IPSWICH, Mass. — January 20, 2017 — EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) has renewed its commitment to helping libraries “go green” by bringing back an expanded version of its EBSCO Solar grant program for 2017. As part of the EBSCO Solar initiative, EBSCO is currently soliciting grant applications to help libraries fund solar installations. EBSCO is making two $100,000 grants available to bidders that will allow the winning libraries to reduce their utilities expenditures and install a solar array at their institution.

In August 2007, EBSCO installed a photovoltaic array on the roof of one of the buildings of its Ipswich, Massachusetts campus. At the time, the 192 solar panels made up one of the largest installations on the North Shore of Boston. Two more arrays were added to buildings on campus, and EBSCO now has more than 500 solar panels offsetting the amount of “brown power” the company buys from the grid and generating clean energy to reduce EBSCO’s environmental footprint. After seeing the benefits of “going green” on its own campus, EBSCO introduced the EBSCO Solar grant so libraries interested in adding their own solar arrays can do so...on EBSCO.

In 2016, Austin Community College District’s Highland Campus Library in Austin, Texas was awarded the first EBSCO Solar grant, a single grant providing up to $150,000 for the installation of a solar array on the campus library’s roof. Nearly 80 libraries submitted entries for the grant. The expanded 2017 grant is designed to reach more libraries interested in reducing their environmental footprint.

EBSCO Industries President and CEO Tim Collins says expanding the program is a direct result of two things, EBSCO’s continuous dedication to green initiatives and the level of interest libraries showed last year. “The EBSCO Solar grant program is exciting for us because we know the value of being a supporter of green technology. It sends an important message to our community and we expect the same to be the case for our winners. Having 79 libraries submit applications in 2016 tells us that there is a lot of interest in alternative energy. It is an honor to be able to help libraries take that next step and go solar.”

More information is available on the EBSCO Solar webpage at www.ebsco.com/solar including the timeline, submission form and FAQs. Interested libraries are encouraged to submit questions until February 28th. Submissions are due by April 28th, and the winner will be announced on June 23th, 2017 both online and at ALA-Annual.

About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is the leading discovery service provider for libraries worldwide with more than 11,000 discovery customers in over 100 countries. EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) provides each institution with a comprehensive, single search box for its entire collection, offering unparalleled relevance ranking quality and extensive customization. EBSCO is also the preeminent provider of online research content for libraries, including hundreds of research databases, historical archives, point-of-care medical reference, and corporate learning tools serving millions of end users at tens of thousands of institutions. EBSCO is the leading provider of electronic journals & books for libraries, with subscription management for more than 360,000 serials, including more than 57,000 e-journals, as well as online access to more than 900,000 e-books. For more information, visit the EBSCO website at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a family owned company since 1944.

###
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Vice President of Communications
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebsco.com

1/19/2017 CONTACT: Nathan Curulla (888) 900-8944 sales@bywatersolutions.com

ByWater Solutions Offers Free SSL Certificates to all Hosted Customers

ByWater Solutions, an open source community contributor and America's forefront provider of Koha support, is pleased to announce that they will now provide SSL certificates, acquired through Let's Encrypt (https://letsencrypt.org/), for all our hosted partners free of charge. ByWater will acquire the certificate, and include all configured URLs for their partner's site. They will also handle the automatic renewal of the certificate. There will be no extra charge for this service. ByWater will be bringing up all new hosted installations on a secure SSL connection and will be slowly transitioning their existing customers utilizing ByWater Hosting to SSL throughout the next several months. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a browser and a server, so getting a server is important, if you don't know whether to use ssl or tls, you can go to https://www.servermania.com/kb/articles/ssl-vs-tls/ to find out which is better. SSL allows sensitive information, such as patron logins, search queries, etc., to be transmitted securely, and rendering it immune from network eavesdropping. If you have ever gone to a site using 'https://', instead of 'http://', you've used SSL. 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, HTML5, 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 Koha 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 for Koha support 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/