Ahead of ALA Annual, More Product and Feature Announcements Unveiled | ALA Annual 2011
By David Rapp Jun 23, 2011With the American Library Association's Annual Conference about to get started in New Orleans (June 24-27), companies throughout the library tech world are announcing new products and features. Here's a wrap-up of some the most recent (and click here for yesterday's summary):
- Distributor Baker & Taylor announced the release of Axis 360, its new digital media circulation and management platform. Among its features, it will allow libraries to order both electronic and physical items by bundling them into one shopping cart, with electronic titles activated upon placement of an order. Axis 360 will also link with interactive e-reading software Blio.
- Elsevier announced a deal today with Ex Libris Group to make the full text of SciVerse ScienceDirect journal articles discoverable through Ex Libris's Primo central Index. Elsevier and EBSCO Publishing announced an agreement yesterday to also provide full-text searching of SciVerse ScienceDirect journals and ebooks for its EBSCO DiscoveryService customers, and another similar deal was announced Tuesday between Elsevier and ProQuest unit Serials Solutions.
- OverDrive, which recently unveiled its major OverDrive WIN streamlining, today announced the first group among what it calls "a growing list of suppliers" that will provide the option of simultaneous-access ebooks for libraries and schools, which would be available to patrons without holds or waiting lists. The suppliers listed are Thomas Nelson, Encyclopedia Britannica, Crabtree Publishing, and Lonely Planet; they will all offer the standard one-copy/one-use model to libraries as well. OverDrive had previously announced Liquid Comics as a simultaneous-access ebook supplier last year.
- Polaris Library Systems will unveil its new Polaris PowerPAC public access catalog interface at ALA. New features will include searchable community profiles which allow libraries to connect users to local organizations and events, text messaging of item availability and text-message notices regarding fines and holds in multiple languages, and easy customization of third-party product page content. According to the Polaris announcement, the new PowerPAC will be available to customers with the next iteration of the Polaris ILS (4.1) early next year.
- Innovative Interfaces announced the July 1 release of the latest version (4.1) of its Encore Synergy discovery product, featuring, among other features, a new Article Portfolios feature to bring contextual groupings to searched article information, as well as new content-specific search facets for articles.
- LogiXML, unveiled a new feature of its Logi Insight for Libraries product, eResource Analytics, which will allow libraries to analyze and track e-resource usage in combination with financial data, elements which are often spread among multiple silos in library systems. LogiXML, in the announcement, says that the new feature will give libraries "better understanding and control over e-resource investments."
- Scanner maker Ristech unveiled new software for its Book2net self-serve scanners, Tocosa, in an announcement which touts several new features, including page-splitting (capturing two pages of a book in one scan and then splitting them into two separate images); user-selectable file formats including PDF, JPEG, and TIFF; as well as several cropping and image-enhancement functions.(Watch for an upcoming Product Watch article on library scanners in LJ's July issue.)
[Check back here for LJ's ongoing ALA Annual coverage.]
