InfoTech Briefs
RSSMichael Rogers -- Library Journal, 03/05/2009
- Swetswise Selection Support in Beta testing
- LibLime adds Support Center web portal
- Smooth Polaris installation in Phoenix PL
- OCLC/ALISE award grants
Swetswise Selection Support has entered the Beta testing phase. The decision support service combines customer’s usage stats with their subscription holdings and pricing information. “This results,” said Swets, “is a fully integrated price-per-use overview for collection analysis, with the flexibility to include additional customers specific data.” Selection Support uses the same technology as the vendor’s Scholarly Stats platform.
LibLime has launched a customer-centered web portal to its Support Center software, which offers request (support ticket) management, account and contact management, contracts management, and knowledge base tools via a customer self-service portal interface. "The addition of the new customer web portal will improve accessibility for customers by giving customers an easy interface for reviewing their support requests—by individual or by library. Customers can track the ongoing status of their requests," says Debra Denault, senior VP of Operations. The new Support Center also gives customers increased access to product information (such as new feature announcements).
Polaris Library Systems has installed its ILS solution at the Phoenix Public Library’s Burton Barr Central Library and14 branches, which collectively handle more than 15 million transactions annually. “City librarian Toni Garvey stated that the installation was “the smoothest migration the library has experiences in is 30-year automation history. The ‘go live’ day was practically a nonevent due to the cooperative work of both the library and Polaris teams. The day the library went live, both teams immediately set about working on future enhancements.”
OCLC Programs and Research and the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) have awarded research grants to Kathryn La Barre and Carol Tilley of the University of Illinois, Michael Khoo of Drexel University, and Bill Kules of The Catholic University of America. The awards were presented in January at the ALISE 2009 Annual Conference Awards Reception in Denver, Colorado. OCLC/ALISE Library and Information Science Research Grants support research that advances librarianship and information science, promote independent research to help librarians integrate new technologies into areas of traditional competence, and contribute to a better understanding of the library environment. Full-time academic faculty (or the equivalent) in schools of library and information science worldwide are eligible to apply for grants of up to $15,000.
