INWOOD, WV- March 10, 2004 - TLC's acquisitions service, the Online Selection Assistant, supports full X12 ordering with Brodart, including enhanced X12 for bibliographic record processing.

This improved functionality is the result of a partnership between Brodart Company and TLC.

Charlotte Glades Library System of Port Charlotte, FL, was the first beneficiary of this partnership. Library acquisitions staff members are now able to send orders with a single mouse click directly to Brodart, streamlining the ordering process for the library's five branches. The X12 standard is an independent way of packaging data items that enables Internet communication between different types of software and hardware.

"TLC is great," said Charlotte Glades Library Technician Lynn Bokoski. "The ordering is going well with little or no problems. The problems we had we have worked through using the Online Selection Assistant help button."

Commented TLC CEO Annette Harwood Murphy: "It's wonderful to work with Brodart for the mutual benefit of our library customers and help with the important process of procuring library materials. We look forward to more opportunities with Brodart to improve the collection development and acquisitions process for librarians."

Peter Tobey, Marketing Director at Brodart, noted, "Our X12 interface with libraries using TLC has been a smooth transition to enhanced records, capturing more information throughout the ordering process."

About the Online Selection Assistant

The Online Selection Assistant is a collection management utility that manages the entire acquisitions process -- selection, purchasing, receiving, invoice management, and fund accounting -- and serves varied collection needs. It provides a central place for librarians to search for books, music, videos, and other library materials, create selection lists, place orders, and place bibliographic records into their automation system.

In the Online Selection Assistant's first eight months of use, it handled over $2.9 million in ordered goods and over $1.5 million in received goods. The total number of items ordered in 2003 via the service was over 66,000.

To see the Online Selection Assistant, access www.OnlineSelectionAssistant.com.

About Brodart

Brodart is a full-service library supply company, serving libraries in the United States, Canada, and other countries. The company was founded in 1939 and in addition to other accomplishments, is one of the world's largest library book suppliers. For information about Brodart, access www.brodart.com.