Blacksburg, VA and Overland Park, KS, January 9, 2004. Fretwell-Downing (FD), the provider of VDX, the leading ISO ILL resource sharing solution. and VTLS Inc. the provider of the VIRTUA integrated Library Management System, have announced a partnership that will make it easier for VIRTUA customers to manage their interlibrary loans service using the VDX software.
This agreement allows VTLS Inc, to resell Fretwell-Downing's VDX software to its growing VIRTUA customer base around the world. The reseller agreement also enables purchasers of VTLS Inc.'s recently announced digital asset management product, VITAL. to use FD's VDX resource sharing solutions alongside VITAL
This partnership will enable VTLS Inc. to enhance its product offering to the market place, and will also enable VIRTUA and VITAL customers to have immediate access to proven ISO compliant resource sharing functionality.
Matt Goldner. Executive Vice President with Fretwell-Downing. explains. We are pleased that VTLS Inc. recognized the leading position that VDX has achieved in the marketplace. We look forward to welcoming VTLS Inc. customers joining the growing VDX customer base that already includes a large number of influential organizations across the US. Canada and Australasia."
VTLS Inc. customers will have the added benefit of implementing VDX as a hosted service, provided on a subscription basis. This model of delivery will enable VTLS Inc. customers to get up and running with VDX very quickly, plus, it optimizes VDX as a cost- effective solution for individual institutions, and smaller consortia.
Carl Grant, President and COO at VTLS Inc. confirms, "The functionality, service and overall value offered are precisely what we wanted from a partner in this area."
Like existing VDX clients, VTLS Inc. customers implementing VDX will have the latest version, including new features announced at ALA Midwinter 2004, which include the new look Web interface and the automatic routing of incoming requests via the VDX brokering service.
Grant concludes, "We evaluated a range of ILL offerings that are available in the marketplace and found Fretwell Downing's VDX product, to be the best solution for our customers' needs. We look forward to a long and beneficial relationship resulting in success for our customers, and therefore our companies."
About Fretwell-Downing
For more than ten years, Fretwell-Downing, Inc. (FD Inc.) has been a global leader in the evolution of digital libraries. Delivering unmatched service and flexibility, FD Inc. offers libraries a seamless choice of standards-based solutions. Building toward a solid vision of a "library without walls." FD Inc. boasts the unique ability to integrate with disparate electronic library systems, as well as creating and managing entirely new digital library systems. FD Inc. deliver solutions for resource sharing and document delivery, OpenURL deliver, web information portals for cross-domain search & retrieval.
About VTLS Inc.
VTLS Inc. (www.vtls.com) is a leading global company that creates and provides visionary technology in library solutions. We have three distinctive divisions that provide these solutions to a diverse customer base of more than 900 libraries in over 32 countries. Our VIRTUA division remains focused on solutions, our VTRAX division focuses on RFID type technologies, and our Digital Asset Creation & Management division provides cutting edge software and services for Digital Libraries. VTLS is also one of the few ISO 9001 quality certified companies within the library industry
About VDX
Designed for the distributed networked library world, VDX (Virtual Document eXchange) automates and streamlines both the requesting and supply functions for resource sharing operations. Once requests have entered the system, a powerful and efficient workflow management system takes over, based on local needs. VDX can automatically locate the best potential lenders — whether from within the organization or from external commercial suppliers.