Says Julia Waite, Head of Library & Information Services at the University College at Bournemouth Library:

“We wanted to offer our students a way of searching the catalogue that mirrored more closely the web applications which they are using in their personal lives. We chose AquaBrowser as it offered the most appropriate solution for us: it will be popular with our students as it offers familiar web 2.0 options and allows better intuitive searching. The word cloud allows online browsing within the catalogue and will appeal to our art, design, media and performance students who are very visually focused.”

AquaBrowser has been implemented with the Heritage library management system from IS Oxford. Visit the AquaBrowser implementation at: www.aucb.ac.uk/catalogue

About Medialab Solutions BV
AquaBrowser is recognized globally as the original discovery layer. Medialab Solutions developed AquaBrowser after considerable research into user search behavior. AquaBrowser is a significant valuable proposition for libraries in that it exposes all resources through a single search and works with any ILS. AquaBrowser can be found in libraries of all types and sizes around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and of course, the Netherlands. Medialab Solutions BV is part of the CIG group of companies that includes Proquest, Bowker, Serial Solutions, etc. For more information about AquaBrowser, visit http://www.aquabrowser.com

About Infor Library and Information Solutions
Infor Library and Information Solutions offers libraries and information centers a suite of automation products, including a web-based ILS (V-smart), a client/server ILS (Vubis Smart), a statistical analysis portal (V-insight), a federated search application (V-spaces), an Open URL Resolver (V-link), and an Electronic Resources Management System (V-sources). Our organization has been at the forefront of library technology for three decades and has a rich history of providing innovative solutions to information centers and libraries worldwide. For more information about our products, visit http://vubis-smart.com/

Under this agreement OPSYS will promote and sell AquaBrowser Library to all Public Libraries in France. “AquaBrowser Library will work seamlessly with OPSYS’s ALOES Library system where we are working on a tight integration. Connectors can also be built for any other library system that can export data in Marc 21 or Unimarc format.”

“With over 500 libraries in France using ALOES and an excellent, long standing reputation within the library sector, OPSYS is an ideal distribution partner for AquaBrowser. Their experience, professionalism and expertise in this sector will ensure extremely high quality customer support for AquaBrowser” commented Doug McMillan, Managing Director, Bowker.

AquaBrowser will not only open up the library’s catalogue with an attractive visual interface but it will also allow French patrons to search other sources that are held by the library, such as local collections and subscripted resources.

Medialab Solutions and Bowker look forward to working closely with OPSYS to serve the French Public Library market.

According to Phyllis Sue Alpert, Assistant Director, “Miami-Dade is excited to be able to provide AquaBrowser, the very best discovery platform, to our library users. AquaBrowser was selected after a careful, thorough analysis of the industry. Our Selection Committee was ‘wowed’ by the easy-to-use, visual method of searching.”

“Miami-Dade Public Library System is committed to promoting lifelong learning for their seven million annual visitors,” said Bastiaan F. Zwaan, CEO of Medialab Solutions “We’re very excited that they have chosen AquaBrowser to maximize information access across the library system.”

AquaBrowser offers users a familiar web-like experience, with the precision needed for discovery, without any disruption to the library’s backroom & staff activities. It provides proven technology that empowers users with an intuitive and attractive interface on top of an existing catalog. The library internally keeps working the way it always has, but customers get the kind of search and Web 2.0 experience they’ve come to expect on the internet.

The AquaBrowser Library is designed to harness the power of common search behaviors to deliver immediate results and relevant content from a variety of sources. Its unique “search, discover, refine” methodology provides visualization and faceting features that help users quickly and easily uncover relevant results and inspires them to explore more of a library’s resources.

About Miami-Dade Public Library System “Throughout the past century, Miamians have watched their public libraries grow from a tiny one-room library in Coconut Grove to 49 libraries spanning the County’s southernmost point in Homestead to its northern reaches in Sunny Isles Beach. The Library System has not only grown, but dramatically evolved in the way services are provided - all in an effort to meet the informational, educational and recreational needs of the people of Miami-Dade County in the 21st century.” For more information about Miami-Dade Public Library System, visit http://www.mdpls.org.

AquaBrowser will provide eiNetwork’s 44 member libraries - which have holdings of nearly 4 million items - with the world’s most popular independent discovery layer. AquaBrowser offers users a contemporary web experience without any disruption to the library’s backroom & staff activities. It provides proven technology that empowers users with an intuitive and attractive interface on top of an existing catalog. The library internally keeps working the way it always has, but customers get the kind of search and Web 2.0 experience they’ve come to expect on the internet.

Rebecca Serey, eiNetwork director, explained the reasons behind the consortia’s decision: “We felt comfortable with flexibility and ease of parameter changes available in Aquabrowser. We liked all the implementation options that are available.”

eiNetwork joins many other large consortia offering AquaBrowser to their users, including Ramapo Catskill Library System (NY), Metropolitan Library Network System (MN), Upper Hudson Library System (NY) Southeastern Libraries Cooperating System (MN), Library Integrated Network Consortium (IL), MARINet (CA) and Prairie Area Library System (IL).

Bas Zwaan, CEO of Medialab Solutions, commented “We’re pleased that another large group of libraries has made a unanimous decision to provide their users with AquaBrowser. eiNetwork customers will be delighted with AquaBrowser, the most reliable solution that offers the best discovery.”

About Medialab Solutions BV and AquaBrowser North America

AquaBrowser is recognized globally as the original discovery layer.  Medialab Solutions developed AquaBrowser after considerable research into user search behavior.  AquaBrowser is a significant valuable proposition for libraries in that it exposes all resources through a single search and works with any ILS.  AquaBrowser can be found in libraries of all types and sizes around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and of course, the Netherlands.

Medialab Solutions BV is dba AquaBrowser North America in the U.S. and is a business unit of R. R. Bowker.  For more information about AquaBrowser, visit http://www.aquabrowser.com or call 1-800-546-9816.

About R.R. Bowker

Bowker is the world’s leading source for bibliographic information. The company provides searching, analytical, promotional, and ordering services to publishers, booksellers, libraries, and patrons through national and international brands, including: Books In Print®, Global Books In Print®, Syndetic Solutions^TM, Pubnet®, PubEasy®, PubTrack^TM and more.  In the U.S., Australia and Puerto Rico, Bowker is also the exclusive ISBN and SAN Agency and a DOI registration agency for the publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in New Providence, New Jersey, with operations in East Grinstead, England, and Port Melbourne, Australia. R.R. Bowker acquired Medialab Solutions in 2007. For information about Bowker, visit http://www.Bowker.com.

“Providing the best collection of search and discovery products available to libraries is our organization’s principal focus,” said Boe Horton, Senior Vice President of Research Solutions, ProQuest.  “AquaBrowser Library gives users an intuitive web-like experience, with the precision needed for discovery, and meets librarians’ need for a resource that digs deep into their holdings.  It’s this combination that makes AquaBrowser Library® an excellent choice for libraries around the world.”

The AquaBrowser Library is designed to harness the power of common search behaviors to deliver immediate results and relevant content from a variety of sources.  Its unique “search, discover, refine” methodology provides visualization and faceting features that help users quickly and easily uncover relevant results and inspires them to explore more of a library’s resources.

First, AquaBrowser searches all available content using a single query.  Results are ranked by relevance and enhanced through associations displayed in a “word cloud”.  Then, the “word cloud” encourages broader explorations and discovery using context sensitive association, word variations, spelling alternatives, translations, and synonyms.  Associations are automatically generated from the library’s resources and link users to new paths that can help them zero in on the answers they’re looking for.  Finally, faceted navigation further exploits the library’s resource metadata to help users zoom into specific result sets and refine searches.   Relevancy rankings and facets are flexible to meet the library’s unique needs.

SerialsSolutions is the exclusive provider of AquaBrowser Library® to academic and special libraries in North America .  AquaBrowser North America provides the service to public libraries.

For more information, visit http://www.serialssolutions.com/aquabrowser/ orhttp://www.aquabrowser.com

About Medialab Solutions BV and AquaBrowser North America

AquaBrowser is the world leader in ILS vendor-neutral, visual faceted search that connects to any number and type of data sources. Medialab Solutions focuses all efforts toward creating successful discovery solutions so libraries are viewed as superior sources of information and knowledge. AquaBrowser can be found in libraries around the world, including over 250 libraries in the U.S. as well as libraries in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy and 100% of all libraries in the Netherlands. Nearly 2,500 library locations are serving over 60 million citizens worldwide with the visual AquaBrowser search and discovery experience. AquaBrowser Library provides unique benefits and quick implementation to libraries. Medialab Solutions BV is dba AquaBrowser North America in the U.S. and is a business unit of R. R. Bowker. For more information about AquaBrowser, visit http://www.aquabrowser.com or call 1-800-546-9816.

About Serials Solutions
Founded by a librarian for librarians in 2000, Serials Solutions is a global leader in e-resource access and management services (ERAMS) with more than 2000 client libraries of all sizes and types. Serials Solutions® KnowledgeWorks, the authoritative e-resource knowledgebase, is the foundation for the Serials Solutions® 360 e-resource access and management solution which includes 360 Core, 360 Link, 360 Search, 360 MARC Updates, 360 Resource Manager, and 360 Counter.
Serials Solutions also is the exclusive source for Ulrichsweb.com™ and Ulrich’s Serials Analysis System™ worldwide, and the AquaBrowser Library® interface is exclusively represented by Serials Solutions in the academic market in North America. The WebFeat® federated search service recently acquired by ProQuest soon will be incorporated into the Serials Solutions family of access and discovery services.
Serials Solutions provides fast implementation, easy customization, and outstanding value to libraries throughout the world. For more information, please visit http://www.serialssolutions.com or call 1-866-SERIALS. Serials Solutions is a business unit of ProQuest LLC.

About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning.  A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as CSA™, UMI®, Chadwyck-Healey™, SIRS®, and eLibrary®.  With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich’s™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.

More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information.  Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others.  Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.

Dr. Paul Bevan, Senior Research Officer (Web 2.0) at the National Library of Wales, says: “The National Library of Wales is constantly striving to enhance our services to readers both within the Library and via the web. The National Library of Wales is proud of our innovative search solutions and AquaBrowser represents an important aspect of our continuing growth in this area. AquaBrowser is one of the final components of the Library’s Information Management System solution and represents a key milestone in the Library’s programme of data migration and integrated access provision.”

AquaBrowser will interface directly with the library’s Virtua library management system from VTLS and Proquest’s WebFeat® Express federated search application. The library’s collections include approximately 6 million bibliographic records. For more information about the National Library of Wales visit: http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=2

About AquaBrowser

AquaBrowser’s mission is to help the library play a central role in the provision and safeguarding of knowledge. AquaBrowser Library, the world leader in visual faceted searching, helps the library take centre stage by opening up all of its resources to the community. My Discoveries was created to take the next step: to give a role and a voice to the community, and to connect the people who create, organize and use the library’s resources, inside and outside the library.

About Infor Library and Information Solutions

Infor Library and Information Solutions offers libraries and information centers a suite of automation products, including a web-based ILS (V-smart), a client/server ILS (Vubis Smart), a statistical analysis portal (V-insight), a federated search application (V-spaces), an Open URL Resolver (V-link), and an Electronic Resources Management System (V-sources). Our organization has been at the forefront of library technology for three decades and has a rich history of providing innovative solutions to information centers and libraries worldwide. For more information about our products, visit http://vubis-smart.com

“I am delighted that we have managed to add this level of vision, seniority and experience to our organization,” said Zwaan.  “Jim will play a key role in furthering our product processes to ensure maximum customer satisfaction as we solidify our market dominance.  This step shows our high level commitment to the CIG family’s vision of providing an unmatched search and discovery product suite with AquaBrowser Library, alongside Serials Solutions’ 360 and Summon product lines.”

Miesse is a recognized authority in the marketplace, whose key achievements include building out Endeavor Information System’s customer operations from just a few people to a staff of 50 and becoming known throughout the industry for its sterling record of customer satisfaction.

“Search and discovery environments represent the single greatest need libraries have today for best serving their patrons,” commented Miesse.  “AquaBrowser’s vision and clear leadership position in the marketplace make me absolutely thrilled to join this team and ensure the highest possible level of customer satisfaction in their North American customer base.  I am looking forward to working again with all the sites I worked with at Endeavor, and equally excited about meeting those I haven’t met yet.”

About Medialab Solutions and AquaBrowser North America
AquaBrowser is recognized globally as the original search and discovery system for libraries.  Medialab Solutions, a business unit of Bowker, is dedicated exclusively to developing AquaBrowser for providing cutting-edge visual and faceted search solutions for libraries.  AquaBrowser, with over 600 customers worldwide, can be found in thousands of libraries of all types and sizes around the world.  For more information about AquaBrowser, visit www.aquabrowser.com or call 1-800-546-9816.

About Bowker
Bowker is the world’s leading source for bibliographic information. The company provides searching, analytical, promotional, and ordering services to publishers, booksellers, libraries, and patrons through national and international brands, including: Books In Print®, Global Books In Print®, Syndetic Solutions™, Pubnet®, PubEasy®, PubTrack™, AquaBrowser®, and more. In the U.S., Australia and Puerto Rico, Bowker is also the exclusive ISBN and SAN Agency and a DOI registration agency for the publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in New Providence, New Jersey, with operations in East Grinstead, England, and Port Melbourne, Australia. For more company details, please visit www.Bowker.com.

About Arpalazio

Arpalazio is a public body established in 1999 and one of 21 Regional Environmental Agencies (ARPA) Arpalazio works to protect and promote the environment and community health. They promote the adoption of more sustainable environmental behaviour by promoting access to information including communication programmes and activities, education, documentation and training.

In particular Arpalazio operates in the following areas:

* Sound emissions and noise pollution
* Air quality monitoring and control emissions into the atmosphere
* Monitoring of surface water and groundwater
* Quality of water
* Pollution of soil and subsoil
* Measurement of ionizing radiation and non-ionising
* Waste treatment and storage
* Natural and technological hazards
* Laboratory testing for controls on food, drinks, pesticides in support of control activities and food security
* Laboratory testing for the safety of cosmetic products and analysis of drugs
* Environmental Epidemiology
* Education, training, project management, consultancy and information dissemination about environmental issues and sustainability (ISO 14001, EMAS, Ecolabel).