The University of Sussex went live at the beginning of this term with its new Talis Library System. An important feature is the powerful new Reading List management facility, which allows students to search for reading lists based on their course, tutor or study module.

The new system was on display at the official launch reception held on 27 September. Outgoing librarian Adrian Peasgood spoke of the considerable progress in developing the library, starting with a major building extension followed by the introduction of new Talis library system.

TalisList, the new Reading List system, has been developed in partnership with the University and is designed to enable students to spend less time on finding suitable resources and more time on actually using them to best effect.

Commenting upon the introduction of the new facility, Maggie Fieldhouse, sub-librarian for Systems and Reader Services at Sussex said, "The University has enjoyed working closely with Talis to develop this new software. Without it we wouldn't be able to offer such a comprehensive service to students, or run our operations so efficiently."

We recognise Talis as a proven solutions provider and worked in close co-operation with them to develop a product tailored to both students and library staff alike."

The incoming Chief Librarian, Debbie Shorley also expressed her pleasure at the new developments.

Richard Wallis, Technical Development Manager at Talis, is delighted at the success of the partnership. "Talis has always focused on building creative relationships with its clients, and at Sussex the company has been able to match its product with the specific needs of the University and its students. Talis greatly values working with the institutions as forward thinking as Sussex and looks forward to rolling our this new capability to other universities nationwide early next year."

The University of Sussex library, designed by Basil Spence, is home to over a million books and houses the Mass Observation Archive, a unique collection of social analyses dating back to the 1930's.