IPSWICH, Mass. — November 9, 2022 — The Open Window Institute (OWI), together with its sister-institution, Creative Academy (CTCA), have adopted the FOLIO Library Services Platform (LSP). The implementation was managed and completed by local service partner Universal Knowledge Software (UKS) and EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO). EBSCO will continue to offer infrastructure, integration and hosting services for the university through EBSCO FOLIO.
OWI is part of UXi, a private education group in South Africa which is launching a fully-integrated library management system powered by EBSCO FOLIO. OWI’s Southdowns campus and CTCA will be migrating 7,000 physical holdings onto FOLIO’s open-source platform, as well as expanding their collections of e-resources from EBSCOhost® databases. Other UXi institutions will begin migrating to the EBSCO FOLIO platform in the coming months, including the Johannesburg and Stellenbosch Open Window campuses.
OWI’s Head of Collections and Research Management, Gontse Mathabathe, says, leveraging FOLIO and EBSCO services such as EBSCO Discovery Service™ fits well with the atmosphere OWI wants to create. “Our multi-modal teaching approach requires a library system that is both accessible and flexible enough to accommodate the dynamic creative environment. FOLIO’s open source platform, together with EBSCO Discovery Service, will facilitate a seamless end-user experience for both our students and lecturers.”
EBSCO Information Services Director of FOLIO Partnerships, Mark Allcock, says that the collaboration between EBSCO and UKS provides libraries in the South African region with services that make adopting open-source technology a reality. “EBSCO FOLIO Services, with the support of local service providers like UKS, provides implementation, hosting and support from reliable specialists. This collaboration will allow UXi to provide an efficient workflow for libraries across the organization.”
Universal Knowledge Software’s CEO, Neesha Ramsumar, says that UKS aims to provide leading library solutions and implementation services that ultimately improve libraries workflow across South Africa. “The FOLIO implementation at OWI has provided the institution with flexibility in managing their resources and their growing collections. UKS’s involvement with OWI’s adoption of FOLIO serves as a success story for other libraries in the region looking to implement FOLIO who think they may not have the time and resources to implement successfully. With our support they can.”
About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is the preeminent provider of online research content and search technologies serving academic, school and public libraries; healthcare and medical institutions; corporations; and government agencies around the world. From research, acquisition management, subscription services and discovery to clinical decision support and patient care, learning, and research and development, EBSCO provides institutions with access to content and resources to serve the information and workflow needs of their users and organizations. For more information, visit the EBSCO website at: www.ebsco.com.
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Kathleen McEvoy
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