Infor Library and Information Solutions

Carmarthenshire County Council and Neath Port Talbot Council Join Pembrokeshire County Council in Vubis Smart System Consortium

Bristol, UK, February 18, 2008. Infor Library and Information Solutions announced today that Carmarthenshire County Council and Neath Port Talbot Council in Wales, UK, have contracted for Vubis Smart in a co-operative implementation with Pembrokeshire County Council who went live with their Vubis Smart system exactly on time on the 23rd January 2008. The joint system is based on a central service operated by Carmarthenshire.  

First of the trio of libraries to go live is Pembrokeshire.  Situated in the west of Wales, Pembrokeshire is noted for its varied scenery and as a holiday destination. Supporting a registered user base of over 40,000 people via 14 full and part time branches, as well as 3 mobiles, Pembrokeshire libraries provides a wide range of high quality services to its users, issuing around three quarters of a million items per annum.

The system consists of Vubis Smart, AquaBrowser the interactive OPAC, and V-spaces, Infor’s portal application. V-spaces, which provides a single search environment for multiple databases, will be used to search the Museums database when the conversion is completed.  As part of the migration from Genesis the database was converted to MARC21 and the records were upgraded with data from BDS.  

Neil Bennett, Cultural Services Manager for Pembrokeshire, observed: “Vubis Smart will support a significant step change in the level of service we can offer our users through our 17 service points, as well as permitting remote access for the first time. The experience of cross authority working has been very beneficial in both challenging current working practices and opening up opportunities for the future.”

Carmarthenshire lends its collection of almost 700,000 books, music items, DVDs etc. through a network of 3 full and 30 part time branches and 4 mobile libraries. Vubis Smart will replace their existing Genesis system. Dewi P. Thomas, Libraries and Heritage Manager for Carmarthenshire said: “Vubis Smart is expected to generally enhance our public library service by enabling more standardisation of procedures, improving speed of transactions, control, management information, and customer profile knowledge. This collaborative cross-border initiative is likely to provide significant efficiency savings, represented by reduced maintenance costs resulting from economies of scale, but also a state-of-the-art library management system, which could be the springboard for further collaboration between the three library authorities.”

Historically important as a metalworking district, as well as for chemical processing and its docks, Neath Port Talbot completes the arc of Vubis Smart libraries in South and West Wales. Currently running Dynix, the authority serves its 60,000 registered readers through 18 full and part time branches and 2 mobiles. Lloyd Ellis, Cultural Services Co-ordinator for Neath Port Talbot, commented:  "As with all library systems the most important factor is the service to the public. By working closely with our colleagues in procuring the system, we achieved real value for money. The next stage, which has already begun, is to look at the way in which we can extend the range and quality of the service to all the users in the three authorities.”

Steve Barker, General Manager of Infor UK Libraries Division was delighted with the news. “We are extremely pleased to welcome Carmarthenshire and Neath Port Talbot to our growing band of Vubis Smart customers in south and west Wales. And also pleased that another Vubis Smart system has gone live on time, in Pembrokeshire.  Once again the libraries of Wales have shown that they are keen to embrace the cutting edge of library technology embodied in the family of products from Infor Libraries Division.”

About Infor Library and Information Solutions

Infor Library and Information Solutions offers libraries and information centres a suite of automation products, including an information portal and federated search application (V-spaces), an Open URL solution (V-link), an Integrated Library System (Vubis Smart), and an Electronic Resources Management System (V-sources).  Our organisation has been at the forefront of library technology for three decades and has a rich history of providing innovative solutions to information centres and libraries worldwide.  For more information about our products, visit www.vubis-smart.com