As the year 2002 came to a close, Ex Libris was awarded a contract by the Bavarian State Library for the implementation of ALEPH 500 in the Bavarian Library Consortium (BVB). In addition, the State Library and all the Bavarian university and college libraries will begin implementing the SFX context-sensitive link server in the coming months.
The BVB is a federation of Bavaria’s largest and most important libraries. Its flagship member is the Bavarian State Library, followed by the state’s 10 university libraries, 17 college libraries, 10 regional libraries, and some 50 other libraries, many of which own unique collections.
Central to the BVB is a union catalog that imports records from all participating libraries and in turn furnishes catalogs to these libraries.
The BVB’s custom-built BS-2000 database is to be replaced by the ALEPH 500 standard client-server system on a UNIX platform. This novel architecture combines the advantages of a central system with those of modern local software solutions; ALEPH will be managing a central bibliographic database using standard formats and will create interfaces with local systems for automatic record distribution.
“Our preference for this new consortial solution was guided by the need for a modern, open system that has been proven internationally in comparable environments and is flexible enough to accommodate individual data structures,” said Jürgen Kunz, manager of the BVB. “One of the major factors that affected our choice of Ex Libris was that the architecture of ALEPH 500 is a perfect fit for these requirements. The performance and flexibility of ALEPH 500 have been confirmed in numerous national and international library consortia of varying sizes, designs, and memberships.”
Michael Lütgen, managing director of Ex Libris Germany, welcomed the decision: “The BVB’s selection of Ex Libris is further proof of the confidence that we enjoy in the library market. Using Ex Libris products in conjunction with a central catalog, Bavaria will be the first federal state in Germany to offer an integrated solution for cataloging, searching, and linking services.”
About Ex Libris
Ex Libris is a leading worldwide developer of high-performance applications for libraries, information centers, and researchers. A multinational company, Ex Libris has offices around the world. ALEPH, the Ex Libris integrated library solution, has been installed at over 750 sites in 50 countries. MetaLib, the information portal for library collections, and SFX, the context-sensitive linking solution for heterogeneous electronic resources in the scholarly information environment, have been purchased by more than 320 customers in 23 countries. The DigiTool solution for constructing digital collections as components of an overall digital strategy rounds out the Ex Libris product suite. For more information about Ex Libris and its products, see www.exlibrisgroup.com.
