In this, the world's most northerly capital, a contract was signed today between Ex Libris and the Icelandic Minister of Education, Science and Culture for the licensing and implementation of the ALEPH 500 library automation system and Ex Libris' MetaLib and SFX software products. The aim is for all libraries in Iceland to be served by a common and centrally operated system.
Iceland, about the size of Ireland, is sparsely populated with only about three persons per sq.km living mostly along the coast. The interior of the country is mostly an arctic desert, punctuated with glaciers, volcanoes, geysirs and waterfalls. It has a strong economy and low unemployment. It was settled in the 9th century and has the world's oldest legislature, the Althingi, established in 930 A.D. Throughout the year, but mostly during the long winter nights, Icelanders, steeped in their treasures of old legends and sagas, love to read and learn. Hence their appreciation of well managed and funded libraries, whether public or academic, which the introduction of ALEPH will render even more performing and serviceable. Icelanders are technologically advanced and around 80% of the population has access to a computer with an Internet connection.
The initial configuration of the ALEPH system is 550 staff and 330 concurrent web users, serving a community of some 170 libraries, including the National Library of Iceland, university, school, public and special libraries. This makes the project one of the most extensive ones ever undertaken by Ex Libris.
According to Bjorn Bjarnason, the Icelandic Minister of Education, Science and Culture, "this agreement supports our government's vision of intergrating all Icelanders into the modern information society. It represents an important building block towards embracing new technologies for education and research in our country."
Arnor Gudmundsson, chair of the selection committee, states that "after a thorough evaluation process, we concluded that ALEPH 500, coupled with MetaLib and SFX, stands out as an excellent system for the comprehensive services we are building for our libraries and our citizens."
Azriel Morag, Ex Libris chairman, adds : "Having recently enjoyed a memorable touring visit to Iceland, which left us with unforgettably strong impressions of the dramatic beauties of the country and of its friendly and industrious population, I am particularly proud and pleased to welcome it as the 44th country in the ALEPH family. I wish good sailing to our Iceland project and thank the Minister and his colleagues for their confidence in our company and our products. For our friends, librarians or not, who may want to visit Iceland or learn more about this wonderful island, I strongly recommend logging onto: www.iceland.org."
About Ex Libris
Ex Libris is a leading worldwide developer of high-performance applications for libraries, information centers, and researchers. Ex Libris has offices around the world. ALEPH, the Ex Libris integrated library solution, has been installed at 571 sites in 44 countries. Other Ex Libris software products include MetaLib, an information portal for library collections that provides libraries, institutions, and consortia with a standardized user interface; SFX, the context-sensitive linking solution for libraries and information centers; and DigiTooLibrary, a solution for constructing digital collections as components of an overall digital strategy. For more information about Ex Libris, ALEPH 500, MetaLib, and SFX, please link to: www.exlibris-usa.com and www.sfxit.com.