For Immediate Release
Contact: Rob Colding
Information Today, Inc
609.654.6500 ext. 330

February 21, 2011, Medford, NJ—Information Today, Inc. (ITI) announced the publication of Implementing Technology Solutions in Libraries: Techniques, Tools, and Tips From the Trenchesby Karen C. Knox.

In this new book, Knox provides a practical, step-by-step approach to successfully implementing all kinds of technology projects in libraries and information centers.
“Very few libraries can afford to purchase and implement all the latest technology whenever it becomes available … in reality, no library actually needs to,” according to Knox. “Technology is a tool to be used to meet a library’s needs. … For any initiative, the key is to find the right solution to fill a particular need and integrate it into the library environment.”

The author has implemented many technology projects over the years, some more successfully than others, as she is quick to admit. In the book, she draws on her experience to help readers identify the most critical components of any project while modifying and scaling to meet their library’s unique needs. In addition to covering such nitty gritty topics as planning, building project teams, writing requests for proposals, working with vendors, training staff and customers, and evaluating a project, Knox deconstructs a successful implementation from start to finish, carefully examining each step.

“I wish I’d had this handy book about seven years ago,” said David Lee King, digital branch manager of the Topeka & Shawnee County (KS) Public Library. “It’s a great guide to technology planning in libraries.” Library consultant and futurist Joan Frye Williams concurs, describing the book as “clear and practical from start to finish—a comprehensive roadmap for rookies as well as success insurance for more seasoned implementers.”

In addition to the author’s Introduction and 13 topical chapters, Implementing Technology Solutions in Libraries is thoroughly indexed and features six useful appendices including samples of a technology plan, a request for proposal, a review tool, and a recommendation for vendor solution, along with IT inventory and IP planner templates. As a reader bonus, the author has created a companion website (www.karencknox.com/itsil) that provides links to resources mentioned in the book, copies of the appendix documents, and updates to the print content.

“This guide will help you make a plan, stick to it, and successfully implement new technologies in your library,” said Nicole C. Engard, director of open source at ByWater Solutions.

Karen C. Knox is the IT manager at the Rochester Hills Public Library (RHPL) in Rochester, Michigan. She describes her niche in library technology as the perfect combination of her computer science skills and her love for libraries. Knox has a BS in computer science from the University of Michigan and an MLIS from the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked with technology in public libraries for more than 10 years, including five years at the Novi Public Library in Novi, Michigan, prior to joining RHPL.

Implementing Technology Solutions in Libraries: Techniques, Tools, and Tips From the Trenches (192 pp/softbound/$35.00/ISBN 978-1-57387-403-8) 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.

Anchorage School District implements TLC’s Library•Solution for Schools

INWOOD, W.Va. (Feb. 15, 2011) – The Anchorage School District has implemented The Library Corporation’s Library•Solution® for Schools automation system.
“I’ve been really pleased with the system,” said Ann Morgester, head of the district’s Library Department. “We have had an amazingly positive response from the students.”
With 49,000 students, nearly 100 educational facilities, and more than 1.3 million library titles, the school district that serves Alaska’s largest city needed a proven automation solution. Library•Solution for Schools delivers intuitive and customizable interfaces, Web-based circulation, hundreds of preformatted reports, real-time inventory tools, and requires minimal system administration.
Morgester said students from kindergarten through 12th grade have a high degree of interactivity with the system because they are able to independently explore age-appropriate library catalogs, add book reviews, create and share lists of favorite titles, and rate the latest arrivals in their school libraries. This level of student interaction was not available with the district’s previous system, she said.
The Anchorage School District chose its new library automation system in April 2010 following a competitive RFP process, and implementation took place later in the year. TLC’s automation solutions were selected, Morgester said, because “We felt it was more forward-thinking on the Web 2.0 side.” The district also was impressed with TLC’s practice of updating and enhancing its products “frequently as opposed to once or twice a year,” she said.
TLC was founded in 1974 to create technology for libraries and school districts of all sizes, including some of the busiest libraries in the world. TLC’s library automation, cataloging, and selection and acquisition products include Library•Solution®, CARL•X™, LS2 PAC, LS2 Kids, LS2 Mobile, Textbook Management and Asset Tracking, BiblioFile®, and ITS•MARC® – all backed by an unparalleled level of customer support and assistance.
For more information on TLC, contact Lisa Prodywus at lisap@TLCdelivers.com, call 1.800.325.7759, or visit www.TLCdelivers.com.

~Middle East Technical University—One of the World’s Top Ranked Universities—Selects EBSCO Discovery Service™ After Long Look at Alternatives~

IPSWICH, Mass. — February 15, 2011 — Middle East Technical University (METU) has selected EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) from EBSCO Publishing. After evaluating a variety of services METU chose EDS based on the discovery service’s sophistication and development. EDS was seen as a way to upgrade the library from an unsatisfactory federated search system and provide a service befitting the high level of students who attend METU.

METU is the First Turkish State University ranked among The World University Ranking 2010 from the Times Higher Education. The university is also ranked among the best universities in the world and the top university in Turkey according to Webometrics Ranking of World Universities compiled in January 2011 by the Cybermetrics Lab in Spain. Out of the 1.5 million students who take the Higher Education Council Student Selection and Placement Examination each year, one-third of the most qualified 1,000 students select Middle East Technical University.

EBSCO Discovery Service was among the discovery services evaluated as the university sought to move away from federated searching and EDS was the one discovery option that made sense. METU librarians have been studying, conducting research and performing an accurate evaluation on EBSCO Discovery Service and other alternatives for a long time. Librarians determined that EDS has strong content and an impressive development schedule that separated EDS from other services.

METU will also add EBSCOhost® Integrated Search™, EBSCO A-to-Z® and LinkSource® in order to add resources not available via discovery along with a Web-based resource listing service and a link resolver.

Middle East Technical University will introduce EBSCO Discovery Service to users under the name of METUnique Search with comprehensive customization features. EDS allows sites to customize their discovery experience including:
• enhanced branding to bring visibility to the library and university through logos, colors and custom linking
• a custom toolbar to determine both links being made available and the wording used to describe them
• widgets which allow functionality from EDS to be exported to other sites and imported into the EDS user experience

EBSCO Discovery Service creates a unified, customized index of an institution’s information resources, and an easy, yet powerful means of accessing all of that content from a single search box—searching made even more powerful because of the quality of metadata and depth and breadth of coverage.

The Base Index for EBSCO Discovery Service forms the foundation upon which each EDS subscribing library builds out its custom collection. Beginning with the Base Index, each institution extends the reach of EDS by adding appropriate resources including its catalog, institutional repositories, EBSCOhost and other databases, and additional content sources to which it subscribes. It is this combination that allows a single, comprehensive, custom solution for discovering the value of any library’s collection.

The EDS Base Index is comprised of metadata from the world’s foremost information providers. At present, the EDS Base Index represents content from approximately 20,000 providers in addition to metadata from another 70,000 book publishers. Although constantly growing, today the EDS Base Index provides metadata for nearly 50,000 magazines & journals, approximately 825,000 CDs & DVDs, nearly six million books, more than 100 million newspaper articles, more than 400,000 conference proceedings and hundreds of thousands of additional information sources from various source-types.

About EBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing is the world’s premier database aggregator, offering a suite of more than 300 full-text and secondary research databases. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals, magazines, books, monographs, reports and various other publication types from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). The company’s product lines include proprietary databases such as Academic Search™, Business Source®, CINAHL®, DynaMed™, Literary Reference Center™, MasterFILE™, NoveList®, SocINDEX™ and SPORTDiscus™ as well as dozens of leading licensed databases such as ATLA Religion Database™, EconLit, Inspec®, MEDLINE®, MLA International Bibliography, NISC™, The Philosopher’s Index™, PsycARTICLES®, PsycINFO® and RILM™. Databases are powered by EBSCOhost®, the most-used for-fee electronic resource in libraries around the world. EBSCO is the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ a core collection of locally-indexed metadata creating a unified index of an institution’s resources within a single, customizable search point providing everything the researcher needs in one place—fast, simple access to the library’s full text content, deeper indexing and more full-text searching of more journals and magazines than any other discovery service (www.ebscohost.com/discovery). For more information, visit the EBSCO Publishing Web site at: www.ebscohost.com, or contact: information@ebscohost.com.

EBSCO Publishing is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.
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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Manager
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebscohost.com

15th February 2011

Multi-Science Publishing is pleased to announce that another of its titles, International Journal of Aeroacoustics, is now in ISI's Science Citation Index (Engineering).

Commented Multi-Science Director Bill Hughes: "this kind of third party validation of our journals is always welcome. The International Journal of Aeroacoustics is a particularly strong title. Its the only peer reviewed, English language journal devoted to Aeroacoustics - another instance of our long-term policy of not creating 'yet another' journal on any given topic, but filling necessary gaps in the literature. And Aeroacoustics is a subject whose importance is only going to grow as public, therefore political, pressure mounts to demand research-led solutions to the noise of aircraft. I hope this recognition by ISI will help communicate a sense of this journal's worth and importance to the academic community." The International Journal of Aeroacoustics is also listed in SCOPUS.

More information:
Bill Hughes bill@multi-science.co.uk
+44 1277 224632