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NEW GENERATION OF UNITYWEB FOR STATE OF THE ART RESOURCE SHARING AND ILL

 

15 February 2006 - The Combined Region’s resource sharing and interlibrary loan service, UnityWeb, has entrusted the next phase of its development to OCLC PICA, incorporating Fretwell-Downing Informatics (FDI). FDI was acquired by OCLC PICA in 2005.

 

The new generation of UnityWeb brings the separate union catalogues of The Combined Regions and LinkUK into one service. The new Unity service will be hosted and managed by OCLC PICA and FDI, world-leaders in resource sharing.

 

Rob Froud, county librarian, Somerset, and chair of The Combined Regions, says, “Working in partnership with OCLC PICA to take the Unity service forward offers exciting possibilities for resource sharing and inter-lending in the UK public library sector.  It provides us with a unique opportunity to join-up previously distinct union catalogues into a single national resource.  Combine this with improved functionality and service and we believe that we have a winning formula.”

 

The new UnityWeb service will now offer a range of new functionality including Z39.50 compliance, real-time status of availability of books and access to 5 million bibliographic records on LinkUK.  Libraries can also take advantage of the full interlibrary loans messaging option.  This peer-to-peer and global system offers complete searching and request management in one single interface. The new service can also be integrated with local systems using standard protocols.

 

CBS from OCLC PICA is the replacement software for the Unity union catalogue. It can load a minimum of 10,000 records per hour with full duplicate detection and can export at 80 records per second. It supports Unicode and input/editing of all non-roman scripts, and has excellent support for duplicate record detection and resolution.

 

“We are delighted that the first success of the new venture between OCLC PICA and FDI happens to be one in FDI’s home market,” adds Rein van Charldorp, managing director of OCLC PICA.  “Winning this tender shows what can be achieved if two strong partners work together.  We can offer a unique solution by combining our expertise and product offerings.” 

 

Robin Murray, managing director of FDI, adds, “We can offer a hybrid approach offering both physical union catalogues and stand alone library catalogues through one interface, combine this with ISO ILL for request management – and this offers libraries the next generation in resource sharing solutions.”

 

To celebrate the new generation of UnityWeb, OCLC PICA is offering an introductory offer of 25% discount on last year’s subscription rates. Please contact [log in to unmask] for further details.

 

FDI and OCLC PICA solutions have already demonstrated their reliability and stability working separately, and together. The new generation of the new Unity service consists of systems that already work together successfully and are estimated to be in use in some 20,000 libraries around the world.

 

A new website has been launched to support the new service, and is available at http://tcr.futurate.net/

 

We will be running a nationwide roadshow of events between 13 March and 7 April. Dates will be announced w/c 20th February and will be posted to http://tcr.futurate.net/.

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Notes to editors:

About LinkUK

OCLC PICA’s LinkUK database comprises over 5 million bibliographic records and over 40 million volumes of public and special libraries in London, the South East, the West Midlands and South Wales.

LinkUK provides a web based ILL request and management system that offers best value solutions extending your library's reach. Today, 78 libraries throughout London and the South East, the West Midlands and South Wales, rely on LinkUK to manage local, regional and international borrowing and lending. Over 120,000 requests are carried out on the LinkUK system each year.

 

About OCLC PICA and FDI

As the European library cooperative, OCLC PICA together with FDI offers a broad range of leading edge, high-tech solutions for professionals and end users of academic and public libraries, information centres of the government and health sector, museums, archives and other cultural institutions. Thousands of patrons daily rely on the OCLC PICA and FDI systems for efficient cataloguing, library management, retrieval, resource sharing and preservation.

From the head office in Leiden (NL), subsidiaries in Oberhaching (D) and Sheffield (UK), and regional offices in Birmingham, Paris, Cologne, Berlin, Basel, Melbourne and Kansas City, OCLC PICA B.V. is active on behalf of its two share holders OCLC Inc. and Stichting Pica.

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. is a non-profit organization and offers its services to 54,000 libraries in 109 countries and territories. More information about OCLC PICA and FDI can be found at www.oclcpica.org  and www.fdisolutions.com.

 

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For further information, contact:

 

Emily Haynes                                                                Katie Anstock

Marketing Executive                                                       Business Development Manager

Fretwell-Downing Informatics                                           Fretwell-Downing Informatics

Tel: +44 (0)114 281 6040                                                Tel: +44 (0)114 281 6040

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________________________________
Catherine Dhanjal, MCIPR
TheAnswer Ltd
PR & marketing for the academic, e-learning, e-gov and library sectors.
www.theansweruk.com
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