FW: LMS announcement for SUNY Connect

[Bill Drew]

Thought this might be of interest to everyone.

--
Bill Drew ; Associate Librarian (Systems, Reference)
drewwe at morrisville.edu
"SUNY Morrisville...It's All About Where You're Goin' "
--

-----Original Message-----
From: SUNY Librarians Association
[mailto:SUNYLA-L at LISTSERV.BINGHAMTON.EDU] On Behalf Of Carey Hatch
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 4:04 PM
To: SUNYLA-L at LISTSERV.BINGHAMTON.EDU
Subject: LMS announcement



                                                        October 26, 1999




From:           Carey Hatch, Assistant Provost for Library & Information
                Services

To:             The SUNY Library Community

Subject:        SUNYConnect LMS recommendation

Dr. Peter D. Salins, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic
Affairs
has announced that the State University of New York will enter into contract
negotiations with Ex Libris (USA) Inc. for the purchase of the Aleph500
library
management system (LMS).  The SUNY Library Automation Migration Evaluation
Team's enthusiastic and unanimous recommendation of the Aleph500 system has
been strongly endorsed by the SUNYConnect Advisory Council and the SUNY
Council
of Library Directors' Executive Board. Provost Salins has pledged his
support
for a successful implementation of Aleph500 as the cornerstone of the
SUNYConnect initiative.

The recommendation is the result of a rigorous review process based on the
requirements listed in the SUNY LMS Request for Proposal
(http://141.254.5.31/projects/slam/slamover.htm).  The Ex Libris' Aleph500
system significantly surpasses those of the other finalists by
demonstrating:

- essential library functions that will serve the range of SUNY libraries

- required networked system capabilities to allow libraries to share
hardware
and software at host server sites while enabling each campus to view and
maintain its own data with local control of profile and security
configurations

- excellent responsiveness to customers' needs

- highly developed consortium components

Ex Libris has a strong customer base of academic institutions that have
implemented consortia-based capabilities that are central to the success of
SUNYConnect.  These functions include a union catalog, shared authority
files
across multiple databases, and universal borrowing capabilities. Aleph is
now
in over 450 installations with more than 16,000 concurrent users in 40
countries.  Ex Libris Ltd., the developer of the system, is a multi-national
company with offices located around the world (http://www.aleph.co.il).  Ex
Libris USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ex Libris Ltd., has sales and
support
staff based in Chicago (http://www.exlibris-usa.com).

I am very pleased with the Aleph500 selection and the capabilities the Ex
Libris system brings to the development of new cooperative arrangements with
libraries as part of the SUNYConnect LMS project.   My sincere thanks go to
the
Evaluation Team and the SLAM Committee for their comprehensive and objective
investigation that has resulted in an exciting LMS recommendation.

Upcoming announcements will offer schedules for statewide regional meetings
open to all SUNY library staff.  These regional meetings will present
information on the LMS evaluation process, provide updates on planning
activities underway, and allow for a question and answer session on both the
LMS recommendation and the implementation process.  I strongly encourage
your
attendance at the regional meetings as we move forward in the development of
the SUNYConnect initiative.

An Executive Summary of the RFP evaluation process is available in the
Announcements section of the Office of Library and Information Services
(OLIS)
Web site (http://olis.sysadm.suny.edu).