Chicago Public Library, University of Illinois at Chicago and SEFLIN win 2005 WebFeat President’s Awards for Innovation

Libraries receive top honors for innovation in federated search systems

The awards were presented by WebFeat President Todd Miller at a dinner ceremony held during the 2005 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. Festivities took place in the exclusive private dining room of the acclaimed Mistral Bistro. Accepting the WebFeat President’s Awards on behalf of their respective libraries were Mary Dempsey, Commissioner for Chicago Public Library, Nancy John, Assistant University Librarian/Associate Professor University of Illinois at Chicago, and Tom Sloan, Executive Director, SEFLIN.

The WebFeat President’s Awards for Innovation recognize innovation in design and function in WebFeat clients’ state-of-the-art information systems. Chicago Public Library received top honors in the public library category, recognizing its leading edge work in the development and placement of hundreds of dedicated “Find It!” information workstations throughout the city. As the first US academic library to launch a WebFeat system, The University of Illinois at Chicago won the academic library category for its pioneer role in federated searching. SEFLIN won the award for top multi-library network, recognizing its many innovations, including first multi-library WebFeat system, first Spanish language system, and first 508-compliant system.

“These library systems were recognized for their leading edge work in information sciences,” commented Todd Miller, President of WebFeat, “They have crafted information systems that push the envelope on federated search technology to meet the specific needs of the communities they serve. They have clearly demonstrated that libraries are not restricted to one-size-fits-all solutions."

In addition to the award recipients, the dinner honored the other nominees, including Boston Public Library, Brigham Young University Libraries, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Cleveland Public Library, Denver Public Library, Johnson County Public Library (Indiana), Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN), Queens Borough Public Library, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, University Library System - University of Pittsburgh. Award nominees represent the most recent group of top innovators among the more than 1,500 leading public, academic, government and Global 1000 libraries and information centers that use WebFeat.

For more information about the Chicago Public Library and their Find It! powered by WebFeat visit http://chicagopubliclibrary.org. For more information about the University Library - University of Illinois at Chicago visit http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib. For more information about the Southeast Florida Library Information Network visit www.seflin.org.

About WebFeat
WebFeat (US patent #6,807,539) is the developer of the WEBFEAT PRISM™, used by over 1,500 leading public, academic, government and Global 1000 libraries and information centers—including over half of the top 20 largest U.S. public libraries and one out of every 10 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions.

WebFeat’s latest release, WebFeat 3, offers a suite of next-generation federated search tools, PRISM, the SMART™ COUNTER-compliant usage tracker, and MyWebFeat™ personalized federated search system. Originally founded in 1992 as an information technology consultancy, WebFeat has earned industry recognition from leading organizations such as Library Journal and the Gartner Group. Learn more about WebFeat at www.webfeat.org.