The Contributing Editor has recently been invited to make a presentation at a meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). As part of the research several library automation vendors were asked to provide listings of their law library installations. Innovative Interfaces is the clear leader in this market segment. Its total number of North American law library customers is currently 127.
The list of customers spans a wide range of types and sizes of law libraries. They include large academic libraries such as, Georgetown University Law Library, and Yale University Law Library; specialized governmental libraries such as, Chicago Municipal Reference Library, Executive Office of the President, and the special libraries of U.S. law firms.
Potentially, there is a major benefit to be derived from selecting a vendor that holds a substantial share of a market segment. Not surprisingly, the company's software development effort will tend to be responsive to the demands of a block of customers with similar needs.
The other vendor with a significant number of law libraries as customers is Sirsi Corp. , with over 50 North American law libraries as customers. Sirsi also appears to have a strong presence in law libraries in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
[Contact: Innovative Interfaces, 5850 Shellmound Way, Emeryville, CA 94608; (581) 655-6200; www.iii.com].
