12/18/2012
CONTACT:
Nathan Curulla
(888) 900-8944
sales@bywatersolutions.com

Spanish Fork Public Library 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 Spanish Fork Public Library in Spanish Fork, UT is now live on their installation of the Koha integrated library system.

ByWater Solutions completed the migration for the Spanish Fork Public Library this fall and will be providing ongoing Koha support and hosting services for their over 70,000 bibliographic records and 10,000 patrons.

Pam Jackson, Library Director, commented on the move to support with ByWater Solutions:

“Our decision to go with Koha and ByWater Solutions was due to the great customer service provided by Nate. He was so helpful in answering our questions and going the extra mile to help us. From that point forward, the ByWater team did an exceptional job of making our transition happen quickly and smoothly. We are very pleased with the level of customer service offered from ByWater and we are happy with the Koha system they support.”

Nate Curulla, Owner and EVP of ByWater commented on Spanish Fork’s decision to partner with them:

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Pam and the staff of Spanish Fork Public Library. Pam and the staff of Spanish Fork have been an absolute pleasure to work with and I could not be happier that we were able to meet their needs and provide the support their library deserves. We look forward to a long a productive relationship together and are very grateful for their choice in ByWater.”

The Spanish Fork Public Library’s customized online catalog can be viewed here: http://catalog.spanishfork.bywatersolutions.com.

About the Spanish Fork Public Library:

The Spanish Fork Public Library in Spanish Fork, UT has a collection of over 70,000 items including encyclopedias, dictionaries, magazines, audio books, movies, music, and more. In addition the following equipment available to the public: copy machine, laminator, overhead projector, slide projector, word processors, printer, Internet access, and wireless capability. For more information about the Spanish Fork Public Library please visit, http://www.spanishfork.org/dept/library/.

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/

Agreement with EBSCO offers member-libraries a powerful tool for patrons

(Columbus, Ohio, December 14, 2012) – Member-libraries of Ohio’s academic library consortium will soon have the option of adding another powerful tool to improve searches patrons make for the information they need.

The Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) and its Library Advisory Council today selected EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) to provide EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) as a shared service to OhioLINK libraries.

“OhioLINK provides an enormous number of valuable resources, such as 17 million articles from 10,000 e-journals, 46.5 million physical items in the central catalog and hundreds of thousands of images, e-books and other materials,” said Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro. “This new technology helps provide a cost-effective and innovative way for students, librarians and researchers to save time locating the right materials and resources.”

“Currently the vast resources of the consortium are in separate silos of content, and it can be very difficult for our users to discover the wealth of resources that OhioLINK and their local academic libraries provide,” said Gwen Evans, executive director of OhioLINK. “Making EBSCO Discovery Service available to the students and faculty in participating Ohio institutions will allow them to navigate seamlessly across all the resources available to them—it is discovery and access on a scale impossible to provide in more traditional ways.”

EBSCO Publishing President Tim Collins says the agreement allows each
OhioLINK institution to build the discovery service it needs.

“OhioLINK is providing its member libraries with a tremendous opportunity to incorporate EBSCO Discovery Service into their libraries to expand access to their collections and ultimately provide a search experience that is as unique as each library’s collection,” he said.

The term “discovery layer” refers to the benefit library patrons get when search results are combined from various sources (books, print journals, electronic journals, eBooks, electronic theses and dissertations, etc.) and shown in one display that gives the number of relevant results among those disparate sources. In simple terms, users get a single search box discovery tool that searches across all databases and catalogs. In this way, items not normally presented in search results get “discovered” by library patrons.

“This is a great advancement for Ohio researchers,” said Kelly Broughton, assistant dean for Research & Education for Ohio University Libraries and chair of the Discovery Layer Task Force. “Library budgets are shrinking and a discovery layer is a cost-effective win-win. Researchers save time locating the right sources—whatever the format—through an interface that undergraduates can more intuitively navigate but that also allows libraries to highlight the great variety of materials in which they’ve invested.”

OhioLINK grew out of a 1987 recommendation by the board’s library committee that “the state of Ohio implement, as expeditiously as possible, a statewide electronic catalog system.” The consortium creates a competitive advantage for Ohio's higher education community by cooperatively and cost-effectively acquiring, providing access to, and preserving an expanding array of print and digital scholarly resources; by efficiently sharing the collections of member libraries; and by centrally hosting digital content to advance teaching, learning, research and the growth of Ohio's knowledge-based economy.

About OhioLINK
Established in 1992, the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is Ohio’s statewide academic library consortium and serves more than 600,000 end users. A member of the Ohio Technology Consortium of the Ohio Board of Regents, OhioLINK provides a competitive advantage for Ohio’s higher education community by cooperatively and cost-effectively acquiring, providing access to and preserving an expanding array of print and digital resources, and by centrally hosting digital content. Together, OhioLINK and its member libraries provide users access to nearly 50 million books and other library materials, more than 100 electronic research databases, more than 81,000 e-books, thousands of images and videos, and millions of electronic journal articles. www.ohiolink.edu.

About EBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing is the producer of EBSCOhost®, the world’s premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives, and e-books. The company provides more than 350 databases and more than 325,000 e-books. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™(EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of 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.

~ eBooks on EBSCOhost® Chosen for Ability to Enhance Discoveryand Easy Integration with Course Assignments ~

IPSWICH, Mass. — December 13, 2012 — eBooks on EBSCOhost® from EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) was recently chosen by Heald College, as its e-book service. Heald College, established in California in 1863 and known proudly as the first business college in the western United States, was looking to increase its e-book collection and librarians knew exactly what they wanted from an e-book service—enhanced discovery, permalinks at various levels in the text, ability to search content via multiple fields, easy integration into course assignments as well as features that add to the usability of the content.

Discoverability and usability were key factors in Heald College’s search for an e-book service. Division Director of Library Services at Heald College, Howard Fuller, says the landing page in eBooks on EBSCOhost creates an environment that enhances discovery and is easy to use. “Enhanced discovery is a critical feature for us and eBooks on EBSCOhost allows browsing by category or subject on the main eBook landing page and enables patrons to search for content via multiple fields. We were pleased with these eBooks on EBSCOhost features and what differentiates some of these features from other services is how usable they are within the collection.”

Heald College is a long-time EBSCO Publishing customer and subscribes to numerous EBSCOhost® databases. Searching e-books alongside EBSCO databases has resulted in many benefits for Heald College users as well as the library. Howard explains, “Adding e-book content and searching it alongside EBSCOhost databases has provided access to significantly more content—a growing database of sorts—and has sparked the need for users to learn how to filter content during discovery or searching more thoughtfully. It has also raised the collective awareness of e-books as a significant growing strategic aspect of our library and learning resources.”

As Heald College went through the e-book selection process librarians determined that integrating e-book content into course assignments and being able to direct students to chapter or section content were features that were very important to users. Howard says by utilizing these features in eBooks on EBSCOhost, users have learned to rely on them and the faculty has used eBooks on EBSCOhost to fill knowledge gaps on a test prep book. “Since implementation, time has shown that integrating e-book content into course assignments and directing students to chapter or section content are the two most used features. Most recently we’ve worked with several faculty members to use several e-books to supplement knowledge gaps in a test-prep study guide students use for a national certification exam. These e-books are available to students and faculty on the library web site when they need them, from wherever they choose to use them—home, café, or from within the library.”

EBSCO’s policy of no markup or maintenance fees was definitely a positive feature of eBooks on EBSCOhost for Howard. “It’s great to select an item and know exactly what the cost will be as you are selecting it. I’ve worked with other e-book providers who charge fees above the price of the e-book shown in the ordering platform. Lack of markup or fees also makes working with faculty much easier.”

eBooks on EBSCOhost® offers more than 350,000 e-books and audiobooks that are available for purchase on an individual basis as well as in Subject Sets, Featured Collections and Custom Collections with a growing number of purchase, lease and subscription options as well as patron driven options. eBooks on EBSCOhost represents a deep collection of e-book content that is accessible via a variety of devices. EBSCO proactively acquires new content in critical areas, based on the dynamic needs of libraries.

Accessing the EBSCOhost platform for e-books and audiobooks saves librarians training time and adds a well-known search platform to the end user’s experience. Allowing end users to search for e-books and audiobooks along with their EBSCOhost database content improves the discoverability of library collections. Lowering the cost for libraries makes the decision to focus on or add to e-book and audiobook collections easier and more cost-effective.

eBooks on EBSCOhost are provided with no markups and no fees and can be ordered through the EBSCOhost® Collection Manager or YBP’s GOBI3 allowing libraries more freedom to make purchasing decisions. More information is available at http://www.ebscohost.com/ebooks.

About EBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing is the producer of EBSCOhost, the world's premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives, and e-books. The company provides more than 350 databases and more than 350,000 e-books. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of 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.

###
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebscohost.com

12/12/2012
CONTACT:
Nathan Curulla
(888) 900-8944
sales@bywatersolutions.com

Samuel Merritt University Sponsors Hourly Loans and Course Reserves for Koha

ByWater Solutions, an open source community supporter and the U.S.’ forefront provider of Koha (www.koha-community.org) support, is happy to thank the John A. Graziano Library and Samuel Merritt University for their sponsorship of both hourly loans and course reserves features for Koha.

Hourly loans was a major new feature in version 3.8 of Koha giving libraries the ability to lend items in both daily and hourly increments. Samuel Merritt University has also sponsored the development of a course reserves system for Koha.  The course reserves system is a new feature that has been eagerly anticipated by academic libraries in particular and will allow libraries to create courses in Koha, add instructors to the courses and put items on reserve for those courses.  The course reserves system is currently under development, with a targeted completion date in time for the release of version 3.12 in May 2013.

Marcus Banks, Director of Library/Academic & Instructional Innovation at Samuel Merritt University, says,

“Samuel Merritt University is pleased to have sponsored development of these enhancements to Koha. Hourly circulation assists the many libraries that lend items on a short-term basis, and the course reserves module enables academic libraries to efficiently manage items designated for use for particular courses. We’re gratified that these enhancements will benefit not only our own university, but the greater Koha community as well.”

About the John A. Graziano Library and Samuel Merritt University:

Founded in Oakland, California, in 1909, Samuel Merritt University is a fully accredited health sciences institution offering degrees in nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant, and podiatric medicine. SMU educates students to become highly skilled and compassionate healthcare professionals who positively transform the experience of care in diverse communities. The University’s John A. Graziano Memorial Library provides access to the largest collection of nursing and pediatric journals and monographs in the East Bay and is one of the best collections of these specialty areas in California. For more information about the John A. Graziano Library please visit, http://www.samuelmerritt.edu/library.

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/

~ Popular Current Events Resource Provides Moderated Discussion Forum for Students ~

IPSWICH, Mass. — December 11, 2012 — EBSCO Publishing’s (EBSCO) Points of View Debate Blog has proven itself as a valuable classroom resource once again. During the recent election season the blog, a popular forum for students to voice their opinions on current events, experienced unprecedented traffic with discussions fueled by a variety of topical themes and questions surrounding the politically-charged campaigns.

The blog is available as a free service from Points of View Reference Center™, EBSCO’s dynamic database containing a balance of materials from all viewpoints. Points of View Reference Center includes more than 1,300 essays, full-text articles from leading political magazines, newspapers, radio and TV news transcripts, primary source documents and reference books. Created to increase students’ level of engagement in the world around them, the Points of View Debate Blog offers the ability to read about and research topics, use the provided field to comment on and debate the issues with peers, share with Twitter and Facebook links and learn from each other through civil discourse.

As a teaching tool at the high school, junior college and college level, instructors can encourage students to submit their own topics for discussion. Experienced EBSCO editors select a new topic monthly and publish related entries throughout the month. Every thread is monitored and moderated to insure a safe, instructive environment. Through the blog, students learn to formulate intelligent opinions, exchange views with other students, keep pace with current events, and hone their persuasive writing skills.

Recent topics include:

• 2012 Presidential Election
• Arab Spring
• Debt Crisis
• Education
• Gun Control
• Gun Violence
• Israel
• Military Tribunals
• Occupy Wall Street
• Presidential Elections
• School Discipline
• School Violence

For more information about the Points of View Debate Blog and Points of View Reference Center, visit http://www.ebscohost.com/pov-blog.

About EBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing is the producer of EBSCOhost®, the world’s premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives, and e-books. The company provides more than 350 databases and more than 350,000 e-books. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of 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.

###
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebscohost.com