March 16, 2005
Leuven, Belgium
The provincial authorities of Vlaams Brabant (Flemish Brabant), the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Ex Libris (Germany) have concluded agreements whereby the ALEPH 500 library automation and management system will be implemented in the public libraries of this province. The first libraries to move into production with ALEPH 500 will be those of Leuven, Londerzeel, and Zaventem. Some 60 additional libraries in the provincial network (PBS) will be offered the opportunity to follow thereafter. The systems of all of these libraries, many of which previously operated independently, will henceforth be hosted by a central server so that all services can be centrally managed.
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven/LIBIS has recently gone into production with ALEPH 500. Its staff, with the assistance of Ex Libris (Germany), will provide the PBS network with implementation services, including installation, configuration, data conversion, and staff training. The Ex Libris license for the provincial libraries will initially serve 90 staff users and 60 Web OPAC users. The license will be extended gradually to accommodate all participating libraries.
The Vlaams Brabant province invests approximately Euro 1.6 per inhabitant annually for enhancing library services. Out of the total Euro 1.6 million library network budget, a substantial portion is presently being devoted to the ALEPH 500 project.
In a joint statement, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven/LIBIS and Ex Libris executives heralded this project as a great opportunity to reinforce and extend their cooperation beyond the confines of Belgian academia into the domain of public libraries.
For more information on the Vlaams Brabant library network, see http://sbb.vlaamsbrabant.be
For more information about Katholieke Universiteit Leuven/LIBIS, see http://www.libis.be
About Ex Libris:
Ex Libris is a leading worldwide developer and provider of high-performance applications for libraries, information centers, and researchers. ALEPH, the Ex Libris integrated library solution, has been installed at more than 1250 sites and consortia in over 51 countries. MetaLib®, the information portal for library collections, and SFX®, the context-sensitive linking solution for heterogeneous electronic resources in the scholarly information environment, have collectively been purchased by more than 725 institutions in 36 countries. DigiTool, a solution for the construction of digital collections, and Verde, the new electronic resource management (ERM) system, round out the Ex Libris product suite.
