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Blacksburg, VA -VTLS Inc and Pigasus Software, Inc
are pleased to announce that Pigasus' WINGS' ™ Request Management System is now integrated with the Virtua Chameleon Gateway and is available from VTLS Inc.
Under the terms of An agreement recently finalized between the two companies, VTLS may include the WINGS interlibrary loan and document delivery software package with the VTLS
Virtua system. Vinod Chachra, president of VTLS Inc. said, "During the last year we investigated ILL software offerings for possible integration with our Virtua product line. We feel that the
solution offered by Pigasus is very attractive and easy to use. It integrates well with Virtua's Chameleon Gateway and allows users to seamlessly navigate between local and remote
information resources. " Referencing the industry standards noted below, Chachra said, "Pigasus is committed to national and international standards which has always been the corner
stone of our products. We are pleased to provide this important ILL functionality to our users." The WINGS Request Management System is a web-based software package that facilitates the
communication of document delivery, ILL requests and related messages between users and libraries, and between libraries and other libraries or document suppliers. The WINGS system
supports a variety of communications protocols used in the ILL community, including ISO 10160/10161 and ERP (the Extended Request Protocol). The ISO communication allows the
WINGS system to communicate with major utilities including OCLC, DOCLINE, and RLG. In addition, the WINGS system communicates with proprietary systems such as Aviso and Melvyl.
The WINGS system offers libraries a full and flexible solution for request management
including:
- browser-based user interfaces for staff and patrons
- web-based QUESTTM Holdings links for item verification
- FLASH importers for many sources including OVID and SilverPlatter
- choice of robust underlying databases; and strong statistics and reporting functions
Candy Zemon, president of Pigasus Software, Inc., said, "We are delighted to announce this
relationship with VTLS, a company well-respected internationally for its integrated library system products. The architecture used by both companies work well together, giving the library using
the VTLS Virtua system a powerful and flexible ILL solution in the WINGS package."
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VTLS to sell Gemplus RFID tags
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Blacksburg, VA, July 5, 2000 -- VTLS Inc
a leader in client-server integrated library automation solutions, announces a partnership with Gemplus, the world’s leading manufacturer of RFID tags and smart
labels operating at 13.56 MHz. According to the terms of this agreement, VTLS will incorporate into their product offering the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology based on Gemplus’
smart labels and hardware. The solutions by VTLS/Gemplus have an open architecture allowing them to be plugged into most library automation systems. Because of this open architecture,
VTLS Inc. will market and sell these solutions to libraries regardless of their current automation system and to companies within other horizontal markets.
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Gemplus Tag is a division of Gemplus, the world's leading provider of smart card solutions, specializing in radio frequency identification (RFID)
technology. Gemplus has been involved in RFID for over 15 years and offers a complete range of RFID products which include tags, smart labels readers and antennas operating at 13.56 MHz
frequency. Gemplus has designed and implemented the RFID system currently in place at the National Library Board of Singapore, one of the largest RFID installations in any library.
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Gemplus smart labels are paper thin, flexible and incorporate ultra small RFID chips. Gemplus smart labels
can be applied directly into library books and can be read either visually or through material layers via an RFID scanner. VTLS/Gemplus’ RFID solutions for libraries
include self-check book borrowing stations, handheld scanners for on-the-shelf inventories, theft detection gates and book return chutes. Benefits of the solution include
the improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of the library staff, identification of misplaced items, ease of
inventory controls, increase of book availability, reduction of operational costs, patron self-service capabilities, and much more.
Gemplus has been developing RFID solutions for various applications for 15 years and has since
built a solid network of partners, all experts in their application fields. “We are extremely pleased to be partnering with VTLS,” said Jean-Pierre Durbesson, Worldwide Sales Director for
Gemplus. “VTLS has the software and services solutions and the extensive knowledge of automation systems we were looking for. Their solutions and expertise combined with Gemplus’
proven leadership in the design of RFID systems makes our partnership the best offer on the market.”
“We know that RFID technology is the wave of the future and many libraries will embrace it due to
the time saving benefits it brings to their day to day operations,” said Vinod Chachra, president of VTLS, Inc. “We are happy to take a leadership role in bringing this technology to libraries.
With its proven record of market leadership, continuous product innovation and leading-edge technology expertise, we expect Gemplus to be a very valuable long-term partner.”
VTLS and Gemplus have their first joint customer, a medium-sized public library. This library will
begin using the full product line beginning October 1. Details regarding the progress of this initial implementation will be forthcoming.
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Chameleon Gateway - customised OPAC
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Blacksburg, VA, VTLS Inc has turned the programming of the Virtua Web Gateway inside out to enable
libraries with the tools to design and create a customized gateway display. With the newly named Chameleon Gateway, libraries are no longer limited to a default design and a few
configurable buttons. The entire face of the software can be changed to reflect the collections and personality of your organization. The Chameleon Gateway is a product that libraries can
use to effectively meet the needs of diverse patron groups. Users can access the library catalog from their offices, schools, libraries and homes. Navigation of library resources is made
easy through user-friendly and intuitive screens. Features of the Chameleon Gateway include:
- A library customizable interface.
- Multiple search options
- Easy to read cross-references
- Access to library catalogs worldwide
- A cart where users may save records or search results for later viewing, printing, or emailing
- Multimedia access and security
The Chameleon Gateway's use of "skin" technology allows the individual library to offer a
variety of customized interfaces and allows the end-users to choose the one that best meets their individual needs. Experienced researchers and "Power Users" could choose an
"academic" oriented interface, while children might search the catalog through a specially designed "child-friendly interface." By creating or modifying a skin, the library can make the
Gateway match the appearance of the library's web site, provide targeted Web sites for particular segments of patrons (children, visually impaired, etc.), and grant or deny access to
selected Gateway features. Every library can build its own personalized web portal. Options are available to customize the logo and title of the gateway on the Splash screen; customize
the background color; add graphics; customize the text of the buttons and labels; limit the catalogs viewed by patrons; and change the language in which the library catalog is viewed.
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Windows 2000 client support
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Blacksburg, VA. is pleased to announce its support for the Windows 2000 operating system in all its Virtua
client products. Full Unicode support will be provided using Windows 2000. Users of VTLS' third generation
system, Virtua will be able to support any or all languages within the same database. These languages are
based on Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Latin and Tai. Both left to right and right to left languages are supported.
Whereas Windows 2000 supports Unicode, the Virtua products also operate under Windows NT. All languages
except right to left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew are supported within the NT environment.
With the availability of Windows 2000, VTLS is withdrawing support of its full Unicode implementation within the
Windows 95 and 98 operating systems. The Virtua client continues to operate within Windows 95 and 98 for
those customers supporting the native character set only. For those VTLS customers only implementing two
languages, Virtua will also operate under the language of their choice. For instance, Virtua will continue to support
Windows 95 with Chinese for support of Chinese and English, and Windows 95 with Hebrew for support of Hebrew and English.
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NDLTD partnership with Virginia Tech
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Blacksburg, VA. VTLS Inc., is pleased to announce its partnership with Virginia Tech to promote
and provide a union database for access to The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD). The NDLTD is an international federation of member universities and
other institutional members who wish to improve graduate education, promote access to scholarly research, increase sharing of knowledge, help universities build their information
infrastructure, and extend the beneficial impact of digital libraries. Established in 1997, NDLTD has grown to more than 100 members, with new additions occurring regularly. Today's members
come from 18 nations.
NDLTD was established through a research project of Virginia Tech in 1997, with Principal
Investigators Dr. Edward A. Fox, Department of Computer Science, Dr. John L. Eaton, Graduate School, and Gail McMillan, Digital Library and Archives.
Fox said, "As NDLTD continues its rapid expansion, and extends it services to members, we are
pleased to discuss with VTLS new ventures of mutual interest." Eaton said, "The ETD project is an excellent way for Universities to let their scholarship be known to the world. In the past, much
of this information has been unavailable to researchers." McMillan said, "Online thesis and dissertation is an easy way for libraries to improve user services. Our experience with this
project has been very positive".
VTLS Inc. has been invited to serve on the Steering Committee of NDLTD. Dr. Vinod Chachra,
president of VTLS Inc., will be the VTLS representative on the Steering Committee. VTLS will be actively involved in promoting NDLTD among its customers worldwide. VTLS will also begin to
host a union database of electronic theses and dissertations. Contributions for this database will be invited from the libraries participating in the NDLTD project. VTLS is uniquely equipped for
this activity due to the comprehensive support of Unicode in its Virtua ILS - Integrated Library System. Unicode encoding allows data to be entered into a single database in any language,
including non-Roman languages like Arabic, Chinese, English, Greek, Hebrew, and Russian.
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Bibliothecha Alexandrina to use Virtua
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VTLS Inc. and the General Organization of the Alexandria Library (GOAL) have reached an
agreement to deploy VTLS's Virtua product as a part of the ongoing effort to revive the ancient library of Alexandria. Begun in 1987 as a project of the Egyptian Government and with the
co-operation of UNESCO and UNDP, the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina will serve as a center of culture and civilization for Egypt, the Mediterranean and the entire world. Through the
awarding of a special grant, VTLS will be joining with these international organizations as the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina prepares to welcome the scholars of the world.
In a statement, Prof Dr. Mohsen Zahran, Project Director for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, said
that Virtua "will be the ultimate key to unlock the doors of knowledge of human heritage, which the Library is now preparing. It will enable local and remote users everywhere to access its
unique collections in the on-line public access catalogue (OPAC). The Virtua software covers all the Library's needs for a multi-lingual (Arabic, English, French) integrated information system
with its cutting edge technology and applications."
"By implementing Virtua, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina has taken another step toward reclaiming
its birthright as one of the world's elite libraries and setting the standard for other libraries to follow," noted Jack Bazuzi, Vice-President of VTLS Inc. "VTLS is proud to participate in the
rebirth of the greatest library of the ancient world."
When fully implemented, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina will use the complete array of Virtua
functionality, including the functional subsystems of OPAC, Cataloging, Circulation, Serials Control and Acquisitions with EDIFACT support. Virtua's full Unicode compliance will allow the
Bibliotheca Alexandrina to serve researchers worldwide, allowing full support not only for Arabic, French and English, but also for Russian, Greek, Chinese and the many other
languages supported within Unicode - both in the data and for the user interface.
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