Syracuse, NY, August 17, 2010 - Polaris customer Yellowhead Regional Library (YRL) announced the availability of its iPad application, YourLibrary, from the Apple store. The free app enables staff and patrons to search and place a hold in the library's catalog from their iPad, as well as find similar titles provided by NoveList Select.
Yellowhead Regional Library, located in Alberta, Canada, is part of The Regional Automation Consortium (TRAC). TRAC released an iPhone app, TRACpac, to the iTunes store on March 2 of this year.
"We're excited to offer our patrons another way to find the information they need from the library quickly and easily from any location," said Kevin Dodds, Yellowhead Regional Library director. "With the iPad app, patrons can search nearly three million books, CDs, DVDs, and other materials from their iPad. What's more, library staff can easily connect with patrons from within the library by providing roaming reference and search assistance."
The iPad app and the TRAC iPhone app were both developed using the services of Hybrid Forge, an Edmonton-based company that specializes in database-driven web development. Hybrid Forge used the Polaris API to connect the app to the library's Polaris ILS, as well as the NoveList Select API to provide similar titles.
"Polaris ILS was built to provide our customers with open access to their data. We're proud that Yellowhead Regional Library has leveraged the database to make the library's catalog accessible to iPad users," said Polaris President & CEO Bill Schickling. "By reaching out to a growing population of mobile device users, Yellowhead Regional Library is positioned as fresh, vibrant, and connected to the needs and expectations of their community."
Yellowhead Regional Library
Yellowhead Regional Library is the largest of seven regional library systems in Alberta, serving more than 250,000 residents in 49 municipalities and 13,000 students in four school districts. YRL is a member of The Regional Automation Consortium (TRAC), along with Marigold Library System, Northern Lights Library System, and Peace Library System. For more information about Yellowhead Regional Library visit the YRL website at www.yrl.ab.ca.
About Polaris Library Systems
From its beginning thirty years ago, Polaris Library Systems has served libraries with time-saving technology, from its first circulation system in the mid-1970s through its third-generation Polaris Integrated Library System. In addition to its library automation systems, Polaris Library Systems offers workflow analysis, database enhancement, wireless access, and network services to libraries. For more information about Polaris Library Systems, visit www.polarislibrary.com.
About Hybrid Forge
Hybrid Forge provides innovative and engaging library products that leverage emerging technologies to create a truly unique patron experience. Hybrid Forge products include rich Internet portal applications that support multi-branch library systems and mobile apps that provide convenient catalog browsing and account management. These products are deployed to over one hundred fifty library branches. For more information about Hybrid Forge visit www.hybridforge.com..
About NoveList Select
NoveList Select, from EBSCO Publishing and the creators of NoveList, delivers the high-quality catalog enrichment content from the NoveList suite of products directly to library catalogs. Librarians and patrons can view a list of similar/recommended books from within the catalog for more than five million titles - increasing circulation of the entire library collection. Recommendations include reading order for titles in a series, as well as recommendations for similar authors and books. Each recommendation includes a reasoning statement so that users understand why a particular title has been suggested. Additional NoveList feature content is also displayed in the catalog results.