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Relais International and Index Data announce a partnership to offer a next generation standards based Resource Sharing solution.  The combination of Index Data’s meta-
search engine with Relais International’s renowned resource sharing software will result in a ‘seamless end to end discovery to delivery’ solution for Resource Sharing.
  
Users will be able to search simultaneously across multiple catalogs and databases.  Once results are displayed, the availability for items of interest will be checked and the
user may submit a request.  For libraries that may need to place limits on what can be requested, additional checking will be done based on the user profile.

 Read more!

Note: This is an OCLC press release. It can also be read here .

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 26 June 2008—OCLC and Index Data, a software development and consulting enterprise that specializes in information retrieval and metasearch solutions, are working together to extend the discovery capabilities of WorldCat Local to include all licensed and full-text resources of a library.

WorldCat Local is the service that combines the cooperative power of OCLC member libraries worldwide with the ability to use WorldCat.org as a solution for local discovery and delivery services. WorldCat Local provides a powerful discovery environment that presents localized results most relevant to the library user while at the same time allowing the user to search the entire WorldCat database of more than 100 million records.

OCLC continues to work with database producers to add article-level metadata to WorldCat.org to enrich the search experience and make collections from libraries more visible on the Web. Index Data will help OCLC incorporate metasearch into WorldCat Local for searching databases that are not indexed in WorldCat.org.

"The integration of metasearch and locally indexed results will help OCLC to provide a single search through WorldCat Local for licensed resources across the library,” said Robin Murray, Vice President, OCLC Global Product Management. "We're confident that Index Data will help us achieve that integration."

"Index Data believes that the future of information discovery lies in a combination of many different technologies including broadcast searching and local indexes. Our expertise and modular technologies are a perfect fit for OCLC's demanding production environment," said Lynn Bailey, CEO of Index Data.

OCLC recently announced that article-level metadata from H.W. Wilson and MLA will be added to the more than 50 million articles indexed from NLM MEDLINE, the Department of Education's ERIC database, the British Library Inside serials, the GPO Monthly Catalog and the OCLC ArticleFirst® database to expand access and discovery of authoritative content through the WorldCat.org platform. The work with Index Data will help to ensure that libraries can provide access to their full collections.

About OCLC
Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC is a nonprofit library service and research organization that has provided computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, eContent, preservation, library management and Web services to 60,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories. OCLC and its member libraries worldwide have created and maintain WorldCat, the world's richest online resource for finding library materials. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.

About Index Data
Index Data is a software development and consulting enterprise with offices in Copenhagen, the UK and the United States. They are experts in networked information retrieval and management, and have a fourteen-year history of releasing their software as open source. Their mission is to use their skills and creativity to build bridges between people, technologies and organizations, and to empower information providers to deliver better, more integrated services. For more information, visit www.indexdata.com.

Find out more about OCLC

ArticleFirst, OCLC, WorldCat, WorldCat Local and WorldCat.org are trademarks/service marks of OCLC, Inc. Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks/service marks of their respective owners.

OpenTranslators™

The Ability To Choose the Federated Search Interface And Content Of Your Choice Using Open Standards.

January 11, 2008 – Blacksburg, VA. – CARE Affiliates™ announced a new product today, in conjunction with its strategic partners, Index Data™ and WebFeat®, called OpenTranslators™. OpenTranslators is intended to reshape the way libraries select and use federated search and metasearch technology.

OpenTranslators will allow libraries to use the federated search interface of their choice to access over 10,000 databases using SRU/SRW/Z39.50. The databases consist of: licensed databases, free databases, catalogs, Z39.50, Telnet and proprietary databases. Libraries that already have a Z39.50 client in their OPAC will be able to connect to, not only library catalogs, but also thousands of additional databases. Those libraries that are building or already using an open source federated search tool will now be able to expand the world of information that can be accessed. Finally, for those institutions/organizations building new mashup clients, this will allow them to access and use vast amounts of additional content.

Use of the WebFeat translators in this solution provides a unique capability in that this technology structures and parses unstructured citations, even for databases that don’t natively support such functionality. This means it is possible to sort results by date, title and author and support citation exports into a variety of formats. In addition results usage can be tracked in compliance with the COUNTER standards.

In addition, the WebFeat Administrative Console (WAC), which is well known for its ease of use, flexibility and speed in managing translators, is included in the solution. It takes what could be a tedious and time-consuming task for library staff and virtually eliminates it.

CARE has combined these capabilities with Index Data’s expertise and resources to provide a SRU/SRW/Z39.50 gateway to the WebFeat translators. Index Data, long a pioneer in Information Retrieval technology, designed and built a sophisticated gateway that provides a seamless level of connectivity for end users.

OpenTranslators is a hosted service, so subscribing to the service is easy. New databases can be added on request and there are no servers or software to buy!

About CARE Affiliates, Inc.

CARE Affiliates provides services and products based on open source software to libraries and information centers around the world. These services include consulting, selection, packaging, integration, installation, support, hosting (SaaS), maintenance and continued development. Products include repositories, federated search tools, preservation and archiving solutions. CARE Affiliates is an international organization with offices in Chicago, Illinois, Blacksburg, Virginia and Toronto, Canada. Learn more about CARE at http://www.care-affiliates.com

About Index Data

Index Data is a consulting and software-development enterprise headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark with offices in the UK and United States. Index Data LLC, its United States subsidiary, is headquartered in West Hartford Connecticut with offices in Keene, New Hampshire and Winchester, Massachusetts. They are experts in information retrieval and management in a networked environment and have a thirteen-year history of releasing their software as open source.

About WebFeat

WebFeat (U.S. patent #6,807,539) is the developer of the WebFeat™ and WebFeat Express™ search solutions, used by over 16,500 leading public, academic, government and Global 1000 libraries and information centers—including one third of the largest 100 U.S. academic and public libraries, 17 statewide library systems, and 2 out of every 10 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions. WebFeat offers next-generation federated search and e-resource management tools to meet the needs of any library. Products include: the WebFeat Express federated search solution, WebFeat Enterprise Edition for multi-library networks, WebFeat Custom API service and SMART™, WebFeat’s usage tracker. WebFeat Menu Manager™ and WebFeat Proxy™ provide tools for access and management of e-resource collections. WebFeat provides multi-language support. WebFeat has earned industry recognition from leading organizations such as Library Journal and the Gartner Group. Learn more about WebFeat at http://www.webfeat.org.

“WebFeat” is a registered trademark of WebFeat, Inc., “WebFeat Administrative Console”, “WAC”, “SMART”, “WebFeat Custom”, “WebFeat Enterprise Edition”, “WebFeat Menu Manager”, and “WebFeat Proxy” are trademarks of WebFeat, Inc.

OpenTranslators and CARE Affiliates are trademarks of CARE Affiliates, Inc.

Index Data is a trademark of Index Data, LLC.

Co-founder Sebastian Hammer has appointed Lynn Bailey as Index Data's new CEO to keep the company nimble and well-governed through what is expected to be a period of substantial growth. Hammer assumed the role of President and will devote more time to software development and technology strategy.

"Libraries are demanding significant improvements in information retrieval services, and I want to focus my efforts on ensuring that Index Data meets those expectations," explained Hammer. "I sense the library community as a whole is beginning to recognize that the combination of commercial open source software, open standards and modular architecture offers an attractive alternative to proprietary, closed and monolithic solutions. The company needs a CEO with Lynn's abilities to focus on our business strategy and manage our growth wisely. I am delighted she's on board.”

Hammer was the original developer of YAZ, the company's first major software application and now the world's leading toolkit for building Z39.50/SRU client and server applications. Recently Hammer developed Pazpar2, the core metasearch engine behind Index Data's MasterKey™ service. He is currently focusing his efforts on integrating metadata harvesting, local indexing, metasearching and other information retrieval technologies to develop a unified and simple discovery process based on open source software.

Bailey comes to Index Data after a successful 15 year career at AT&T where she focused on Emerging Technologies, Internet Solutions and Data Networking. While at AT&T, she held a variety of positions in Management, Marketing and Technical Sales. She was highly regarded for her work with key clients in transforming the nature of AT&T’s business relationships from ‘supplier’ to ‘strategic business partner,’ resulting in mutually beneficial long-term alliances. Bailey holds a B.S. in Management Systems from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and lives in the Boston area.

Asked why she accepted the offer to lead a small open source software company in the library market, Bailey responded, "Heading up Index Data is an appealing challenge. The company has superb technical and personnel assets but is under recognized in its market. Its ability to develop and support high quality open source software far exceeds its current market penetration. I have a strong desire to use my experience to help the company grow and position it for success. This includes not only continuing to improve our core technologies but also developing partnerships and expanding our market reach. My goal is to keep Index Data's solutions at the leading edge of the information landscape. Keep your eyes on Index Data."

Come and meet Lynn at the joint Index Data/ CARE Affiliates booth (#230) at ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia.

Index Data is pleased to announce that it is the primary technology partner in a grant awarded yesterday by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to the New England Law Library Consortium (NELLCO) to build a "Universal Search Solution" for NELLCO libraries and their clientèle.

The NELLCO "Universal Search Solution" will be based on open standards and open source software, and will result in the creation of a physical master index of material, including participating library catalogs, as well as subscription-based databases and open content, special collections, and other resources that a participating library wishes to make discoverable to its patrons.

This grant award breaks important new ground in the delivery of digital library services.

Technologically, the Universal Search Solution will combine multiple technologies (consolidated indexing and data storage; metadata harvesting; and metasearching) to put together a single window to disparate resources. This fusion of technologies could serve as a model for future library search services, and indeed, the technologies used will be made available as open source software.

The grant also offers a new model for libraries to obtain affordable software services that are under their control. It combines the powerful financial leverage of IMLS and the organizational capabilities of NELLCO and its membership with the software development expertise of Index Data to bring cutting edge open source software and services to all types and sizes of libraries--affordable and with commercial support--but without vendor lock-in.

Index Data is proud that it was selected by NELLCO and IMLS to build the Universal Search Solution for the library community. We look forward to other research and higher education communities initiating similar commercial open source projects in the future.

ABOUT IMLS

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for US libraries and museums. Through its grant making, convenings, research and publications, the IMLS empowers museums and libraries to provide leadership and services to enhance learning, sustain cultural heritage, build twenty-first-century skills, and increase civic participation. (http://www.imls.gov)

ABOUT NELLCO

Founded in 1983, NELLCO is a consortium of 101 law libraries dedicated to the promotion and facilitation of resource sharing on behalf of its members. NELLCO is comprised of 25 full members, over 65 affiliate members from 33 states across the United States, and 7 international affiliate members from Canada and the U.K. (http://www.nellco.org)

We're delighted to announce the release of another new product: Simple2ZOOM, a sort of universal Swiss Army gateway that proxies between Z39.50, SRU, SRU/POST and SRW. Although nearly all testing so far has been with Z39.50-to-SRU configurations, it ought to work with pretty much any combination of these protocols on the front- and back-ends.

Simple2ZOOM is free-as-in-freedom, open source, software. It is distributed under the same terms as Perl, that is, either under the GNU GPL (General Public Licence) or the Artistic Licence -- your choice.

Simple2ZOOM is implemented in Perl, as a tiny script that calls the Net::Z3950::Simple2ZOOM Perl module. It is this module that is distributed, and it's freely available on CPAN at http://search.cpan.org/~mirk/Net-Z3950-Simple2ZOOM/.

We would like to gratefully acknowledge the National Library of Australia for providing funding that enabled us to add lots of the functionality and bring this product up to a releasable standard.