VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – January 3, 2011 – Atlas Systems, the leading provider of time-saving solutions for libraries, has announced the release of a substantially enhanced version of its Aeon software for managing special collections and archives. Key features of the new Aeon 3.0 release include an online credit card payment gateway for duplication orders, addon architecture to facilitate customized integration with external data sources, and a powerful new reporting platform to help libraries assess collection usage and make data-driven management decisions.
Introduced in 2008, Aeon enhances special collections user services by offering researchers the convenience of automated online requesting through a personalized web account. Aeon maximizes staff efficiency while providing unparalleled item tracking, security and statistics.
New Aeon licensees include the National Maritime Museum (Greenwich, UK), University of Georgia, East Carolina University, and the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas. This fall, the Harvard College Library at Harvard University implemented Aeon at the Houghton Library for rare books and manuscripts and Harvard Map Collection. Additional Harvard College Library special collections will be added in the coming months.
The University of Georgia will implement Aeon in conjunction with the opening of its new special collections libraries building in late 2011. According to Dr. Toby Graham, deputy university librarian and director of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, "Aeon will promote the security of the university's most valuable historical materials by providing a system to track the locations of items as they make their way from the high-density storage vault to reading rooms, exhibit galleries, and staff work areas."
Regarding East Carolina University's decision to adopt Aeon, Maury York, Assistant Director for Special Collections, commented that he wants to "reduce the appalling amount of paperwork associated with registering patrons and keeping track of collections used in Special Collections, and to reduce the time associated with compiling statistics." He added that Aeon will "also aid us in collecting money for copy and scanning orders."
Highlights of Aeon 3.0
- Online Credit Card Payments. Users can pay invoices directly and securely from their Aeon web accounts using credit cards. Users also can clone their reading room requests as the basis for duplication orders.
- Open Addon Architecture. A new addon scripting architecture facilitates the creation of custom buttons, menu actions and subforms in the Aeon staff client application. Like web browser plugins, addons make it easy to extend Aeon's functionality by interfacing with other data sources, such as content management systems like the Archivists' Toolkit or offsite storage systems like Generation Fifth Applications' Library Archival System (GFA-LAS).
- New Reporting Platform. A new report building platform based on Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) enables staff to schedule reports to run and deliver results automatically in a variety of file formats, including email. Atlas will build custom reports upon request for current customers.
- Enhanced Reading Room Management. Users can be assigned to a customizable list of reading rooms and seating locations. New user records can be set to expire after a specified number of days. Existing cleared users can also be reset to a new or uncleared status, prompting them to review and update their account information upon their next login.
- Unicode Compliance. The user web interface and staff client now accept and display CJK, Hebrew, Arabic and other non-Western character sets as well as Extended Latin.
About Atlas Systems
Aeon is developed and supported by Atlas Systems, a software development company exclusively dedicated to serving libraries. Founded in 1995 with the mission of "promoting library excellence through efficiency," Atlas is best known for creating the ILLiad resource sharing management software, now distributed by OCLC and used by more than 1,100 libraries worldwide, and Ares, a workflow-based reserves management solution. For more information, visit www.atlas-sys.com.
