Library Technology Guides

Continuing its expansion into the library software arena, OCLC recently announced its intent to acquire U.K.-based Fretwell-Downing Informatics (FDI) Group. A transaction to be processed through OCLC’s major European division, OCLC PICA, this move to add FDI comes after OCLC PICA’s takeover of Sisis Informationssysteme, a German-based ILS company. This event also takes place within the larger context of a robust consolidation phase within the library automation industry (as evidenced by this year’s SirsiDynix merger).

Fretwell-Downing Informatics will continue to operate under its established name, though as a wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of OCLC PICA. Existing management and staff will remain in place. As part of OCLC, FDI gains access to a significant development and support infrastructure. FDI’s customers in Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg) will especially benefit from closer proximity to OCLC PICA facilities

K–12 school librarians and their employing districts need ever-more sophisticated data analysis and reporting tools to monitor students’ educational progress as well as to satisfy reporting requirements of state and federal agencies. To help its school library customers meet such requirements, Sagebrush Corp., a company that specializes in providing library automation products for K–12 libraries, also offers products that extend beyond the library, into the information and assessment needs of the broader school administration. Last month, Sagebrush added “Viewpoint,” a suite of analytical tools for school districts, to its product array for K–12 customers.

Through its service called “AGent Digital Collections,” Auto-Graphics has extended its product line to include a platform for helping libraries create, and provide access to, digitized collections of local content. Auto-Graphics specializes in products offered through the ASP (application service provider) model, a model in which the vendor hosts the software on its own servers. The company's federated search, resource sharing, and ILS products follow this approach as well.