News from Sirsi

News from Sirsi

British Museum Library of Anthropology opts for Sirsi

The British Museum Library of Anthropology has chosen the Unicorn Library Management System to replace its existing Bookshelf system.

The British Museum Library of Anthropology incorporates the former library of the Royal Anthropological Institute and is one of the more important and influential anthropological libraries in the world. Senior librarian Sheila Mackie said, "Unicorn was chosen because it was the system that most closely matched the needs of the Anthropology Library and those of the other libraries of the British Museum."

Unicorn is distributed and supported by Sirsi Corporation, specialists in the library and information systems industry. The software technology has been designed and developed over a 20-year period. "We were impressed by its strong functionality across all modules and its high degree of flexibility, including its ability to take on board our existing inhouse subject thesaurus. Further factors in our decision were the company's commitment to the development of the core product and its proven record in customer support", said Mackie.

UK Office for National Statistics chooses Sirsi

Sirsi Corporation has announced that the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) has selected Sirsi Corporation's Unicorn Library Management System to replace its existing Sydney Plus system.

In addition to serving more than 3,500 ONS staff throughout the UK, the ONS library provides a public research collection of official statistics covering the UK and many other European countries. According to ONS chief librarian John Birch, the Sirsi system will enable the library to provide the public with easy Web access to holdings via the iBistro Electronic Library and ONS staff to online intranet access to internal documents via the Hyperion Digital Media Archive. In addition, the WorkFlows client will provide staff with fully integrated management of cataloguing, authority control, circulation, and other administrative and technical functions.

Birch commented, "Making our catalogue of holdings available via the National Statistics Web site achieves one of the library's most important long-term goals. It is our intention that this will be the source for bibliographic information on all UK statistical outputs, as well as supporting interlibrary loan and ONS staff working remotely. We may also be the first UK government department to make its entire catalogue freely available on the Internet."

The Hyperion Digital Media Archive, to be implemented in the second phase of the library's automation project, will enable library staff to control and give access to electronic publications that are rapidly replacing paper versions. According to Birch, within the next few years most ONS documents will be produced electronically rather than in paper, a change that has required the library to rethink its archival policies.

"Hyperion was the answer to a prayer", Birch said. "Just at the very moment we were wondering how to deal with electronic publications, we learned about Hyperion. We are excited about it – new uses for the system seem to pop up almost daily. And for a small library like ours to be the first UK central government department to take the system is rather nice as well."

Birch noted that Unicorn's strength within UK government was an important factor in the library's choice. "Unicorn seems to be almost the de facto standard within government these days. There is so much experience and expertise we can tap into. For a small library like ONS, the ability to be part of this larger 'club' was an important factor", he stated.

BBC Sheet Music Library picks Sirsi

Sirsi Corporation has announced that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Sheet Music Library, located in London, has selected Sirsi Corporation to provide an integrated library management solution to replace the library's previous inhouse system.

The BBC Sheet Music Library is one of the largest performance collections in the world. Its holdings include more than 300,000 music titles including orchestral sets, vocal material for choirs, and single songs. Library services include providing performance material to BBC performance groups, including BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers. The library also provides script or control material for BBC production departments.

Sirsi's Unicorn Library Management System delivers a scalable relational database with modules for cataloguing, authority control, circulation, acquisitions, serials control, and many other library functions. The library has also selected Sirsi's iBistro e-Library, which provides a single interface for users to simultaneously search the library's catalogue, databases, Web sites, and other BBC library catalogues via HTML and Z39.50. The system uses a Sun server.

Sirsi recognises that today's librarians are on a mission to break down walls – barriers that limit the knowledge and resources accessible to library users. A partner with leading libraries around the globe since 1979, Sirsi provides software and services that assist libraries in breaking down walls, thereby promoting learning, empowerment and opportunity for diverse user communities. Sirsi's portfolio of products and services includes iBistro and iLink e-Library solutions, the Unicorn Library Management System, the Hyperion Digital Media Archive, and a full slate of services.

For further information please contact: Sirsi, Unicorn House, Station Close, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 3JW, UK. Tel: +44(0) 1707 858000; Fax: +44(0) 1707 858111; E-mail: nick@sirsi.co.uk URL: www.sirsi.co.uk