Cover Story
SUNYConnect Saves

Features
What's it All About... ALEPH

Working Together: SUNYConnect LMS Migration Survey

CUNY and SUNY

New SUNYConnect Web Site

EZProxy

Look Who's Talking About SUNYConnect

Letters to the Editors

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Link to the OLIS Committees List

We were delighted when SUNY decided to negotiate a contract with Ex Libris for the ALEPH product. CUNY Director of Library Services, Marsha Ra, in a letter to Mr. Carey Hatch.

It is fair to say that the feeling is mutual. That is, SUNY is delighted that CUNY is working on an ALEPH implementation as well.

Ex Libris received positive evaluations for software capabilities to manage a consortium of libraries. Such capabilities are mandatory to the success of SUNYConnect. Ex Libris is also a leader in providing library software that is multilingual. Many members of the SUNY Evaluation Team are quite excited about these multilingual capabilities of the ALEPH500 software. This excitement had as much to do with the City University of New York as it did the State University of New York. "Imagine CUNY using the ALEPH software! CUNY has an even greater need for these multilingual features than SUNY," said a SUNY Evaluation Team member.

This possibility is becoming a reality. On February 23, 2000 CUNY announced that they had selected Ex Libris as their new LMS vendor. The SUNY-Ex Libris draft contract should allow CUNY to "piggyback" onto that agreement. This will allow CUNY to move ahead on their implementation without the time and attention needed to shepherd a contract through city and state agencies. "We are anxious to see SUNY contract negotiations complete and the SUNY implementation to move forward without a hitch," Ms. Ra reported.

SUNYConnect involves highlighting the totality of SUNY library collections. Our sister CUNY, obviously, is a major part of the New York State library infrastructure. Using the same library system can only help to focus on the library resources at the 21 CUNY campuses as well.

In addition, LAIP has shown the great advantages to sharing the expertise necessary to implement and manage complex library software systems. SUNY and CUNY working together will be a potent force ensuring the success of these programs. The lever of these two great public university systems working together will provide a great "intellectual advantage" to New York. Think of the possibilities!

The Ex Libris press release announcing CUNY's choice quoted Marsha Ra as saying, "We are very excited about this opportunity to work with our SUNY colleagues ...The result will be a dramatic expansion of information resources available to our respective communities, spanning the entire State of New York."