Maryland's Touch of KLAS
By Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 5/1/2007
The Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (MDLBPH) has installed a Keystone Library Automation System (KLAS). The vendor said the system “helps libraries like MDLBPH fulfill thousands of requests for materials within a 24-hour period.” Since MDLBPH is a centralized facility serving patrons statewide, it acts more “like a warehouse than a traditional library...[with] books stored in special reusable packaging that is sent directly to the patron's home and can be used to return the book to the library.”
The library needed a system capable of handling heavy-duty fulfillment processing and found that KLAS, which is based on the Progress OpenEdge business application platform, best met its needs. The KLAS system includes a new OPAC that allows patrons to place requests and reserves, which wasn't possible with the library's previous solution.
