2010-03-16

ALLCIRC: A REVOLUTION IN MEDIA SECURITY AND SELF-SERVICE IN LIBRARIES

SOMERDALE, NJ, March 12, 2010: Library Automation Technologies, Inc. (LAT), a leader in library automation products, is pleased to announce the release into production of the next generation model of its popular allCIRC™ system, the allCIRC-X™, that combines 100% media theft security with complete load / unload patron self-service and a full-featured book self-check in a smaller portable footprint with greater capacity, significantly faster throughput, higher value and new features.

Building on knowledge and feedback of a number of existing installations throughout the country, allCIRC-X™ redefines the self-service concept by creating a one-stop self-service station for all materials in the library – “It’s a circ-desk in a box.” commented Mandi Bottle, a Circulation Desk Manager.

Fully ADA Compliant, the allCIRC-X™ provides a secure CD/DVD/BluRay dispensing and book self-check as well as patron media loading capability all in one ultra compact, fast system. Staff involvement is minimized as patrons themselves can now also easily and securely load the checked out items directly into allCIRC-X™ upon their return back into the library.

“From the ground-up, we have fully redesigned our approach to self service to create a fully ADA compliant system that not only eliminates the need for libraries to spend money on security, but also allows patrons to load items back in, thereby fully eliminating extra staff involvement in self-service process. Simply drop the disk into the machine and that’s all – anyone can do it.” commented Oleg Boyarsky, President and CEO of LAT. “In today’s hard economy allCIRC-X provides an unprecedented value proposition for libraries, because it eliminates the need to spend already limited resources for media security and handling, while simultaneously providing 100% theft protection for most prized media collections.”

The size of a small desk, allCIRC-X measures 33”x20”x34” and offers a totally “fluid” component placement, so that the library can position the machine in any orinentation and still have a completely ergonomically pleasing environment. With an included Meganite® top and Apple®-like translucent plastic sides, the machine loads and dispenses disks through a single slot, thereby allowing anyone to simply “take” or “drop-in” media.

Costing less than a typical book self-check, allCIRC-X will be exhibited at the PLA Conference in Portland, Oregon at the LAT’s booth #: 1400 Additional features and capabilities are described at: www.allCIRC.com

For more information about all of LAT's technologies and products, jump to: www.LATcorp.com

2010-02-14

DOJ & ADA Mandate Ebook Readers Be Accessible to All

... Shouldn't we do that for all equipment that is designed for public use? At LAT we have spent $1000s to make sure that all of our products, and especially the upcoming allCIRC, fully comply to ADA standards and don't discriminate against users with disabilities; others, would rather spend more on an extra RFID tag :)

Now that DOJ is in the loop, things will start to happen.

Read About It Here

2010-01-29

Review: A Far Cry From Kensington


A Far Cry from Kensington New Directions (2000), Paperback, 192 pages

I was handed this fictional memoir, by someone I trust to provide quality literary experiences- he assured me of its solid storytelling, and richness of content.

For me, prior to being handed this book, Muriel Spark really brought two things to mind: lighting cigars, (get it?) and books like Please Don't Eat the Daisies , which in reality share nothing with her.
I had no idea.

In his book, Rotten: No Irish No Blacks No Dogs, one finds out just how literary minded John Lydon is and how he was a fan of lots of great literature (Graham Greene's work springs to mind)... I was shocked when preparing to write this that Muriel Spark's Book The Public Image was where Lydon got the name for PiL. Had I not read his book I never would've guessed it but my suspicions were piqued when reviewing Spark's body of work.

In A Far Cry From Kensington, one gets an accurate portrait of post-war London life, with cramped and damp, recession and thrift, and during the progression of the book it's subsequent awakening from its 6 year nightmare.

Being an Anglophile I might've been satisfied with that and would have been polite about it, but disappointed with its lack of plot arrow.

The plot arrow is large and sharp and accurate: An overweight widow in a boarding house and works at a publisher, insults a literary world hanger-on, which in subsequent years, leads to adverse circumstances over and over again for her, all the while reaffirming her belief that the pisseur de copie "pisser or copy" is just what he is, an opportunistic second banana with no moral compunction about exploitation of personal relationships, and it being a small world, capable of infecting more than just the working world of Spark's protagonist, Mrs. Hawkins.

As A Far Cry From Kensington progresses, Mrs. Hawkins loses the insulation she grew during the war; both emotionally and physically- it falls away in the form of weight loss, the loss as allegory for her maturation, as evidenced by her questioning her faith, learning to stand firm when challenged about her interpersonal convictions and rising to the occasion when called upon by her neighbors who have revealed formerly private crises, that stemmed from character flaws that Mrs Hawkins shows us without a word of avarice, only predictive empathy, from someone who by virtue of being a war-widow, feels it necessary to conduct oneself with more maturity than others of her age.

I've hit the spoiler wall; let me just say within all the wool and teacups and rugs and wallpaper there's crazies, death, fist-fighting, insults, medical emergencies, injustice, karma, foreigners, revenge, hoodoo and more. A perfect mix of atmosphere and activity for anyone looking to read outside of genre.

It was also surprising for me, because I thought she was a 1940's & 50's writer (like I said I didn't know anything about her - just the name) - her style in this book doesn't give away that it was written 1988. Her arc runs from Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1961 to 2004's The Finishing School.

I suppose that since I'm a PiL fan I'll read The Public Image next and see what more she has to offer.

Final words: read A Far Cry From Kensington, already.


1st ed cover

2010-01-12

O Canada!





Photos of Prince George, BC allCIRCs - a beautiful library with smart people working there!
More on this later!