Latest News

Talis Library Platform News, Issue 5

December 2007

Talis Library Platform News, Issue 4

November 2007

Talis Library Platform News, Issue 3

September 2007

Talis Library Platform News, Issue 1

July 2007

This first issue of Talis Library Platform News will give you a taste of what you can expect every month. Regular features will include ‘Meet the Developer’ with this month Ross Singer of Georgia Institute of Technology discussing his experiences of using the Talis Platform, ‘Meet the Team’, a profile of one of the Talis team working on the Talis Platform. It will also include simple examples of how it can improve the experience of library users; code examples for the technical, and case studies for those that would prefer to leave it to their technical colleagues.

The first issue has just been published. Register to be notified of each month's issue here, then go on to read the first issue.

Hampshire's Richard Ward talks with Talis

10 July 2007

This episode in a mini-series of Talking with Talis podcasts for and about those with opinions and interest in the future of Public Libraries in England is with Richard Ward, Head of Library services for the county of Hampshire.

Richard Wallis talks with Richard about the challenges of providing library services to a diverse population in a large English county; Hampshire's Discovery Centres; and how being the case study for Tim Coate's controversial "Who's in Charge?" report impacted on the library service. They then move on to discuss the future of Public Libraries and the debate between those concerned about that future.

Talis talks with Trevor Owens from Zotero

9 July 2007

In this Talking with Talis podcast, Richard Wallis talks with Trevor Owens, Technology Evangelist at Zotero.

Zotero, is a simple free web browser plug-in for capturing and organizing citations and other web resources. The Zotero project has its home at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia. Trevor discusses the plug-in tool, its use and the community that supports it. We then move on to future releases of which will include access to servers, and hence the development of shared data.

Talis and Intellident partnership supports Poole Libraries in their self-service success

5 July 2007

Supported by the Talis Additions Partner Agreement, Talis and Intellident have worked in close partnership with the Borough of Poole Libraries in their quest to expand their self-service facilities.  In their latest expansion of self-service, Poole Libraries have seamlessly integrated Intellident’s RFID-based self-service solution with Talis’ Library Management System.  Talis Bridge Lite (formerly Talis SelfServ) is a powerful, standards based connector that seamlessly integrates self-service devices with the library management system.  Members of Poole Libraries can now issue, renew and return items, make payments and gain access to their complete account information via an intuitive touch-screen interface.

Lisa Wells, System Manager at Poole Libraries commented “Our aim is to inform, entertain, educate, challenge and inspire people in Poole.  We believe in putting our customers first and we have a commitment to delivering our service, at a time and in a way that best suits our customers.  We are delighted by the service improvements to date.” Read the full release here.

Frances Hendrix in conversation

29 June 2007

In this Talking with Talis podcast, Richard Wallis talks with Frances Hendrix, of the Laser Foundation. They discuss the work of the Laser Foundation and the projects and reports that it funded from 2002 until its closure earlier this year. The conversation moves on to discuss the state and structure of Public Libraries in England, the current debate on the subject and some options for the future.

John Dolan Talks with Talis

27 June 2007

In this Talking with Talis podcast, Richard Wallis talks with John Dolan, Head of Library Policy at the MLA - the strategic body for museums libraries and archives in England. They discuss his career in libraries, the MLA and they way public libraries serve their communities. We then move on to discuss A Blueprint for Excellence document and the public consultation process which has followed its publication.

Introduction to Talis Source - video now available

22 June 2007

In recent weeks, we have had a number of new libraries contact us about Talis Source to find out more about its functionality and user base. To provide visitors with more instant information, we have launched a new online video of Talis Source.  This provides an overview of the Talis Source service, together with a short demonstration of the searching and requesting functionality within Talis Source. To view the video click here. 

With Talis Source, many libraries have requested and successfully completed a 30 day free trial to experience the benefits of our product. If you would like to find out more about the Talis Source community or how to register visit www.talis.com/source or contact Grant White at grant.white@talis.com.

OCLC's Eric Hellman talks with Talis

15 June 2007

In this Talking with Talis videocast, Richard Wallis talks with Eric Hellman, Director of OCLC's Openly Informatics Division. Openly Informatics are responsible for the 1Cate service for access to e-Journal lists, links and locations. During our short conversation we discuss the new OCLC xISBN Web Service which is also from the Openly Division.

Talis Insight 2007 - 'Inspiration for change'. Free registration is now open

14 June 2007

Talis is delighted to announce that free registration is now open for its major annual event - Talis Insight 2007. Under the umbrella theme ‘Inspiration for Change’, Talis Insight will be held on the 6-7 November and is open to all academic and public libraries across the UK and Ireland.

Addressing future trends facing both academic and public libraries, Talis Insight will provide executive and practitioner tracks throughout the conference programme. Early conference programme details have now been released, with nine speakers confirmed to date. 

Bringing together a panel of government advisers, policy leaders and key influencers, Talis Insight is set to provide delegates with interactive, insightful discussion sessions.  Speakers confirmed to date include John Dolan, OBE (MLA), David Potts (MLA), Euan Semple (Ex BBC), Les Watson (Educational Adviser), Antony Brewerton (The University of Warwick), Tony Hey (Microsoft), Dan Champion (Champion Internet Solutions), Peter Godwin (The University of Bedfordshire) and Dave Pattern (The University of Huddersfield).

Across the two days, Talis Insight will provide an open exhibitor showcase for third party providers of self-service equipment, software solutions, data and book suppliers. Within the exhibitor showcase, Talis will be demonstrating Talis applications working seamlessly with all leading Library Management Systems. Delegates will also gain early sight of new complementary applications currently in development.   

This year’s event is aimed at all ALL academic and public libraries in the UK and Ireland, and is not limited to users of the Talis Library Management System.

Additional information is now available online. Register now and secure your place.

Tim Coates talks with Talis about Public Libraries

13 June 2007

In the first of a series of Talking with Talis podcasts, looking at the landscape of opinions around the future of public libraries, Richard Wallis talks with Tim Coates.

Tim's history is as an author and bookseller - he was with WH Smith, and became Managing Director of Waterstone's.

Over the last few years he has become very well known for having strong opinions about, and proposals for, the way the public library service in England should be structured and run. Tim produced the report "Who's in charge - Responsibility for the Public Library Service" in 2004, which sparked much debate, that is still rumbling on today.

Diane Hillman talks with Talis about metadata and standards

11 June 2007

In this Talking with Talis podcast, Richard Wallis talks with Diane Hillmann of Cornell University.

Diane has been associated with library metadata standards, such as Dublin Core and RDA for many years. They discuss these and other standards and the recent meeting, held at the British Library which recommended the bringing together of work on RDA and DCMI. They also go on to discuss the work of the National Science Digital Library Metadata Registry, RDF and how the Semantic Web will influence library metadata and the way it is produced and shared.

Panlibus Issue 6 is now available

11 June 2007

We are delighted to announce that Panlibus Issue 6 has now been released and published online. This issue includes independent features from Jimmy Wales on his latest project: Search Wikia, Les Watson focusing on 21st Century Learning Spaces with innovative case studies, and David Potts (MLA) sharing his ideas for library loans. Issue 6 also includes customer case studies from Rotherham Library and Information Service, product updates and industry highlights.  

Under the theme ‘Bringing ‘Life’ back to your community’, we hope you enjoy this Issue of Panlibus. We invite you and your colleagues to share your story and contribute articles to future issues.  If you would like to contribute to Panlibus magazine or subscribe to receive Panlibus please email marketing@talis.com. To download Panlibus click here.

Talis launches Talis Engage - a powerful community information solution

5 June 2007

Talis is delighted to announce the launch of a new, dramatically different community information solution. Driven by government and customer initiatives to strengthen communities through joined-up services and community engagement, Talis has launched Talis Engage. Available to all libraries and local authorities, Talis Engage is a flexible solution that opens up new collaborative opportunities for information professionals, voluntary sector partnerships and citizens. Flexible and modern in design, Talis Engage allows citizens and groups to create, manage and shape all types of community information. Removing barriers to participation, Talis Engage facilitates online collaboration on an unprecedented scale.

Search and discovery of community information couldn’t be easier. Talis Engage provides instant access to information whilst also encouraging serendipitous learning and knowledge discovery.

Lowering the total cost of ownership, Talis Engage is a centrally hosted solution, delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). For our customers, there are no hidden hardware costs, maintenance or licence costs. Developed using Web standards Talis Engage is DDA compliant and has been tested thoroughly amongst disability users. Using industry standards such as XHTML and CSS, libraries and local authorities can modify Talis Engage to reflect their existing Web site without needing to learn new skills or techniques. Delivered with API’s (Application Programming Interfaces), Talis Engage allows you to reuse your data and enrich other portals and Web sites. Libraries and local authorities can then easily adopt leading edge Web 2.0 principles within existing corporate Web sites, delivering a connected, joined-up experience.

We have now released new product information and an online demonstration at www.talis.com/engage. We will also be hosting a series of interactive Webinars (online seminars), to register your interest contact sales@talis.com or call 0870 400 5090.

IS Oxford Heritage users benefit from Talis Source

1 June 2007

Talis Source is a simple resource sharing and inter-library loan service. Since May 2006, Talis Source has become a truly diverse Union Catalogue for Higher Education, Further Education and Public libraries. Already, many IS Oxford Heritage users have joined the Talis Source community including Sarum College, Edinburgh Telford College and Bridgwater College.

Talis offers two levels of access to Talis Source. Free resource discovery is available to contributing libraries and full interlending capability costs £500 per institution, per year. In recent months, Talis has welcomed a number of new libraries to the Talis Source Community, some of which are successfully using Talis Source in conjunction with their IS Oxford Heritage LMS.

Read the full release here

Talis Source continues to grow, adding new contributors

25 May 2007

Launched in May 2006, Talis Source continues to represent both simplicity and open participation for the entire interlending community.

Offering free access to a national Union Catalogue has encouraged a wide range of Higher Education, Further Education and Public libraries to join the Talis Source community. Free to contribute, a total of 77 Public and 57 Academic libraries have contributed within the last year - many updating their holdings on a monthly basis.

Since May 2006, the total number of holdings has increased by 37%, with a 100% increase in bibliographic records. Talis Source receives regular holdings updates from libraries using diverse library management systems including DS Galaxy, Dynix Classic, Ex Libris TM ALEPH ®, IS Oxford Heritage, Infor Vubis Smart, Innovative Millennium, Ramesys Genesis and SirsiDynix Unicorn.

Two new contributors explain the benefits to their library. Frances Mayor, Learning Centre Assistant at Bridgwater College, explains “Having access to Talis Source has proved very useful. It not only provides access to a Union Catalogue but it also enables us to share our stock with the library community. Talis Source has far surpassed my expectations.”

Supporting resource discovery and interlending, Talis Source has also been described as a great tool that helps libraries to promote their own stock more widely. Nina Whitcombe, Information Systems Assistant, Swansea University comments, “Allowing us to contribute our holdings easily, and at no cost, means we can make our collection accessible to a wider range of libraries and users.”

If you would like more information about Talis Source visit www.talis.com/source. Alternatively, for information about the Talis Source Community, visit www.talis.com/source/community.

Talis Mobile boosts Salford Libraries books@home project

25 May, 2007

Salford Library Service is committed to helping residents to develop a love of reading for pleasure, and improving literacy skills through the Reader Development Network. Salford Libraries comprise 16 brand libraries across the City and is now renowned for running a hugely successful at home and mobile library service.

As a customer of Talis for almost ten years, Salford Libraries have now also implemented Talis Mobile to support their books@home service. Traditionally mobile libraries have offered a limited range of lending options to housebound or remote customers. With Talis Mobile, libraries can now deliver equivalent breadth and quality of service whether the user experiences the service within a branch or remotely.

Talis Mobile enables Salford Libraries to deliver the power and functionality of the Talis Library Management System, in a portable environment. Talis Mobile is supplemented with additional features tailored to the demands of a roving service.

Sarah Spence, Library and Information Service Manager commented ‘‘We believe that we provide one of the best 'at home' library services. Now, with the additional inclusion of Talis Mobile, this has greatly enhanced our mobile library service. Talis Mobile offers significant time savings for us. Our reservation processes have been streamlined and improved, and our staff particularly benefit from the bulk renewal tools based on our routes and stops. For our housebound and remote users, it means that importantly, we are able to deliver the best possible service to them.”

Read the full release here

The University of Manchester chooses Talis Keystone, integrating library services within Campus uPortal

24 May, 2007

The University of Manchester, Britain’s largest single-site University, has successfully integrated library services within their campus uPortal. Through the use of Talis Keystone, The University of Manchester has exposed rich functionality from their Talis Library Management System into their uPortal based campus portal.

Since launching the service in March 2007, students have experienced immediate time saving benefits. Using the single sign-on capabilities of Talis Keystone, 35,000 students can now directly view their library account information, together with their email and course information, all within a single student environment. In one instant the students are able to view their library charges, inter-library loan requests and reserved items. Students can also instantly view their latest five loans, along with all return and renewal dates for their items.

Steve Campbell, Library Systems Manager, The University of Manchester, commented “We have been looking for ways to bring library information closer to students. With Talis Keystone, uPortal displays instant library information to students, as soon as they login to their computer profile. We believe that this will lead to a faster turn around of reservations and a quicker response to requests. The University portal team and Library team were all very impressed by the speed and ease with which the portal link was setup. We also particularly liked how students can get further details, by a transparent link to My Account within Talis Prism, without needing to resubmit their pin number or password."

Read the full release here

Talis launches Income Manager, strengthening the Talis Library Management Suite

18 May, 2007

Talis has launched a flexible income management solution, strengthening the Talis Library Management Suite for existing customers. Since the launch, Income Manager has already been successfully implemented within eight libraries across the UK. Described by early customers as a solution that makes income management easy, Talis are delighted to announce that Swansea Institute is the latest to join the community.

Today, libraries are managing more money, from a wider variety of sources than ever before. Payments for penalties, services and additional products account for a significant proportion of the budget for both academic and public libraries. Managing this growing income has become increasingly challenging for libraries, with the increase in the range of chargeable services, payment methods and amounts tendered.

Income Manager provides all of the facilities of a till to deliver flexible payment handling, daily banking/accounting tools, and powerful management information reporting. It networks all of the library’s payment points together, delivering accurate, site-wide access to income data.

Keith Aston, Library Systems Manager, Swansea Institute explains “Previously we would have to re-key payment information from the LMS into the stand-alone till. Income Manager does this automatically. It calculates the transactions, the change we need to give and it prints receipts, as well as processing refunds - all from within our LMS. We see this module as a great improvement to our existing method of income management.”

Wendy Lewis, Library Assistant at Swansea Institute commented “Income Manager has undoubtedly improved cash management at the desk. The biggest benefit has been the improvements to audit and financial control. Feedback from library counter staff has been very positive. As well as releasing our time to concentrate on other library services, Income Manager has enabled us to provide students with a more efficient, professional service.”

Read the full release here

The University of Bedfordshire select Talis List

16 May, 2007

Talis is delighted to announce that The University of Bedfordshire has selected Talis List, the UK's leading resource list management system, to seamlessly integrate their reading lists into their Innovative Millennium Library Management System.

Serving over 12,000 students, The University of Bedfordshire was established in 2006 following the merger of The University of Luton and the Bedford Campus of De Montfort University.

Talis List is the UK’s leading resource list management system, designed to streamline the creation and presentation of selected learning resources for students. Already successfully implemented across 45 Universities, Talis List enables students to access their reading lists through multiple channels either as a standalone resource or via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or University Portal.

Ceri McCall, Senior Manager, Marketing commented, “We welcome The University of Bedfordshire to our existing community of users, as they join other Talis List customers including, Huddersfield University, Middlesex University and Sheffield Hallam University. We wish them every success in their implementation.”

Already successfully implemented in conjunction with diverse Library Management Systems including Ex Libris^TM ALEPH^®,  Dynix Horizon, Dynix Classic, Innovative Millennium and Voyager, Talis List represents one of Talis’ most popular and successful complementary solutions.

For additional information about Talis List visit www.talis.com/list or other complementary solutions from Talis visit www.talis.com/products

Richard Cameron talks with Talis about Citeulike

9 May, 2007

In our latest Talking with Talis podcast, Richard Wallis talks with Richard Cameron about Citeulike. Citeulike started as a personal project to help Richard with work towards his PhD. On the day he turned it on, nine people found it and signed up. Today 37,000 others have joined them.They discuss the site, its users and uses, now and in the future.

Rotherham Library and Information Service switch to the Talis Library Management Suite

1 May, 2007

Talis is delighted to announce that Rotherham Library and Information Service has chosen the Talis LMS to manage the borough’s 14 static, and 3 mobile libraries, replacing their incumbent supplier.

With a mission to provide everyone who lives, learns, works and plays in Rotherham with a Library Service which is right for them, wherever, however and whenever they need it, Rotherham’s libraries serve more than 125,000 borrowers, hold a catalogue of more than 360,000 books, CDs and videos and issue over 992,000 items per year. Talis welcomes Rotherham as they join other Talis customers in Yorkshire including Bradford College, Leeds Library and Information Service, North Yorkshire Libraries and The University of Sheffield.

Mark Heaton, Rotherham’s Principal Officer e-Library Services, commented: “We see the implementation of the Talis LMS and services as a positive step forward in helping us achieve our mission statement and performance targets. The Library management team is working to deliver a service that is progressive, efficient, attractive to all sectors of the community and responsive to customer needs.”

Dave Errington, Talis CEO commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with the award winning RBT (Connect) Ltd - a public - private partnership between Rotherham Metropolitan Council and BT - to provide this new service. We welcome Rotherham to our existing community of 112 libraries across the UK and Ireland. Rotherham joins South Tyneside Council as the latest authority to replace their existing BiblioMondo system. We believe that our new service will help Rotherham’s libraries continue to go from strength to strength”.

Paul Broadberry, RBT CEO said: "We worked together to satisfy the client's requirements in a complex environment. Talis offered the right product with the right capability at the right price."

At the heart of the Talis Library Management Suite are Talis Alto and Talis Prism. Talis’ software tracks the borrowing history of 8 million UK citizens and students, throughout libraries with 9,000 staff users and 2.5 million Web users. Building on top of the core Talis LMS, Rotherham will be taking advantage of additional solutions for procurement, management information and system integration with broader Council services.

For more information about the Talis LMS visit www.talis.com/products.

Leeds Library and Information Service chooses Talis Keystone

26 April, 2007

Leeds Library and Information Service comprises 54 libraries, five mobile libraries, a schools library service, four prison libraries and an 'at home' service. The library service attracted over 4.2 million visitors last year, holds a catalogue of 995,000 items and issues over 3 million items per year.

Talis Keystone will enable the Library to expose features from their Talis Library Management System (LMS) and directly embed them into their bespoke Local Authority Finance system.

Patricia Carroll, Libraries Development Manager commented, “We are initially buying Talis Keystone to link our electronic invoices into the Council finance system as the final EDI process. We believe that this will deliver a Gershon saving of circa £10,000 per year. We envisage Talis Keystone raising the profile of libraries within the Council, by integrating with all systems relating to citizen authentication, e-payments and we consider it as part of our embryonic portal developments.''

Read the full release here.

Bess Sadler talks with Talis about eIFL and Library-in-a-box

26 April, 2007

In our latest Talking with Talis podcast, Richard Wallis talks with Bess Sadler of the The University of Virginia Library, about her involvement with eIFL and the Library-in-a-box project.

Library-in-a-box is the first project of the Free and Open Source Software division of eIFL. It seeks to enable the development and use of Open Source Library Systems in developing and transition countries.

Talis Source, the largest union catalogue in the UK, welcomes a further nine subscribers

25 April, 2007

Talis is delighted to welcome a further nine subscribers to Talis Source, the largest union catalogue in the UK comprising 26 million catalogue items and 55 million holdings from over 200 institutions.

Within the last month Aberdeen City Libraries, Dublin City Public Libraries, Edinburgh's Telford College, Liverpool Libraries, Western Education and Library Board and The Open University have subscribed to Talis Source. As one of Talis’ most successful complementary solutions, Talis Source is used by libraries with diverse Library Management Systems including DS Galaxy, Dynix Classic, Ex LibrisTM ALEPH®, IS Oxford Heritage, Infor Vubis Smart, Innovative Millennium, Ramesys Genesis and SirsiDynix Unicorn.

These additional subscribers represent the continued growth of Talis Source. Since May 2006, the total number of holdings has increased by 37% with a 100% increase in bibliographical records. Danielle Hughes, Assistant Librarian from The Open University commented “Talis Source encompasses the holdings from a great number of libraries including Public, HE and FE. With such a variety of holdings, Talis Source is often the only tool which is able to find some items. This empowers us to fulfil those unusual requests.”

Read the full press release.

Dan Champion talks with Talis about Revish

30 March, 2007

In our latest Talking with Talis podcast, Richard Wallis talks with Dan Champion founder of Revish.

Revish is a book review community site which was launched on Friday 30th March 2007. We talk about Dan's career and how the idea of Revish took shape and developed in to a reality. How Revish differs from other book sites such as Shelfari and LibraryThing is also discussed as well as the motivations of the type of person that would want to be a member of the Revish community.

The Future Librarians Gang Discuss "The Reader Offer"

15 March, 2007

The Future Librarians gang consider what is meant by reader development ("The Reader Offer") in the modern library service. We talk about what reader development means, the scope of the service, and what differentiates the reader offer provided by libraries from other non-library sources. The gang discuss what comprises the ideal virtual reader environment and what libraries should consider within the physical space, before debating how we move forward with the ideas discussed. Throughout, participants give informative examples about initiatives they have been involved with or encountered during their careers. Listen to the Podcast

Automated cataloguing of journal articles

21 February, 2007

Through an innovative JISC Funded project, Emerald Group Publishing Limited (Emerald), Talis, and the University of Derby have transformed the cataloguing of journal articles.

The Table of Contents by Really Simple Syndication (TOCRoSS) project was established to address an important requirement. Within the UK 's academic institution libraries, cataloguing of journals and journal articles has, until this day, been unachievable.

Working in partnership, Emerald, Talis, and the University of Derby have successfully engaged with students and academics throughout the project. With TOCRoSS in place, e-journal table of content data can now be fed automatically into library catalogues without the need for cataloguing, classification or data entry. This improves the accuracy of records, saves time for library staff and delivers a more integrated OPAC experience to users.

For students and academics, TOCRoSS makes it simple to discover valuable and expensive online e-journal resources that have previously remained undiscovered and under-utilised. E-journal articles can now be discovered alongside key reference text, all with a single search.

Paul Evans, Head of Web Services at Emerald and the TOCRoSS project leader, says: "By the end of the project, Emerald had sent the university information on all the titles it had ever subscribed to - 40,000 records in total. Over 3,000 of these were made available for search by the University students and staff. This was done to test the ability of the university's OPAC to handle high volumes of data."

Richard Wallis from Talis commented: "TOCRoSS was all about taking what was already there and orchestrating it together to fix a previously insoluble problem; potentially providing great library value, in return for little library effort. ONIX and RSS are already established standards; many journal publishers already provide article information via basic RSS feeds; most library systems have the ability to import catalogue records from external sources. The success of  TOCRoSS was in the way it demonstrated how valuable journal article data could be automatically added to the library catalogue through the development of a small amount of open source software and the merging of a couple of standards."

Melanie Keady, the University of Derby development partner, said: "We're really pleased that what began as an idea raised during a chat across a desk here has proved viable. It will help academics, students, librarians, publishers and catalogue service providers delve deeper into all the digital learning resources on offer.

"It's really useful for students and academics to be able to receive this information in as seamless a way as possible. It means that academics have up-to-date article information that they know can be accessed by their students."

"The impact for the library is that TOCRoSS has enabled the cataloguing of publisher data without incurring extra resources and costs. Although the purpose of the project was to deal with the automatic feeding of journal article details into library catalogues, it could lead the foundation for future e-reconciliation of journal holdings, subscription and journal availability."

Read the full press release.

Tony Hey joins Euan Semple as keynote speaker at Talis Insight 07

20 February, 2007

Talis Insight 2007 is this year's major Talis event. The two day conference and exhibition is free to attend and is aimed at directors, heads of service and practitioners in every academic and public library within the UK and Ireland and will be held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.

We are delighted to announce Tony Hey, Corporate Vice President for Technical Computing, Microsoft, as a keynote speaker for the Talis Insight 2007 conference. Joining Euan Semple (an independent advisor on social computing for business) as a confirmed keynote speaker, Tony Hey is a top researcher in the field of parallel computing, and his experience in applying computing technologies to scientific research helps Microsoft work with researchers worldwide in various fields of science and engineering. Read more.

Web 2.0 - Library 2.0 "An architecture of participation"

30 January, 2007

A screencast of the presentation entitled Web 2.0 - Library 2.0 " An architecture of participation " given by Richard Wallis at the 9th Annual Stellenbosch Symposium, South Africa in November 2006 is now available for viewing. Link to screencast.

Cybraries: More than Just an Online Library

30 January, 2007

Talis has long been known for meeting the changing needs of libraries. Now they've ventured into Second Life. "We're moving beyond the library sector while taking our heritage and capabilities with us," says Dr. Paul Miller, Senior Manager and Technology Evangelist at Talis. View article in the Second Life Newsletter.

What Happens When We Mash The Library?

30 January, 2007

Paul Miller looks at recent attempts to make library resources more appealing, including the Talis competition to build library 'mashups'.

Read full article in Ariadne

East Lothian re-launch their Talis Prism online library catalogue

30 January, 2007

East Lothian recently re-launched their Talis Prism online library catalogue ELVIS (East Lothian Virtual Information System) service. To promote this service to new customers they organised a prize draw competition.

The competition was advertised on the front page of East Lothian Council's news paper 'Focus', delivered to every household in East Lothian. Posters and leaflets were distributed throughout the community and it was featured in the local newspapers. All council staff were informed of the competition through an email alert and advertisements on the Council Web site and the library catalogue Web page.

As their library system supplier, East Lothian Library Service approached Talis to sponsor prizes for their competition and we were only too happy to help out.

Users were asked to send an email, through Talis Prism, to the library service with their borrower number and account details. Prizes such as a laptop, MP3 players, book tokens and memory sticks generated entries from over 360 customers.

Alison Hunter, Principal Libraries Officer East Lothian Council Library Service commented: "We have had a good response to the competition and many positive comments about the service. The next step will be to carry out an analysis on the impact that the competition has had on usage of our online catalogue service. We would certainly hope to see an increase in customers choosing to use the service for searching, placing reservations and renewing books."

Visit www.libcat.eastlothian.gov.uk/TalisPrism/ to view East Lothian Library's online catalogue and visit Access East Lothian for a full list of prize winners.

Panlibus issue 5 is now available

24 January, 2007

We are delighted to announce that Panlibus issue 5 has now been released and published online. With independent features from the BBC, Microsoft, government and industry advisors, Panlibus issue 5 comprises a solid mix of government policy, professional insight, case studies and technology viewpoints. In this issue Juliet Leeves, Library Systems Consultant describes the UK Core Specification and the efficiencies for libraries and suppliers, and Paul Gerhardt, Director for the BBC’s Creative Archive describes the project and the Creative Archive Licence Group. Issue 5 also looks at the recent Local Government White Paper ‘Strong and Prosperous Communities’ and the possible impact on libraries, whilst Microsoft’s Tony Hey wonders if open access for scholarly publications is inevitable.

We are delighted to also include customer case studies from Queen’s University Belfast and East Renfrewshire, product updates and news on the latest library domain developments.

We are inviting information professionals to engage with us, contribute articles and provide feedback on Panlibus. If you would like to contribute to Panlibus or provide feedback on this issue, please email marketing@talis.com . To subscribe to Panlibus email marketing@talis.com. To download Panlibus, Issue 5 click here.

Towards a UK union catalogue?

24 January, 2007

Talis' Paul Miller is participating in an event being organised by the UK's Research Information Network in London on 30 January. The event, "Union catalogues for the UK: what do we want and how might we achieve it?", aims to explore whether or not there is a need for a national union catalogue in the UK, and a number of experts have been invited to share their views on the topic.

As one of the session leaders on the day, Paul was invited to prepare a short positioning paper, which we are today making available for download. Although written for a UK higher education audience, the paper goes some way towards outlining benefits to those participating in the growth of the Talis Platform.

We will be following up on our involvement in this event, hosting a webinar during February for anyone interested in seeing how easily the Talis Platform can help them to meet a number of the requirements for which one or more 'union catalogues' are usually proposed.

For more information on the Talis Platform visit www.talis.com/platform. To discuss the Platform, the paper, or February's webinar, please contact Paul Miller at paul.miller@talis.com or by phone on 0870 400 5000.

Library 2.0 Gang Discusses Changing Library Buildings

15 January, 2007

In this Library 2.0 Gang discussion, we talk about the changing role of the library building in delivering a range of services. As more material moves online, and as a growing number of those using library services are remote from their physical library, how do we adapt the services that are offered, and how do we transform the buildings for the 21st century?

Programme participants were drawn, as usual, from the full list of Gang members, and a forum is available for discussion of issues raised during the recording.

As Talis continues to expand the Talis Platform activity, bringing an increasingly rich suite of new technologies to fruition, we are interested in talking to organisations that might be capable of carrying the Library 2.0 Gang forward in a manner that maintains the group's objectivity in this rapidly evolving environment.

Clare County Library benefits from the Talis and Medialab Solutions Partnership

4 December, 2006

Following the announcement of the platform partnership between Talis and Medialab Solutions, Clare County Library, by sharing its library data with the Talis Platform, is able to showcase their library holdings within AquaBrowser Online - an online search capability that transcends the limits of OPAC searching.

The platform partnership allowed Medialab Solutions to take advantage of platform APIs to enable any library that contributes its holdings to the Talis Platform to see their catalogue via the AquaBrowser Online service. The essence of the Talis Platform encourages a global community of users and developers to liberate their data, build and deliver new and innovative library services alongside their existing library management systems.

Since March 2006, over 200 libraries in the UK and Ireland have shared their library data with the Talis Platform to raise the visibility of their holdings, reach beyond the boundaries of the library space, and begin pushing services out to people in the places where they are already interacting.

Joining Islington Library and Cultural Services, Clare County Library is amongst the first to reap the rewards of this new opportunity.

Anthony Edwards, Executive Librarian at Clare County comments “The very first time I saw AquaBrowser on the Queens Library, New York Web site, I knew I wanted it for Clare County Library. AquaBrowser represents a huge breakthrough in library catalogue appearance and performance. It helps the user broaden and deepen searches in intuitive and structured ways. As well as allowing you to find what you want, AquaBrowser Online enables that wonderful serendipity which happens when you walk down a library bookstack and find something exciting that you weren’t even looking for. It’s for the nosy, the enthusiastic, the broad minded, the inquisitive, the lazy and the layman.”

Dave Errington, Talis CEO commented “It is encouraging to see many of our customers productively benefiting from this initiative. Clare County Library has been a Talis customer for over a decade using both Talis Alto and Talis Prism. This is an exciting time for Talis as our existing customers are beginning to reap the rewards of the Talis Platform.”

Bastiaan Zwaan, CEO of Medialab Solutions stated, “We are thrilled that Clare County has chosen AquaBrowser as its search solution. Clare County is the perfect example of a progressive library trying something new and different to improve the service and usability for its users.”

Visit our AquaBrowser Online forum to discuss and share your ideas or for more information visit AquaBrowser Online

Introducing the Future Librarians Gang

20 November, 2006

In this discussion, we introduce the Future Librarians Gang, with attendees drawn from the Love Libraries campaign to find the top young librarians in the country.

We talk about perceptions participants have encountered of their new profession, how we can challenge the traditional librarian stereotypes, the role of professional bodies, career development, attracting talent to the profession, exposing the value of libraries, the challenges participants have faced and how we attract new users to our service.

Programme participants were drawn from the full nominee's list, available on the Love Libraries Web site, and a forum is available for discussion of issues raised during the recording

The Library 2.0 Gang on Open Access and Web 3.0

20 November, 2006

In this Library 2.0 Gang discussion, Gang members discuss a number of Open Access-related topics from recent conferences around the world, including South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The discussion concludes with some thoughts on the recent arrival of 'Web 3.0' as a term.

Programme participants were drawn, as usual, from the full list of Gang members, and a forum is available for discussion of issues raised during the recording.

As Talis continues to expand the Talis Platform activity, bringing an increasingly rich suite of new technologies to fruition, we are interested in talking to organisations that might be capable of carrying the Library 2.0 Gang forward in a manner that maintains the group's objectivity in this rapidly evolving environment.

The Library 2.0 Gang on Open Data and conferences

7 November, 2006

In this Library 2.0 Gang discussion, Gang members select some key points from the recent round of conferences, and explore the increasingly significant notion of 'open data' in the library domain. Programme participants were drawn, as usual, from the full list of Gang members, and a forum is available for discussion of issues raised during the recording.

As Talis continues to expand our Platform activity, bringing an increasingly rich suite of new technologies to fruition, we are interested in talking to organisations that might be capable of carrying the Library 2.0 Gang forward in a manner that maintains the group's objectivity in this rapidly evolving environment.

Talis sponsors Cybrary City in Second Life

7 November, 2006

Talis and the Alliance Library System are pleased to announce the debut of Cybrary City in Second Life. 

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by almost 1.3 million people from around the globe, who are discovering a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment and opportunities.

Together, Talis and the Alliance Library System are building Cybrary City which will be part of Info Island/Second Life Library services to provide a space for participating libraries to showcase their local resources.  With Cybrary City, there will also be an area for hosting continuing education events, conferences for librarians and the development of information tools for the collaborative library. 

Paul Miller, Talis’ Technology Evangelist commented “We continue to be impressed by the shared innovation that is so evident in the work of all those contributing to the Second Life Library.  As the first library systems vendor developing library services in Second Life, we look forward to exploring the boundaries between traditional services offered in physical branches, on institutional Web sites and through new avenues such as those opened up in Second Life.”

“In addition to providing financial support to help make Cybrary City a reality, we will be working with residents who are interested in using components of the Talis Platform technology to strengthen links between their physical, web and Second Life presences.” 

Kitty Pope, Executive Director of the Alliance Library System in East Peoria, Illinois commented “We are appreciative of Talis partnering with us and sponsoring Cybrary City as part of Info Island/Second Life Library. Cybrary City will be a place where librarians can provide services and learn skills needed for twenty-first century librarianship which will include providing customer services in a virtual world.”

The Second Life Library has attracted the attention of many and recently won second prize in the first global Mashing up the Library competition. It is a testament to international co-operation amongst libraries and information professionals who are seeking compelling ways in which traditional library functions can be extended in to cyberspace, reaching new audiences in ways that are exciting and relevant to them. Residents can go to the virtual library and use a number of resources, programs, and attend events on different topics.

If you would like to join the discussion about Cybrary City and the ways in which environments such as Second Life can enrich the offerings of your library, visit www.talis.com/tdn/forum/94

Alternatively, experience Second Life and visit Cybrary City for yourself via secondlife.com or join the Alliance Second Life Google group to communicate with those already delivering services inside Second Life at groups-beta.google.com/group/alliancesecondlife

Cybrary City is not yet officially open but is available for viewing.  If you are from a library that would like to contribute to this international effort and have a small presence of your own for virtual office hours or a special collection contact Lorelei Junot in world or lbell927@gmail.com via email.