Huntsville, Alabama (June 29, 1995) -Timely delivery of critical data can make the difference between success and failure. A standard business day within many information centers involves complex searches for time sensitive data -- take too long and the information becomes invalid. SIRSI successfully addresses this issue as its growing list of new customers confirms. Through Unicorn, and STILAS, SIRSI provides a simple search interface, creating an information expressway for data exchange. Patrons can quickly access what they need, when it's needed, no matter where it is.
The first Veterans Administration hospital to use SIRSI's Unicorn system, the Bronx VA Medical Center in Bronx, New York, recognized the needs for a system that matched the sophistication of its patrons. "We had the opportunity to visit a site that had installed Unicorn and watch the system run through the cycle of users' demands," states Sumitte De Soyza, Chief Librarian. "The system clearly matched our needs for quick clinical care of patients in addition to providing a viable research tool for our staff who will use the advanced full text retrieval system -- no other product came close," he concluded.
Migrating from their LS2000 system, SUNY Stony Brook Health Science Library in East Setauket, New York selected SIRSI based on their strong position within the market. "We knew of the existing customers of SIRSI and made our decision fairly quickly," explains Bill Murray, Systems Coordinator at SUNY Stony Brook. "We needed a versatile interface to various database centers and appreciated the sophistication of the `Information Gateway' which frees our patrons to focus more on the information search and delivery process instead of the various database site connection protocols," Bill explained.
A combination of system features have established the Unicorn system, attracting new customers as the system continues to develop. From the evolution of the "term searching system" to the flexible simultaneous database searching information upload and download feature, SIRSI has lead the way in product innovations. "Our patrons consider the MeSH "hot key" interface created by SIRSI an integral feature," responds Laurie Thompson, Deputy Director at Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library at George Washington University in Washington DC. "Other vendors made promises to deliver the interface we were seeking, but only SIRSI delivered, committing the time and resources to meet our request," continues Laurie. Recent international clients joining Unicorn via the SIRSI Limited office in London include the Royal Post Graduate Medical School at the Hamersmith Hospital and Charing Cross & Westminister Medical School at the University of London, both located in London, England and working off a Sun SPARCServer.
The Company
SIRSI Corporation is a leader in designing innovative systems that make the handling and retrieving of information over networks easier to manage for the administrator and easier to access for the end user. Founded in 1979 as a technical consultancy in library automation and information management, the company has become the recognized leader in the development of UNIX-based integrated library automation systems.
Today, SIRSI's systems serve hundreds of libraries and information centers with databases from a few thousand to millions of titles. Their integrated library system networks are installed in academic, public, K-12, law, medical, government and corporate libraries around the world. SIRSI operations are based worldwide with sells extensively in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia. For more information contact SIRSI at 689 Discovery Drive, Huntsville, AL 35806. Phone: (800) 242-2233, Fax: (205) 922-9818. Visit SIRSI's Home Page at: http://www.sirsi.com.