This year’s Sept 20 2010 SNUG (SydneyPLUS National Users Group) meeting was held as a virtual meeting for the second year in a row. The following post is derived from a full press release available from the SydneyPLUS website.
SNUG sessions started with a focus on reporting with a Crystal reports primer that showed how users can start creating their own reports, how they can enhance existing out-of-the-box reports and how they can best leverage their own data for reporting. The meeting’s focus then shifted to a review of how to make best use of Information Manager version 4.1.1. Among the many options explored during the review where; how to enhance a portal database with book jacket covers, how to access a collection via a mobile device and to how to generate reports with the portal’s own built in Report Writer. The final session of the meeting provided case study examples of innovative Information Manager Implementations. The examples showed how IM can be used to apply “terms of use control” by having users enter their network credentials before accessing sensitive corporate reports and how existing IM functionality can be calibrated to manage all aspects of electronic information subscriptions.
SydneyPLUS clients can further network by visiting the client supported SNUG wiki at https://snug.pbworks.com . They are also welcome to follow SydneyPLUS through Twitter at http://twitter.com/sydneyplus.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
SydneyPLUS Seeks Librarian Consultant
SydneyPLUS International is looking to hire a Librarian Sales Support / Training Consultant. And the job title reflects your many responsibilities here!
SydneyPLUS employs several librarians, so we asked them, "What do you like about your job?"
1. SydneyPLUS International's headquarters are located in beautiful Richmond, British Columbia and its neighbor, Vancouver, BC is ranked as the top Canadian city for quality of life.
2. SydneyPLUS also has librarians working in many top locations, such as New York, Nottingham (UK), etc. and it is an experience to work with staff around the world.
3. SydneyPLUS clients range from governments to corporations to non-profits, and every industry is represented by our clients, which allows us to meet experts in every field.
4. SydneyPLUS has supported special libraries, archives, and museums for thirty years, and many staff have worked in the company for all of these years.
SydneyPLUS employs several librarians, so we asked them, "What do you like about your job?"
1. SydneyPLUS International's headquarters are located in beautiful Richmond, British Columbia and its neighbor, Vancouver, BC is ranked as the top Canadian city for quality of life.
2. SydneyPLUS also has librarians working in many top locations, such as New York, Nottingham (UK), etc. and it is an experience to work with staff around the world.
3. SydneyPLUS clients range from governments to corporations to non-profits, and every industry is represented by our clients, which allows us to meet experts in every field.
4. SydneyPLUS has supported special libraries, archives, and museums for thirty years, and many staff have worked in the company for all of these years.
Friday, August 6, 2010
SydneyPLUS SharePoint Web Part
If your organization is pursuing SharePoint integration and implementation for the library, then you may want a range of options for that integration, including the best choice: a Web Part.
Based on the SydneyPLUS Information Manager platform, SydneyPLUS has supported integration with SharePoint through a number of measures to the extent that it has designed a Web Part specifically for providing access to any SydneyPLUS data through SharePoint.
The SydneyPLUS Web Part may be the best choice for clients using SharePoint for many reasons which we will discuss here. Before we outline the benefits of the Web Part, there are other measures available to clients that provide access to SydneyPLUS data through SharePoint:
· SydneyPLUS RSS Generator can publish RSS feeds for display in SharePoint.
· SharePoint BDC can also query the SydneyPLUS database.
Editor's note: The SharePoint BDC (Business Data Catalog) is also known as the Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010.
SydneyPLUS Web Part capabilities:
1. The SydneyPLUS Web Part is easily configured by librarians. The SydneyPLUS Web Part is configurable to allow your administrator to determine what should be shown:
· Administrators can select any table and fields.
· Administrators can query using a search screen designed for librarians.
· Web Part uses the familiar SydneyPLUS Information Manager user interface.
2. The user does not have to leave SharePoint to interact with the library.
A number of actions are available to your users through the Web Part, which means that they will appreciate the convenience of staying on SharePoint.
· Users can renew items checked out in SydneyPLUS from SharePoint.
· Users can request items from SydneyPLUS through SharePoint.
· Users can search the SydneyPLUS database directly.
3. The SydneyPLUS Web Part can display relevant data based on user identity.
An important feature of the SydneyPLUS Web Part is its ability to display data that is specific to a user.
· Display resources specific to the person's department, office, etc.
· Display a list of journals that are being routed to the person.
· Display a list of requests made by that person.
If you have questions and want to find out more about SydneyPLUS SharePoint Web Part feel free to contact us at 604 278 6717 or email sales@sydneyplus.com
Editor's note: SydneyPLUS also provides intranets and extranets for law firms, and a competitive intelligence solution on the SharePoint platform.
If you would like to learn more about the extent of library-related vendors supporting SharePoint integration, then read this article:
Weldon, Lorette S.J. How is SharePoint used in Libraries? FUMSI, August 2010, online:
http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/use/4714
Based on the SydneyPLUS Information Manager platform, SydneyPLUS has supported integration with SharePoint through a number of measures to the extent that it has designed a Web Part specifically for providing access to any SydneyPLUS data through SharePoint.
The SydneyPLUS Web Part may be the best choice for clients using SharePoint for many reasons which we will discuss here. Before we outline the benefits of the Web Part, there are other measures available to clients that provide access to SydneyPLUS data through SharePoint:
· SydneyPLUS RSS Generator can publish RSS feeds for display in SharePoint.
· SharePoint BDC can also query the SydneyPLUS database.
Editor's note: The SharePoint BDC (Business Data Catalog) is also known as the Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010.
SydneyPLUS Web Part capabilities:
1. The SydneyPLUS Web Part is easily configured by librarians. The SydneyPLUS Web Part is configurable to allow your administrator to determine what should be shown:
· Administrators can select any table and fields.
· Administrators can query using a search screen designed for librarians.
· Web Part uses the familiar SydneyPLUS Information Manager user interface.
2. The user does not have to leave SharePoint to interact with the library.
A number of actions are available to your users through the Web Part, which means that they will appreciate the convenience of staying on SharePoint.
· Users can renew items checked out in SydneyPLUS from SharePoint.
· Users can request items from SydneyPLUS through SharePoint.
· Users can search the SydneyPLUS database directly.
3. The SydneyPLUS Web Part can display relevant data based on user identity.
An important feature of the SydneyPLUS Web Part is its ability to display data that is specific to a user.
· Display resources specific to the person's department, office, etc.
· Display a list of journals that are being routed to the person.
· Display a list of requests made by that person.
If you have questions and want to find out more about SydneyPLUS SharePoint Web Part feel free to contact us at 604 278 6717 or email sales@sydneyplus.com
Editor's note: SydneyPLUS also provides intranets and extranets for law firms, and a competitive intelligence solution on the SharePoint platform.
If you would like to learn more about the extent of library-related vendors supporting SharePoint integration, then read this article:
Weldon, Lorette S.J. How is SharePoint used in Libraries? FUMSI, August 2010, online:
http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/use/4714
Monday, June 21, 2010
SydneyPLUS New Website
SydneyPLUS International, provider of Library Knowledge Management software and solutions to Fortune 1000 companies, top law firms and government institutions is pleased to announce the launch of their new corporate website.
Rapidly created and deployed in less than two weeks by SydneyPLUS staff librarians, the new site sports a fresh "look and feel" delivering more information on the products and services available from SydneyPLUS, and the many partnerships that SydneyPLUS has forged with other companies that serve related industries.
A press release is available.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
SydneyPLUS Welcomes LookUp Precision
SydneyPLUS International would like to welcome the users of LookUp Precision to the SydneyPLUS family. The addition of LookUp Precision will leverage complementary technologies and accelerate innovation, delivering on a strategy of providing powerful, adaptable cost recovery solutions to the professional services sector.
SydneyPLUS and your LookUp Precision team remain dedicated to maintaining and enhancing the qualities their customers have come to expect—technical innovation, exceptional service, outstanding reliability and a lifelong reputation for integrity.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 604 278 6717 or email us at sales@sydneyplus.com.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Best Practices at Conferences
SydneyPLUS staff librarians attend many conferences throughout the year, including conferences that serve museums and archives. At every conference, there may be a session, workshop, or practice that really stands out. We want to share with you some experiences.
Here are some of the best practices for conferences that we have recently seen, which we hope every conference will consider adopting:
SCIP 2010 “Vendor Workshop”
While restricted to vendors, you may find it interesting to know that this workshop allows vendors to practice delivering pitches to our competitors - our peers - while the moderator provides feedback. The conference organizers also review basic interview techniques and measuring our ROI. Many conferences brief us on the most recent survey of the marketplace and demographics. The purpose of these types of workshops is to make your experience, the participants' experience, more productive when you visit our booths. Perhaps a conference will consider offering a similar workshop for the participants? It could be called “Tradeshow Bootcamp” and cover interview techniques, planning your path through the tradeshow floor, best times for private demonstrations, a list of new vendors this year, etc.
Museums and the Web 2010 - Crit Room
Imagine volunteering your portal (e.g. OPAC) up for critical review in front of a room full of your peers. (Your vendor sitting silently at the back of the room will beam with pride). You are only given a few minutes to provide an orientation to the web site, but the volunteers that are going to be asked to perform some tasks on it are waiting outside the room to put the site to its test. After you sit down, these volunteers ranging from end users to experts, attempt to use your portal while describing their experience. Yes, it is intimidating. Can it show you insight into the usability of your portal? Absolutely. We wish every conference offered this session.
Museums and the Web 2010 - Demonstrations
Vendors are always looking for ways to engage participants in the exhibit hall. At some conferences, SydneyPLUS sponsors a client to deliver a presentation. Museums and the Web conference had participants “take over” the exhibit hall floor for part of the day to offer presentations to other participants. While vendors could offer the presentations themselves, it was an opportunity for the vendor to invite one of their clients to occupy the booth. Instead of talking with the vendor, you had the chance to speak to the client using their product. The focus did not need to be on the product, but what the client had achieved with it. As a vendor, these demonstrations succeed in the desired “word of mouth” aspect of marketing products.
SLA “Hot Topic” Sessions
Among many sessions offered at SLA, the value of having sessions that bring you up to speed on developments in your industry is invaluable. Along with the “Ideas” bulletin boards, which allow you to share innovation with other participants, there are many efforts to foster discussion. With the growth in virtual participation among attendees updating blogs, wikis, Twitter, etc., the speed at which a good idea can spread among participants at a conference is astounding.
The Future of Conferences
Whether you are a museum, library, or archive, there is value in attending a conference in a related field. As a vendor, we have the privilege of experiencing the “best of the best.”
We have noticed some trends among recent conferences:
- rise in panels as participants want more perspectives in a shorter amount of time
- part of every conference is being left open for spontaneity (e.g. Museums and the Web offered an “Unconference Session” where the participants propose their own topics for discussion)
- use of portable technology is outpacing the infrastructure at many conference sites (e.g. ranging from saturating the Wi-Fi to not finding an available outlet for charing your device)
- memorizing the Flickr, Twitter, etc. tags is essential to participate online while at the conference, but many participates will participate after the conference
- organizers increasingly have to brand their Flickr, Twitter, etc. tags in their banners and prominently display them everywhere (e.g. web site, program, pre and post e-mail, etc.)
- vendors are increasingly offering more services and products in more disciplines, which is making it more challenging for participants to make comparisons on the tradeshow floor
Here are some of the best practices for conferences that we have recently seen, which we hope every conference will consider adopting:
SCIP 2010 “Vendor Workshop”
While restricted to vendors, you may find it interesting to know that this workshop allows vendors to practice delivering pitches to our competitors - our peers - while the moderator provides feedback. The conference organizers also review basic interview techniques and measuring our ROI. Many conferences brief us on the most recent survey of the marketplace and demographics. The purpose of these types of workshops is to make your experience, the participants' experience, more productive when you visit our booths. Perhaps a conference will consider offering a similar workshop for the participants? It could be called “Tradeshow Bootcamp” and cover interview techniques, planning your path through the tradeshow floor, best times for private demonstrations, a list of new vendors this year, etc.
Museums and the Web 2010 - Crit Room
Imagine volunteering your portal (e.g. OPAC) up for critical review in front of a room full of your peers. (Your vendor sitting silently at the back of the room will beam with pride). You are only given a few minutes to provide an orientation to the web site, but the volunteers that are going to be asked to perform some tasks on it are waiting outside the room to put the site to its test. After you sit down, these volunteers ranging from end users to experts, attempt to use your portal while describing their experience. Yes, it is intimidating. Can it show you insight into the usability of your portal? Absolutely. We wish every conference offered this session.
Museums and the Web 2010 - Demonstrations
Vendors are always looking for ways to engage participants in the exhibit hall. At some conferences, SydneyPLUS sponsors a client to deliver a presentation. Museums and the Web conference had participants “take over” the exhibit hall floor for part of the day to offer presentations to other participants. While vendors could offer the presentations themselves, it was an opportunity for the vendor to invite one of their clients to occupy the booth. Instead of talking with the vendor, you had the chance to speak to the client using their product. The focus did not need to be on the product, but what the client had achieved with it. As a vendor, these demonstrations succeed in the desired “word of mouth” aspect of marketing products.
SLA “Hot Topic” Sessions
Among many sessions offered at SLA, the value of having sessions that bring you up to speed on developments in your industry is invaluable. Along with the “Ideas” bulletin boards, which allow you to share innovation with other participants, there are many efforts to foster discussion. With the growth in virtual participation among attendees updating blogs, wikis, Twitter, etc., the speed at which a good idea can spread among participants at a conference is astounding.
The Future of Conferences
Whether you are a museum, library, or archive, there is value in attending a conference in a related field. As a vendor, we have the privilege of experiencing the “best of the best.”
We have noticed some trends among recent conferences:
- rise in panels as participants want more perspectives in a shorter amount of time
- part of every conference is being left open for spontaneity (e.g. Museums and the Web offered an “Unconference Session” where the participants propose their own topics for discussion)
- use of portable technology is outpacing the infrastructure at many conference sites (e.g. ranging from saturating the Wi-Fi to not finding an available outlet for charing your device)
- memorizing the Flickr, Twitter, etc. tags is essential to participate online while at the conference, but many participates will participate after the conference
- organizers increasingly have to brand their Flickr, Twitter, etc. tags in their banners and prominently display them everywhere (e.g. web site, program, pre and post e-mail, etc.)
- vendors are increasingly offering more services and products in more disciplines, which is making it more challenging for participants to make comparisons on the tradeshow floor
Thursday, April 1, 2010
SydneyPLUS Welcomes Questor
SydneyPLUS International would like to welcome Questor employees and the users of Argus to the SydneyPLUS family. We are pleased with the opportunity of leveraging our complementary technologies to accelerate innovation and deliver on a shared vision of new, powerful and adaptable collection management solutions for the cultural and academic world.
In our partnership with Questor employees and Argus users, we continue our dedication to maintaining and enhancing a quality that all our customers have come to expect — technical innovation, exceptional service, outstanding reliability and a lifelong reputation for integrity.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 310 316 9511 or email us at info@questorsys.com. A full press release is available here.
In our partnership with Questor employees and Argus users, we continue our dedication to maintaining and enhancing a quality that all our customers have come to expect — technical innovation, exceptional service, outstanding reliability and a lifelong reputation for integrity.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 310 316 9511 or email us at info@questorsys.com. A full press release is available here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
