InfoTech Briefs
RSSMichael Rogers -- Library Journal, 04/13/2009
- AquaBrowser to be Harvard’s search and discovery platform
- Blackwenn named sales agent for ABC-CLIO ebooks
- ProQuest products shortlisted for SIIA) 24th annual CODiE Awards
- Swets signs agreement with Aldipress, for consolidation and logistics activities
AquaBrowser Library has been tapped by Harvard University as the school’s search and discovery platform. The implementation will include faceted navigation, word cloud discovery, relevancy ranking, an integrated authority file, real-time availability for items, and integration with the ILS for patron services such as placing holds, making requests, viewing checkouts, and renewing items. The AquaBrowser implementation will debut to students and faculty this spring.
Blackwell has entered a nonexclusive arrangement to act as a sales agent for ABC-CLIO’s ebooks provided on the reference publisher’s History Reference Online Platform as well as ebooks of imprints Greenwood Press, Praeger, and Libraries Unlimited. The agreement provides access to more than 600 encyclopedias, handbooks, and guides, the publisher said.
Five ProQuest products have been named finalists in the Software & Information Industry Association’s (SIIA) 24th annual CODiE Awards, which honor outstanding achievement and vision in the software, digital information, and education technology industries. The finalists were chosen from more than 850 nominations submitted by 600 companies and include ProQuest Central, Black Studies Center™ with The History Makers™, SIRS Discoverer®, SIRS Researcher®, and HeritageQuest™ Online. “As an organization, we are continually listening to our community of researchers and librarians, using that specific feedback to drive new and enhance existing products,” said Marty Kahn, ProQuest CEO. “Having ProQuest solutions named to the list of CODiE finalists is an affirmation of our enduring mission to stay ahead of our users’ needs. I’m delighted that ProQuest is getting this special recognition from our peers in the information industry.”
Swets has signed a five-year agreement with Aldipress, an automated logistics firm, for the handling of all consolidation and logistics activities from its headquarters in Lisse, the Netherlands. Aldipress is one of the largest magazine distributors in the Netherlands and is ideally suited to handle the journal distribution activities handled through the SwetsWise Consolidation service. “SwetsWise Consolidation service has been one of the stalwarts of our business for decades. Our plan is to strengthen this service by implementing more efficient processes and a customer-oriented catalog of value-added benefits,” said Johan van Campen, chief operations and information officer at Swets. “Partnering with Aldipress enables Swets to use its automated systems. This will ultimately provide a more efficient and effective handling process, which is great news for our customers.” The handover of all activities will take place over the coming months, with work due to start at Aldipress’s Duiven premises in June 2009.
