(3 January 2014, Blacksburg, VA) – Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and VTLS Inc. celebrated 25 years of partnership with an anniversary event on 11 November 2013. UPM’s Chief Librarian, Amir Hussain Mohd. Ishak and former Chief Librarian, Tuan Syed Salim Agha, both attended the event along with VTLS President & CEO Dr. Vinod Chachra, library staff members and staff from VTLS Technologies Sdn Bhd (VTLS’ Malaysian subsidiary). While the event was held a few days after a similar silver anniversary celebration with the National Library of Malaysia, UPM was actually the first VTLS customer in Malaysia. With its original VTLS implementation, UPM became the first library in Malaysia to automate with an online integrated library system (ILS), housed in its own computer room inside the library. VTLS is proud of its association with UPM, a proven leader in information technology, and is pleased to continue to enjoy the confidence and loyalty of UPM as a customer.
“When UPM selected VTLS in 1988, it was a step taken in faith. They were not certain about the future or whether we would continue to do business in Malaysia. We’ve had a long journey with UPM, from initially replacing their card catalog to providing 21st century technology via the web,” observed Dr. Chachra, “but I feel our journey together still has a ways to go. We hope to work with UPM to implement our new digital asset management technologies with OPAC-centric integrated discovery and linked data in the future.”
UPM’s implementation of VTLS illustrates the wholehearted commitment of the institution to embracing new technology. Almost immediately after the VTLS Classic system went live in 1988, the chief librarian removed the card catalog from the library floor. All library staff members, even the cleaning crew, were trained on how to use the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) module. UPM upgraded to Virtua ILS in 2001.
The press release is here.
