CAMBRIDGE, MA and INWOOD, WV - June 26, 2004 -- The Library Corporation (TLC) has partnered with Endeca® Technologies, Inc., creator of award-winning advanced search and Guided NavigationSM solutions for organizations coping with information overload.
Endeca's powerful technology provides a revolutionary way for library patrons and employees to search and navigate information in library Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs). Endeca will integrate with TLC’s new ILS, CARL-X®, which provides real- time cognitive impact by using meta-search options, fast presentation of search results, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities.
Endeca solves the most fundamental problem in today's OPACs - a non-navigated search interface that only goes so far. Endeca fuses the power of traditional multi-word querying with "Guided Navigation," exposing an array of related terms, headings, formats, and other dimensions that equip users to find what they are looking for. The product builds context around each search, so users are constantly prompted with useful next steps, much as in a dialogue with a librarian or a trusted friend. Through this interactive dialogue, Endeca prioritizes and organizes relevant information, while removing non-relevant results. Users find what they’re looking for more easily, since Endeca doesn’t require perfect spelling or a controlled vocabulary. Also, with Guided Navigation, they never get "no results found."
The Partnership
Under the terms of the partnership, both companies will engage in joint sales, marketing, technology, and product development initiatives.
Jimmy Thomas, TLC's Director of Strategic Products, commented: "What's great about this partnership is that TLC customers using CARL-Solution® and Library-SolutionTM don't even have to wait for a next-generation core system to enjoy these benefits. The next-generation OPAC will be available as an add-on option to reinvigorate their library's existing OPAC in ways that will delight their library users."
Endeca will be available to CARL-Solution and Library-Solution users in the fall of 2004.
The TLC/Endeca partnership is the first step of cooperation between the two companies. Additional CARL-Solution and Library-Solution systems integration with Endeca will be considered as part of TLC and Endeca’s evolving business relationship.
"More than 3,000 library sites have chosen TLC's integrated systems," said Jim Baum, president of Endeca. "These libraries have collectively invested considerable time and effort in organizing their collections through careful cataloging over the years. Endeca is excited to work with TLC to unlock the extraordinary value of this investment and provide a compelling new offering that adds great value and power for library public access."
Endeca In the Library
Endeca unlocks the unique value of library content by enabling people to find the rich information of interest, versus just relative ranking most popular searches.
"Endeca's approach builds on a great deal of library science to solve an important problem -- how to provide a generation that grew up on Google and Amazon a more effective way to find information in today's libraries," said Candy Schwartz, Professor of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, and author of the book Sorting out the Web."Endeca is the first OPAC search system to deliver dynamic navigation using the value-added structure provided by cataloging and classification. This offers the ease of the Google approach -- ‘type a few words’ -- with the added advantage of allowing users to focus a search by browsing through cataloging data associated with those results. Users get to relevant content quickly without having to use advanced search commands and without being buried in too many search results," adds Schwartz.
About Endeca
Endeca's award-winning Search and Guided Navigation solutions help organizations to integrate, discover, and navigate enterprise data to solve business problems associated with information overload.Endeca’s customers include a wide range of enterprises including retailers (Barnes & Noble, CompUSA, 1-800-Flowers, and BMG Music); finance (Putnam Investments, MFS Investments, and Quick & Reilly); business-to-business companies (IBM, Arrow Electronics and CDW); content delivery (World Book and Martindale Hubble), and government (CIA and the Library of Congress). Endeca is a private company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. More info: www.endeca.com or email us at info@endeca.com.