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Weekly News Digest

March 7, 2013 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items.

Innovative Integrates SkyRiver Operations and Drops OCLC Lawsuit

“With the best interests of the library community in mind, we decided to view a relationship with OCLC as a potential collaboration partner, unclouded by legal issues,” said Kim Massana, Innovative’s CEO. “We are looking forward to competing with OCLC in the market for library technology services, including in the areas of cataloging and library service platforms. At the same time, we are excited to refocus our efforts to engage with OCLC management and our common accounts to help libraries meet the unprecedented information and technology challenges in today’s environment.”

Massana continued, “All of us at Innovative believe that competition in technology services benefits libraries and drives innovation. We have a great product in SkyRiver and anticipate that by putting the whole weight of Innovative behind the development and implementation of the system, we will become an even stronger player in the market for library cataloging services going forward.”

Innovative’s core offering, the Sierra Services Platform, has seen an extraordinary level of adoption across the international library and information community over the last year with more than 320 library systems having so far committed to Sierra, representing more than 1,000 libraries worldwide. Sierra represents a new approach to library technology that provides the extensive functionality required for today’s libraries, while also bringing open architecture to library staff, allowing them to create their own solutions and adapt rapidly to the changing role of their libraries and institutions.

Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO, issued the following statement on the withdrawal of a lawsuit filed in 2010 by Innovative Interfaces and SkyRiver Technology Solutions:

We applaud the decision of the new owners of Innovative Interfaces and SkyRiver Technology Solutions and CEO Kim Massana to withdraw the claims against OCLC. We look forward to possible future engagement with Innovative where it benefits libraries. We work with many library service providers to provide greater value at reduced costs to libraries around the world.

Inclusion, reciprocity, trust, and the highest standard of ethical conduct have guided the OCLC cooperative in the past and will guide us in the future. As always, OCLC’s public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing the rate of rise of library costs remain paramount.

Note: In the spring of 2012, Innovative announced a strategic investment from Huntsman Gay Global Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, and JMI Equity, a growth equity firm focused on investing in growing software, internet, and business services companies. In early 2013, founder Jerry Kline sold his remaining shares in the company to the private equity firms and resigned from the Board of Directors.

Source: Innovative Interfaces, Inc. and OCLC