Migrations take off while the pressures to innovate mount The integrated library system (ILS) is changing—not dramatically but steadily. Forces at work include an improving economy, pressures to innovate, new products that manage electronic content (see "Trojan Horse," p. 46), and, most of all, mandatory migrations. Overall industry revenues, estimated at $525 million, grew by almost 5% relative to 2003. This figure represents total revenues of all companies that participate in the North American automation market. Most companies grew their gross earnings, and, in many cases, non-ILS products and sales to non-U.S. clients generated more income than ever before (see Table 3, p. 45). It was an especially fertile year for migration (see Table 4, p. 46ff.). In 2003 many libraries deferred moving from obsolete systems, creating a pent-up demand that began to break loose in 2004, when migrations increased by 12%. This is an important trend to follow, since to succeed, companies must both attract new accounts and retain current customers. Just signing legacy sites to your flagship product does not increase market share. Total contracts were down by 2%, though we estimate that far more libraries were represented this year than last, consistent with the trend toward increased numbers of libraries per system implementation. New-name contracts were down by 12%, indicating that more libraries stay with their current vendor as they migrate. Dynix led in total sales with 193 contracts signed. In the competition for new clients and market share gains, Innovate Interfaces tied Sirsi for first place—both signed contracts to 76 new-name clients. Sirsi delivered strong sales performance, coming in second in total contracts. For individual libraries, Innovative brought into its fold more than twice that of Sirsi. Dynix leads by far in installed sites, with 3,599 running either Dynix Classic or Horizon. As the domestic ILS market becomes more highly saturated, companies increasingly rely on international sales, with about 8% more non-U.S. sales in 2004 compared with 2003. International contracts, however, typically represent smaller projects.

Who's up, who's down

Defections from the current flagship system impact market share and reputation. While few libraries switch to competing systems, at least ten this year moved from Sirsi's flagship, Unicorn, to other systems. The demise of the Detroit Area Library Network was painful to Dynix, with both an Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member and a major metropolitan facility abandoning Horizon. These lateral moves continue to be anomalies but might be early indicators of dissatisfaction. When the current cycle of legacy migrations plays out, the next level of competition will be vulnerable accounts running flagship systems. Early battles may have already begun. It takes multiple measures to assess the gains and losses among vendors. Counting contracts alone doesn't suffice, given variations in the numbers of libraries, differences in collection sizes, and complexity of automation needs. This year, we look deeper than the raw contract counts, factoring in the weight of each according to the number of libraries represented. Share can be understood by the formula: New-Name Sales minus Legacy Losses (plus Flagship Defections) equals Net Gain/Loss. With the largest market share gain in 2004, Innovative Interfaces worked this formula to its advantage. Only six sites with INNOPAC selected competing systems, and two Millennium sites defected (single libraries in consortia moving to independent implementations). The 76 new accounts minus eight losses means a net gain of 68 accounts (534 libraries.) Innovative scored 13 Dynix accounts (173 libraries). The Library Corporation (TLC) made net gains of 54 accounts (322 libraries), increasing its overall market share. GIS Information Systems saw a net gain of two accounts (77 libraries). Surprisingly, Dynix's superb sales performance yielded smaller gains in terms of building market share, with a net gain of 13 accounts. The size of some of the Dynix contracts that were lost, as well as Horizon defections, equals a net loss in individual libraries. Sirsi saw a net gain of 26 accounts but a loss in individual libraries—until you consider that 180 libraries joined existing consortia already using the company's products.

Eye on migrations

At least 814 institutions elected to migrate from their legacy system in 2004. The number of first-time automations in the public and academic sector was 58—all smaller libraries. With 1880 legacy sites remaining, Dynix Classic will fuel the next two years' migration economy. In 2003, Dynix retained 66% of its legacy accounts; in 2004, it retained 77%. If the company sustains this, it is poised for strong sales in 2005. Dynix is betting that aggressive development of Horizon 8.0 will pay off in high retention. Few other legacy systems remain: DRA Classic and MultiLIS have dwindled down to about 100 sites each, INLEX/3000 is now three, VTLS Classic is 100, Galaxy numbers 84, Geac Advance is down to 175, and Geac PLUS is 65. Only three NOTIS sites remain. Although the total number of sites running a legacy system numbers about 3000, the number of remaining sales is much less given the lag between selecting a new system and decommissioning the old one. For Sirsi, 2004 was a key year for migrations—all of its legacy systems are winding down. The choices these libraries make will be important in Sirsi's longer-term market share. Sirsi legacy migrations were mixed in 2004. Of the 63 DRA Classic accounts that inked a deal, 31 went to Unicorn. Two of the six libraries running INLEX/3000 chose Unicorn.

Room for the little guys

In an industry with 33 companies, the ten largest account for over 80% of revenues. Despite this, smaller companies continue to flourish. Small companies can't compete for large libraries and consortia since they lack the resources for research and development. However, a lot of small libraries, with both modest collections and budgets, want a system in the $500–$5000 range. Some companies continue to thrive with this high volume of low-unit sales. The emphasis here is on simplicity and value. Demand for these low-cost systems will continue, as the larger companies would be hard-pressed to offer the scaled-down versions these libraries could afford. There will also always be room for niche markets. A prime example is Keystone Systems, a small company with a strong reputation in providing software to libraries for the blind.

My place or yours?

Still, large companies do try to reach smaller libraries; one way is the Application Service Provider (ASP) model, where the vendor hosts the automaton system and provides all access through the Internet. It is an inexpensive plan to provide full-featured automation to smaller libraries, especially ones that cannot afford an independent implementation or can't automate through a consortium. ASP options abound, with many companies offering an ASP solution and several that came to market in 2004. But ASP offerings extend beyond the basic library automaton system. Other product categories offered this way include link servers, metasearch environments, resource sharing systems, and collection management services. Some of the non-ILS products available through vender-hosted ASP offerings include Ex Libris's SFX link resolver and TLC's Online Selection and Acquisitions system. Resource sharing environments are well suited for the ASP arrangement: Auto-Graphics AGent, Fretwell-Downing's VDX, and Dynix's URSA each have ASP options.

Mergers and acquisitions

The most significant transition last year was when Canada's BiblioMondo, which offers the Concerto and Portfolio automation systems, was acquired by ISACSOFT. The latter was formed in 2003 through the acquisition of businesses with technologies relating to content-based information systems. While BiblioMondo was privately owned by venture capital firms, ISACSOFT is a public company. The BiblioMondo purchase was interesting for two reasons. One, ISACSOFT saw BiblioMondo as a chance to expand its market of content-based learning systems. Two, it is significant that the venture capitalists divested their equity in the company for a lesser amount than the total value of their investments. Are other venture capital firms with large stakes in the industry also ready to sell off? Sirsi expanded in early 2005 by acquiring Docutek, a small company specializing in virtual reference and e-reserves applications, with a customer base of about 550 libraries. Sirsi will operate Docutek as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Pressure to innovate

This past year will be remembered as the year that Google changed the world of information technologies. Following its $1.67 billion IPO in August, Google announced a series of projects with large implications for libraries: Google Scholar's encroachment into the library domain of scholarly information and the company's ambitious plan to digitize millions of books from some of the world's greatest libraries. Librarians are aware that they need innovative technology to keep pace with user expectations—especially when those expectations are being set by an external force with seemingly boundless resources. One development integrates new visualization search technologies with the library's web OPAC (for more on visualization software, see "Visualize This," LJ 3/1/05, p. 34). At least three companies offer the ability to integrate the AquaBrowser Library search interface from Amsterdam-based MediaLab Solutions BV into their catalogs: TLC, BiblioMondo, and VTLS. AquaBrowser offers a completely new approach to searching, providing intelligent features through a graphic interface. TLC also formed a partnership with Endeca Technologies, Inc. to integrate that company's Guided Navigation interface into its products. The Endeca interface provides related terms in the form of a dialog that guides the search process.

Better communication

Another strategy for innovation is to bring the web services and the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) into library automation. Widely adopted in other industries, web services will allow library information systems to communicate with components of companies in other industries. This could include dynamic exchange of data with book suppliers, support for external authentication authorities, and integration with courseware systems and corporate portals. SOA provides an XML-based infrastructure for behind-the-scenes communications among software applications based on web services. An industry consortium, called the Vendor Initiative for Enabling Web Services (VIEWS), was formed to focus on developing web services. Convened by Carl Grant of VTLS, the consortium currently includes Dynix, Endeavor, Fretwell-Downing, Index Data, MuseGlobal, OCLC, Sirsi, Talis, TLC, and VTLS. NISO participates in VIEWS as an observer. While everyone expresses interest, we've seen only limited deployment of products based on web services. Dynix, an early adopter of SOA and web services, created the Vendor Integration Protocol, a set of web services that others can use with applications that interact with Horizon. Endeavor describes its new Meridian ERM as being formed entirely on the web services model. And Innovative, while not a participant in the VIEWS consortium, has independently developed a number of applications based on web services, such as Inventory Express, which transfers bibliographic, item, and order data from book suppliers into Millennium.

Support for management

Librarians want support in resource allocation and decision-making. In public libraries, especially, administrators feel enormous pressure to be ever more efficient—and to demonstrate those efficiencies. In response, new analytical tools have been created. CIVIC Technologies, a Pasadena, CA–based company, developed LibraryDECISION, a web-based product to help librarians analyze services relative to geographic area. LibraryDECISION uses Geographic Information Systems and demographic data, as well as facilities, services, and collections information from the library. LibraryDECISION then delivers a graphical mapping tool that helps librarians evaluate current facilities and services and plan new ones. CIVIC Technologies offers LibraryDECISION on an annual subscription model. TLC and GIS now offer LibraryDECISION. Sirsi launched a similar service called the Normative Data Project (NDP). It works on a data-mining model based on an extensive database of transaction and bibliographic data extracted from ILS logs from a large array of libraries. In addition to the transaction data, NDP relies on data collected by the GeoLib research program of the Florida Resources and Environmental Analysis Center at Florida State University, which incorporates both data from the U.S. Census and branch-level statistics. Subscribers to the NDP would be able to identify service areas that are underserved as well as areas of overlapping coverage. The service is based on data-mining technologies from SwiftKnowledge, which also powers Sirsi's Director's Station. The Director's Station, which launched in January 2004, provides detailed reports on library use patterns. In the K-12 arena, Sagebrush Corporation offers a data management and analysis tool called Analytics. Based on software licensed from SwiftKnowledge, it allows school administrators to access and analyze student data in a user-friendly graphical environment. Dynix's Horizon Web Reporter employs the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform to deliver an advanced, graphical reporting environment. The system works with SQL to generate reports against Horizon use data but does not require knowledge of SQL syntax. Horizon Web Reporter operates in real time, with no need for data to be extracted from Horizon to a separate platform.

Schools: no longer solo

Dramatic changes are afoot in K-12 school library automation. Historically, the numbers of units sold each year were extremely high. But beginning in about 2001, the pattern began to crumble, and this past year sales dropped precipitously. A look at the leading products shows 2004 sales levels averaging one-third to one-quarter of those in 2001. Two factors underlie this sea change. First, the K-12 school library market is saturated. Most schools have an automation system. Second, school districts began to demand centralized IT services and all the efficiencies that go with them. In response, companies that focused on K-12 libraries scrambled to develop districtwide centralized systems. First out was Sagebrush, offering Accent in 2001 through a partnership with Sirsi. Follett Software launched Destiny in 2003. This completely web-based system allows the server to be installed and maintained in the district's IT department, with schools having access through web browsers. In 2004, Surpass Software launched Centriva, an enhanced version of its Windows-based system for centralized deployment. Several all-web-based systems recently developed, including Oasis from Mandarin Library Automation, Atriuum from Book Systems, and Oliver from Softlink.

Corporates go enterprise

The special library world is difficult to assess. Companies in this market are reluctant to disclose information while their customers are in corporations that often demand nondisclosure. Trends are similar to those seen in schools. Automation on the individual level is on its way out, making way for centralized, enterprisewide automation systems. Corporations, more than any other type of library, rely on e-content, both sensitive internal documents as well as external subscription-based material. In the corporate arena, the lines blur between library automation systems and knowledge management (KM).

Emergence of the new

Consistent with this trend, several new products emerged. Softlink, which has long offered a Windows-based system for small special libraries, recently developed an all-web-based system called Liberty3. Inmagic introduced Genie, an all-web-based automation system based on Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft .NET technologies. It's designed for enterprise-level deployment. EOS International has shifted its focus away from its older products in favor of EOS.Web, geared more toward the enterprise. The company's EOS E-Library Service makes this technology accessible to smaller special libraries through an ASP arrangement. Open Text, with its Livelink for Libraries, and SydneyPLUS have both specialized in enterprise-level automation systems for corporate libraries for some time.  

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Company Profiles

Auto-Graphics, Inc. Pomona, CA; 800-776-6939; www.auto-graphics.com Auto-Graphics is a publicly owned company that offers a variety of products, including the Impact/VERSO ILS and the AGent family of products for resource sharing and interlibrary loan (ILL). Only a small portion of Auto-Graphics' revenues are earned through ILS. The majority comes from its large-scale resource sharing applications. In 2004, the company made 23 sales of Impact/VERSO, bringing the number of installed sites to 106. The AGent Resource Sharing module supports research sharing across large groups of libraries, like statewide union catalogs and ILL systems. People Patrick T. Bergamasco was appointed CEO, replacing Robert Cope, who will retire but will remain board chair. What's new? Impact/VERSO was previously offered as standalone software; in 2004 it was sold exclusively as a hosted ASP solution. The colleges and universities of the Tennessee Board of Regents system selected AGent Resource Sharing to provide a union catalog and expedite ILL. The AGent Portal module is a metasearch application for simultaneously searching multiple databases through a single interface. This software was selected as the technology to power the JerseyClicks portal for public libraries throughout New Jersey. The Kansas State Library extended its contract for the AGent Resource Sharing module to add the capabilities of the AGent portal to provide statewide access to 28 databases. A group of four library cooperatives formed a new consortium to implement the AGent Portal and the Impact/VERSO ASP library automation system. Auto-Graphics employs 45 individuals, has a customer service ratio of one FTE per 15 accounts, and revenues in the $5–$10 million range. Book Systems, Inc. Huntsville, AL; 800-219-6571; www.booksys.com Book Systems specializes in software for smaller libraries, with 95% of new sales to school and special libraries. Sales numbers have undergone a steady decline as the preferred model shifts to centralized solutions. What's new? Book Systems has developed Atriuum for centralized automation. Atriuum runs on Red Hat Linux and the open source PostgreSQL relational database management system. This results in lower costs as schools don't have to license a commercial operating system. The company also launched Atriuum Automation Service Provider, an ASP version of the product. Book Systems employs a workforce of 58, down one. Revenues are in the $2.5–$5 million range. CASPR Library Systems, Inc. Saratoga, CA; 800-852-2777; www.caspr.com CASPR provides software for small libraries, offering two automation solutions: LibraryWorld and the LibraryCom service. LibraryWorld Desktop Software is available for both PC and Macintosh computers and includes all the standard library automation modules. LibraryCom is a low-cost hosted service, with basic web OPAC, cataloging, and circulation features. CASPR employs 14 and reported revenue in the $1–$2.5 million range. Civica Collingwood, Victoria, Australia; +61 3 9411 3300; www.civica.com.au Australia-based Civica Library Solutions offers the Spydus library automation system. All sales were in Australia and New Zealand. In 2004, Civica delivered Spydus 8, an entirely overhauled version of the system. The company also launched Spydus Managed Services, an ASP version. Revenues are in the $5–$10 million range. COMPanion Corp. Salt Lake City; 801-943-7277; www.goalexandria.com Companion Corporation offers the Alexandria automation system, with 91% of sales to school libraries. In 2004, COMpanion made 1,085 sales of Alexandria, down 29% from 2003. What's new? COMpanion made a number of improvements to Alexandria in 2004, including enhancements to circulation, authority control, and the central union catalog. Integration was created between Alexandria Researcher interface and the netTrekker search engine of trusted web sites. Alexandria also added support for the Lexile measures of reading ability. Dynix Provo, UT; 801-223-5200; www.dynix.com Dynix stands as one of the two largest companies in the library automation industry and the one with the largest installed base of libraries by far, with at least 3,602 library organizations using one of its automation systems. Dynix ranked as industry sales leader with 193 deals in 2004, representing 1640 individual libraries, for Horizon, the company's flagship system. Of these, 63 were new accounts, and 130 represented existing customers migrating from Dynix Classic. In the competition for new accounts, the company's sales performance ranked third. Among the multiuser full-featured systems, Horizon leads the industry at 1,799 sites. The number of Dynix Classic sites looms even larger at 1880, though that number will drop dramatically in 2005. Public libraries represent half of new sales. Dynix sees its upcoming 8.0 release of Horizon as the vehicle that will shore up its appeal to academic libraries, with important components of enterprise architecture expected by large academic libraries. People Industry veteran Bob Walton joined its Board of Directors. He was previously on the board of Ex Libris (USA). Bill Davidson is chief operating officer. What's new? Version 4.0 of Universal Resource Sharing Application was released, making use of the new architectural framework that will be shared among all Dynix products. Horizon Information Portal version 4.0, the company's latest catalog and portal application, advanced to beta-testing. Support of Horizon under the open source Linux operating system was achieved when Southern Utah University, Cedar City, switched its production implementation of Horizon to Red Hat Linux. Dynix embraced wireless networking through its Horizon Wireless Gateway, products and services to control and secure Wi-Fi hotspots. Beyond the ILS The company negotiated a partnership with Altarama Systems and Services for integration of RefTracker virtual reference services management system; iTeam Resources for the integration of cost-recovery technologies, such as pay-for-print; EnvisionWare for PC Reservation; and LPT:One applications for public computer management. Private investors own Dynix, with the equity held by the 21st Century Group, followed by Green Leaf Ridge and Stratford Capital Partners. With 395 employees, the company is the largest in the industry. Dynix's staffing levels remain constant. The company, with a customer support ratio of one FTE for every 18.2 accounts, reported revenues in the $60–$70 million range. Endeavor Information Systems Des Plaines, IL; 847-296-2200; www.endinfosys.com After a decade in business, Endeavor sales reflect strong product and service development related to digital content. The company signed 22 new contracts for Voyager and has 1,304 installed sites. People Former OCLC exec Donald Muccino was promoted to chief operating officer and Mark Wilson to chief information officer. Sara Randall became director of strategic products. Elsevier veteran Jeroen Reineirs joined the company as director of marketing. What's new? Despite slowing sales of Voyager, Endeavor continues an ambitious development track. The Voyager with Unicode release was installed in many libraries. Voyager 5, slated for release in 2005, will include a number of improvements, focused primarily on circulation. Voyager InterCirc facilitates the borrowing of materials among libraries in a consortium. It provides the ability for Voyager to interact with the circulation modules of other systems, using SIP2, NCIP, or even proprietary mechanisms, enabling patron-initiated borrowing requests throughout a consortium. Beyond the ILS Endeavor reported phenomenal sales for its non-ILS products (see Table 3, p. 45). The marked increase in sales was achieved through the distribution of ENCompass technologies and LinkFinderPlus by Endeavor's parent company, Elsevier, primarily to customers in Europe and Asia. In the four years since Elsevier Science acquired Endeavor, integration has steadily increased. For Endeavor this has lowered operational costs as Elsevier provides IT, human resources, and administrative support. On the technology front, Endeavor has access to both the Elsevier Advanced Technology Group for technologies such as the FAST DataSearch engine and the Elsevier User Centered Design Group with deep expertise in human-computer interaction. The customer service ratio stands at one FTE per 21.7 accounts. EOS International Carlsbad, CA; 800-876-5484; www.eosintl.com EOS International offers two library automation products for special libraries: EOS.Web Express for smaller libraries and EOS.Web Enterprise for larger libraries. Both products can run locally, or EOS will deliver them via an ASP-hosting service. EOS.Web is based on Microsoft .NET technologies and uses the RetrievalWare search engine from Convera. The EOS.Web product was launched in 2003. What's new? EOS established a partnership with Webfeat to offer metasearch capability as an optional feature. EOS reported sales of EOS.Web to 157 sites, up significantly from the 18 sold in 2003. Total installations to date were reported to be 175. Over 250 libraries have subscribed to the EOS E-Library Service. Ex Libris Chicago; 773-404-5527; www.exlibrisgroup.com Ex Libris, specializing in automation systems for large academic libraries and consortia, continues to see steady sales of its ALEPH 500 system worldwide. Ex Libris entered the U.S. market in 1999 and made a remarkable sweep of sales to large U.S. academic libraries. By 2004, U.S. sales of ALEPH slowed to six of 53 worldwide. Its largest U.S sale went to the Five Colleges consortium in Massachusetts, including ARL member University of Massachusetts, Amherst. At year end, Ex Libris reported 923 installations of ALEPH 500 worldwide. Headquartered in Israel, Ex Libris maintains offices and distributors throughout the world. People Dan Trajman was appointed as president of Ex Libris (USA). In early 2005, Oren Beit-Arie was named chief strategy officer, Jenny Walker became VP of marketing, and Susan Sterns moved up to VP of customer services. What's new? The company focused effort on the development and marketing of its ALEPH 500 library automation system. Last year saw the release of ALEPH version 16.02. In the largest ALEPH implementation to date, the British Library went live with a system that manages over 30 million volumes and merges 12 previously separate catalogs. Beyond the ILS This year the company completed version 3 of the SFX OpenURL link resolver and made 220 sales, finishing the year with 685 installations to date, the highest in the industry. MetaLib, the company's metasearch and library portal product, attracted 153 sales for a total of 438 installations. The third major version of MetaLib was delivered in late 2004. Many ALEPH 500 sites add SFX and MetaLib but so, too, do libraries with other automation systems. The company also launched a new service called MARCit that keeps the e-journal holdings data in the library's ILS in sync with SFX. Ex Libris reports 233 employees worldwide (up 8%), a customer service ratio of one FTE per 11.3 accounts, and revenue in the $30–$35 million range. Follett Software Company McHenry, IL; 815-344-8700; www.fsc.follett.com Follett Software Co. (FSC) offers a variety of automation products for school libraries. Its parent company, Follett Corp., is one of the two major forces in the school library arena. Its Circulation Plus/Catalog Plus library automation system has been enormously popular. Sales have slowed dramatically as the trend has shifted to districtwide solutions. At the end of the year, 35,396 libraries use Circulation Plus. What's new? In 2003 FSC launched Destiny for centralized school district automation. This year FSC sold Destiny to 143 districts representing 2,918 libraries. In the year-and-a-half since its release, the installed base of Destiny stands at 169 sites or 3,413 individual school libraries. In its second year in marketing Destiny, the company has outpaced the sales and installed base of competitor Sagebrush's Accent product—available for four years. Beyond the ILS Destiny Textbook Manager assists schools in managing inventory of textbooks. Follett Falcon is a portable device that can be used with Destiny for checkout, inventory, and other functions. One Search allows a library to provide a single interface for searching e-resources. Fretwell-Downing, Inc. Overland Park, KS; 913-239-1200; www.fdusa.com Fretwell-Downing Inc. (FDI), a UK-based company with a U.S. subsidiary, offers library automation, portal, and resource sharing systems. OLIB7, the company's ILS, has not found a market in the United States. But FDI's portal, linking, and resource sharing systems have been adopted by many libraries. What's new? VDX resource sharing system includes virtual catalog capabilities and full support of the ISO ILL protocol. The company completely revamped the interface of VDX. NCIP support for direct consortial borrowing will be available in 2005. VDX has been adopted by a number of large consortia and statewide resource sharing programs. The company also delivered an ASP version of VDX. ZPORTAL, FDI's federated search program, saw a new version that includes support for Shibboleth for authentication, improved logging of resources, and better statistics gathering. OL2 is the company's reference linking application that can be integrated with ZPORTAL or VDX. CPORTAL, designed to support community information services and local e-government initiatives, saw its first U.S. sale in January 2005. Sales figures and number of installations for non-ILS products were not released. Geac Software Solutions— Libraries Division Studley, Warwickshire, UK; +44 (0) 870 909 5152; www.library.geac.com Geac is a large multinational company that produces enterprise software for different industries. The Libraries Division represents a small unit of this publicly traded company. Geac markets the Vubis Smart library automation system. Geac originally acquired VUBIS in 1995 through its acquisition of ODIS BV. In subsequent years, Geac has updated this system. The original VUBIS is not ranked as a legacy system; many of those libraries are migrating to Vubis Smart. Geac has seen increasing sales for Vubis Smart for the past four years. Well accepted in Europe, Geac did not promote VUBIS in North America until 2003. The first sale of Vubis Smart to a U.S. library was in 2004. The installed base of Vubis Smart stands at 165. In North America, Geac previously offered the PLUS and Advance library automation systems—both now legacy systems. Their installed base is declining rapidly, and the vast majority of these libraries have gone to competitors. Geac does not report revenues of its individual operating divisions. GIS Information Systems Syracuse, NY; 800-272-3414; www.gisinfosystems.com GIS Information Systems specializes in systems for public libraries, and in 2004 89% of Polaris sales went to public libraries. This year, the company saw an improvement in total sales—it won almost twice as many contracts as in 2003, though only six were to new-name clients. GALAXY customers demonstrated strong loyalty, with 89% choosing to migrate to Polaris. The installed base of Polaris continues to rise steadily. What's new? Version 3.1 brought improvements to Polaris. The PowerPAC OPAC gained the ability to sort results according to relevancy ranking in addition to other sort orders. Academic course reserves were added as well as support for smart cards. This version also supports inbound telephony service to allow patrons to renew items. Serials saw an initial phase of support for MARC21 Format for Holdings. Beyond the ILS GIS provides additional technologies through both business partnerships and its own developments. GIS became a reseller of Brodart's DartClix family of web site selection and cataloging services; it partnered with Active Government Solutions for integration of its Class Cash Drawer Management System to handle financial transactions; and it remarkets the LibraryDecision graphical mapping tool from CIVIC Technologies, Inc. A key innovation is the GIS Wireless Access Manager that allows the library to control access to its Wi-Fi hotspots with library cards. GIS forged a unique path in integrating RFID. The Polaris Express Check product is built directly into Polaris rather than through a SIP2 or NCIP connection layer. GIS embedded the RFID software from Bibliotheca, providing greater consistency in operation and cost savings. GIS has the best customer support ratio in the industry (one FTE per 5.9 accounts). To reinforce this, it implemented internal technologies to record, measure, and analyze its customer service and a proactive service that performs diagnostics of customer sites. InfoVision Williamsport, PA; 800-849-1655; www.infovisionsoftware.com Australia-based InfoVision develops and markets the Amlib Library Management System, now in its tenth year of development. What's new? The company expanded its marketing efforts to Africa. InfoVision reported 38 contracts for Amlib, all to new clients. At the end of 2004 the company reported an installed base of 492 sites. About half of the new sales of Amlib went to school libraries and 40% to public libraries. InfoVision recently launched Amlib.Net, a fully web-based library management system that operates in multiple languages simultaneously, offered as a locally installed system and in an ASP arrangement. Inmagic, Inc. Woburn, MA; 800-229-8398; www.inmagic.com Inmagic offers automation products primarily for special libraries. This year the company launched Inmagic Genie, its new flagship library automation system. DB/ Text for Libraries, based on the DB/ TextWorks text-oriented database management system, will continue to be developed and enhanced. Inmagic has a very large customer base for this product, making ongoing support a vital concern. BiblioTech Pro, a high-end library automation system gained in Inmagic's 1999 acquisition of Comstow Information Services, is not actively marketed but support continues. What's new? Inmagic Genie is web-based for both library staff functions and patron searching. Genie takes the functionality present in DB/Text for Libraries, presents it through an all-web interface, and shifts the back-end infrastructure. Inmagic Genie belongs to the Inmagic Content Server family, which is based on Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft .NET technologies. Genie supports web services to integrate easily the library's information resources with the larger corporate infrastructure. Inmagic released only aggregate sales numbers: 258 sales of new systems and 1,678 upgrades. The total installed base for Inmagic products is 8,158 systems. Inmagic employs 40, down 11% from last year. Innovative Interfaces, Inc. Emeryville, CA; 510-655-6200; www.iii.com In its 25th year, Innovative led the industry in new-name sales, with 76 contracts signed to new clients, representing 568 individual libraries. Forty-three INNOPAC sites comprising 73 individual libraries migrated to Millennium. The total of sales is 119. Though Innovative tied with Sirsi for new-name contracts, the number of libraries was larger. Innovative realized a larger gain in market share owing to its strong performance in new-name clients and its high retention of INNOPAC sites. Sales to public libraries increased from 16% in 2002 to 27% in 2004. Innovative increased its rank in the prestigious ARL market as well. Wayne State University withdrew from the DALNET consortium's implementation of Horizon to install Millennium, and the major academic libraries in South Carolina, including the University of South Carolina, replaced their NOTIS system with Millennium. In a rare loss, the Five College consortium in Massachusetts, including UMass-Amherst, defected to ALEPH 500. What's new? Innovative continues to develop technologies within and surrounding its Millennium library automation system. The company launched Millennium Silver, laden with a wide range of new features. In addition to the core modules, Millennium Silver includes optional components for electronic resource management, an XML Harvester for obtaining metadata records from external systems, an XML Server for external systems to derive records from Millennium formatted in XML, and support for e-commerce transactions. Beyond the ILS Innovative partnered with Boston's Northeastern University to develop software for institutional repositories. Despite the availability of open source alternatives, Innovative plans to create a system that won't require a large investment of staff time. An initial version is expected in 2005. A WebBridge link within the academic reserves module of Millennium to the Copyright Clearance Center streamlines placing permissions requests. Web Works, a web browser interface for selected components of the staff modules of Millennium, provides simpler access than loading the full Java client. Innovative Interfaces is wholly owned by its cofounder Jerry Kline, chair and CEO. It is one of the few companies that operates without support of venture capital. The company employs 285, unchanged from the previous year, with a customer support ratio of one FTE per 7.2 accounts. Revenues are reported in the $60–$70 million range. ISACSOFT Inc. Montreal; 514-282-7073; www.isacsoft.com ISACSOFT, a new name to the library automation arena, entered the fray through its acquisition of BiblioMondo (see above). The two library automation systems held by BiblioMondo, Portfolio and Concerto, will continue to be developed and marketed by ISACSOFT. Concerto's principal market is municipal libraries in Europe. Portfolio is strongest in French-speaking Canada and France. The ZONES suite of library portal products have been rebranded under the name ISACSOFT Library Portal and ISACSOFT Metasearch. In 2004, ISACSOFT made eight sales of Library Portal, bringing the total number to 25, and 20 sales for Metasearch. What's new? The ISACSOFT Library Customer Relationship Management System provides communication with patrons relating to requests, notices, and membership status. The ISACSOFT Smart Card Management System integrates smart cards into the library for personalized services to patrons and generating statistical reports. ISACSOFT reported 230 employees. This is substantially higher than last year owing to blending with the other divisions of ISACSOFT. Keystone Systems, Inc. Raleigh, NC; 919-782-1143; www.klas.com Keystone Systems, celebrating its 25th anniversary, offers the KLAS library automation system—widely adopted by libraries for the blind and other special libraries. Still run by its founders, Keystone succeeds because it designs its KLAS automation system to comply fully with the Section 508 requirements that ensure that it is usable by persons with various disabilities. All 2004 sales were to libraries for the blind, all migrating from DRA systems. Customer service support stands at one FTE per 9.7 accounts. The Library Corporation Inwood, WV; 800-325-7759; www.tlcdelivers.com The Library Corporation (TLC) experienced strong sales for Library.Solution, aimed at small to medium libraries, and mixed results for Carl.Solution and Carl.X, marketed to very large libraries. Library.Solution gained 55 new-name clients out of 58 total sales. The last four years' sales figures for Library.Solution have declined, though the volume of new-name sales ranks fourth in 2004. Through its acquisition of Carl in 2000, the company gained a library automation system favored by large municipal libraries. To shift the Carl application to a computing environment more familiar to libraries, TLC created Carl.X, which brings Carl to the UNIX and Oracle environment. Carl.X was conceived to appeal to a wider range of libraries, making the high-end features and sophistication of Carl more accessible and affordable. Los Angeles Public Library, Solano Napa, and Partners Consortium in California; Arlington County, VA; and Monroe County, NY, all extended their contracts for multiple-year commitments. On the down side, San Antonio Public Library and the Middlesex Automation Consortium, NJ, moved to competing systems. Carl.X also saw its first sale, a library migrating from Carl.Solution. Beyond the ILS TLC launched Online Selection Assistant in 2003 to streamline the selecting and processing of materials. In 2004, it launched a new release and renamed it Online Selection and Acquisitions (OSA) to reflect its capabilities in fund management and ordering. For most libraries, OSA can be used instead of a traditional acquisitions module. Wireless.Solution provides the components for creating a wireless network secured through a built-in firewall and VPN capabilities. Wireless.Solution Pro adds authenticated access with optional fee payment. Computer stability remains an issue, and TLC partnered with Leapfrog Software for exclusive distribution rights in the library market for Reclaim It, an instant recovery software. The company reported total employment at 189, a 5% growth, with one FTE per 9.6 accounts. Revenues were in the $25–$30 million range. Mandarin Library Automation, Inc. Boca Raton, FL; 800-426-7477; www.mlasolutions.com Mandarin Library Automation offers the Mandarin M3 and the Mandarin Oasis for centralized automation. In 2004, 77% of sales were to schools, the rest mainly to special and academic libraries. Following years of climbing sales, 2004 saw a dramatic drop in sales of Mandarin M3—consistent with the trend of diminishing sales to individual libraries. What's new? Mandarin Oasis, a completely web-based system for providing centralized automation to a school district, was released late in 2004. There have been two sales. In February 2005, the firm announced that it is offering Mandarin M3 as a free download. This includes OPAC, cataloging, circulation, and more. An annual service and update agreement— priced at $575 per site—includes technical support, upgrades, and increased functions. Beyond the ILS Mandarin developed a metasearch interface through a partnership with MuseGlobal. The MuseSearch technology is the basis for Mandarin PACPortal, which allows libraries to provide an interface that simultaneously searches library catalogs, subscription databases, web sites, and any Z39.50 resources. Textbook Module, an optional add-in to Mandarin M3, assists in the management of textbooks. Mandarin Library Automation reported 38 employees and revenues in the $2.5–$5 million range. Open Text, Inc. Dublin, OH; 800-328-2648; www.opentext.com Open Text grew through the acquisition of IXOS AG, a company that produces content management and archiving products, and Artesia Technologies, known for its TEAMS digital asset management system. These acquisitions strengthen the company's position as a provider of enterprise content management solutions. In 1998, Open Text acquired Information Dimensions, Inc., developer of the BASIS document management product and the Techlib library automation system. What's new? Techlib will now be known as Livelink for Libraries and BASIS as Livelink Collections Server. The company closed 20 contracts for Livelink for Libraries, two to new clients. More than half of the company's sales were to libraries outside the United States, and 95% went to special libraries. The company specializes in enterprisewide solutions rather than systems for individual libraries. As a whole, Open Text, Inc. employs over 2000 worldwide. This division of the company, previously known as the BASIS Division of Open Text, employs about 24. Sagebrush Corporation Minneapolis; 800-533-5430; www.sagebrushcorp.com Sagebrush is one of the largest automation companies in the school library arena. With three major products, Sagebrush appeals to a broad range of library automation needs. Sagebrush Spectrum (formerly Winnebago Spectrum) has long been one of the best-selling library automation systems for schools. By year end 2004, Sagebrush reported that Spectrum was installed in 19,930 libraries. In the last three years, sales for Spectrum have declined, with a sharp drop in 2004. Sagebrush Athena is a Windows-based ILS with a unique Visual Search interface. Athena has an installed base of 13,576 school libraries. Its sales have also declined. In 2004, Sagebrush developed a number of enhancements to Athena. Sagebrush Accent, based on technology from Sirsi Corporation, was introduced in 2001 as one of the first systems for the centralized automation of school districts. Sales of Accent saw a sharp rise in 2004. Note that the sales numbers for Spectrum and Athena, which represent individual libraries, cannot be compared with those for Accent, which is sold to districts. What's new? Sagebrush offers a web-based research environment called Pinpoint that provides simultaneous searching for multiple resources. The company launched a subscription service called Sagebrush MARC Source to assist libraries in cataloging their collections. The collection focuses on materials appropriate for K–12 education. Privately owned, the company did not disclose revenues or number of employees. Sirsi Corporation Huntsville, AL; 256-704-7000; www.sirsi.com In its 25th year, Sirsi completed 134 sales, the second highest in the industry. Seventy-six sales went to new clients, also a second place showing. The company did especially well in international sales. From the perspective of market share, Sirsi won 76 new accounts, showed a net loss of 39 accounts from legacy accounts, and lost ten Unicorn accounts. This is a net gain of 45 accounts. When counting the number of libraries represented, the same formula yields a loss of 103, owing primarily to the loss of several large DRA accounts. Sirsi reported that at least 180 libraries joined consortia using Unicorn, resulting in a net market share gain of 79 libraries. By now, most Sirsi legacy sites have made their migration decisions. Among the ARL members, Sirsi stayed even. From 2002 to 2004, the percentage of sales to public libraries grew from 33% to 47%.People Angus Carroll joined the company as chief marketing officer and Stephen Abram joined as VP for innovation. What's new? As mentioned, Sirsi's Normative Data Project, launched in early 2005, brings together geographic, demographic, and usage data to provide librarians with an important tool for analysis (see above). Major development work in Unicorn was undertaken, slated for release in 2005. The WorkFlows clients are being entirely rewritten in Java. The Java-based clients saw beta-testing, with general release slated for 2005. Sirsi created Collection Exchange, which streamlines the process of selecting materials to be transferred among libraries that share the system. PocketCirc is a new handheld device for performing circulation tasks away from regular service desks. In the wireless arena, Sirsi partnered with Bluesocket, Inc. to offer a product for authenticated access to Wi-Fi hotspots. Using SIP2, libraries can establish an environment that secures wireless connections through the patron's library card number and PIN. Sirsi extended the number of partners supported by its 9xx Loader, which transfers bibliographic, item, and order data from a supplier into Unicorn. Sirsi focused much of its development efforts on its new Rooms products. The new Digital Heritage Room blends Sirsi's Hyperion Digital Media Archive into the Rooms framework in an ASP-hosted service, allowing a library to create digital collections easily. Sirsi is the largest company in the industry in terms of personnel, with 394 employed worldwide. The company slimmed down 11% since last year, with a customer service ratio of one FTE per 7.8 accounts. Softlink America Inc. Los Angeles; 877-454-2725; www.softlinkamerica.com Softlink America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian-based Softlink International, Ltd. Softlink America focuses primarily on special libraries, with about 80% of its sales to legal, medical, government, or corporate libraries. The company's core product is Liberty3 and Liberty3 ASP. Liberty3 is a completely web-based automation system. The company's previous product was Softlink Alice, a Windows-based automation system designed primarily for school libraries, which has faced declining sales. People The company undertook a major restructuring, moving its offices from Denver to Los Angeles and appointing Robert Corraro as its president. What's new? The company created Softlink Oliver, a completely web-based system to be run locally or as an ASP hosted on Softlink servers. Oliver is based on the technology developed in Liberty3 geared toward school libraries. In the United States, Oliver will be marketed as School Matrix Powered by Oliver. In 2004, Softlink America entered into a partnership with VIP Tone as its exclusive distributor for Oliver, though existing clients may upgrade directly from Softlink. In early 2005, Softlink acquired Limes Software, a small UK firm that offers the Limes Millenia Windows-based system, with about 5000 users in the UK. Softlink recently offered to donate a copy of its software to any church or synagogue in North America. To date, the company has provided software valued at $100,000. The company employs 94 worldwide. Surpass Software Calhoun, GA; 706-625-5399; www.SurpassSoftware.com Surpass Software offers the Surpass Select library automation system. While the company generally targets the K–12 school market, its Surpass SL product has been developed to appeal to small corporate and church libraries. In 2004, the company signed 105 new contracts, including school districts as well as standalone libraries. Surpass also extended the functionality of existing sites through sales of its Surpass Serials module and Surpass Copycat utility for Z39.50-based copy cataloging. What's new? In early 2005, the company released Surpass Centriva, a library automation system designed for centralized automation for school districts. Though it uses the Web Savari OPAC, staff modules are Windows-based, extending the technology of its existing product line to accommodate centralized automation. The company's strategy has been to evolve its core automation system rather than develop an entirely new system. The company reported sales in the $500,000–$1 million range. SydneyPLUS International Richmond, BC; 604-278-6717; www.sydneyplus.com SydneyPLUS provides library automation and KM systems for large libraries in corporations, law firms, and other special libraries. This year marks the 25th year of operations for this privately owned company. In 2004, SydneyPLUS saw 26 sales of its flagship library automation system SydneyPLUS for MS-SQL and Oracle. Six of these contracts were to new clients and 20 to existing customer libraries, 62% to U.S.-based organizations. Some of the major accounts won in 2004 include Dorsey & Whitney LLP, one of the world's largest law firms, and the National Science Foundation. SydneyPLUS indicates that its client base includes over 25% of the top law firms in America, as well as many of the leading global companies. As a company specializing in enterprise-level automation systems for large organizations, the number of sales is small, but the value of each contract is high. VTLS Inc. Blacksburg, VA; 540-557-1200; www.vtls.com In 2004, VTLS saw a total of 35 sales for Virtua, 28 to new clients. VTLS made five sales to U.S. libraries. Four were to relatively small libraries, but the fifth went to the Research Library Consortium of South Manhattan, which includes ARL member New York University, a significant win for VTLS. Nine libraries with VTLS Classic migrated, with seven selecting Virtua, a 78% retention rate. The number of Virtua implementations stood at 199. The installed base for the VTLS Classic is below 100, with most slated to migrate in 2005. What's new? VTLS made a number of upgrades to its Virtua ILS, including support for FRBR (Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records) and optional modules for metasearch, OpenURL linking, and an alternate search interface. FRBR, a way of organizing bibliographic information that takes into consideration that a given work may have multiple manifestations, has interested librarians, but the means to implement it has been lacking. VTLS has been an early implementer of FRBR and realized its first production use of FRBR by the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Beyond the ILS VTLS gained capabilities for metasearch and OpenURL linking by licensing technologies from business partners. Through a partnership with MuseGlobal, VECTORS, the company's portal front-end for Virtua, provides metasearch capabilities. Support for OpenURL linking was added to VECTORS through integration of the TDNet Full Text Resolver. Support for the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) was added with VORTEX, an open source product. VTLS devotes a division of the company, called VTRAX, to RFID. VTRAX partnered with FKI Logistex Crisplant to integrate the FKI sorting system with VTLS's FASTRAC RFID software. VTLS's business model supports open source applications though value-added services such as installation, customization, and support. In this vein, VTLS developed VITAL, an institutional repository based on the FEDORA open source digital object repository software. FEDORA was developed by the University of Virginia and Cornell University; Princeton was an early customer. VTLS, which reported 93 employees, down 11%, has the second strongest customer support ratio, with one FTE per 6.5 accounts.   NOTE: Companies that did not respond to our survey are not listed. They include CybertTools, Inc., Gateway Software Co., Insignia Software, Kelowna Software, and New Generation Technologies.

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Marshall Breeding is Library Technology Officer, Jean & Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University, Nashville