Just weeks after OCLC began operating a new data center in Sydney, libraries in Australia began pilot projects to implement OCLC WorldShare Management Services, the cooperative’s new cloud-based approach to managing library services that provide tools to improve library workflows, reduce costs and offer new opportunities for collaboration.

OCLC WorldShare Management Services provide a Web-based environment that streamlines cataloguing, acquisitions, license management and circulation, and offer a next-gen discovery tool for library users.

Both replacing and standing apart from traditional integrated library systems, OCLC WorldShare Management Services enable libraries to share infrastructure costs and resources, as well as collaborate in ways that free them from the restrictions of local hardware and software. WorldShare Management Services also offer the ability to manage collections of print, electronic and digital material from start-to-finish, and the integration of license management features into interlibrary loan processes set WorldShare apart from legacy systems.

Libraries participating in Australian implementation pilot projects include:

• Auburn Public Library (New South Wales)
• Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School (Victoria)
• Academic Centre, Newman College & St Mary’s College (University of Melbourne), (Victoria)
• Shire of Collie Public Library (Western Australia)
• Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview (New South Wales)
• St Michael’s Collegiate School (Tasmania)
• The Hutchins School (Tasmania)
• Trinity Theological College, Leederville (Western Australia)

“Pilot participants are helping to promote library innovation in this part of the world, and they are expanding the possibilities for collaboration for the entire OCLC cooperative,” said Chris Thewlis, OCLC Regional Manager, Australia. “We are very pleased that these libraries are taking the lead in adopting this new, innovative approach to cooperative library management services.”

OCLC staff in Melbourne are responsible for implementing and supporting WorldShare Management Services in libraries in Australia and New Zealand. Staff in Melbourne have been working closely with OCLC staff around the world to prepare them for implementation of the new services in Australian libraries. This team has extensive experience in supporting libraries in the region; the team supports 400 libraries using Amlib library management software, as well as VDX implementations, many of which are large, state-wide groups hosted by OCLC.

In March 2012, OCLC began operating a new data center in Sydney, Australia, to support OCLC WorldShare Management Services for members in Australia and New Zealand. The Sydney center is the fourth data center in OCLC’s global network. OCLC opened a data center in the United Kingdom in December 2011 and maintains two primary operations data centers in the United States.

The Sydney center employs state-of-the-art technologies to ensure high levels of performance, reliability, scalability and cost-effectiveness. Key facilities features include high-performance Internet services with multiple service providers to ensure efficient routing, fully redundant heating and cooling systems, continuous power from multiple sources, and best-of-breed security controls and practices.

In addition, the new center enables OCLC to comply with access and data privacy requirements in Australia and New Zealand, and adhere to technical standards that promote the cost-effective, worldwide sharing of information across platforms, and support scripts, languages and cultural materials. OCLC recently obtained its ISO 27001 certification which bolsters the position of trust in OCLC-hosted solutions and will assure the security of member data.

More about OCLC WorldShare Management Services can be found on the OCLC website at www.oclc.org.

The OCLC WorldShare Platform is the technical infrastructure on which OCLC’s Webscale services are built and provides data, tools and services for library developers, users and partners to create and share applications collectively. Libraries can build applications to meet local needs, while benefiting from the innovation of the broader global library community.

Selover Public Library Joins COOL and Goes Live on Evergreen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Duluth, GA —June 14, 2012

Selover Public Library has become the third library to go live on Evergreen joining Sunbury and Germantown as part of the Consortium of Ohio Libraries (COOL). 21,000 bibliographic items and 4,300 new patrons were migrated to the COOL combined catalog which can be viewed online at http://cool-cat.org/.

Equinox Software oversaw data migration and will continue to provide advanced technical support. OHIONET will partner with Equinox to provide hosting and primary system administration. The COOL project received initial funding from the local libraries and an LSTA grant from the State Library of Ohio. A total of eight libraries are expected to be live by early 2013.

Equinox President, Brad LaJeunesse, says, “Equinox has enjoyed working with OHIONET and looks forward to continuing our partnership as we migrate the remaining pilot libraries.

About Equinox Software, Inc.

Founded by the original Evergreen designers and developers, Equinox Software is a leader in open source solutions for libraries. Their goal is to engage and support a rapidly growing open source community while assisting libraries in moving away from expensive proprietary vendors and products.

For more information on Equinox Software, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com.

About Evergreen

Evergreen is a robust, open-source integrated library system best known for its unique ability to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia. However, it has also proven equally successful scaled down for even the smallest libraries. Evergreen now supports almost 1,200 libraries of every type-public, academic, special, and school media centers across 4 countries, 31 U.S. states, and 8 Canadian provinces. The Georgia PINES, King County Public Library System, SCLENDS, and NC Cardinal consortiums are all currently running Evergreen.
For more information about Evergreen, including a list of all known Evergreen installations, see http://evergreen-ils.org.

Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 770-709-5571

6/14/2012
CONTACT:
Nathan Curulla
(888) 900-8944
sales@bywatersolutions.com

Cooperative Information Network Goes Live on Koha with ByWater Solutions

ByWater Solutions, an open source community supporter and the U.S.’ forefront provider of Koha (www.koha-community.org) support, announced today that the Cooperative Information Network (CIN), a consortium of public, school, and special libraries in Eastern Washington and Idaho, is now live on their installation of the Koha integrated library system.

ByWater Solutions completed their migration in late April and will be providing ongoing support and hosting services for them.

CIN is a system of more than 25 libraries in the Washington, Idaho area. Their union catalog has 235,631 bibliographic records, 535,697 items and has 132,689 patrons. The CIN customized online catalog can be viewed here: http://catalog.cin.bywatersolutions.com

Bette Ammon, president of CIN, commented on their recent switch to Koha with ByWater Solutions:

“On April 30, 2012 the Cooperative Information Network (CIN) launched its new Koha ILS with the trusty ByWater Solutions staff virtually at our side. Our data migration went quickly and smoothly – a big shout-out to the ByWater Solutions staff who worked hard through a weekend resulting in only one afternoon of downtime for patrons. And, patrons were immediately pleased with the new OPAC look and the additional patron-friendly features like saving histories, offering purchase suggestions, and correcting their account information. The open source environment suits us – we like to participate in problem-solving and we like problems resolved quickly. The system has been extremely customizable and we’ve been able to finesse things the way we need them. Participating in future development processes is very exciting to us. Full steam ahead!”

Nicole C. Engard, Vice President of Education at ByWater commented on the new partnership:

“I am always excited to get to work with people who are eager to learn and participate. Having had the opportunity to train the library staff at the CIN libraries I can say that they are the very type of group we want participating in open source. Their desire to learn, help and assist in change makes me very excited to continue to work with CIN in the coming years.”

About the Cooperative Information Network:

CIN is a system of more than 25 public, school, and special libraries in the Eastern Washington and Idaho area. Their union catalog has 235,631 bibliographic records, 535,697 items and has 132,689 patrons. For more information about CIN please visit: http://www.cinlibraries.org

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://koha-community.org/

About ByWater Solutions:

ByWater Solutions is a full service, high quality support and implementation company dedicated to providing libraries with a lower cost, more advanced level of support for their ILS than a traditional proprietary solution can offer. ByWater Solutions has a proven track record in first rate Koha implementation and support with library systems of all sizes. Our highly ranked, comprehensive support is what sets our company apart from any other vendor in the industry. Partnering with ByWater Solutions to support Koha not only lowers the cost of implementing and maintaining an ILS, but more importantly empowers libraries by giving them the flexibility and freedom they deserve. For more information please visit: http://bywatersolutions.com/