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September 21st, 2009LISWireSeptember 21, 2009, Medford, NJ—Information Today, Inc. (ITI) has announced the publication of Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data, edited by Nicole C. Engard.
As web users become more savvy and demanding, libraries are encouraging patrons to help keep library websites dynamically and collaboratively up-to-date. According to Engard, mashups—web applications that combine freely available data from various sources to create something new—can help libraries meet patrons’ expectations and provide superior web-based service. In the book, Engard and 25 contributors present numerous practical and innovative examples.
“Library Mashups is a great resource for anyone aspiring to create cutting-edge library services,” said Raymond Yee, Ph.D., author of Pro Web 2.0 Mashups: Remixing Data and Web Services. “The book’s case studies draw from the practical experiences of an impressive group of forward-thinking professionals in the field.”
Examples of mashups in the book range from ways to allow those without programming skills to make simple website updates, to modifying the library OPAC, to using popular sites like Flickr, Yahoo!, LibraryThing, Google Maps, and Delicious to share and combine digital content.“This book illustrates not only what is different from the past but also how libraries can continue adding new value in the future,” according to Jenny Levine, blogger of The Shifted Librarian, writing in the Foreword to the book. “Creatively utilizing these new tools has empowered libraries to experiment and create new resources, as well as enhance traditional ones.”
With human and financial resources shrinking in many libraries, the content in Library Mashups is designed to be useful to librarians with limited budgets. Librarians who have little or no experience with web programming as well as the technologically savvy will find value in Library Mashups. “The goal of this guide is to teach you the basics of what mashups are and how they have been used in libraries worldwide,” Engard says in the book’s Introduction. “It is my hope that after reading this book, you will be inspired to make at least one change to your library site.”
In addition to Library Journal “Mover & Shaker” Nicole Engard, contributors to Library Mashups include these librarians and technology specialists who have done pioneering work in enriching library services:
• Derik A. Badman
• Bonaria Biancu
• John Blyberg
• Thomas Brevik
• Jason A. Clark
• Karen A. Coombs
• Mark Dahl
• Joshua Ferraro
• Darlene Fichter
• Joseph Gilbert
• Robin Hastings
• Stephen Hedges
• Brian Herzog
• Karl Jendretzky
• Stuart Lewis
• Jeremy McWilliams
• Matt Mitchell
• Lichen Rancourt
• Bess Sadler
• Wolfram Schneider
• Ross Singer
• Laura Solomon
• Tim Spalding
• Corey Wallis
• Michael C. WittIn addition to an Introduction by Engard and the Foreword by Levine, Library Mashups features an afterword, a glossary, and an index. As a bonus for readers Engard maintains a companion website to the book at mashups.web2learning.net.
Nicole C. Engard is the Open Source Evangelist at LibLime, where she directs the company’s open source education endeavors. Her interest in library technology started at the Jenkins Law Library in Philadelphia, where she worked as Web Manager. For her innovative uses of technology in libraries, Engard was named one of Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers in 2007. She keeps the library community up to date on web technologies via her website, “What I Learned Today…” (www.web2learning.net). She has been published in Computers in Libraries, ONLINE magazine, and Journal of Hospital Librarianship and written chapters for Thinking Outside the Book: Essays for Innovative Librarians and Writing and Publishing: The Librarian’s Handbook.
Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data (352 pp/softbound/$39.50/ISBN 978-1-57387-372-7) is published by Information Today, Inc. (ITI). It is available in bookstores and direct from the publisher by calling (800) 300-9868; faxing (609) 654-4309; emailing custserv@infotoday.com; or visiting the ITI website at www.infotoday.com. To order the book outside North America contact Facet Publishing: +44 (0)1235 827702; www.facetpublishing.co.uk.
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September 19th, 2009LISWire
BUFFALO, NY--September 18, 2009 -- LISHost (http://lishost.org/), the leader in web hosting for librarians & libraries, announced today that Karen A. Coombs has joined LISHost as the Web Applications Specialist. In her role at LISHost, Coombs will work with libraries and librarians to identify and implemented open source web applications to meet their needs.
Coombs comes to LISHost from University of Houston Libraries where she served as the Head of Web Services. Karen has over 8 years experience in libraries. She began her career at the State University of New York at Cortland as the Information Technology and Instruction Librarian and then went on to serve as Electronic Services Librarian. Coombs has extensive experience implementing and customizing open source web applications such as Drupal, Wordpress and Mediawiki.
"I'm very excited that Karen has joined LISHost," says Blake Carver, LISHost's Founder. He continues, "Karen's experience with open source software and libraries is a natural fit for LISHost whose customers use open source software heavily." The addition of Ms. Coombs to the team will allow us to expand the variety of web applications we host and offer additional services to help our customers select, implement, and customize web applications that meet their needs.
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September 11th, 2009LISWire
COLUMBUS, OH --Sept. 11, 2009-- LibLime, the leader in open-source solutions for libraries announced today the launch of a new hosted, subscription-based Koha ILS service: the Koha Express.
LibLime's Koha Express is a full-featured integrated library system, distributed via Software as a Service on LibLime's cloud computing platform. This subscription-based, turnkey solution offers the award-winning Koha ILS at a fraction of the cost of a traditional commercial solution. It lets small libraries stay within budget without sacrificing features.
The hosted solution is a flat $299/year and includes software installation and hosting by LibLime.
Koha Express is a community-focused solution that runs official Koha Project releases (currently 3.0.2). Koha Express libraries can take advantage of the extensive Koha community resources--including real-time chat, mailing lists and the comprehensive documentation contributed to the community by LibLime. It is ideal for small public, school, and special libraries.
"At $299 per year, Koha Express drastically reduces the barrier for libraries worldwide who need an enterprise-class, web-based integrated library system," says LibLime CEO, Joshua Ferraro.
"We've been hearing from libraries for some time that there is a need for a solution at this price point," continues Ferraro. "Thanks to LibLime's new cloud computing platform, we are finally able to offer a product to the most budget-conscious libraries that is economically sustainable for the company as well."
With over 1,000 Koha libraries worldwide, community-backed support finally represents a viable alternative for libraries who do not need or can't afford traditional commercial Koha support from a vendor.
"This solution lets libraries collaborate on a level they are very comfortable with: supporting one another. At the same time, it puts the most technically challenging aspects of running an ILS into LibLime's expert hands," explains Ferraro.
Koha is currently in production on six continents and has been translated into dozens of languages. With Koha Express, LibLime is poised to expand its user base beyond North America.
How Koha Express Works
Signing up for Koha Express is entirely automated and libraries can purchase the solution from LibLime's secure e-commerce Website. After purchase, login information for the library's Koha installation is delivered to the library administrator's email within 24 hours. From there, the library can utilize documentation and community support to proceed with data migration and configuration of the new system.
LibLime offers three additional add-on packages for Koha Express for libraries that would like assistance with Data Migration, Training and OPAC Customization.
To find out more about Koha Express, visit: http://www.liblime.com/products/koha/koha-express
About LibLime
LibLime is the global leader in open-source solutions for libraries, with a mission to make open source accessible to libraries. Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, LibLime 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. LibLime then facilitates implementation of open-source in libraries by providing outstanding development, customization, support and training solutions--solutions tailored to each library's needs. For more information, see http://liblime.com.
Press Contact:
Tina Burger
Vice President Marketing, LibLime
(888) Koha ILS (564-2457) ext. 705LibLime and the LibLime logo, Koha and LibLime Enterprise Koha are either registered trademarks or trademarks of LibLime. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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September 11th, 2009LISWire
COLUMBUS, OH --Sept. 11, 2009-- LibLime, the leader in open-source solutions for libraries, announced today the launch of LibLime Enterprise Koha.
LibLime Enterprise Koha is built on over two years of completed customer-sponsored development, including several highly-anticipated academic and consortia features. This Software as a Service offering on LibLime's new cloud computing platform will also feature regular monthly releases as additional customer-sponsored development is completed. Starting in October, LibLime will begin the rollout of this solution to Koha ZOOM Hosted customers.
A public software release of each version of LibLime Enterprise Koha will occur periodically, after the sponsoring library and LibLime's customers have had adequate time to ensure that the codebase is of sufficient quality and stability to be contributed back to the Koha Community. LibLime Enterprise Koha software releases will be available from the download page of LibLime's Website.
LibLime Enterprise Koha represents a business process change for LibLime and is an adaptive response to balance customer requirements and business sustainability. LibLime will now be focusing all development efforts on the LibLime Enterprise Koha codebase. All custom sponsored development projects will now fall into a single release schedule, overseen by LibLime.
"Just to make one thing crystal clear: All of LibLime's development efforts will be available to the library community under an open-source license," says LibLime CEO, Joshua Ferraro. "These are process changes, not philosophical changes. As the leader in open-source solutions for libraries, LibLime is 100% committed to the open-source movement."
"We've seen an explosion of growth over the past two years in both LibLime's customer base and interest in Koha," says Tina Burger, VP Marketing for LibLime.
"This rapid growth necessitated close examination of the company's business processes to ensure LibLime's future sustainability as a company and ongoing customer success," she continues. "Since open source is still an emerging business model in libraries, we looked carefully at successful open-source communities in other industries to formulate our plan for future growth. LibLime Enterprise Koha blends the best practices of the most successful open-source communities."
Features currently available in LibLime Enterprise Koha include:
Support for the MARC21 Holdings standard
GetIt Acquisitions
‡biblios.net Cataloging
Patron Proxies
Call Slips
Hourly Loans
Permission granularity
A new reporting interface
ISBN-13 support
Email Checkout Slips
Enhanced consortia supportFeatures in the pipeline for LibLime Enterprise Koha include:
Browse Indexes
Global Update Tool
Barcodeless Checkouts
Multiple Copy Holds
and moreThe solution is backed by LibLime technical support and includes access to a new LibLime Customer Website which features: Customer Wish Lists, a Software Roadmap, LibLime-specific Documentation Center and other support information.
For more information about LibLime Enterprise Koha or to obtain pricing information, visit: http://www.liblime.com/products/koha/liblime-enterprise-koha
About LibLime Enterprise Koha
LibLime Enterprise Koha couples the award-winning Koha Community baseline with the latest enterprise enhancements sponsored by LibLime customers. Backed by LibLime support and documentation, LibLime Enterprise Koha represents the most advanced and comprehensive open-source ILS solution available to libraries.
For more information, visit http://liblime.com.
To try out LibLime Enterprise Koha for yourself, visit LibLime's demos:
About LibLime
LibLime is the global leader in open-source solutions for libraries, with a mission to make open source accessible to libraries. Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, LibLime 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. LibLime then facilitates implementation of open-source in libraries by providing outstanding development, customization, support and training solutions--solutions tailored to each library's needs. For more information, see http://liblime.com.
Press Contact:
Tina Burger
Vice President Marketing, LibLime
(888) Koha ILS (564-2457) ext. 705LibLime and the LibLime logo, Koha and LibLime Enterprise Koha are either registered trademarks or trademarks of LibLime. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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September 11th, 2009LISWire
September 8th, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Brendan Gallagher
(203)823-5847
info@bywatersolutions.comByWater Solutions and BibLibre Welcome Nicole C. Engard
ByWater Solutions and BibLibre, both open source community supporters and Koha support companies, announced today that they have jointly hired Nicole C. Engard to work with both companies on their Koha Projects and to continue her documentation work on behalf of the Koha community.
Nicole joins ByWater and BibLibre from LibLime where she served as 'Open Source Evangelist'. She has been a pillar of the Koha community since 2008 and acted as document manager for the project: she will continue to play that important role in her new position. Nicole is well known outside of the Koha community as a speaker, teacher and writer. She has also been recognized as one of Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers for 2007.As Nicole states; "For me open source is all about community and I am so excited to get to continue this community work under the support of two amazing companies.”
Brendan Gallagher CEO of ByWater Solutions stated: “We are extremely exited that Nicole will be working with both companies and we applaud BibLibre’s dedication to the community in co-sponsoring this venture. Nicole will be continuing and advancing the documentation and training needs for the Koha community. We are also proud to form another alliance in the community of support vendors, this time internationally.”
Nicolas Morin, CEO of BibLibre commented: “BibLibre has been working within the Koha community since 2002 and we always felt, as a company, that to be able to harness the full power of the Koha Open Source Community we needed to devote time and resources to the community: we are successful because of the community, not despite the community. So we're very happy to have Nicole at our side to help us make the documentation of Koha better and do what she's so good at: promoting the Koha project and the values it represents.”
About ByWater Solutions
With over 10 years of experience, ByWater Solutions offers customized hosting, data migration, configuration, installation, training, support options and development of enterprise class open-source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen. Offering a 24/7 technical helpline, ByWater Solutions’ clients have the support system they need to make their software work for them. Check us out! http://www.bywatersolutions.comAbout BibLibre
BibLibre is the leader of Open Source solutions for Libraries, based in Europe. Koha was created in 2000 as the first Open Source Integrated Library System: our early involvement with the project gave us an extended knowledge of librarianship and the needs of librarians in the age of omnipresent internet and open data. Building on this expertise, we now provide a range of services to libraries: we develop, host, support open source software for libraries worldwide.
To learn more, see http://www.biblibre.com/english