ONTARIO, Calif., April 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Auto-Graphics, Inc. , an Industry-leading library management software provider and the first to provide Web-based library resource management solutions to library consortia, is excited to announce it is coming off one of its best eighteen-month growth periods due to winning contracts for statewide SHAREit resource sharing systems. With 14 states representing almost 6,000 connected libraries utilizing the hybrid (virtual/physical) SHAREit resource sharing solution, Auto-Graphics continues to be the undisputed leader in the library resource sharing category, enabling public, K-12, academic, special, and correctional libraries to easily share materials.
Two of Auto-Graphics’ new state-wide SHAREit customers, South Dakota and Pennsylvania, migrated from existing resource sharing products that did not meet their needs, while Indiana created a brand new statewide ILL/Resource Sharing program, just as another new state-wide SHAREit user, Vermont, plans to do. “Auto-Graphics SHAREit software and support instills a confidence in these massive statewide systems,” states Paul Cope, President of Auto-Graphics. “With over four thousand libraries added to the Auto-Graphics network in just the past 18 months, customers have the security they need to move from their previous product as South Dakota and Pennsylvania did, or press forward with a new resource sharing solution as Indiana has done.”
Auto-Graphics was the first library software vendor to use the Internet for ILL communication in 1994 and the first library software vendor to launch a cloud-based resource-sharing management software solution in 2000. Key to the success of SHAREit is that it is an open platform based on library standards such as Z39.50, SIP2, NCIP, and ISO ILL. This means SHAREit interoperates with pre-existing library software, no matter what vendor ILS is in place, unlike other resource sharing products.
"SHAREit's hybrid model allows us to meet the diverse needs of the public and post-secondary libraries we serve,” said Sunni Nishimura, Manager, Resource Sharing & Arca Collaborative Digital Repository, BC Electronic Library Network. “While many libraries contribute records to build a robust union database, other libraries can choose to participate virtually, meaning that everyone can take part in and benefit from our SHAREit OutLook OnLine provincial resource sharing service. Auto-Graphics folks are always responsive to our questions and efficient at applying enhancements. The SHAREit user group has a great mix of long-standing consortial customers like us, as well as new customers, and innovative ideas abound! Auto-Graphics staff have facilitated a positive and transparent enhancement voting process, so it feels like we're all part of the Auto-Graphics family, working together to make this excellent platform even better."
And according to Steve Schimdt in the Library Development Office at the Indiana State Library, “The idea of breaking down the individual silos that libraries have built up around themselves over the past decades should appeal to all states. For us, one of the most important parts of linking those silos together was the linking together and cross-pollination of public, special, and academic libraries in a single, user-centric system. Post-implementation, due to the simplified user interface SHAREit provides, staff workflow has been improved and patron satisfaction with ease of discovery and access to materials greatly increased.”
Partnering with an attentive, long-standing vendor who listens to their customers by adding features that enhance buyer satisfaction has clearly been a winning strategy for Martha Berninger, Director, Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Wisconsin, which has been an Auto-Graphics customer since 2001, reports WISCAT team recently had this to say about Auto-Graphics: “The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has been an Auto-Graphics customer for many years and are very pleased with the effort and attention given to improving the SHAREit interlibrary loan platform. The Auto-Graphics staff have been very responsive to our questions and concerns throughout our lengthy business partnership.”
Jennifer Cowan-Henderson, Director of Planning and Development, Tennessee State E-rate Coordinator for Public Libraries added, “The Tennessee State Library & Archives has worked with Auto-Graphics for more than 20 years and have found the company to provide excellent and responsive customer service. SHAREit is used by our libraries across Tennessee for both cataloging and interlibrary loan services. It’s easy to use and provides essential services to libraries and their communities.”
ACCESSPA reports that they are enjoying the benefits of increased staff efficiency and a streamlined database, with Maryam Phillips, Executive Director for HSLC in Philadelphia recently telling Albert Flores, V.P. of Sales at Auto-Graphics that their “librarians love the ability to place multi-copy requests”, and that their “de-duplication is vastly improved. Under the old system, we had 22 million MARC records and 44 million copies. With Auto-Graphics’ SHAREit, we have 8.4 million MARC records for the same amount of copies.” A 62% improvement from simply using SHAREit.
“Our continued expansion of SHAREit capabilities makes it uniquely qualified for any sized state or consortia looking at improving or established resource sharing regionally or statewide,” states Albert Flores, Vice-President of Sales at Auto-Graphics. “SHAREit supports all library types to include public, K-12, correctional, special, and large academic institutions. All of our customer contracts were competitive RFPs requiring lengthy responses and complex demonstrations of our SHAREit product. It is gratifying for our entire company to experience our largest growth of statewide ILL over the past 30 years and to see our competencies and product differentiation acknowledged by our customers.”
About Auto-Graphics, Inc.
Auto-Graphics is the only publicly-traded library software vendor to provide software solutions along with full financial transparency. The company’s nearly seven (7) decades of providing solutions to the markets it serves reflects how well Auto-Graphics has listened to their customer base and stayed abreast of new technologies, continuously reinventing their products and services to help libraries of all sizes become more efficient and patron-centric. The Auto-Graphics browser-based Library Management Platform for patrons and staff – currently used by more than 11,000 libraries in North America – is comprised of VERSO®, an integrated public library system (ILS); SHAREit™, a resource sharing product providing patron-initiated sharing, circulation-based interlibrary loan (ILL) using NCIP and consortial borrowing solutions; SEARCHit™, a federated search and discovery module; SLIMS™, a small library information management system, and MONTAGEdc™, a digital asset management (DAM) solution. All products are fully compliant with ISO and NISO standards, and are available through the effective cloud-based delivery (SaaS - Software as a Service) model. For more information, please visit www.auto-graphics.com , Facebook , LinkedIn or Twitter . Auto-Graphics trades under the stock symbol AIFS.
© Auto-Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved. VERSO®, SHAREit™, SEARCHit™, MONTAGEdc™, & SLIMS™
are trademarks of Auto-Graphics, Inc and part of their AGent Library Platform.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Media contact: Elizabeth Kelley Auto‐Graphics, Inc. (909) 569‐1544 eak@auto-graphics.com
