ILS Developments at Queens and Brooklyn & 2CUL for Two Schools

For tech services librarians, nothing beats getting screwed over by your ILS vendor. Queens Library's recent trouble with SirsiDynix was the subject of a Library Journal article a couple weeks ago. According to QL, they chose to migrate to Dynix's Horizon system based on promises of aggressive product development. Once Dynix merged with Sirsi, however, those promises were rescinded. Queens is now suing their erstwhile vendor, charging breach of contract, breach of guaranty, and fraud. They've since migrated to VTLS' Virtua system.

Further catalog news: Brooklyn Public Library announced improvements to their public interface, touting hold freezes, online fine payments, and a book-rating system amongst their catalog's new features.

Finally, Columbia and Cornell announced their intention to pool resources in their collection development, acquisitions, and processing operations. The project -- dubbed 2CUL -- is buoyed by a $385,000 Mellon grant. From the press release:

The two universities will form a separate service entity to facilitate the collaboration. Ithaka, a not-for-profit organization that assists research libraries and the academic community to leverage advancing information technologies, will provide project management and assist in the planning. Initial work will focus on several global collecting areas, as well as collaborative funding and support of technical infrastructure in various areas.

Yes, 2CUL is pronounced "too cool." No, the powers that be don't realize this is a laughable, supremely uncool name. Best of luck though.