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ISSN 1463-7146 |
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+ more libraries go with TLC/CARL in: |
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[Biblio Tech Review] |
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INWOOD, WV, March 7, 2001 The Library Corporation (TLC) and its recently acquired partner company, CARL Corporation, today jointly announced that CARL has been selected as the preferred vendor and will enter into contract negotiation with Wellington City Libraries in New Zealand. The Wellington RFP was awarded following a year-long process in which CARL competed against four other well-known library automation companies. This selection presents TLC and CARL with an opportunity to enter the New Zealand/Australia region. It follows a period of time in which TLC and CARL have been establishing a solid presence in Asia. TLC/CARL’s Singapore office and team currently support automation solutions for the National Library Board of Singapore and the National Library of the Philippines, among others. This project requires the installation of a completely integrated system including hardware, software, data migration services, custom reporting and software solutions, on-site training, and full customer support. The initial installation will support 200 terminals for staff and the public in the Central Library and 11 branches. In FY99-00, the Wellington City Libraries circulated 3 million items and had 2.5 million visitors. Increasingly, TLC/CARL is particularly well positioned to expand into global markets based on its considerable competitive advantages. As June Garcia, Vice President and Chief Ambassador for TLC/CARL, commented, “Our combined company truly delivers a unique combination of functionality, flexibility and responsiveness to libraries worldwide. As a result, our customers view us as their ‘technology partner.’ We are delighted to have been selected for this project and look forward to working with Wellington’s library staff to enrich and enhance services that are delivered to community residents.” Also commenting today was Jane Hill, award-winning Library Director for Wellington City Libraries, who noted, “Wellington is a high-volume, high-circulation urban library system that has very specific requirements which we believe TLC/CARL is well-suited to address. The CARL automation system selected offers high quality public access catalogs and outstanding multi-lingual capabilities. We look forward to working with our CARL partners to implement a Maori interface to ensure that all members of our community have access to library resources.” Both parties anticipate finalizing the contract within the next month, and implementing the conversion over the next six months. |
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This Month’s Stories |
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[2001] |
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Printable BTR |
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INWOOD, WV, March 12, 2001 Two new libraries have selected TLC/CARL's Library.Solution system bringing the total to 14 within the state. One of these, Mexico-Audrain County Public Library System, is a county-wide library system in a suburban setting that purchased 25 workstations for its five sites, in addition to software, support and training. The other is Mountain View Public Library, which just purchased its first automation system for the library’s single-site facility and also contracted for a complete package of hardware, software, installation, training, support and patron cards. Lois Smith, Library Director at Mountain View Public Library, commented, “Our library serves a rural community of very active library users. With computer and networking services and personnel scarce in the region, we required a reliable system, with great technical support.” Continued Ms. Smith, “We turned to TLC/CARL because of its reputation for excellent technical support and customer service. I’ve used TLC systems in the past, and here we utilize ITSMARC to perform cataloging. In fact, we recently completed retrospective conversion of our entire collection with ITSMARC. TLC’s products are superior-- their support is outstanding.” From a statewide perspective, Missouri has taken a leadership position in spurring its libraries to incorporate advanced technologies. Missouri State Library Automation Grants are funded by federal resources and administered by the state. That funding covers 75 percent of automation costs, with the individual library itself responsible for providing the balance. However, the technology requirements are stringent, and only a handful of companies including TLC have met the criteria. |
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INWOOD, WV, March 29, 2001 In recent months, seven library systems in Indiana and ten organizations in Kentucky have selected LibrarySolution. Aggregated, the new libraries in Indiana and Kentucky account for 32 sites and 399 workstations. Librarians cited as influential, two newly introduced programs from TLC that work in concert with LibrarySolution. One, “YouSeeMore,” allows patrons to create a personal portal, enabling them to “see” book covers, read reviews online and obtain recommendations while searching the online public access catalog (OPAC). The second, “Kid’s Catalog Web,” is a web-based program that makes library catalogs more accessible to beginning readers and ensures that Web content for children is age-appropriate. KentuckyThe Bluegrass North Consortium in central Kentucky presents a interesting model. Three single-site libraries formed a consortium the first of its kind with public libraries in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to share resources and realize economies of scale. The three libraries, Scott County Public Library, Paul Sawyier and Woodford County Public Library, are networked to a common server. While individual libraries maintain their autonomy -- thus preserving their own circulation policies and procedures -- patrons and staff have access to resources at each site within the consortium. With this unique approach, libraries that may not have had the funding to automate are able to do so, and network with other libraries to share resources -- all at a lower cost. For this very reason, Woodford County Public Library was able to finally shift from manual circulation to an automated approach. In total, the consortium will install approximately 140 stations and PACs at the three sites. Installation is anticipated in late April. Two of the libraries -- Scott County and Paul Sawyier -- migrated from another vendor’s system, Gaylord Galaxy. According to one consortium member, Rita Douthitt, Director of Paul Sawyier Public Library in Frankfort, Kentucky, “We needed a web-based system that could operate with one server, network to multiple sites, and upgrade easily. TLC was able to meet our unique requirements both in terms of cost-effectiveness and flexibility. My colleagues and I are very excited about this venture and the potential to add more libraries to the association.” IndianaIn bordering Indiana, libraries are coming to a similar conclusion. Jasper County Public Library represents the latest migration from Gaylord Galaxy to LibrarySolution. Lynn Daugherty, Director for Jasper County Public Library, said, “We made our selection based on proposals from four different vendors. Our library required a Windows-based system that is feature-rich. Other vendors referred to functions they planned to introduce, but TLC already had them in use.” |
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INWOOD, WV, March 22, 2001 The latest organization in the state to adopt LibrarySolution is Siskiyou County Public Library, located in Yreka, California. Siskiyou serves a rural population, with an annual circulation of approximately 220,000. In making the purchase, Siskiyou joins a growing number of fellow members of the North State Cooperative Library System -- a library cooperative consisting of 13 libraries in Northern California -- in converting to LibrarySolution. The Siskiyou agreement calls for installation of 20 workstations within the main library site and its 10 branches and unlimited public access catalog (PAC) usage for its approximately 60 browser terminals. Installation is scheduled to be complete by June. According to Pat Harper, Library Director at Siskiyou, the decision to migrate to LibrarySolution from a PAC on a local area network was driven by several key factors, notably customer service. “TLC has been very open to customizing the system for our specific needs,” stated Ms. Harper. “In fact, while they were here to demo the product, they tailored a software enhancement to list individual libraries -- a function our current PAC could not perform.” Ms. Harper also pointed to several additional aspects that helped firm her library’s decision. An essential element was TLC’s newly introduced “YouSeeMore” a personalized web portal that enables patrons and library staff to search the online public access catalog (OPAC) to “see” book jackets, view tables of contents, and access reviews. In addition, Ms. Harper noted that it was important to utilize an automation system that is Windows NT-based, operates cost-efficiently, and is delivered by a vendor that has extensive experience in designing solutions for public libraries. |
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