Jubilee Day 10th Anniversary of NUKAT 20th Anniversary of VTLS in Poland Cooperation of Polish VTLS/Virtua Libraries 4 September 2012 Warsaw  Jack Bazuzi Managing Director VTLS Europe

Notes on 20 Years of Cooperation Then and Now Notes on 20 Years of Cooperation  with Polish Libraries

VTLS Has Three Core Businesses Integrated Library Systems Institutional Digital Repositories RFID for Libraries

About VTLS More than 900 systems worldwide Serving more than 3000 libraries worldwide Financially sound, privately held, fast growing

About VTLS Over 30 years experience in library automation ISO 9001 Registered Company Over 30 years experience in library automation Strong commitment to libraries Active in NISO, ALA and IFLA…

Corporate Headquarters Virginia Tech research park Following VT incubation period Independent, international, successful…

Corporate Offices Blacksburg, Virginia, USA Barcelona, Spain (EMEA) New Delhi, India Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Melbourne, Australia

VTLS International Advantage Office of International Operations Local and regional representation Globalized (not localized) software design Multi-lingual UI Multi-script input, display, storage - UNICODE Close relationship with local operations Local support Local training Frequent visits Long term partnerships

VTLS has lead the industry in many things MARC based system (1979) Serials Holdings (1980’s) Authority Control (late 1980s) Unicode (1998) RFID (2001) FRBR (2003); FRBR SaaS (2009) Commercial support of Open Source software for libraries: Institutional Repositories (FEDORA) in 2004 VORTEX (OAH-PMH harvesting) in 2004 VALET for ETD’s (Web-submission) in 2005 Drupal integration (2011) Consortium Database Architecture and Branding (2007) VTLS Archival System (2008); Chamo (2009) VITALMedia Archive Management

Prestigious Virtua Customers Hong Kong Public Library Polish academic libraries [30] Polish Union Catalog [NUKat] Bibliotheca Alexandrina Belgian University Collective Swiss Library Collective [RERO] All Tunisian University Libraries Lund, Göteborg & Uppsala Universities Casablanca Public Library Queens Public Library

National Libraries Swiss National Library National Library of Wales National Library of Pakistan National Library of Slovakia National Library of Azerbaijan National Library of Malaysia National Library of India National Library of Ireland National Library of Morocco

Comprehensive Suite of Products

Virtua Profiler 14

Language Editor Easy to use facility requiring no programming Translate strings for multilingual support Support of many languages simultaneously including right to left languages Polish, Welsh, CJK, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Greek, Urdu… 15

RDA Sandbox Special program designed to provide tools by which libraries and librarians can practice creating MARC records following the RDA standard. Participants have access to a Virtua database with over 250,000 MARC FRBRized linked records. Participants are also be provided with a specially customized Virtua Cataloging Client that will allow them to create and modify their own RDA records in the shared database. Open to all libraries worldwide

Three items of interest Archives Management Chamo MozGo

Archives Management Developed with help of archivists of the NLW Completely integrated in Virtua Can also be used separately ISAD (G) compliant

Archives Management Archives cataloguing is different Archives, unlike printed material, cannot be described in isolation An archive requires understanding of both its content and its context Collocation is important [not just location] Archival arrangement is displayed with multilevel descriptions

Material is nested and re-nested Real links between records, not just display Up to 26 levels Similar to FRBR model

Tree display  

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What is Chamo Discovery? Discovery tool Your database Your repository External sources Social OPAC interface Option to work with Drupal 23

Chamo Usher your library into the social media age Why should my library care about social media It’s a global phenomena Social networking is the most popular online activity worldwide, surpassing emailing and web searching

Chamo Example of features Facet based searching User lists – basis for many workflows like weeding; binding etc. User reviews, comments and ratings Links to Google and other bibliographic enhancements Relevancy ranking Search crumbs User Self Registration User Updates of Contact Information Social Tagging

Smart phones for smart libraries

A Look at VTLS in Poland

Polish Libraries in Early1990s Libraries static edifices Warehouses Old buildings Fragmented libraries Dedicated and intelligent staff Wishing to modernize but lacking resources 28

Provided incentive and funding Enter Mellon Program Provided incentive and funding “Targeted funding” awarded to cogent proposals Market economy and choice 29

Mellon Program Automated a number of important libraries immediately More importantly it provided incentive for additional funding and other projects Spark that lit the flame Readily accepted with enthusiasm and hard work Dr. Hollander Mrs. Ewa Chrzan Mrs. Ewa Lankosz Dr. Czerminski

Early Challenges Connections to computer networks Preparation of rules for creating authority files Construction of authority files Preparation of unified cataloging rules Staff training

Cooperative Members 1992 Warsaw University Library (BUW) Jagiellonian Library (BJ) Gdańsk University Library BGUG) University of Mining and Metallurgy Library (BGAGH)

Began building authority file Chose USMARC format Standardization of headings Names [personal, corporate, uniform and series titles] Subject [KABA*] Ensured consistency of data Ability to search and exchange *Compatible with LCSH & RAMEAU

If you build it, they will come At first VTLS libraries only Grew to include others 500 librarians, 27 libraries Using various software [VTLS, Horizon, Aleph, Prolib Many participating passively

Enter VTLS During intro to VTLS at Jagiellonian University Library [fall 1991] First in “Authority Control” What is that! Voice of a quiet lady in the back of the room explained Anna Paluszkiewicz spoke and everyone listened Ania went on speaking with others listening for a long time Until she passed away in January 2004 35

Enter VTLS November 1992 Gdansk, Warsaw and Krakow university libraries – first contracts Training teams came to Poland Visits to Blacksburg followed 36

Enter NUKAT Authority catalog first Bibliographic catalog followed Ensured quality and purity Not the largest catalog we work with, but the purist 37

Enter NUKAT It was Ania Paluszkiewicz who insisted on building this strong foundation Met with some resistance & delay Had many entries for a single author… Ania: to keep it as is would cause more problems than no catalog 38

Union Catalog 1996 Proposed by Anna Paluszkiewicz 1997 Mellon Foundation indicated interest in creating a “national catalog” 1998 work on NUKAT began National Library VTLS Libraries [gang of four] Horizon Libraries [Łodź, Toruń, and Poznań] 1998 Mellon Foundation awarded grant

Union Catalog [2] Happy ending? Disagreement on use of unified cataloging rules and the use of authority file Delays, several meetings ensued Do you want to be happy or do you want to be right? Compromise: collect data w/o authority control in a separate temporary database

Union Catalog [3] 12 primary selection criteria MARC21 format auth-bib links, Independent treatment of authority records, Use of different character sets – ISO6937/2, ALA, UTF8… Plurality of SH schemas [KABA, BN, MeSH…] Z39.50 protocol …

Union Catalog [4] No commercial system was found Virtua came closest March 2001Virtua modifications began 2 August 2001 SUN Enterprise 450 arrived 3 August 2001 Virtua testbed installed May 2002 new Virtua delivered 600 letters exchanged 

Happy Ending? Yes Today NUKAT enjoys wide loyalty and many followers Libraries transformed No longer bricks and mortar but beautiful buildings with inviting spaces With finding tools and connections to the world of scholarship

Advantages - a reminder…

Advantages - a reminder… Strong local presence VTLS Inc. VTLS Europe S.L. VTLS Americas Ltda. VTLS Technologies Sdn Bhd VTLS India VTLS Australia

Advantages - a reminder… Quality control – ISO9000 compliant: Smoother library operations Improved usability On-time deliveries Higher customer satisfaction Improved value Continual improvement

Advantages - a reminder… Superior design Completely new generation ILS True client-server architecture Clients to optimize productivity Portals to optimize access Full utilization of ORACLE Web services enabled Data dictionary Written in C++

Advantages - a reminder… Flexible Virtua configured in a variety of ways to meet your needs Easy system management Personalized web interfaces Open Complies with all major standards Object oriented design provides openness and easy changes Scalable Grows to meet your changing needs Runs 1-2 user systems and was used to benchmark OCLC’s new WorldCAT (>45 million records) 52

Advantages - a reminder… Quick installations Weeks not months (or years) Quick upgrades Days not weeks (months) Why is “quick” important? Take immediate advantage of new features Efficient use of staff time 53

Advantages - a reminder… Partnership approach to solutions Field testing Users groups Discovery tools partners Delivery tools partners Operations partners Development partners

Advantages - a reminder… Multiple product lines Assures major changes in any one market don’t derail the company Global approach to information UNICODE enabled Multi-lingual, multi-script, bi-directional

Advantages - a reminder… Customer Service is IMPORTANT! Focus on helping customers Training programs in place – including training guides Well documented (electronically searchable manuals)

Advantages - a reminder… Dedicated 30 years in business 26 years private company with same ownership Long term consistency in management VTLS is strong and financially sound Strong R & D program Not as focused on profit Can invest as needed to stimulate growth Here for the long term…