After extensive consideration and evaluation, ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA has chosen Fretwell-Downing Inc. (FD Inc.) to enable their vision of a statewide service where patrons can easily get the information they need from their library. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has selected VDX, the interlending and resource sharing solution, as the system to deliver a new level of cooperative service through its database project.
"The selection of FD’s VDX system extends the vision of the ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA Database to include the ISO ILL protocol for its interlibrary loan functions", said Joe Scorza, Executive Director of Health Sciences Libraries Consortium (HSLC.) "By selecting VDX, Pennsylvania has chosen an easy-to-use system which is based on a robust, flexible and sophisticated platform."
"FD Inc. was selected because they are leaders in the field of ILL implementation.” explained Pennsylvania State Librarian and Deputy Secretary of Education, Gary Wolfe. “Our primary goal is to improve resource-sharing among all types of libraries and FD Inc. presented the best technological solution for our system requirements.”
Barbara Cole, Director, Bureau of Library Development, Office of Commonwealth Libraries, said, "The VDX system will greatly enhance our interlibrary loan (ILL) functions, permitting the tracking of requests and the interfacing of ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA ILL transactions with national ILL systems. We expect large growth in ILL activity as libraries take advantage of the system’s new automatic features."
In the future, FD Inc. and ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA plan to provide the citizens of Pennsylvania access to physical materials and electronic resources 24 hours a day from their homes and offices.
The first and largest statewide union catalog of all types of libraries, ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA is a project of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries. The Database project is managed by the Health Sciences Libraries Consortium (HSLC), a not-for-profit corporation located in Philadelphia. The VDX system will provide seamless borrowing and lending for over 2700 libraries. The Database offers patrons nearly 40 million holdings, 6 million unique records, and includes 98% of Pennsylvania’s school districts. Approximately 300,000 ILL requests per year are processed through the ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA system.
For more than ten years, Fretwell-Downing Inc. (FD) has been a global leader in the evolution of digital libraries. Delivering the highest level of service and flexibility, FD offers libraries a seamless choice of standards-based solutions. Building toward a solid vision of a "library without walls", FD’s "freedom by design" philosophy delivers the unique ability to integrate disparate library systems, as well as creating entirely new digital solutions.
