JurisLink
According to the company, JurisLink was developed in response to law libraries' need to provide users with easy electronic access to knowledge and resources from within the library or from anywhere in the world.

The new JurisLink software configuration includes the iLink Electronic Library with "eSearcher" simultaneous database searching and "MyLink" selective dissemination of information (SDI). Also included are Z39.50 Version 3 Server with Level 1 Bath Profile compliance, a bibliographic catalog with dynamic total keyword indexing, acquisitions and fund accounting with electronic data interchange (EDI), serials check-in and control with UDC automatic check-in, SmartPORT for Z39.50 copy cataloging with OCLC Automatic Post Holdings, and circulation control with reserves.

Doug Livsey, SIRSI's director of special libraries, said: "JurisLink provides fully integrated technology that enables law libraries ... to manage all technical services, as well as meet the unique needs of legal researchers. Through the iLink Electronic Library, researchers can immediately access accurate, current content, such as high-quality MARC-cataloged Web sites, book reviews, tables of contents, excerpts and first chapters, e-books, and online journals. Through JurisLink and iLink, users of law libraries can enjoy benefits from today's most powerful library and Internet technologies."
 

National Library of Education
Sheila McGarr, National Library of Education director, said: "With its 20-year track record and an established user base for both library automation and digital archiving systems, we believe SIRSI meets all of the requirements allowing the NLE to provide a seamlessly integrated library and media-archiving system to our customers."

The NLE is open to the public for on-site use and accepts inquiries through a toll-free telephone line and the Internet. However, it circulates materials only to U.S. Department of Education staff and contractors. Its collections consist of materials about education, with special emphasis on theory, policy, and research. In addition to the general collection—which consists of nearly 100,000 books, approximately 800 periodical subscriptions, and more than 450,000 microforms—NLE has a number of special collections, including histories of education legislation passed by Congress, books about education published before 1800, and 19th- and early-20th-century textbooks.

NLE services include a Reference and Information Services Division that provides assistance with questions about education statistics and other education-related issues; a federal depository unit that provides services to U.S. government employees as well as the U.S. Congress, students, and the general public; and a Web site with links to lesson plans, online reference services, ERIC (the Educational Resources Information Center), the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, the U.S. Network for Education Information, and ED Pubs (an online service for ordering U.S. Department of Education publications).

McGarr said: "We think Hyperion will be instrumental in helping the NLE make some of our unique holdings more accessible to scholars, educators, and the general public. For example, we have a wealth of information in our federal legislative histories that dates back to the late 1800s. At present, the histories are only useful to those who can come to the library to use them. Hyperion will allow us to put them at scholars' desktops."
 

OCLN Consortium
According to David Slater, executive director of the Old Colony Library Network, the SIRSI system will enable OCLN member libraries to provide additional services to patrons through the iBistro Electronic Library and will speed library administrative and technical work through the WorkFlows staff client.

OCLN joins more than 20 other library consortia that are using a SIRSI system, including the SAILS Library Network, which comprises 66 libraries in southeastern Massachusetts; the Georgia Office of Public Library Services' PINES I and II projects, which comprise more than 200 public libraries statewide; the Shorelink Library Network in New South Wales, Australia; and the West Midlands Regional Library Network in Birmingham, U.K.

"The SIRSI system received the highest score in our evaluation process," Slater said. "Evaluation committee members were particularly impressed with the content offered through the iBistro data stream. iBistro will enable OCLN to greatly expand service to patrons through an electronic library with up-to-date bestseller lists, an icon-driven children's catalog, and patron self-service functions. In addition, SIRSI is the only vendor that met OCLN's need for a fully integrated library staff client."

OCLN was established in 1984 to increase library services and resources to residents of Massachusetts' South Shore area. The network includes 25 public libraries and one community college, which together serve approximately 330,000 patrons and have an annual circulation of 4.5 million items.
 

Source: SIRSI Corp., Huntsville, AL, 256/704-7000; http://www.sirsi.com.