Emeryville, CA—Innovative Interfaces announced today that Salt Lake City Public Library (UT) is live with Encore Synergy, the product that brings the whole library—books, articles, and more—to users with a single search.

Says Head of Computer Services Tebbin Salvesen: “Encore Synergy accomplishes three home runs for our users by searching our local collection, searching article databases, and bringing both kinds of content to the first results page.”

Encore Synergy also provides a user experience makes navigating complex information simple. “I think that people want a very broad search like Google provides,” says Salvesen, “but sometimes they just want to know if you have The Cat in the Hat. With Encore we get best-in-class results for both. I also like the tag cloud because it helps patrons think about their search and provides them with new directions they may not have thought of.”

About Salt Lake City Library

For more than 100 years, The Salt Lake City Public Library has been expanding your world by providing the information you need for school, work, and personal fulfillment. “The Free Public Library of Salt Lake City” first opened on February 14, 1898. Today, the library system consists of the Main Library and five branches. The system, which is under the direction of a library board, circulates more than three million items each year. In the last decade, each location has been remodeled, expanded, or rebuilt in order to meet the growing needs of our city.

Emeryville, CA—DeKalb County Public Library has selected Encore and will implement Innovative’s discovery platform with the SirsiDynix Horizon™ ILS.

Says Tamika Strong, Automation Services Coordinator: “Our library has been looking at various enhancement tools over the last few years that would improve our patrons’ searching experience when they use our online catalog. We were looking for a product that not only offered Google-like searching and user ratings and reviews, but also the ability to search databases for articles at the same time. We selected Encore because it met these criteria and much more. Encore will help us meet the searching needs of our patrons while at the same time increasing and improving access to more than 900,000 items in our collection.”

About DeKalb County Public Library

DeKalb County Public Library is a place to grow. The library enlightens and enriches the people of DeKalb County by providing responsive, dynamic services that meet the changing informational needs of a diverse population. Through a trained, service-oriented staff, partnerships, and ready access to both print and electronic resources, the library is committed to superior service that promotes a strong, literate DeKalb community and enhances its quality of life.

Horizon™ is a trademark of SirsiDynix.

Emeryville, CA—Innovative announced today that Encore Synergy, a product that brings the whole library and more to a single search, is live at eight institutions: Deakin University (Australia), Sacramento Public Library (CA), Saginaw Valley State University (MI), Scottsdale Public Library System (AZ), West Bloomfield Township Public Library (MI), University of Nebraska-Lincoln (NE), University of San Diego (CA), and Wellcome Library (United Kingdom). Encore Synergy is the only way to bring books, live full-text articles, e-resource information, programs, course reserves, and more to a single search box.

“Innovative’s approach to discovery goes beyond the limitations of both federated search and aggregated index models,” says John McCullough, Vice President, Encore Division. “Encore Synergy unlocks the full power of libraries on the web, by providing immediate discovery of everything they contribute to their communities. We recognize the commitment of the Encore Team and its library development partners in their efforts towards the very best discovery tool on the market.”

Key Features of Encore Synergy

Encore Synergy libraries benefit from:

• Single search box for local and remote resources
• Deep Article Integration for seamless presentation of full-text, real-time article content
• Persistent facets for books and articles
• Dedicated Article Discovery mode
• Integration of access and licensing information for electronic resources
• Google Books™ preview
• Library-subject-driven tag cloud
• Integrated Meebo™ for librarian live-chat
• Community participation features
• Freedom from the requirement of data loading, federated search tool, or link resolver

For more on Encore Synergy please write info@encoreforlibraries.com.

April 16, 2010

Emeryville, CA—Innovative announced today the launch of Encore Synergy, the only discovery solution that fully integrates next-generation article discovery technology into a cutting-edge library discovery platform.

Deep Article Integration in Encore Synergy

With Encore Synergy, library users benefit from all the features of Encore Discovery, which has already gone beyond the library catalog by including library programs, harvested digital collections, electronic journals, eBooks, and more in a single search. Now, Encore Synergy’s Deep Article Integration folds articles into the environment of local discovery, providing a superior user experience that includes single log-in support for all functions, consistent displays, and seamless, intuitive transitions between article and local catalog modes. Encore Synergy achieves its integration natively, eliminating the need for data loading or synchronization by library staff.

Key Features of Encore Synergy

Encore Synergy applies all of the principles of Encore to the world of article discovery, so that users:

• discover both articles and local collections from a single search box
• are presented with article-specific relevance and facets such as full text and peer reviewed for article results
• benefit from RightResult™ relevance and local-collections facets in catalog results
• are offered smart alternatives for discovery based on the library’s expertise and metadata
• see live results from article databases and the local catalog in a single search, including direct linking to all available full-text
• discover all of the article resources the library offers, without being limited to a given discovery vendor’s resources. Encore Synergy is content-neutral.

Commitment to the Library User

“Encore Synergy continues the commitment that Innovative has made to the library user: timely, relevant results in an easy-to-navigate solution,” says John McCullough, Vice President of Innovative’s Encore Division. “It offers the ease of a Web search combined with the intelligence and expertise of the library. Encore Synergy users don’t have to ‘pick a lane’ between next-generation local collections discovery and cutting-edge article discovery: it’s all within a single interface.”

The Culture and Media Ministry of the Government of Catalonia (GENCA) is now live with the Millennium ILS and Encore Discovery. GENCA oversees the Catalonian Public Reading System, which covers regions of Girona, Tarragona, Lleida, and Terres de l’Ebre, as well as six towns in the Barcelona region. Among the largest library services in Europe, GENCA has over 2.3 million registered users.

Encore Discovery now provides access to the catalog data of 142 Catalan public libraries. Branded as “Argus,” the new interface provides access to 4 million items and contains 700,000 bibliographic records. GENCA has posted a promotional video about the launch of Encore at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZuvRRy_pzY.

About the Catalonian Public Reading System

The Catalonian Public Reading System covers the entirety of the public library services of this European region. The Catalonian public libraries are managed by the town councils and receive support at different levels by the provincial councils, the district councils, and the Catalan government. Serving a population of over 7 million, the Catalonian Public Reading System is one of the biggest regional library services in Europe and circulates over 14 million items each year. The System offers more than 11 million items to the region and employs a staff of 1,500.

The Hamilton East Public Library has selected Encore Discovery and will implement it with their SirsiDynix Symphony™ ILS.

“We wanted a new approach to making our materials accessible on the web without changing our ILS,” says Assistant Library Director Paris Head. “We also liked Encore’s rapid development process that delivers new features quickly and frequently. We wanted a leading-edge solution right now and we don’t want to wait for a traditional software-release cycle to add new features.”

Head continues: “As a public library we are dedicated to making it easy for the public to locate information in a fast way without having to visit multiple search points or follow too many links. Encore gives us the answer. We also want to use Encore to make our web presence more effective. We want to position ourselves to be able to offer services along the lines of a virtual branch. Encore Discovery allows us the capability to pursue that option.”

Symphony™ is a trademark of SirsiDynix.

About Hamilton East Public Library

Hamilton East Public Library serves the residents of Delaware, Fall Creek, Noblesville and Wayne Townships in Hamilton County Indiana. Through its two locations in Fishers and Noblesville, the Hamilton East Public Library offers a comprehensive range of library materials and services, including a collection of over 550,000 videotapes, audio cassettes, CD-ROMs, DVDs, newspapers and periodicals. Each year HEPL’s programming efforts meet the needs of over 70,000 participants through more than 3000 different adult, youth, teen, and family programs. Special services also include interlibrary loans, homebound delivery, adult literacy programs, English as a Second Language courses, computer classes, downloadable e-books, meeting facilities and volunteer opportunities. At the library’s website, www.hepl.lib.in.us, patrons have 24/7 access to dozens of informational databases, opening avenues to numerous magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, periodicals, encyclopedias and other reference materials. In 2008, the library circulated over 2,000,000 items to over 84,000 cardholders.

Syracuse University is now live with Encore Discovery™. The library has implemented Innovative’s discovery services platform as a front-end to their existing Voyager™ ILS provided by Ex Libris, Ltd.

Says Library Project Manager Terriruth Carrier: “Students have adjusted to a new model of interacting with information in the form of social networking tools and Google. Encore gives them a similar experience and a quick way to exploit the benefits of the classic online catalog. Encore lets students and researchers type in whatever they are interested in and easily hone in for details with features such as facets and the Tag Cloud.”

For more on Encore Discovery please write info@encoreforlibraries.com.

Encore Discovery™ is a trademark of Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
Voyager™ is a trademark of Ex Libris, Ltd.

January 17, 2010

Innovative Interfaces announced today that Encore Reporter™ is installed and in use in the following public libraries: eLGAR (Libraries for a Greater Auckland Region) (New Zealand); Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (IN); Jefferson County Public Library (CO); Multnomah County Library (OR); Naperville Public Library (IL); San Diego County Library (CA); Toledo-Lucas County Public Library (OH); and the Tulsa City-County Library (OK). Encore Reporter provides the basis for more-informed decisions by library staff by providing dynamic and visually elegant reports on key performance indicators, operational statistics, patron and material usage analysis, and more. Encore Reporter includes a suite of new reports, such as hourly-level circulation transactions, summaries of patron registration and borrowing activity by patron ZIP code, resource-sharing statistics, and more.

Building on the powerful Encore Framework™, Encore Reporter’s seamless data analysis and presentation means complete and accurate reporting on all aspects of a library’s operation. “We continue to improve on the quality, the access to, and the depth of the information that Encore Reporter provides,” says Vice President at Innovative Aaron Blazer. “For example, Encore Reporter can now tell staff circulation statistics for each hour, even at self-check stations, within a single branch. Plus, our rapid-iteration with development-partner libraries provides a steady stream of enhancements to the product. Our academic and public library customers tell us that they need to make smart decisions about staffing and collections and Encore Reporter gives them the sophisticated information they need, simply.”

Active Partnerships

The development-partner group for Encore Reporter continues to contribute to the development of the product. The group currently includes: American University, Washington College of Law (DC); eLGAR (Libraries for a Greater Auckland Region) (New Zealand); Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (IN); Jefferson County Public Library (CO); Michigan State University; Multnomah County Library (OR); Naperville Public Library (IL); San Diego County Library (CA); Stetson University College of Law (FL); Toledo-Lucas County Public Library (OH); Tulsa City-County Library (OK); University of Ballarat (Australia); University of Nebraska, Lincoln; University of Sydney; and University of Wollongong (Australia).

The initial release of Encore Reporter also includes advanced user interface look-and-feel including new facets and navigation. To request a screen shot of Encore Reporter’s Google Maps™ mash-up (ZIP code report), write info@encoreforlibraries.com.

Encore Reporter™ and Encore Framework™ are trademarks of Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
Google Maps™ is a trademark of Google, Inc.

Innovative announced today the promotion of John McCullough to Vice President, Encore Division. In his new role, McCullough will provide direction for all aspects of Encore Discovery and the Encore Framework including sales and marketing, development, services and support. McCullough began his career at Innovative in 1998 and has served as Product Manager for the Web OPAC product as well as Sales Representative for the Western US and Canada. McCullough earned an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario.

January 16, 2010

Innovative Interfaces announced today that it has entered into a technology partnership with EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) bringing together two of the library community’s most well-regarded vendors. This partnership will offer integrated access to a library’s own EBSCOhost® subscriptions through the library’s Innovative Encore Discovery™ platform. The agreement also allows Encore customers to add reading recommendations directly into Encore catalog results for mutual customers who use NoveList® Select.

Innovative will utilize the EBSCOhost Integration Toolkit™ (EIT) to access metadata from EBSCOhost databases for which the library has a current subscription. The partnership will bring new features to those offered through the EIT including source type, publication title, and facets to expose the subject and date range of the results set. This integration will provide the means for Encore searchers to retrieve real-time search results from EBSCOhost for databases subscribed to via EBSCO, without the need to pre-index the content, integrated with their catalog search results. EIT also provides links to the underlying full-text with support for a variety of file formats.

Betsy Graham, Vice President, Product Management at Innovative Interfaces, observes, “Accessing metadata from EBSCOhost databases the library subscribes to through Encore’s powerful user-focused interface is the best of both worlds for users. Using modern Web Services-based technologies the way they’re intended means more current, integrated, and comprehensive article discovery. Patrons find everything the library has to offer in one search. More and more, it really is ‘All Right Here’ with Encore!”

NoveList Select provides reading recommendations from within a library’s catalog helping promote books that are on the shelves and expands user access to a library’s full collection. Innovative will enable mutual customers to provide NoveList Select directly through the Encore user interface providing users direct access to this recommendation service that ranks among the most popular electronic resources in libraries today.

Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of EBSCO Publishing Michael Gorrell says, “This agreement capitalizes on the strengths of both partners. EBSCO and Innovative have demonstrated the ability to continually address customer needs in creative ways. Partnering on Web Services content delivery and having rich reading recommendations from NoveList Select easily accessible from the Encore platform benefits library patrons and enriches the user experience.”

Integration of EBSCOhost content and availability of NoveList Select is currently planned for early this year.

About EBSCO Publishing

EBSCO Publishing is the world’s premier database aggregator, offering a suite of nearly 300 full-text and secondary research databases. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals, magazines, books, monographs, reports and various other publication types from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). The company’s product lines include proprietary databases such as Academic Search™, Business Source®, CINAHL®, DynaMed™, Literary Reference Center™, MasterFILE™, NoveList®, SocINDEX™ and SPORTDiscus™ as well as dozens of leading licensed databases such as ATLA Religion Database™, EconLit, INSPEC®, MEDLINE®, MLA International Bibliography, The Philosopher’s Index™, PsycARTICLES® and PsycINFO®. Databases are powered by EBSCOhost®, the most-used for-fee electronic resource in libraries around the world (www.ebscohost.com/discovery). For more information, visit the EBSCO Publishing Web site at: www.ebscohost.com, or contact: information@ebscohost.com.

Encore™, Encore Discovery™, and the Encore Framework™ are all trademarks of Innovative Interfaces, Inc. EBSCOhost®, EBSCOhost® Integration Toolkit™, and NoveList® Select, are all trademarks of EBSCO Publishing.