Newsgroups: bit.listserv.advanc-l
Date:         Mon, 21 Dec 1992 16:31:00 -0500
              <ADVANC-L@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         Harrison Cheung <h.cheung@GEM.GEAC.COM>
Subject:      News from Geac

        [ This is a repost.  Apologies if you see it twice. ]

          News Item #1: Geac Introduces ``LViS''

          Markham, Canada and Dallas, Texas (December 1992) -- Geac and
          SynreVoice Technologies Inc. have co-developed a voice
          processing system to interface with Geac's ADVANCE and GLIS
          library systems.  The Geac Library Voice Information System
          (LViS - as in Presley).  LViS enables libraries to automate
          the traditionally labour-intensive task of delivering
          notifications such as reserved material ready for pickup and
          overdue notices to patrons by phone.  The system also allows
          patrons to perform material renewals by telephone on-line.
          LViS also includes an audiotext system that can provide
          callers with 24-hour information service - providing answers to
          frequently asked questions such as: library branch locations,
          branch hours, upcoming events, etc.

          LViS was based on a system which was developed for North York
          Public Library, the second largest library system in Canada.
          Roy Ott, Manager of Computer Services at North York, has
          estimated that the "use of LViS in delivering reserved material
          arrival and overdue notices will reduce the library's annual
          postage bill by as much as 20%."

          Hing Poon, President of SynreVoice, noted that the
          codevelopment with Geac "represents a significant step in making
          voice an effective interface between people and computers by
          extending on-line computer services to anyone with access to a
          telephone."

          Stephen J. Sadler, President and CEO of Geac, said "The Geac
          LViS system's timely emergence in the marketplace is helping
          libraries meet the challenge of shrinking budgets, hiring
          freezes, and continued demands for superior service.  As a
          productivity tool, LViS is a natural extension of Geac's library
          systems worldwide."

          The LViS product made its Canadian debut at the Ontario
          Library Association Conference last month and will be
          demonstrated at the American Library Association Conference
          in Denver this January.

                                        -30-


          News Item#2: First ADVANCE Site in Holland!

          Markham, Canada; Amsterdam, Holland; and Bristol, UK (December
          1992) -- Geac Computers BV, a subsidiary of Geac Computer
          Corporation Limited, is pleased to announce that the Centrale
          Bibliotheekdienst Friesland (CBD) has chosen the Geac ADVANCE
          Integrated Library System.

          With this contract the CBD is the first public library
          organization in Holland to use Geac's highly advanced library
          system, ADVANCE. The system will be running on a powerful 3450
          NCR computer with 64 MB of internal memory and 4.2 Gigabyte of
          external memory incorporating RAID disk array technology. The
          CBD required the data
          security and 24-hour availability that RAID systems provide.

          The Geac ADVANCE Library system will be the basis of the Central
          Catalogue of the province of Friesland, existing with more than
          400,000 titles of books, compact discs, music and other media
          with a total of approximately 3,500,000 items.

          The CBD selected Geac ADVANCE based on the high demand practice
          of the public libraries in Friesland serving over 300,000
          patrons with millions of transactions every year. Additionally,
          in Holland, public libraries are being approached more and more
          as local/regional information centers by general and business
          patrons alike. This means that supplying "customized
          information" to patrons becomes increasingly important.

          Key factors in the CBD selection of Geac ADVANCE include: Fast
          response times; a user friendly "search structure" of the
          catalogue; and reliability.  The CBD also noted that the Geac
          ADVANCE system is easy to customize and runs under UNIX.

                                        -30-


          News Item #3: Third ADVANCE Site in North Carolina

          Dallas, TX and Markham, Ont -- (Dec 1992) --  Harnett County
          Public Library of Lillington, NC, recently became the third new
          Geac ADVANCE Integrated Library System site in North Carolina.
          Harnett County's system will be based on a Geac Motorola 88100
          RISC system.

          Harnett County chose the Unix-based Geac ADVANCE system citing
          best value in a full MARC bibliographic and authority record
          integrated library system.  Melanie Collins, Director of
          Harnett County also praised the Geac system's ease of use, great
          menu flexibility, help messages, and help screens. Added
          Collins, "We also value a quality database and the ADVANCE
          Cataloguing module more than meets our requirements in this
          area."

          Harnett County will initially be running Geac ADVANCE's
          Cataloging, Circulation, and OPAC modules.  The Harnett County
          Main Library and four branch libraries will be connected online
          to one ADVANCE Union database.

                                        -30-

          Press Contact:
          Harrison Cheung
          T:(416) 475-0525
          F:(416) 475-3847