Innovative Interfaces, Inc. has announced that Inha University in South Korea, Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages in Taiwan, and Arkansas' Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University will install its Millennium library automation system. Innovative Interfaces also announced that it has formed a partnership with the University of Western Australia to develop the company's Electronic Resource Management module, a tool that tracks licensing and purchasing details for electronic resources.

Inha University

Innovative Interfaces' deployment of Millennium at Inha University will be the company's first in South Korea.

"We are delighted that Inha University has chosen Millennium, a decision that endorses both Millennium's advanced digital library functionality and its track record in delivering CJK-based systems throughout the region," said Petros Demetriou, Innovative Interfaces' director of sales for the Asia-Pacific region. "Innovative is very excited to be moving into this new and important market in Asia. We were impressed with Inha University's ambition and strong commitment to meeting its strategic objectives and we are pleased to be working with the library to help meet their goals."

Inha University is currently developing a new library, sponsored by the Hanjin Group. In March 2001, construction began for the new 239,408-square-foot Jungseok Library. Expected to open in April 2003, the new facility will hold a collection of more than 930,000 items and seat up to 3,000 students and faculty.

Inha University was founded in 1954. It comprises nine colleges with 15 schools and divisions and 17 departments, along with seven graduate schools.

Wenzao Ursuline College

Wenzao Library houses a collection of 160,000 volumes, 50 percent of which are in a foreign language. It offers titles in English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese. The remaining 50 percent of the library's collection is in Chinese. The library plans to expand its digital collection and patron services in the future.

"We decided on Millennium for many reasons. Our main reasons for choosing Millennium were due to its excellent multilingual interface and media management functions," said Irene Wang, director of Wenzao Library.

Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages was founded in 1966. According to the announcement, it is the only college of foreign languages in Taiwan.

Arkansas Universities

Implementation of Millennium will reportedly improve the level of services that the Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University libraries can provide to their 10,000 patrons. It will enable students and faculty to browse the libraries' combined collection of 413,000 items online, link directly to Web sites that offer information on subject searches, and be notified by e-mail when new materials enter the catalog.

"We looked at four vendors and decided that the best overall package was from Innovative. The biggest advantage of moving from a character-based system is that Innovative's fourth-generation system will give us a leg up on the future. We're looking for Web access and one-stop shopping for our students and faculty. We think we have it," said Ray Granade, director of library services at Ouachita Baptist University.

"We were impressed with the functionality and overall user-friendliness of Innovative's Millennium system," said Robert Yehl, director of learning resources at Henderson State University. "We are also enthusiastic about the possibilities of future cooperation with other libraries in Arkansas that are also Innovative customers."

University of Western Australia

Fully integrated with the Millennium system or available as a stand-alone product, Innovative's Electronic Resource Management solves the problem libraries have in developing local control mechanisms for managing licensed resources such as e-journals, abstracting-and-indexing databases, and full-text databases, according to the announcement. Electronic Resource Management enables libraries to keep track of their e-journal licensing and purchasing details using a single system. The module streamlines work flows and eliminates the need to maintain separate databases.

"The University of Western Australia Library, like many other libraries around the world, has found that the rapid increase in its use of digital resources has brought a whole new set of problems in how they are selected, acquired, and managed," said John Arfield, university librarian at the University of Western Australia. "We have put a good deal of effort into analyzing these complex issues and have come to realize that new tools are needed to help us manage our electronic resources effectively. We welcome the opportunity to contribute to the development of such tools through our partnership with Innovative."

Aaron Blazer, Innovative Interfaces' director of international customer sales, noted that in addition to the University of Western Australia, Glasgow University, the University of Washington, and Washington State University are also development partners for Electronic Resource Management and will assist the company in the design and development of the product.

Source: Innovative Interfaces, Inc., Emeryville, CA, 510/655-6200; http://www.iii.com.