Fretwell-Downing Informatics, has announced
that The Colorado State Library has selected VDX as the system to deliver a new level of resource sharing in the state. VDX met all the requirements outlined by Colorado for their
statewide resource sharing system, which will provide interlending support for school, public, academic, and special libraries throughout the state.
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FDI
Sarah Shorten/ Clare Cocken
Fretwell-Downing Informatics
Tel: +44(0)114 281 6040
Fax: +44(0)114 281 6041
e-mail: clare.cocken@fdgroup.com
Colorado
Brenda Bailey
Director, Networking and Resource Sharing
Colorado State Library
201 E. Colfax Ave.
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 866-6907
bailey_b@cde.state.co.us |
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VDX is an interlending and resource sharing solution with a worldwide user base that includes South Eastern New York Library
Resources Council (SENYLRC), National Libraries of Australia and New Zealand and the University of Toronto.
The Colorado State Library works with all types of libraries, with many of its member libraries located in rural areas. VDX will deliver
electronic, ISO ILL compliance to resource sharing procedures between all partners in this statewide initiative. Using VDX, smaller libraries in remote areas will be able to easily share resources
among themselves, and to take better advantage of the materials located in their geographic area, as well as to transfer requests more easily to the large libraries in the more heavily populated areas of the state.
The Colorado State Library predicts service efficiency gains following the implementation of VDX, specifically from the service
profiles for library groups, automatic routing of requests and load-leveling tools. VDX’s patron-initiated requesting will provide
citizens of the state with improved levels of service by providing web access to online requesting direct from their library, home, school or office.
Brenda Bailey, Director, Networking and Resource Sharing at Colorado State Library
acknowledges selecting a system has taken time, “ Colorado did a feasibility study on patron initiated interlibrary loan in 1997. At the time, the conclusion was that no software existed that
could provide the level of sophistication we sought, so we tabled the project temporarily. Then VDX became available. The software might have been written exactly for our situation in
Colorado. It was designed specifically for a virtual union catalog in a distributed environment, and fits perfectly with our model.”
Bailey summarises the philosophy behind their new resource sharing operation, “VDX will ensure
that the people of Colorado are provided with the information they want, when and where they want it.”
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Legal giant Eversheds chooses OLIB
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23 November 2000
Fretwell-Downing Informatics (FDI) has announced that Europe’s second largest legal firm, Eversheds, has chosen the OLIB7
library management solution to help deliver improvements across the library and information service.
OLIB7 will form an integral component of Eversheds’ new I.T and information strategy. It will be
configured on a single server, servicing 15 offices Europe-wide. The configuration allows Eversheds to have local control over library management policies and practices whilst offering
system wide analysis of budgeting and trends to support collection and service development. OLIB7 has been delivered complete with the Legal Information Resources (LIR) thesaurus, which
will enrich the catalogue records and improve subject access to resources.
Eversheds information services manager for London, Sara Binding, outlines how OLIB7 fitted the
company’s future plans, “It was vital that we implemented a system that could handle our distributed set-up and deliver a real step forward in the management of library operations.
OLIB7’s financial reporting and analysis has given us real bargaining power when it comes to purchasing decisions.”
Robin Murray, managing director at Fretwell-Downing Informatics comments, “When Eversheds
first approached FDI they were looking for a system that would enable them to see all company wide library resources whilst still being able to manage operations at a local level. OLIB7 has
given them the freedom to be able to do this.”
The catalogue is available across the company’s Intranet with OLIB7’s filtering technology being
used to display ‘own location’ holdings first, this provides a more focused service to a distributed user population. OLIB7 will be a 24/7 service available to fee-earners on their desktops, and will
become a key information source within the Eversheds Knowledge Management initiative.
Murray concludes: “By implementing OLIB7 at Eversheds we have been able to show our
understanding of the unique requirements of the information services within the legal profession. Successful reference sites such as Osborne Clarke show how OLIB7 can combine both
traditional library information together with the know how held within a company. OLIB7 also has the unique ability to handle the order management of looseleafs for the legal profession.”
Eversheds is the fifth largest law firm in the world. With1800 lawyers and business advisers
based in 19 offices across Europe and three associated offices in Asia it provides a wide range of services to the business and financial community and to the public sector.
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