The Government of the Northern Territory and the NSW Department of Public Works Central Corporate Services Unit have both recently signed contracts with Altarama Systems for the installation of VIRTUA library management systems.

The Northern Territory Library will manage the Government of the Northern Territory’s VIRTUA system, which will provide service to a Network consisting of state, public, community, special and secondary schools throughout the Northern Territory from early 1999. The first phase of the system will support 128 staff users and will provide public access via the Internet. Library consulting company Libraries Alive! are assisting with converting data from NTL’s existing library management system to VIRTUA.

In addition to the VIRTUA system’s full library management functions including cataloguing, circulation, serials, acquisitions and management reporting, the Northern Territory has purchased components of the Altarama Information Management system for its specialised needs. The Aurora Web OPAC for Z39.50 Databases will enable public access to the catalogue and other information sources from both dumb terminals and the Internet. Fulcrum Knowledge Network will permit searching of a wide range of electronic documents and Internet resources; and Z39.50 compliance will bring these and other information resources together with the traditional library resources.

Ms Lea Giles-Peters of Northern Territory Library said "Altarama’s solution provides three major advantages for NTL over other available solutions. The Windows 95 compliant interface will significantly reduce ongoing training costs; the client server environment has good response times over the large distances encountered in the Northern Territory; and it forms the basis for innovative solutions for the special requirements of the Northern Territory’s indigenous population through strong image and Internet integration."

VIRTUA has also been chosen as part of the Department of Public Works and Services, Government Selected Application Systems (GSAS) program that is aimed at standardising software used throughout NSW government agencies. An extensive evaluation process was undertaken with the limited panel of systems selected by GSAS including Altarama with its VIRTUA product for departments wanting UNIX servers and NT desktops.

As a result of this panel contract the Research and Information Service of the NSW Department of Public Works and Services, Central Corporate Services Unit (CCSU), has recently installed a VIRTUA system which will provide library and information management services for several other government departments including Premier’s Department, Office of Financial Management (Treasury), the Cabinet Office, ODEOPE and the Department of Public Works and Services. The system will support 15 staff users and will allow access for all department staff through an intuitive web based interface. Altarama will convert existing data from three systems and, as a result staff from all these departments will be able to share data for the first time.

All software for these new VIRTUA customers is client server based, Z39.50 compliant, and specifically written to take advantage of the power of 32 bit desktops and the Windows 95/NT desktop operating system. Both these new customers will run on Sun servers.

Ms Shirley Forster, Managing Director of Altarama Systems said "Together with the State Library of Queensland, these new users make an elite customer base for the introduction of VIRTUA into Australia. They confirm Australian libraries’ demand for world leading library systems technology. It is particularly encouraging that all of these customers see the benefits of Altarama’s Australian designed Information Management products and strategies as well as the benefits of VIRTUA".

For further information about VIRTUA and the other products involved in these solutions please contact: Ms Shirley Forster of Altarama Systems or visit our web site, or the web site of VTLS Inc. at http://www.vtls.com