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    March 10th, 2011LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    3/10/2011
    CONTACT:
    Nathan Curulla
    (888) 900-8944
    sales@bywatersolutions.com

    ByWater Solutions Welcomes Jesse Maseto as Lead Sales Specialist

    ByWater Solutions, an open source community supporter and official Koha support company is proud to welcome Jesse Maseto as their Lead Sales Specialist for Eastern U.S. Sales. Jesse will be the main point of contact for new customers interested in ByWater Solutions from the Eastern United States.

    Jesse Maseto has over ten years of experience in technology sales and sales management. He has worked in many different business forums throughout the United States and is perfectly suited to meet the needs of ByWater's customers and effectively spread the message of collaboration and cooperation to those looking to switch to an open source solution.

    Jesse commented on his recent decision to join the ByWater Solutions team;

    "I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to join the ByWater Solutions team. I look forward to being able to help educate libraries about the benefits, both financial and functional, associated with using open source and Koha. It is a great feeling to know that my job helps libraries and makes it easier for librarians to do their jobs."

    “Interest in Koha throughout North America is spreading very quickly" stated Brendan Gallagher, CEO of ByWater Solutions. He continues; "Jesse is fulfilling a key role within our company by helping to make sure that trend continues. We are thrilled to have Jesse on board and part of the ByWater family!"

    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. ByWater Solutions pledges to share 100% of all developed code to the Koha and Evergreen communities for the strengthening and advancement of the Koha and Evergreen ILSs. For more information about ByWater Solutions, please visit: http://www.bywatersolutions.com

    About Koha:

    Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha's impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base. It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships, and more.

    Koha’s OPAC, circulation, management and self-checkout interfaces are all based on standards-compliant World Wide Web technologies--XHTML, CSS and Javascript--making Koha a truly platform-independent solution. Koha is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). For more information about Koha, please visit: http://www.koha-community.org

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    March 10th, 2011LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    LS2 Kids shines at Brevard County Libraries
    DENVER (March 9, 2011) – LS2 Kids, a public catalog designed for children and developed by The Library Corporation, is earning rave reviews from one of Florida’s largest library systems.

    The Brevard County Libraries added LS2 Kids to its CARL•X™ automation system in January, giving its youngest users the opportunity to independently explore the collection within the Cocoa, Fla.-based library system.
    Library Director Cathy Schweinsberg put it simply: “I think it’s great.” Another Brevard County staffer added, “The series content is not only a great tool for children and parents, it's also a great tool for librarians.”
    TLC developed LS2 Kids independently from adult versions of catalogs to specifically target the habits of young readers and how they use computers. It features a category wheel with easily identifiable icons representing dozens of subject areas, an interactive title display that magnifies book jackets to screen-filling proportions, and extensively tailored lists of popular book series like “Junie B. Jones” and “The Magic School Bus.”
    Brevard County Libraries implemented LS2 Kids on Jan. 7. The library system includes 17 library branches and a pick-up/drop-off facility. It offers more than 1.4 million books, DVDs, CDs, and other items to the county’s 537,000 residents, 63 percent of who have a library card.
    The robust public library system on Florida’s Space Coast joins a growing roster of LS2 Kids users, including the Anchorage School District in Alaska, New Hanover County Public Library in North Carolina, Chicago Public Schools in Illinois, and Dallas Independent School District in Texas. “The largest schools are using TLC’s LS2 Kids, and now, so are the largest public libraries,” said TLC Product Owner Dianne Coan.
    About The Library Corporation
    TLC was founded in 1974 to create technology for libraries and school districts of all sizes. The company’s library automation and cataloging products include Library•Solution®, Library•Solution® for Schools, 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.

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    March 10th, 2011LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    Times are tough and with increased downsizing there now are more and more women scrambling to create viable career options for themselves. Maybe they should look to groundbreakers like LAC Group CEO Deb Schwarz—not long ago a librarian wracking her brain to develop greater career potential than the path she found stretching before her.

    “It wasn’t that I was unhappy in my work or, worse, suddenly found myself unemployed as so many women do today,” recalls Schwarz. “I just knew that I could use all of the skills I had acquired along the way—both on the job as an information specialist, and as a goal-oriented woman, managing the business of life—to move myself to something more personally and financially gratifying.”

    So, in 1986, Schwarz founded a small library staffing business, offering her clients the top-notch information management skills she herself possessed and could recognize in potential recruits. Then, in 1997, her modest enterprise saw a major break when a top San Francisco law firm asked her to run their library as an outside contractor. Schwarz was convinced that the time was ripe for outsourcers—especially those supplying information management services.

    “I realized that if I could do this for the legal profession, I could offer all sorts of information management services to any number of for-profit or nonprofit verticals and even local, state, and federal government agencies.”

    She was right: Today, with over 350 employees and annual sales approaching $20 million, Schwarz and her associates are marking 25 years of managing information assets and supplying strategic consulting to public and private organizations of all types, all over the world. LAC Group proudly displays its ongoing WBENC (www.wbenc.com) accreditation as a premier woman-owned firm; an organization recognized for its integrity and ability to deliver the highest levels of service.

    Schwarz extends much of the credit to her team of dedicated and talented professionals from across the library, project management and government contracting worlds. But she also concedes that her unflagging (“Some might say ‘stubborn!’”) vision and adherence to core values, teamed with a commitment to top-flight execution had much to do with the firm’s quarter century of success.

    Yet, “Women are generally good at implementation and standing by their principles,” says the CEO. “Where they fall short is in the vision part of the equation: the ability to dream big and to believe they are worthy of that dream.”

    Her advice to small business owners of her gender, or those nudged out of the workforce and now considering startups in a tough economy? “Dream big, start small, and don’t let anyone scare you away,” Schwarz advises.

    “Someone’s going to build on that dream; why shouldn’t it be you? That conviction has worked for me for 25 years.”

    About LAC Group

    LAC Group is a leading global provider of library, legal, information/research staffing, consulting, project and asset management services, with clients in government/nonprofit, the Fortune 500, law, academia, biotechnology, and more. For additional information, visit www.lac-group.com or contact Erin Beekhuis at 323.302.9438 / erin@lac-group.com.

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    Media Contact:

    Erin Beekhuis
    Projects & Communications Mgr.
    323.302.9438
    323.852.1093
    erin@lac-group.com
    www.lac-group.com