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Bilkent University in Turkey Selects SirsiDynix® Symphony®

August 23rd, 2009

IFLA Conference MILAN, Italy, August 23, 2009 – SirsiDynix, the world leader in library automation technology, announces that Bilkent University in Turkey has selected SirsiDynix® Symphony® integrated library system (ILS) and a range of value-added solutions for enhancing the library user experience and library staff productivity. Bilkent University will migrate from the BLISS system in the early part of 2010. SirsiDynix is partnering with Turkish-based Informascope to provide local support to the Turkish market.

“Our investment in SirsiDynix Symphony includes extensive functionality that will allow us to offer greater services to our users”, said Ebru Kaya, Bilkent University Associate Library Director “SirsiDynix has a long history of providing feature-rich solutions to libraries in many countries around the world. We look forward to our partnership with SirsiDynix for many years to come.”

“We are very happy and excited about Bilkent University’s decision on SirsiDynix Symphony, the most innovative automated library management system, said Kivanc Cinar, Director of Informascope. “Bilkent University is a very special university that developed, used and supported their library management system called BLISS, since the early 1990’s. BLISS is used by many other libraries in Turkey as well. Bilkent’s decision came after a comprehensive technical, functional and commercial assessment of Symphony and the presence of the local support commitment by Informascope. We strongly believe SirsiDynix’ presence in the Turkish market will start a new era for library management systems in Turkey and Symphony will be implemented by many more libraries in a very short time.”

Symphony incorporates open, industry-standard technologies, offering the library community an impressive list of features and capabilities. These include an open n-tier architecture, software-as-a-service (SaaS) options, powerful search and discovery solutions, comprehensive integrated library management and productivity solutions, Java-based staff clients for all modules, fully documented application programming interfaces (APIs) that support unparalleled customizability and integration, Unicode support, advanced business intelligence and reporting tools, support for API, SIP2 and NCIP and embedded and full Oracle database support. Symphony provides the ability for libraries to operate more efficiently to serve their communities of users.

“We are delighted that Bilkent University selected SirsiDynix Symphony”, said Gary Rautenstrauch, SirsiDynix chief executive officer. “We look forward to bringing the power and flexibility of Symphony and the expertise of SirsiDynix’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa team to bear for library staff and users in Turkey.”

“SirsiDynix is committed to partnering with institutions like Bilkent University to deliver solutions that help them better manage their operations as well as serve their faculty, staff and students in their quest for information and knowledge,” added Keith Sturges, SirsiDynix chief sales and marketing officer.

For more information about SirsiDynix Symphony, contact your SirsiDynix sales consultant or email sales-uk@sirsidynix.com.

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About Bilkent University

Bilkent University – the first private, nonprofit university in Turkey – was founded in 1984, by Professor İhsan Doğramacı, M.D., with the fundamental aim of creating a center of excellence in higher education and research. The name “Bilkent” exemplifies this aim, since it is an acronym of “bilim kenti”: Turkish for “city of learning and science.” Bilkent University is a world class university in terms of education, research and cultural activities. Bilkent University’s goal is to educate students who can adapt well to the requirements of our age, have the ability to think and understand, solve problems, are prepared to live in a global world, and adapt to the demands of the community. For more information about Bilkent University, please see www.bilkent.edu.tr

About Informascope

Informascope specializes in providing information services and library technologies such as e-resources, automation systems, and library tools to academic, research, public and special libraries and information centers in Turkey and Central Asia with offices located in Turkey and United States. Informascope is the representative and system-solution partner of major and leading international publishers and library product and service providers. Having outstanding experience in the market for years, Informascope provides the tailor-made solutions for a wide portfolio of information needs in combination with software and service needs of the users. The company’s basic competitive advantage is the combined solutions for users that introduce the cutting-edge technology and knowhow of international partners, in addition to local expertise and strategic tasks management. For more about Informascope, please see http://informascope.com/.

About SirsiDynix

SirsiDynix is the global leader in strategic technology solutions for libraries – vital institutions whose primary mission is to assist people in discovering and using knowledge, resources and other valuable content for their educations, jobs and entertainment. In concert with key industry partners, SirsiDynix supports this strategic role for libraries by offering a comprehensive integrated suite of technology solutions that improve the internal productivity of libraries and enhance their capacity to partner with their communities through the provision of state of the art library management systems (LMS) and search and discovery solutions. SirsiDynix serves approximately 4,000 libraries and consortia that provide services to over 300 million people through more than 20,000 library outlets in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please see www.sirsidynix.com.