INWOOD, WV January 25, 2003 – The Library Corporation (TLC) has created the Online Selection Assistant, a materials management and collection development service that changes how library professionals select and acquire materials.
The company introduced the new product to the library market on January 25th during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia.
The Online Selection Assistant is a vendor-neutral collection development and information management solution that automates the process of material selection, purchasing, and accounting to save libraries a tremendous amount of time, while giving them access to all the resources they need to quickly and successfully select and order materials. The Online Selection Assistant offers a centralized, definitive source of material information, recommendations, selections, orders, and order fulfillment.
Using this new product, collection development librarians can access updated comprehensive lists of forthcoming and published materials, while taking advantage of connections to information and suppliers worldwide. The Online Selection Assistant is also the only product of its kind that offers an integrated search of the local database, existing on-order and in-process selection items, popular vendor databases, and bibliographic utilities. This will enable librarians to determine if an item is already in their collection, on a list to be ordered, or ready to be added from their preferred vendor.
Users can access book and awards lists, featured articles and reviews, industry recommendations, and take advantage of features and capabilities such as: selection list management; fund management and accounting; electronic ordering and fulfillment; invoice approval; receiving; and more. Additionally, the Online Selection Assistant can be used with any library vendor's automation system.
The Online Selection Assistant offers the advantage – and power – of TLC's new partnership with a number of supply chain leaders. This new partnership enables TLC to offer collection development professionals the most comprehensive database of material information and available items on the market. TLC's Online Selection Assistant partners already include Baker & Taylor, BWI (Book Wholesalers, Inc.), Brodart, and Crimson Multimedia, and discussions are being conducted with numerous others.
“We created this product with the needs of acquisitions professionals in mind, recognizing the challenges they face acquiring materials,” TLC CEO Annette Bakhtiar said. “The Online Selection Assistant is a streamlined solution, a one-stop shop for acquisitions professionals, which truly puts power – and convenience—into their hands.
As with the creation of all of our library automation products, we're extremely proud to offer this new solution to the library community,” she said.
Product Information
The Online Selection Assistant is located at www.OnlineSelectionAssistant.com. For more information about this new product, contact TLC at 1.800.325.7759.