Atlanta, Ga., October 5, 2023: Equinox Open Library Initiative, a trusted leader in open source technology development and support for libraries, is pleased to announce the migration of the German Society of Pennsylvania to Koha ILS as part of their membership with the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collection Libraries.
The German Society of Pennsylvania has been serving its community since 1764 providing charitable support, language instruction, and contributions to the social and cultural life of Philadelphia. Their Joseph Horner Memorial Library is the largest private collection of publications in German outside of a university library in the United States. Their migration to Koha included 30,890 bibliographic records and supported 31,121 patrons. Equinox provided implementation, hosting, support, and training services as part of the migration process.
“The German Society of Pennsylvania is excited to be working with Equinox as part of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries, as we migrate our catalogs to Koha,” said Bettina Hess, Special Collections Librarian at the German Society of Pennsylvania. “We have been extremely pleased with the level of support during the transition, and both the implementation and training teams have been great to work with. Equinox is very responsive and has done an excellent job in working with our group of five very specialized libraries with distinct needs.”
The Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collection Libraries was established in 1985 to enhance the visibility and support of member institutions. In the thirty years since its inception, it has doubled in size and continues to support area libraries through its working groups, project support, and setting of best practices.
“We are really proud of the work we did in partnership with the German Society of Pennsylvania,” said Erica Rohlfs, Senior Implementation Project Manager at Equinox. “We believe that open source is a powerful tool for distinctive collections, and it has been a pleasure to showcase that fact with the wonderful collection housed at the German Society of Pennsylvania in their Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library.”
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For more information:
Laura Barry
Communications Coordinator
Equinox Open Library Initiative, Inc.
EquinoxOLI.org
laura.barry@equinoxOLI.org
877.OPEN.ILS (877.673.6457)
About Equinox Open Library Initiative
Equinox Open Library Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is the successor to Equinox Software, Inc. Equinox’s mission as a nonprofit is to promote and support a thriving ecosystem for open source library communities in order to provide libraries worldwide with innovative, affordable, and sustainable open source solutions. We are devoted to reducing barriers to library technology and services, expanding library access to open source software, and providing high quality technology, consulting, and support services.To learn more, please visit https://www.equinoxOLI.org.
About Koha ILS
Created in 1999 by Katipo Communications for the Horowhenua Library Trust in New Zealand, Koha Integrated Library System is the first open source Integrated Library System to be used worldwide. The software is a full-featured ILS with a dual-database design (search engine and RDBMS) built to be compliant with library standards. Koha’s OPAC, staff, and self-checkout interfaces are all web applications. Distributed under the General Public License (GPL), libraries are free to use and install Koha themselves or to purchase support and development services. For more information on Koha, please visit https://www.equinoxoli.org/products/koha/.