Boston Public Library, Denver Public Library, GALILEO, OPLIN, Princeton University, and the University of Pittsburgh win 2006 WebFeat President’s Awards for Innovation

Libraries receive top honors for innovative federated search systems

Old Brookville, NY, January 25 , 2006 — On January 21, 2006, WebFeat President Todd Miller presented the 2006 WebFeat President’s Awards for Innovation. Boston Public Library (BPL) and Denver Public Library received top honors in the public library category; Princeton University and the University of Pittsburgh Libraries won the awards in the academic library category; while GALILEO ( Georgia’s Virtual Library) and OPLIN (Ohio Public Library Information Network) won the awards for top multi-library networks. The WebFeat President’s Awards for Innovation recognize innovation in design and function in WebFeat clients’ state-of-the-art information systems.

The awards were presented at a special dinner ceremony held during the 2006 ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. 3rd annual awards festivities took place in the private San Jose dining room of Biga on the Banks — one of the most acclaimed restaurants in Texas. Accepting the WebFeat President’s Awards on behalf of their respective libraries were: Bernard Margolis, President, Boston Public Library; Rick Ashton, City Librarian, Denver Public Library; Merryll Penson, Executive Director, GALILEO; Nancy Pressman Levy, Interim Head – Donald E. Stokes Library with Antonio Barrera, Manager Web Development, Princeton University; and Amy Knapp, Assistant University Librarian with Jeff Wisniewski, Web Services Librarian, the University of Pittsburgh. Holly Carroll, Deputy Director, Cleveland Public Library, accepted the award on behalf of OPLIN.

Boston Public Library, Denver Public Library, GALILEO, OPLIN, Princeton University, and the University of Pittsburgh were chosen from among 20 nominees for bold innovation in the design of their federated search interface and functionality. Miller noted in his presentation remarks, “WebFeat systems are custom configured in partnership with client libraries, and each system offers an array of features and user ergonomics that meet the specific needs of each community. This year, Princeton University Library pushed the federated search envelope with the launch of its PUL QuickSearch system, while the 384-library GALILEO system has raised the bar for what a multi-library network federated search implementation can be.” Miller also praised Boston Public Library with its Big Dig system and the University of Pittsburgh for their Zoom! system, for their innovative marketing and custom branding of their WebFeat systems. Added Miller, “Each of the honored libraries has a federated search system that other libraries across the country now use as models for federated search best practices.

In addition to the award recipients, the dinner honored all nominees, including Brigham Young University, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Howard County Public Library (MD), Kenton County Public Library (KY), LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network, Los Angeles Public Library, Nevada State Library and Archives, New York State Library, Northern Arizona University, Omaha Public Library, Queens Borough Public Library, the State Library of Louisiana, Tacoma Public Library, and Westminster College. Award nominees represent the most recent group of top innovators among the more than 3,000 leading public, academic, government and Global 1000 libraries and information centers that use WebFeat.

See the Awards Dinner Photo Album

Past winners of the WebFeat President’s Awards for Innovation include: Chicago Public Library, King County Library System, San Francisco Public Library, SEFLIN, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

For more information about the Boston Public Library and BPL’s Big Dig powered by WebFeat visit http://www.bpl.org. For more information about Denver Public Library visit http://www.denverlibrary.org. For more information on GALILEO visit http://www.galileo.usg.edu. For more information on OPLIN visit http://www.oplin.org. For more information on Princeton University Libraries and PUL QuickSearch powered by WebFeat visit http://library.princeton.edu. For information on the University of Pittsburgh, University Libraries and Zoom! powered by WebFeat visit http://www.library.pitt.edu.

About WebFeat
WebFeat (US patent #6,807,539) is the developer of the WEBFEAT PRISM™, used by over 3,000 leading public,
academic, government and Global 1000 libraries and information centers—including over half of the top 20 largest U.S. public libraries, 8 statewide library systems, 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 http://www.webfeat.org.