Red Feather Lakes, CO October 14, 2006 's8211; In the age of the digital library, reference desks and library public services in general have long been overlooked as an avenue of innovation, even as reference librarians struggle to improve their departments's8217; interaction with the public amidst increasing budget constraints and administrative pressure. Compendium Library Services LLC, a Colorado-based company, was formed in 2006 to improve and enhance public services in libraries and it's8217;s products have already met with high demand in both academic and public institutions.
Reference Desk Tracker, for many years a preferred solution among large ARL libraries for maintaining public service and reference statistics, is the initial offering by Compendium. The product, originally released by custom software company Summit E-Solutions, was an immediate success. By early this year, it's8217;s increasing popularity made clear the need for a new company dedicated to the cause. With the addition of several long-time library field professionals, Compendium draws on decades of library experience and an ambitious mission to make reference and public services work in the digital age.
's8220;Libraries wanted something like Reference Desk Tracker at their public service points for a long time,'s8221; said Ben Myers, owner of Summit E-Solutions and Compendium principle, 's8220;and nothing out there fit that need in terms of ease of use and flexibility. Now we can really meet the heavy demand and bring on the next wave of innovation at the same time.'s8221;
Compendium will unveil a new line of products for library public services at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington, January 19th through the 22nd, 2007. 's8220;At ALA Midwinter, we will have something of interest for whole spectrum of library public service's8221; Myers continued. 's8220;We will be showing simple and affordable tools to help the smallest public libraries work more effectively, while driving ahead with some powerful new systems for top-level research institutions and increasing the functionality and appeal of our desk statistics packages.'s8221;
Interested parties can visit Compendium's8217;s website at www.CompendiumLib.com to demo products, get pricing information, and sign up for free trials.
Library Public Services and Reference Departments Find Answers With New Company