Automation System Marketplace 2007: An Industry Redefined

Private equity moves into the ILS, and open source support emerges

The reshuffling of the deck in 2005 presaged even larger changes this year, introducing new players and effecting dramatic shifts. The industry grew at a healthy pace in 2006, with overall revenues expanding from an estimated $535 million in 2005 to about $570 million in 2006. Some companies saw decreased revenues from core ILS products and increased income from new web-based interfaces and tools to manage electronic content. RFID products represented large revenue gains for others. Legacy system migrations represented 63% of overall ILS sales in 2006, though migrations among the midsized to large academic and public libraries are continuing to wind down. K-12 school and small public migrations are just heating up, fueled by thousands of libraries running aging standalone systems. Opportunities for new automation in the small public library arena abound for companies willing to offer products and services at an affordable price. No Goliath stood unchallenged. The Davids of the industry continued to prosper by carving out niches underserved by the larger companies and capitalizing on the growing interest in open source software alternatives. Following many years of near evangelistic rhetoric, 2006 was the year that open source ILS products finally gained a measurable presence. In a rash of mergers and acquisitions, Endeavor Information Systems and Sagebrush Corporation disappeared from the roster of companies this year. Private equity firms took charge of SirsiDynix and Ex Libris, and Endeavor was merged into Ex Libris. Follett Software Company acquired archrival Sagebrush, and Extensity morphed into Infor Library Solutions. In a year of limited opportunities for new sales, Innovative Interfaces took top place by attracting 67 new customers to Millennium. SirsiDynix made 48 new-name sales of Horizon and 45 of Unicorn for a combined growth of 93. In the small public library arena, Auto-Graphics and Polaris both had sales to 54 libraries, following the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. In Georgia, 252 public libraries migrated to Evergreen, a new open source library automation system.

OCLC positioning

This story would be incomplete without noting the continued penetration of OCLC into library automation territory, mostly through its OCLC PICA division in Europe. Last year, we noted acquisitions of Sisis Informationssysteme, Fretwell-Downing, and Openly Informatics by OCLC PICA. OCLC made no further acquisitions of library automation companies, though the January 2007 appointment of Eric van Lubeek, former managing director of Infor Library Solutions (formerly Geac and Extensity) piques interest. In August 2006, OCLC acquired DiMeMa, developer of the popular CONTENTdm application for managing collections of digital objects, which it had been reselling since 2002. In the bibliographic services arena, OCLC's acquisition of RLG stands out as a seminal event for consolidation. OCLC declined to provide data regarding new sales and the installed base of the library automation products within its sphere. With a well-stocked arsenal of library automation products and technologies, OCLC is positioned to have a larger impact on the industry. The release of Open WorldCat also positions OCLC to expand its backend service to libraries.

Software as a Service

Many library automation products have been adopted through the SaaS model, previously dubbed ASP (Application Service Provider). This involves the software being hosted on hardware housed and maintained by the vendor, saving the library from having to install and administer hardware and software locally. The SaaS model relieves the library from much of the complexities normally associated with managing a library automaton system with lower overall costs. An increasing number of ILS sales to small libraries involve SaaS implementations, confirming the ability for this model to provide automation products at more affordable prices. SaaS contracts in 2006 included 100% of libraries selecting AGent VERSO from Auto-Graphics and 25 out of the 54 libraries moving to Polaris.

Open source inroads

The open source movement has long had its proponents in libraries. Before this year, however, the number of libraries in the United States actually using an open source automation system remained few relative to the larger realm of library automation. A number of separate events converged in 2006 to raise open source ILS status. The PINES consortium of 252 public libraries in Georgia migrated from Unicorn to Evergreen, a new open source ILS created by a team of developers funded by the State Library Agency of Georgia. PINES, one of the country's most ambitious statewide library automation efforts, allowed any participating library's users to borrow from the collective collection of 7.7 million items. The Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) chose Unicorn in 1999 as the basis for the project and was one of Sirsi's (now SirsiDynix) largest accounts. In June 2004, State Librarian Lamar Veatch announced a new automation strategy that involved a concerted effort to develop an open source automation system to replace Unicorn. Though threatened with a lawsuit from Sirsi, that system, later named Evergreen, was successfully completed within the timeframe originally announced. In September 2006, all the 252 Georgia PINES libraries migrated from Unicorn to Evergreen. In January 2007, members of the GPLS development team launched a new company named Equinox Software to provide commercial support and assistance to other libraries interested in implementing Evergreen. Koha, an open source ILS originally developed in 1999 by the Kapito Communications consulting firm for the Horowhenua Library Trust, a consortium of four libraries in New Zealand, has steadily been gathering a following ever since. In a bold move, the Nelsonville Public Library, a seven-branch system serving Athens County, OH, migrated from Spydus to Koha, rechanneling the funds it would have expended on sustaining Spydus's further development. Addressing the need for commercial support options for open source library automation systems, some of the staff involved in supporting Koha at the Nelsonville PL started a new company in January 2005 called LibLime. This company, currently employing ten full-time and two part-time staffers, provides a variety of services related to the support of Koha and other library-oriented open source software. In December 2005, LibLime engaged in a partnership with Index Data, a Danish company specializing in open source development, to integrate the Zebra database engine into Koha. The resulting product, dubbed Koha ZOOM, aims to elevate the product to serve larger and more complex libraries. In February 2007, LibLime acquired the division of Kapito Communications involved with Koha, bringing together the two companies focused on the support of Koha and other open source library software, including some of the original Koha developers. By the end of 2006, 311 libraries worldwide had adopted Koha; 18 of them contract with LibLime for support. Six rely on Koha ZOOM, and four are LibLime clients.

Focus on the front end

Reacting to the need for libraries to compete with other web destinations, much product development industry energy focused on development and marketing of new web-based interfaces. The battle is on to deliver interfaces that showcase faceted browsing, relevance-ranked results, end user rating or tagging, and visual navigation—all standard fare in commercial web interfaces. North Carolina State University (NCSU) launched the opening salvo with a new catalog for its Unicorn system based on Endeca's ProFind platform. The Endeca technology, well established in providing search and information access products in the corporate arena, specializes in search through its patented Guided Navigation process. NCSU plans to join the other Research Triangle (NC) libraries in implementing a shared catalog based on Endeca. Though NCSU acquired the ProFind platform directly from Endeca, The Library Corporation (TLC) has had a nonexclusive agreement with Endeca since June 2004. Phoenix Public Library became the first TLC client to launch an Endeca-based catalog in June 2006. The AquaBrowser Library interface developed by Amsterdam-based Medialab Solutions has sparked interest, too: it features a simple search, a visual word cloud, and facets for refining search results. TLC holds an exclusive contract with Medialab Solutions, initiated in September 2004 and renewed in January 2007, to distribute AquaBrowser Library in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines. TLC made 67 new sales of AquaBrowser Library in 2006. In September 2006, Medialab Solutions announced AquaBrowser Online, a fully hosted version of the product designed to make it even more accessible for small libraries with collections below 150,000 titles. The Queens Library, NY, one of the largest and busiest in the nation, adopted AquaBrowser Library as its primary catalog interface in March 2006. Ex Libris announced its effort to develop a new library interface called Primo. Cast as a new discovery and delivery tool, Primo provides the ability to search across a variety of resources in addition to the library's catalog holdings, offering faceted navigation, relevancy-based ordering of search results, and a variety of features aimed at the efficient delivery of content to library users. General release of Primo is expected in 2007. Ex Libris library development partners for Primo include Vanderbilt University and University of Minnesota. Innovative Interfaces focused on developing Encore, a new discovery services platform based on Millennium technology. Features planned for Encore include dynamically generated “popular choices,” a tag cloud based on subject headings, and faceted navigation. Innovative enlisted 14 development partners to assist in the creation of Encore, including Binghamton University, Nashville Public Library, and Yale University's Lillian Goldman Law Library, among others.

Birth of giants

The library automation business arena has long been characterized as fragmented, which means that a large number of companies compete in an arena of finite market capacity with much overlap of undifferentiated products. Many companies struggled to attract investors with the capital to fund aggressive research and development. The top tier of library automation companies received a shot in the arm from private equity that will potentially lead to better financial health and higher-quality products. Giants emerged, each standing a head taller than its competitors in its slice of the library automation arena, and the latest round of consolidations reduces competition significantly. The cumulative effect of years of mergers has resulted in some very large companies, though smaller companies continue to survive—even flourish—by staking out niche markets.

Mergers and acquisitions

We now see an industry less fragmented, dominated by consolidated companies, kept in check by a slate of smaller companies that continue to grow without the distractions and overhead of integrating acquired businesses. The pattern of mergers in the last two years brings together companies that formerly competed directly for the same types of library clients. Prior to the 2005 merger, Sirsi and Dynix customer lists consisted of a remarkably similar mix of public, academic, and special libraries. Mergers in 2006 followed a similar pattern, with Follett Software Company and Sagebrush Corporation both focusing on the K–12 school library market; Ex Libris and Endeavor specialize in products for academic libraries. There were no mergers that expand a company's market focus into other library types, which may indicate market saturation. Private equity discovered library automation in 2006. While private equity has played a bigger role in the business world in the last few years, the library automation industry had not previously captured the interest of these strategically minded investment firms. Over the past two years, there has been a shift from venture capital investments in library automation companies to ownership by private equity firms. The differences are subtle but important. Venture capital gravitates toward companies in earlier phases of their business development cycle—not necessarily start-ups but still working toward developing mature products and establishing their position in the market. Venture capitalists tend to make modest investments in their portfolio companies; many companies have relationships with multiple venture capitalists. By contrast, private equity firms invest in more established companies, making larger investments to gain complete ownership so that they can strategically manage the company to increase its value over time. According to New York private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, most firms expect companies in their portfolios to achieve an internal rate of return of 20% to 25%, and the average length of time a company is held before sale is around five years. Geac Library Solutions became the first company in the industry to enter the private equity fray when Golden Gate acquired its parent company in November 2005. Although library automation represented only a tiny portion of Geac's overall business activity in recent years, now focused mostly in Europe, the company exemplifies the changes that have rippled through the industry. Golden Gate folded the other parts of Geac into Infor, another large company in its portfolio. In March 2006, the library division was part of a new company Golden Gate spawned named Extensity, an Atlanta-based company wholly owned by Golden Gate, along with other industry-specific software and services divisions. In August 2006, Infor acquired Extensity. In the course of nine months, the business unit offering the Vubis Smart automation system changed from Geac Library Solutions to Extensity Library Solutions, to its current Infor Library Systems.

Private equity

SirsiDynix became the largest automation company by its June 2005 acquisition of Dynix by Sirsi. In December 2006, the company entered a new phase when it was acquired by Vista Equity Partners. Vista, a modest-sized private equity firm with about $1 billion under management, purchased 100% of SirsiDynix. Prior to the transaction, SirsiDynix was owned by Seaport Capital (about 80%), a New York based venture capital firm, and HM Capital (10%), with minority ownership by the current and previous executives and directors. SirsiDynix made headlines in February 2007 with the abrupt departure of Patrick Sommers, president and CEO of the company since 1999. Sommers's tenure coincided with Seaport's involvement. Sommers helped assemble a company that grew from $25 million in 1999 to $120 million. His departure gives Vista the opportunity to install its own leadership to execute the business strategies needed to take its investment to the next level. Ex Libris emerged in 2006 as a new industry giant, after beginning the year with uncertain prospects. In 2005, the company attempted to raise development capital through an initial public offering on the London-based AIM stock exchange, which was aborted in September 2005. This attempt signaled the company's need to gain funding for its ambitious product development agenda. Previously, Ex Libris was owned by Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Walden Israel, Tamar Technology Partners, and some minority ownership by current and former executives. The financial standing of the company changed dramatically with its acquisition by Francisco Partners, a private equity firm based in Menlo Park, CA, in July 2006 for $62 million. Francisco Partners has $5 billion under management and is focused solely on technology. With the acquisition by Francisco Partners of Endeavor Information Systems from Elsevier in November 2006, Ex Libris emerged as the second largest company in the industry and the largest focused solely on academic libraries. Endeavor ceased to exist as a separate company. Roland Dietz, Endeavor president and CEO since December 2002, exited, and staff have merged into consolidated U.S. facilities in Chicago and Boston and worldwide. The new consolidated company is headquartered in Jerusalem under the leadership of Matti Shem Tov, president and CEO of Ex Libris since May 2003. The initial acquisition involved a relatively gentle transition for the staff of the companies, with only a 6% reduction in work force. At year end, the combined company employed 393, compared to 417 at the end of 2005. Ex Libris and Endeavor have both been focused on technology products for academic libraries, with ALEPH 500 and Voyager having nearly 3000 combined installations. Both products appeal to academic libraries and each brings its own strengths and weaknesses. From the onset, Ex Libris asserted its intent to support both systems for the foreseeable future and to shore up the development of Voyager, which was not a priority under Elsevier's ownership. The non-ILS products of Endeavor fared less well. Endeavor had already dropped its commitment to LinkFinderPlus and the ENCompass family of products, substituting products from TDNet. Ex Libris will likely entice these libraries to adopt SFX and MetaLib. Meridian, Endeavor's electronic resource management (ERM) module is being phased out in favor of the Ex Libris Verde ERM product. Acquisitions inevitably induce anxiety in library customers. Endeavor's sale was long expected, though its new ownership by a private equity firm with a strong focus on technology and a forced alliance with another company holding similar interests in academic libraries offers some reassurance to Endeavor's customers. Given that the number of libraries running Voyager (1,175) is on a par with those using ALEPH 500 (1,941), the company is highly motivated to prove itself to the Voyager libraries by accelerating development and customer support beyond previous levels.

Managing electronic content

Pressure continues to develop for developing academic library products that assist libraries in managing and providing access to electronic content—both in the form of electronic content accessed through subscriptions and that created locally. As libraries expend funds for electronic content at levels approaching or exceeding that for print, many find themselves in urgent need of appropriate automation tools. OpenURL-based link resolvers have become standard fare in academic libraries. Ex Libris continues to lead the market, with 1,496 installed to date and 102 new sales in 2006. Serials Solutions Article Linker has also become a very popular choice in the linking arena with 183 sales in 2006. Serials Solutions' linking position was strengthened with the partnership with SirsiDynix to distribute Article Linker. In March 2006, long before the acquisition by Ex Libris, Endeavor announced it would drop development of LinkFinderPlus and would instead offer a comparable product from TDNet. The company had licensed LinkFinderPlus to about 75 libraries since its initial launch in early 2002. In light of the acquisition of Endeavor by Ex Libris, many libraries that licensed LinkFinderPlus will likely migrate to SFX. While academic libraries tend to be the primary consumers of OpenURL linking products, a diverse group of libraries are acquiring federated search products. MetaLib from Ex Libris stands as one of the few federated search products developed by an ILS company. In June 2006, the company announced a partnership with Vivisimo to integrate the Velocity Clustering Engine in MetaLib 4 to organize results into groupings automatically according to concepts found in the results. Many ILS companies offer federated search products based on technology from companies such as MuseGlobal and WebFeat. These partnerships for providing federated search seem to be in a continual state of flux. SirsiDynix has based its Single Search product on technology from Muse. While continuing to sell and support Single Search, SirsiDynix formed a partnership with Serials Solutions in April 2006 to offer that company's Central Search as its primary federated search offering. Innovative based its initial federated search product, MetaFind, on components licensed from MuseGlobal, but its newest offering, Research Pro, is based on Innovative's own technology. In January 2004, VTLS announced a partnership with MuseGlobal; in January 2007, VTLS announced it would integrate WebFeat into its Virtua ILS. The Mandarin PAC Portal and Softlink's Quest also rely on technology from MuseGlobal as well as products from ILS vendors that sell exclusively in Mexico, Latin America, Greece, Taiwan, and China that are not c overed in this report. WebFeat offers its federated search products directly to libraries and through partnerships with ILS companies, including TLC, SirsiDynix, and VTLS and non-ILS companies including Serials Solutions and EBSCO. In 2006, WebFeat launched new versions of its product family to expand its appeal. WebFeat Express is a more streamlined version of the product and more affordable for smaller libraries; WebFeat Enterprise Edition was developed with customization and separate library profiling needed for use in multilibrary networks and consortia. With products in over 5000 libraries, WebFeat stands as the leader in the federated search sector. ERM products have reached a higher level of maturity and are seeing brisk sales. Innovative Interfaces continues to have the largest number of libraries running its ERM product with 201 installed and 35 sold in 2006. Ex Libris inherited Meridian through the Endeavor acquisition and will phase it out in favor of its own Verde product. The two products have combined installations of 103 libraries, with 80 new sales in 2006. Serials Solutions made 76 new sales of its ERM service. Serials Solution has emerged as a major supplier of automation products to libraries to help them manage electronic content. The company distinguishes itself by solely focusing on building a suite of products for managing and providing access to the ever-increasing collections of electronic content to which libraries subscribe. Serials Solutions offers its products through the SaaS model. In addition to Article Linker and Central Search mentioned above, the company offers an Electronic Resource Management Service and the Access and Management Suite. One of the company's key assets is its database of e-journal holdings. That database's comprehensiveness and accuracy drive the effectiveness of the company's products. In July 2004, ProQuest Information and Learning acquired Serials Solutions from its founders. The company changed hands again in December 2006 when Cambridge Information Group acquired ProQuest.

Reinventing K–12 automation

The K–12 school library automation arena saw dramatic change with the July 2006 acquisition of Sagebrush Corporation by arch rival Follett Software Company. Prior to the acquisition, Sagebrush and Follett represented the powerhouses of the K–12 library automation industry; afterward, Follett gains unprecedented dominance in a given sector of library automation with an estimated 60% market share. Remnants of Sagebrush Corporation survive as the Tandem Library Group, which is active in publishing and library services and was split off prior to the sale of the library automation division. This transaction brings a large number of school library automation products under the same roof. Sagebrush, itself a conglomerate assembled through acquisitions, gained Athena in the January 1999 acquisition of Nichols Advanced Technologies and Winnebago Spectrum in August 1999. Sagebrush partnered with Sirsi Corporation in January 2001 to distribute Accent, a version of Unicorn tailored for K–12 schools, which has since been discontinued. Sagebrush developed InfoCenter as its next-generation offering, announced in June 2005. Follett's own Circulation Plus/Catalog Plus product ranks as the most popular PC-based automation product for school libraries. Follett launched its next-generation Destiny family of library automation products in June 2003. The consolidation of Follett Software Company and Sagebrush Corporation resulted in a 16% reduction in staff. The combined company work force numbered 440 at the end of 2005 compared to 370 at year-end 2006. In the last three years, we have seen a fundamental shift away from products installed in individual schools toward ones that follow a more centralized and web-based approach. New sales for PC-based systems, including Circulation Plus, Athena, and Winnebago Spectrum, have been in rapid decline since 2001 as are similar products from other companies like Concourse from Book Systems. Market saturation is a major factor in declining sales, since most K–12 schools in the United States now have an automation system of some sort. The necessity for schools to transition to a more efficient centralized library automation model and the aging of the PC-based systems create tremendous opportunity for a new generation of systems designed for districtwide school library automation. The demand for centralized automation fuels a hot market for legacy migrations in the K–12 school library arena. This trend sets the stage for the product strategy for the freshly consolidated Follett Software Company. The expiration of the marketing agreement with Sagebrush paves the way for SirsiDynix to ramp up its marketing to school libraries. The company has a strong interest in moving the large number of K–12 libraries that continue to use Dynix to one of its new products. SirsiDynix boasts of one of the largest school library automation efforts, that of the 2000 Ohio school libraries represented in INFOhio. This statewide automation project began in 1994 with the selection of DRA's MultiLIS and began migrating to Unicorn in 2003. SirsiDynix initiated a partnership with INFOhio toward the development of content for its SchoolRooms offering in October 2005 and the launch of the product in two INFOhio districts in December 2006. The consolidation of Follett and Sagebrush forms a company about ten times the size of its nearest competitor of the companies focused on K–12 libraries. Smaller companies standing in the shadow of these giants remain viable and continue to grow, despite their existence on a smaller scale. These companies include COMPanion, offering Alexandria, Book Systems with Concourse and Atrium, LibraryWorld, Inc. (formerly known as CASPR) offering both hosted and desktop versions of its software in the United States.

The future

Activities in 2006 point to strategic shifts in library automation. The dynamics of the business environment have changed rapidly in the last two years from a fragmented industry to a highly consolidated one. Though the ILS continues to represent the largest portion of revenue, products that deal with electronic content and deliver better web-based services to users are the focus of the current blitz of research and development and will increasingly define industry leaders. Finally, breakthroughs made by open source library automation systems may disrupt the business models of the industry. All these factors combined set the stage for a fundamentally redefined industry in 2007.

Company Profiles

Auto-Graphics, Inc. Pomona, CA; 800-776-6939 www.auto-graphics.com Auto-Graphics, a public company founded in 1950, took in revenue in the $5-$10 million range in 2006, 90% from U.S. libraries. PRODUCT NEWS The company offers the AGent suite of products including the AGent VERSO ILS, AGent Resource Sharing for interlibrary loan, and AGent Search, a federated search platform. AGent VERSO had 54 sales to public libraries, which distinguished its ability to provide affordable library automation to small public libraries. In 2006, Wisconsin selected Auto-Graphics for its statewide resource sharing initiative, migrating from a Fretwell-Downing VDX implementation. A new version of AGent/VERSO integrated library system was released in January 2006. Though the system offers AGent/VERSO for local installation, the majority of its new customers opt for the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. PEOPLE Mary E. Jackson joined the company in 2006 as product manager, Resource Sharing, following a 13-year tenure at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), where she was known as a national leader in topics related to interlibrary loan and document delivery. Book Systems, Inc. Huntsville, AL; 800-219-6571 www.booksys.com Privately owned Book Systems did 99% of its $2.5-$5 million in the United States to small public, church, and school libraries. The company employs 50, down from 53 last year, and ranks third largest of the U.S. firms that focus on school and small public libraries. In 2006, Book Systems won the contract for Memphis City Schools, a district of 170 libraries. Sales of Atrium, the company's web-based system continue to climb, with 75 new sales as sales of Concourse wind down. The 241 sales of Concourse pale in comparison to the 1,912 sold in 2001. The company added an inside sales force. PRODUCT NEWS Book systems released Atrium version 2 and gained Red Hat 4.x product certification. CASPR See LibraryWorld, Inc. Civica Pty Limited Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; +61 3 8676 4400; www.civica.com.au Civica has a small U.S. presence, representing only 2% of its 2006 revenues. Overall income falls in the $20-$25 million range. The company's Spydus 8 ILS sells mostly to public (67%) and academic (17%) libraries. Consistent with the trend toward SaaS, over 570 libraries take advantage of Spydus Managed Service. Spydus is dominant in public libraries in Australia and in school libraries in Singapore and sees growing business in the UK. Spydus is one of four product lines—others include health insurance, local government, and specialist products. In 2006, the company's employment spiked to 322, up 60% from the 130 employed in 2005, remarkable growth from 35 employed in 2004. COMPanion Corp. Salt Lake City, UT; 801-943-7277 www.goalexandria.com COMPanion, was founded in 1987 by Bill Schjelderup, who continues to serve as president. Previously the third largest company focused on school library automation, the firm now ranks second; Follett Software Company looms almost six times larger than this 65-person enterprise. The 872 sales of Alexandria in 2006 compare very favorably to the 502 sold in 2005; total installations stand at 10,727. In addition to the Alexandria library automation system, COMPanion offers products for textbook management and school lunchroom automation. CyberTools, Inc. Harvard, MA; 978-772-9200 www.cybertoolsforlibraries.com Having established itself with medical libraries, CyberTools, continues to serve that niche while expanding to other types of libraries, including corporate and law libraries and a growing number of academics. The company, founded in 1986, is privately owned, currently employs five, and conducts 95% of its business with U.S. libraries. Revenue ranks in the $1-$5 million range. " PRODUCT NEWS CyberTools for Libraries was enhanced with a new OPAC with new capabilities for managing digital collections, improved Boolean searching, and a more customizable interface. The company began plans to expand staff in 2007. Endeavor Information Systems See Ex Libris Group. EOS International Carlsbad, CA; 800-876-5484 www.eosintl.com Founded in 1981, EOS International marked 25 years in the business of providing automation products for special libraries, mostly law firms and Fortune 500 companies. The company gained recognition among San Diego businesses for being one of the fastest-growing private software firms in the city. EOSI took in $5-$10 million in revenue in 2006; 75% of its business is to U.S. libraries. The company increased staff for the fourth year running, reporting 82 employees at the end of 2006. The company's EOS.Web saw 257 sales in 2006, up 76% from the 196 sold last year. PRODUCT NEWSEOS.Web saw four upgrades in 2006; internationalization with new releases in Spanish, French, and Italian, and the release of an RFID tracking module in partnership with FinalTrail, Inc. Ex Libris Group Jerusalem, Israel; 877-527-1689 www.exlibrisgroup.com The buyout of Ex Libris by Francisco Partners and subsequent acquisition of Endeavor was noted in the overview (see p. 41). With revenues in the $60-$70 million range and total personnel of 393, Ex Libris stands as the largest company focused solely on academic library automation and the second largest overall, behind SirsiDynix. The addition of Endeavor's libraries concentrates about half its customer base in the United States, and the combined company has software in 80% of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions. PRODUCT NEWS ALEPH 500, Ex Libris's longstanding flagship ILS, saw 67 new sales in 2006, bringing the installed base to 1,941; Voyager only saw 12 new sales but brings 1,175 libraries into the Ex Libris fold. SFX and MetaLib continue to see strong sales. On the ERM front, Endeavor-developed Meridian will fall away in favor of Verde, which had significantly higher sales prior to the merger. Ex Libris reports 103 installations between the two ERM products. In 2006, Ex Libris channeled much of its energies into the development of Primo, the company's next- generation interface, a new discovery and delivery tool. ALEPH 500 saw release 18, SFX found its 1000th customer, and MetaLib is at version 4.0. PEOPLE Matti Shem Tov continues as president and CEO of the consolidated company; Roland Deitz, president of Endeavor since 2002, has exited; Don Muccino, VP at Endeavor and former OCLC exec, has joined the Ex Libris management team as VP Global Support. Follett Software Company McHenry, IL; 815-344-8700 www.fsc.follett.com Now a wholly owned subsidiary of Follett Corporation, Follett Software Company (FSC) specializes in automation products for the K–12 school arena. Already the largest company in this area, FSC almost doubled its size through business acquisitions. In addition to the acquisition of Sagebrush Corporation's automation division, the company also acquired TeraData Corporation, a company involved in data warehousing, analysis, and reporting application for K–12 schools. FSC does 97% of its business in the United States and employs 370. PRODUCT NEWS Products now under Follett's control include its own Circulation Plus and Destiny, as well as those acquired from Sagebrush: Winnebago Spectrum, Athena, InfoCentre, and Accent (a version of SirsiDynix Unicorn branded for K–12 schools that will be discontinued). In 2006, FSC introduced Destiny Asset Manager to help schools track fixed and portable assets, such as media equipment. Infor Library Solutions Waltham, MA; 781-672-5950 www.library.geac.com The Infor business unit continued smooth operations despite major changes in its larger corporate environment (see p. 40). Vubis Smart, the company's flagship ILS, continues to prosper, with 272 installations in Europe by year-end 2006. U.S. and Canadian libraries represent a smaller number of customers. Infor's legacy products PLUS, Advance, and Book PLUS are migrating to other competitors. PRODUCT NEWS Infor introduced V-spaces, a new information portal and federated search platform and continued updates to Vubis Smart with the release of version 2.4.2, which brings significant enhancements to the system's Series Module. PEOPLE Eric van Lubeek, managing director of Infor, left the company to join OCLC PICA. Ann Melaerts has stepped in to replace van Lubeek. Infovision Williamsport, PA; 800-849-1655 www.infovisionsoftware.com Infovision, offering the Amlib Library Management System, did not respond to this year's survey. The company does the majority of its business outside of the United States. The company formerly had a marketing agreement with Brodart and also offers electronic imaging, records management, content management, and forms processing. Inmagic, Inc. Woburn, MA; 800-229-8398 www.inmagic.com A private company, Inmagic specializes in providing automation and information management products for corporate and other special libraries. The company employs a total of 40 people. Customers include Newsweek, NASA, and Cephalon. PRODUCT NEWS The company released version 3 of Genie, its current flagship product. Sales continue with about 100 sold in 2006. In 2006, all libraries remaining on BiblioTechPRO, which Inmagic acquired in 1999, migrated to Genie. Inmagic also offers Presto, a web-based general-purpose application for managing information assets. In January 2007, the company announced a partnership with WebFeat to integrate the company's federated search technology into the product. PEOPLE Paul J. Puzzanghera was appointed CEO of Inmagic, replacing Phillip L. Green, who will remain with the company and serve as vice chair of the Board of Directors. One of Inmagic's founders, Elizabeth (Betty) Bole Edison, died in 2006. Innovative Interfaces, Inc. Emeryville, CA; 510-655-6200 www.iii.com Innovative Interfaces, a privately held company wholly owned by cofounder, CEO, and president Jerry Kline, ranks as the third largest in the industry and has retained its market standing sans mergers and acquisitions. Innovative employs 295 people and brought in between $70-$80 million in 2006. About 70% of the company's 2006 business was from U.S. libraries. Millennium, the company's flagship ILS, saw 67 new sales, more than any competing product. Innovative added another ARL member when Millennium was selected to replace a locally developed system at the University of Texas at Austin. This increases the company's lead among this prestigious group of libraries to 38 out of the 123 ARL institutions. Three additional campuses in the CalState system switched to Millennium, giving the company 17 out of the 23 CSU libraries. PRODUCT NEWS The company focused much of its effort on Encore, characterized as a “new discovery services platform for library patrons.” The company launched Research Pro, a new federated search product, which replaced its earlier offering, MetaFind. Innovative's ERM system was the first commercial system available in this product category and continues to hold the lead in number of installations; version 3 was released in 2006 and includes support for the new SUSHI standard for automatically retrieving usage statistics from publishers. Innovative has 201 ERMS customers, up from 180 last year. PEOPLE Longtime employee Leslie Strauss retired, paving the way for promotions of other senior staff. ISACSOFT Inc. Montreal, Canada; 514-282-7073, x252 www.isacsoft.com ISACSOFT's customers are in French-speaking Canada and France. It did not respond to the survey for the second year running. In 2004, ISACSOFT acquired BiblioMondo, which offers the Concerto and Portfolio automation systems and the ZONES portal. While the company is still in business, it appears to have scaled back its operations. In February 2007, ISACSOFT issued a press release indicating that it was undergoing a review of strategic alternatives, including the possibility of the sale of the company. Keystone Systems Inc. Raleigh, NC; 919-782-1143 www.klas.com Keystone stands as an example of a company that continues to do well as a small firm in a business environment of much larger competitors by focusing on assistive technology for the past 25 years. The company employs 13, down one from last year. KLAS, the company's flagship library automation system, is a favorite of libraries that serve persons with visual disabilities. The company offers KLAS for local installation and through the vendor-hosted SaaS model. In 2006, Keystone sold three new systems, bringing its installed base to a total of 64. LibLime Athens, OH; 888-564-2457 liblime.com A new company formed in 2005, LibLime specializes in providing support for libraries that choose the Koha open source ILS. The company employed six full-timers at the end of 2006. Many of the early employees of LibLime formerly worked at Ohio's Nelsonville PL, an early adopter of Koha and a current customer. LibLime has recently added employees from New Zealand with its acquisition of Katipo, the original developers of Koha. PRODUCT NEWS LibLime coordinates and executes much of the development of Koha. In 2006, the company partnered with Index Data, another player specializing in open source software, to enhance Koha with the Zebra database, giving the product greater ability to support larger libraries. Dubbed Koha ZOOM, this version had been installed in three libraries by year-end 2006. The Library Corporation Inwood, WV; 800-325-7759 www.tlcdelivers.com The Library Corporation (TLC) is a family-owned and -managed business in operation since 1974, focusing primarily on automation products for public libraries. The company employs 210, making it about the sixth largest in the industry. TLC reported revenues in the $30-$40 million range, a significant increase from the previous year's reported sales of $25-$30 million, owing to income from TechLogic, its RFID subsidiary. In 2006, the company made three sales of Carl.X and 34 sales of Library.Solution. TLC also had considerable success in marketing AquaBrowser Library, with 69 sales in 2006, representing 669 individual library facilities. New TLC customers include Fox Lake District Library, IL, and Lee County PL, FL. PRODUCT NEWS This year, TLC created a web-based circulation interface for Library.Solution that allows all circulation functions to be carried out through a web browser without the installation of client software. In step with the SaaS trend, the company now offers Library.Solution as a hosted solution, with the Atlanta Public Schools as its first client. TLC released BiblioFile, a next-generation cataloging system. LibraryWorld, Inc. San Jose, CA; 800-852-2777 libraryworld.net Formerly known as CASPR Library Systems, Inc., LibraryWorld changed its name in January 2007 to adopt the brand of its line of flagship library automation products. The company specializes in automation for schools (80%), offering both locally installed and ASP versions of LibraryWorld, for 2500 libraries. The company partners with Chancery Software, which distributes LibraryWorld to K–12 school libraries under the brand Library Pro, and represents an additional 2000 libraries. The company offers two versions of a hosted library automation service, LibraryCom.com and the newer LibraryWorld.Com, supporting 400 and 500 libraries, respectively. All libraries Using LibraryCom.com are expected to migrate to the new service by the end of 2007. Mandarin Library Automation, Inc. Boca Raton, FL; 800-426-7477 www.mlasolutions.com Mandarin, founded in 1995, offers the Oasis library automation system, used primarily by schools and small public, academic, and corporate libraries. The company makes its previous system, Mandarin M3, available as a free download, with paid support plans available. Mandarin did not provide sales statistics for 2006. The company has 20 employees. OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Dublin, OH; 800-848-5878 www.oclc.org OCLC, through OCLC PICA, owns a number of automation companies, including Fretwell-Downing, Inc., Openly Informatics, and Sisis Informationssysteme. OCLC declined to provide data for this year's survey regarding the sales and numbers of installations of its products. OpenText, Inc. Dublin, OH; 800-328-2648 www.opentext.com The Techlib automation system was originally offered by a company named Information Dimensions, which was acquired by OpenText in 1998. The company and its products have become more deeply integrated into the OpenText product line. As the company (previously part of OCLC) focuses more on enterprise scale content management and less on library automation, it falls out of the scope of this report. Polaris Library Systems Syracuse, NY; 800-272-3414 www.polarislibrary.com Polaris Library Systems, a private company that employs 66, down two from last year, focuses exclusively on developing library automation products for U.S. public libraries. The company made 54 new sales of Polaris in 2006, bringing the total installed to 260. Only 28 Galaxy libraries have not yet migrated to new systems. The company signed reseller agreements with EnvisionWare and E*vanced Solutions. PRODUCT NEWS In 2006, the company introduced Polaris Inventory Manager, a standalone inventory system integrated with the Polaris database, operated through a Motion Tablet PC. Development and testing for the next version of Polaris, version 3.3, was ongoing in 2006, with expected release in the first quarter of 2007. An in-depth beta test is currently underway with the Pierce County Library System, WA. Sagebrush Corporation See Follett Software Company. Serials Solutions Seattle, WA; 866-737-4257 www.serialssolutions.com We include Serials Solutions in this report for the first time, recognizing that a company does not need to offer an ILS to play an important role in library automation. Products that help libraries manage and provide access to electronic content represent an increasing proportion of the library automation economy. Serials Solutions' suite of products includes OpenURL linking, federated search, and ERM. Serials Solutions was founded in 2000 [see “Librarian as Entrepreneur,” LJ 08/01] and operated as an independent company until it was purchased by ProQuest Information and Learning in July 2004. ProQuest in turn was acquired by Cambridge Information Group in December 2006. Serials Solutions employs a total of 78; eight are devoted to maintaining the database of electronic holdings that underlies the company's products. PRODUCT NEWS The company embraces the SaaS model, offering all its products as hosted solutions. To accommodate libraries that need customized access to data characteristic of locally installed federated search application through a vendor-hosted application, Serials Solution developed an XML API for Central Search. SirsiDynix Huntsville, AL; 256-704-7000 www.sirsidynix.com SirsiDynix ranks as the largest company in the industry, employing 629 at the end of 2006. The company is wholly owned by Vista Equity Partners, a $1 billion private equity firm based in San Francisco (see p. 40). In March 2007, SirsiDynix announced that it would discontinue further development of Horizon and would focus all new development on an enhanced version of Unicorn, code named “Rome.” Libraries running Horizon, Dynix, or other SirsiDynix legacy systems will be enticed to migrate to Rome. The company made 71 new sales for Unicorn in 2006 though sales have declined steadily since 2001. Sirsi/Dynix libraries include the Queens Library, NY, one of the largest and highest-circulating U.S. libraries. Horizon's 94 sales represent less than half the sales in 2004. The total installed base for Unicorn and Horizon are remarkably similar, 1,583 and 1,597, respectively. The number of libraries running Dynix stands at 717, down only slightly from 2005; if Horizon 8.0 is successfully delivered, there may be a more precipitous drop next year. PEOPLE Jack Blount, who was Dynix president prior to the merger and then acting chief technical officer, left the company in mid-2006 to start a new retail company, AlphaBay. In April 2006, the company appointed Talin Bingham senior VP of technology. Patrick Sommers, president and CEO of SirsiDynix since 2001, left the company in February 2007, along with Angus Carroll, chief marketing officer. Softlink America Inc. Los Angeles, CA; 877-454-2725 www.softlinkint.com Softlink is an Australian-based company founded 24 years ago. It provides library automation software internationally to every product segment. About 30 percent of its business is from U.S. libraries, up 15% from last year. The company's 2006 revenues were in the $5-$10 million range, and it employs 104 persons. In 2006, the company saw 302 sales of Liberty3, designed for special libraries, and 157 sales of Oliver, a centralized automation system for schools. PRODUCT NEWS In 2006, Softlink launched Quest, a federated search product based on technology from MuseGlobal. Surpass Software Calhoun, GA; 706-625-5399 www.SurpassSoftware.com Surpass is a small, privately owned company of nine employees founded in 1985. It sells primarily to school libraries. In 2006, the company made 152 sales of its Surpass Library Automation product. The firm continues to make enhancements to its centralized automation system and launched a hosted version of the system. SydneyPLUS International Richmond, BC, Canada 604-278-6717 www.sydneyplUs.com Founded in 1977, SydneyPLUS specializes in library automation systems for legal, corporate, and other special libraries. The company developed Report Assistant in 2006 to facilitate the process of creating custom reports. The SydneyPLUS web client was created to operate the system through a web browser. The company did not provide data for this year's survey. Talis Birmingham, West Midlands, UK +44 (0) 870 400 5000 www.talis.com Though the focus of its business is in the UK, Talis has been a vocal proponent of Web 2.0 technologies, with frequent appearances in the United States. In 2006, Talis brought in revenues in the $15-$20 million range, none of which came from U.S. libraries. The company employs 83. Talis sold its Talis Alto ILS to ten UK libraries, bringing its total number installed to 103. PRODUCT NEWS One of the company's main projects in 2006 involved the development of what it calls the Talis Platform, a vehicle for the free sharing of bibliographic holdings data. The company also hosts the Talis Developer Network as a nexus for facilitating interoperability of the ILS through increased access to open application programming interfaces (APIs). VTLS Inc. Blacksburg, VA; 540-557-1200 www.vtls.com VTLS, a longstanding company in the industry, was founded in 1985 as a start-up out of Virginia Tech University. The company reported revenue in the $5-$10 million range in 2006, 75% of which comes from libraries outside the United States. The company employs 75, down 20 from the 95 reported in 2005. PRODUCT NEWS The company made 27 sales of its ILS Virtua in 2006, brining the total installed to 274. VTLS also made 14 sales of its VITAL institutional repository and five sales for its FASTRAC RFID solution. PEOPLE In February 2007, the company announced that Carl Grant, president and chief operating officer since March 2003, will step down. Vinod Chachra, company founder and CEO and chair of the National Information Standards Organization's RFID Standards Committee, will resume his role as president. Cecilia Yourshaw was named VP for operations.
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 TOTAL INSTALLED
COMPANY SYSTEM NAME TOTAL SALES NEW CUSTOMERS
Full-function multiuser systems: Public, Academic, & Consortia
Ex Libris ALEPH 500 58 51 53 83 67 48 42 53 53 38 1,941
SirsiDynix Horizon 114 168 193 147 94 43 77 63 56 48 1,597
SirsiDynix Unicorn Library Management System 207 124 134 91 71 72 46 74 56 45 1,583
Innovative Interfaces Millennium 136 144 119 107 95 71 96 76 73 67 1,244
Endeavor Information Systems Voyager 44 35 22 34 12 44 35 22 16 4 1,175
The Library Corporation (TLC) Library.Solution 70 73 58 41 34 61 64 55 40 32 682
LibLime Koha Classic 26 13 311
VTLS Virtua 60 67 35 25 27 26 34 28 23 18 274
Geac Vubis Smart 34 54 56 60 56 9 17 19 16 13 272
Polaris Library Systems Polaris Integrated Library System 21 20 37 39 54 6 9 6 12 33 26
Civica Spydus 8 / MS 21 16 50 56 21 5 5 32 228
Talis Talis Alto 10 2 203
Auto-Graphics Impact/VERSO (local or ASP) 19 6 23 15 54 18 4 20 15 54 144
Keystone Systems KLAS 13 6 3 4 3 10 4 3 4 3 64
LibLime Koha ZOOM 4 3 6
TLC Carl.X 1 3 10 0 0 3 2
InfoVision Technology Amlib Library Management System 139 58 38 42 139 58 38 27
ISACSOFT Concerto 20 5 12 5 5 5 4
ISACSOFT PortFolio 40 14 18 5 15 14 6
Automation Systems for School Distircts
Follett Software Destiny Library Manager for Districts 25 143 424 480 10 71 273 389 919
Softlink America Softlink Oliver 20 68 213 157 20 46 115 52 428
Mandarin Library Automation Mandarin Oasis 2 150 2 50 200
Book Systems Atrium 30 45 75 13 25 42 150
Follett Software Destiny Media Manager for Districts 29 10 44
Sagebrush Sagebrush Accent 22 5 55 32 20 5 32 32
Surpass Software Surpass Library Automation 152 152
Automation Systems for Individual Schools
Follett Software Follett Circulation Plus and Catalog Plus 4,088 3,040 1,618 465 387 2,414 1,354 990 365 345 29,540
COMPanion Alexandria 1,530 1,538 1,085 502 872 646 682 432 232 872 10,727
Follett Software Winnebago Spectrum 2,388 2,150 1,399 325 68 1,403 1290 496 183 56 9,031
Book Systems Concourse 1,361 954 627 506 268 1,009 713 497 385 241 7,572
Follett Software Sagebrush Athena 1,986 1,787 575 298 131 1,208 1,072 522 270 126 5,958
Follett Software InfoCentre 3,541 2,759 170 450 5,539
Mandarin Library Automation Mandarin M3 225 231 104 470 225 231 104 270 3,363
Follett Software Destiny Library Manager for schools 44 373 476 40 261 339 835
LibraryWorld LibraryWorld 203 89 55 72 55 500
LibraryWorld LibraryCom 167 195 204 167 195 204 400
Softlink America Softlink Alice 650 398 417 900 500 398 385 900
Automation Systems for Special Libraries
Inmagic DB/Text for Libraries 1,421 1,712 500 387 254 130 2,075
EOS International EOS.Web 18 157 196 257 15 42 49 61 610
Softlink America Softlink Liberty3 / ASP 22 135 137 177 302 21 109 117 172 284 547
CyberTools CyberTools for Libraries 26 27 73 44 26 27 73 44 260
Inmagic Genie 100 20 200
SOURCE: LJ AUTOMATED SYSTEM MARKETPLACE 2007 *Where there are blank spaces, no data was available or companies provided aggregated figures
 
Company Development Support Sales Admin Other Total Total Total
2006 2005 2004
Auto-Graphics 7 10 7 3 5 32 32 42
Book Systems 14 16 14 4 2 50 53 58
Civica 16 283 15 8 0 322 130 35
COMPanion 65 63 62
CyberTools 3 5 1 1 5 5 4
Endeavor Information Systems 156 175
EOS International 26 27 25 4 0 82 79 72
Ex Libris 127 160 42 46 18 393 261 233
Follett Software 69 120 101 40 40 370 245 220
Infor Library Solutions 21 17 18 5 20 77 105 104
InfoVision Technology 40 43 39
Inmagic 15 10 9 3 3 40 40 40
Innovative Interfaces 70 174 27 24 0 295 295 285
Keystone Systems 4 5 2 1 1 13 14 13
LibLime 2 2 2 2 6
LibraryWorld (was CASPR) 11 11 14
The Library Corporation (TLC) 68 85 31 11 15 210 210 189
Mandarin Library Automation 20 20 38
New Generation Technologies 5 4 3 2 4 19 12 16
Polaris Library Systems 25 30 10 1 0 66 68 67
Sagebrush 195 200
Serials Solutions 32 23 16 2 5 78
SirsiDynix 142 377 72 38 0 629 679 394
Softlink America 23 35 28 13 5 104 97 94
SydneyPLUS 20 20 10 10 60 59 56
Talis 32 14 15 11 11 83
VTLS 24 29 8 14 0 75 95 93
SOURCE: LJ AUTOMATED SYSTEM MARKETPLACE 2007
 
Company Product Name New Name Existing Total Contracts U.S. Sales Non-U.S. Sales Installed W/Maint Installed
SYSTEMS FOR ACADEMIC AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Ex Libris ALEPH 500 38 21 67 4 55 1,941 1,941
SirsiDynix Horizon 48 46 94 43 51 1,597 1,597
SirsiDynix Unicorn 45 26 71 24 47 1,583 1,583
Innovative Interface Millennium 67 28 95 77 15 1,244 1,244
Ex Libris Voyager 4 8 12 8 4 1,175 1,175
VTLS Virtua 18 8 31 1 25 900 900
TLC Library.Solution 32 2 34 33 1 682 682
LibLime Koha Classic 13 3 26 13 5 18 311
Infor Library Solutions Vubis Smart 13 43 56 2 54 56 272
Polaris Library Systems Polaris 33 18 54 220 0 260 260
Civica Spydus 8 13 17 30 30 176 176
Auto-Graphics AGent/VERSO 54 0 54 54 0 144 144
Talis Talis Alto 2 8 10 0 103 103 103
Civica Spydus 8 Managed Service 19 4 26 23 52 52
TLC Carl.Solution 20
LibLime Koha ZOOM 3 1 11 11 4 6
TLC Carl.X 3 0 10 3 0 2 2
Systems for Special Libraries
Inmagic DB/Text Products 130 370 500 220 280 2,075 8,130
EOS Intl EOS.Web 61 196 257 221 36 610 610
SoftLink Liberty3 284 18 302 167 135 547 547
CyberTools for Libraries CyberTools for Libraries 44 0 44 260 260
Inmagic Inmagic Genie 20 80 100 45 55 200 200
Keystone Systems KLAS 3 3 3 64 64
Systems for Schools
Follett Circulation Plus 345 42 192 301 86 29,540 29,540
COMPanion Alexandria Library Automation 872 872 820 52 10,727
Book Systems Concourse 241 27 268 268 10 7,572 9,225
Follett Winnebago Spectrum 56 12 63 5 9,031 9,031
Follett Athena 126 5 131 114 16 5,958 5,958
Follett InfoCentre 450 2,309 2,698 61 5,539 5,539
Mandarin Library Automation Mandarin M3 270 200 470 3,363 3,363
Follett Destiny Library Manager for Districts 389 91 480 456 24 919 919
Follett Destiny Library Manager for Schools 339 137 476 421 55 835 835
Book Systems Atriuum 42 33 75 73 2 559 559
SoftLink Oliver 52 105 157 35 122 428 435
Mandarin Library Automation Oasis 50 100 150 200 200
Follett Destiny Media Manager for Districts 10 19 29 25 4 44 44
Surpass Software Surpass Library Automation 152 152 150 2
SOURCE: LJ AUTOMATED SYSTEM MARKETPLACE 2007 Where there are blank spaces, no data was available
 
Company Supported Systems Support Staff Installed Sites Ratio
Innovative Interfaces Millennium, Innopac 174 1,244 7.1
TLC Library.Solution, Carl.Solution, Carl.X 85 704 8.3
SirsiDynix Unicorn, Horizon, Dynix, DRA Classic, MultiLIS 377 3,270 8.7
VTLS VTLS Classic, Virtua 29 274 9.4
Polaris Library Systems Polaris, GALAXY 30 288 9.6
Auto-Graphics AGent/VERSO 10 106 10.6
Keystone Systems KLAS 5 64 12.8
Ex Libris ALEPH 500, ALEPH 300, Voyager 160 3,122 19.5
Infor Library Solutions Vubis Smart, Advance, PLUS, Vubis Original 17 642 37.8
Innovative Interfaces Millennium, Innopac 174 1,244 7.1
TLC Library.Solution, Carl.Solution, Carl.X 85 704 8.3
SirsiDynix Unicorn, Horizon, Dynix, DRA Classic, MultiLIS 377 3,270 8.7
VTLS VTLS Classic, Virtua 29 274 9.4
Polaris Library Systems Polaris, GALAXY 30 288 9.6
Auto-Graphics AGent/VERSO 10 106 10.6
Keystone Systems KLAS 5 64 12.8
Ex Libris ALEPH 500, ALEPH 300, Voyager 160 3,122 19.5
Infor Library Solutions Vubis Smart, Advance, PLUS, Vubis Original 17 642 37.8
SOURCE: LJ AUTOMATED SYSTEM MARKETPLACE 2007
 
Legacy System Aleph 500 AGent Carl.X Millennium Horizon Koha Library Solution. Polaris Spydus Unicorn Virtua V.Smart Totals Loss Retention
Advance 1 1 4 4 10 6 4
Aleph 300 16 16 0 16
Athena 20 3 1
BookPLUS 3 3 3 0
Carl 7 1 8 8 0
Circulation Plus 4 2 3 4 6 19 19 0
Concerto 2 2 4 4 0
DRA Classic 1 4 3 2 6 16 10 6
Dynix 3 13 43 2 6 4 4 7 82 39 43
Galaxy 1 18 19 1 18
Innopac 29 2 31 2 29
MultiLIS 1 12 13 1 12
Spydus 22 22 0 22
VTLS Classic 1 30 31 1 30
NEW AUTOMATION 17 2 1 7 3 9 39
This chart shows the system chosen by libraries that migrated from legacy systems. The numbers shown in blue indicate where the library upgraded to systems offered by the same company.SOURCE: LJ AUTOMATED SYSTEM MARKETPLACE 2007
 
Marshall Breeding (staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/breeding) is Director for Innovative Technology and Research, Vanderbilt University Library, Nashville
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