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Chicago Public Library Will Redevelop Website To Keep Pace With Emerging Capabilities Partnership with BibilioCommons will expand the BiblioCore catalog to Chicago and will also include a re-developed Library website. The Chicago Public Library has joined the list of major U.S. libraries that have signed on with Toronto-based BiblioCommons as its discovery provider. An investment from the Chicago Public Library Foundation made possible the three-year deal. Among the other libraries where Bibliocommons’s BiblioCore catalog is live are Seattle Public Library, Cleveland Public Library, Boston Public Library, and New York Public Library, which has a financial stake in the company. The BiblioCore product replaces all the traditional functionality of the library's online catalog and integrates it seamlessly with the kind of discovery and interactive experiences that library customers experience daily elsewhere on the web. For the Chicago Public Library this will also include a re-developed website and will feature integrated cross-marketing of collections, events, and services and enhanced community engagement throughout the integrated Chicago Public Library catalog and website. According to Library Commissioner Brian Bannon, “Chicago Public Library has been at the forefront of library technology and best practices in library experiences. For our Library to continue to be successful into the 21st century will require the best web solution and staying nimble to keep pace with user expectations and emerging capabilities. The Library is grateful to the Chicago Public Library Foundation and its generous donors for bringing these innovations to all Chicagoans." Examples of the integrated experience will include enhanced online community engagement around the One Book, One Chicago initiative, the opportunity for teens to share content developed in the YOUMedia Lab, and deep integration and online engagement around other popular public programs, library services, and library collections. The BiblioCommons multi-tenant software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution reduces the need for costly technological infrastructure and in-house staff technical expertise, and allows public libraries to focus on curating their collections and connecting with the community rather than developing and maintaining software and technical infrastructure. With an investment from the Chicago Public Library Foundation, Chicago Public Library staff and BiblioCommons will improve on current services and develop new products that can then be shared with other public libraries to ensure scalability, ongoing innovation, and sustainability into the future. Kirkland & Ellis LLP represented the Chicago Public Library Foundation as pro bono legal counsel in connection with this transaction. The new Chicago Public Library website and integrated catalog are scheduled to launch in 2013. |
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