The libraries have selected LibLime's fully-managed Koha ZOOM Hosted package. In this model, the system is installed, operated and maintained at one of LibLime's carrier-class data centers. LibLime will provide the libraries with installation, data migration, systems administration, ongoing maintenance, software development, and staff training. Joining the WALDO consortium will enable the three libraries to share resources, and take advantage of the discounts available to WALDO members for LibLime services.

"We are excited about all the possibilities of open source," says Grace L. Veach, Library Services Director Southeastern University. "While Liblime will provide the technical expertise that we lack, WALDO libraries will give us a block of common users; most academic libraries have similar basic needs, and with the WALDO group we will be able to afford more development for academic libraries than we could by ourselves."

"Our biggest initial hesitation about open source was our lack of in-house technical knowledge," continues Veach. "With Liblime providing that knowledge, open-source software becomes a viable and economical choice."

Michael Clater--Director at Clearwater Christian College--says ease-of-use and no vendor lockin were key to their library's decision to move to Koha: "In looking at the selection of library systems, our staff was struck with Koha's ease-of-use and user-friendly functionality. This was the biggest selling point, along with the prospect of never having to migrate systems due to a product's end-of-life. We see this as positioning us well strategically in the library community as we see the shift in library system trends and increasingly open access to software and information."

"Our library staff was impressed with the versatility of LibLime and with opportunities to share in the further development of the product through our association with WALDO," says Randall M. MacDonald, Interim Director of Roux Library at Florida Southern College. "The move to an open-source product after twenty years of automation is a natural progression for our library as we move to a more powerful system for our students and faculty in Lakeland, Orlando, and Ocala."

Other advantages of choosing a LibLime solution through the WALDO consortium include volume discounts, standard contracts, consolidated renewals and invoicing and centralized billing. Participation in the LibLime discounts through WALDO are available to all WALDO full, associate and limited members.

About Clearwater Christian College

Clearwater Christian College is a Christian, liberal arts, co-educational college which is denominationally unaffiliated and dedicated to sound academic instruction while propagating the historic Christian faith. The College is committed to building a library collection which supports the courses and programs offered by the college, acquaints users with varying points of view, provides recreational reading, and enables students to develop special interests. The collection of the library contains over 100,000 volumes and serves a population of about 700 students, faculty and staff.

About Florida Southern College

Roux Library, located at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, is committed to providing the resources necessary to sustain a superior academic experience and to promote an atmosphere of free inquiry in which the human heritage may be investigated and the truth served. An important purpose of Roux Library is to promote scholarship, research and leisure reading among all their users. Their collection contains approximately 175,000 items.

About Southeastern University

Southeastern University is a Christian liberal arts university with just over 3000 students, primarily traditional, on-campus. The Steelman Library collection contains over 100,000, and has an annual circulation between 40,000-50,000.

About WALDO

Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization (WALDO) is a membership organization supporting the procurement & administration of electronic information services for libraries since 1982. Supporting over 900 member libraries, WALDO offers consortial discounts for over 5,000 products and services. For more information, please visit the WALDO Website located at http://www.waldolib.org or contact Robert Karen at (800) 326-6495 ext. 1 or rob@waldolib.org.

About Koha

Since it was first put into production in early 2000, Koha has enabled new realities of open access, affordability, and free innovation for hundreds of small and medium-sized libraries around the world. Koha has lived up to its name, which means ‘Gift’ in the Maori language of New Zealand. From the outset, many libraries understood the power of this gift. They downloaded it, they installed it, they changed it, and they contributed their solutions back to the library community.

Several companies around the world support Koha, providing libraries with a full array of services including installation, migration assistance, data integrity testing, staff training, software maintenance, support and customization. To learn more about what services are available visit http://koha.org/support/.

About LibLime

LibLime is the global leader in open-source solutions for libraries, with a mission to make open source accessible to libraries. Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, LibLime educates libraries about the benefits of open source, enabling them to make choices about how best to provide their communities and staff with better technology services. LibLime then facilitates implementation of open-source in libraries by providing outstanding development, customization, support and training solutions--solutions tailored to each library's needs. For more information, see http://liblime.com.

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