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Innovative Interfaces Inc
continue to integrate the most relevant new technologies into their products - gradually improving their usefulness to patrons and library staff alike. It is imperative to stay up with the latest wave of technology - but it is demanding more and more effort as the pace of change accelerates. A few years ago, any one of the features Innovative showed last month would have been "star of the show" - now each is accepted without much fuss. In a short while, those vendors that have failed to keep up these and similar trends will find their products looking decidedly second class.
Innovative Interfaces (Europe) Ltd have captured the prestigious École normale supérieure (ENS) at Paris- Innovative’s first French site.
Among the highlights of the Innovative exhibit was an interface to palm devices, synthesised speech and voice input functions, Java™-based Inter-library Loan, "My Millennium", and a netLibrary interface.
Press release: According to Martha McEvoy, Innovative's Vice President of Product
Development, "All of the new products we are showing at ALA further validate and leverage the power of Millennium's Java programming. With Millennium's Web-based computing, we can take
information from anywhere to anywhere, in a seamless manner and on-demand. We can integrate various input methods, such as voice; in fact, because Millennium is Java-based, it is
easy to interface with all types of devices, and across all Millennium functions." Innovative showed new products that demonstrate this flexible integration, as well as demonstrating further
research and development of new technologies:
Circulation Voice Input – A new "proof of concept" announced at ALA, this application utilises
voice input via a microphone to completely run all the operations of Millennium Circulation. This is particularly suited for high-volume circulation stations so that staff need never touch the mouse or
keyboard. Because it is Java-based, this concept can be applied to all Millennium products.
Palm Device Interfaces – With Millennium, users can utilise their palm devices (such as Palm
Pilots) to beam and store information. From the Circulation module, users can transfer the due date and a brief citation of checked-out items into the calendar of a palm device, setting an alarm
to remind them. Also, from the Web OPAC, users can now beam bibliographic citations into their device as a "memo", which can then be saved for future reference, or carried to the shelf as a finding aid.
My Millennium – Making its debut at ALA, My Millennium is an optional, value-added user
access to the Web OPAC that enables unprecedented customisation. Users can choose the format by which their circulation notices will be sent to them, view checked-out items by a number
of parameters, and build, save, modify, and add to preferred searches.
Computerised Speech Functionality – Innovative introduced Millennium's computerised speech
capability for its Telephone Renewal product. This uses both synthesised speech and pre-recorded messages, and has text-to-speech output. It can "speak" the titles (as opposed to
the barcodes) when users call the library.
Millennium Inter-Library Loan – Also making its debut at ALA, the new Java-based Millennium
Inter-Library Loan module is a full-service, integrated module that includes user-initiated requesting and electronic transmission of requests via the ISO ILL protocol.
netLibrary Interface – Innovative's new interface to netLibrary eBooks was shown for the first
time at ALA. Innovative provides software that enables interested libraries to obtain and display netLibrary holdings in their Web-based catalogues. Libraries can purchase eBooks with
automatic delivery of netLibrary MARC records, obtain the netLibrary MARC records via the Acquisitions module, and access the netLibrary holdings via the Web OPAC.
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