February 10, 2010

Surpass Software releases version 6 offering major update to OPAC

Surpass Software releases version 6 of its suite of library automation products, bringing a brand new interface that’s chock full of features to Surpass Safari, the company’s public access catalog for desktop and Web.  Upgrades to version 6 are free for current users with a valid support subscription.

 Surpass Safari 6 is available in both a Windows desktop version and a web-based version that runs on the latest generation of web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Google Chrome.  Surpass Safari’s new interface features a customizable welcome page that’s built from “widgets” that can be added or configured by an administrator in a similar manner to building an iGoogle or My Yahoo! home page. Drag-and-drop features make organizing the page easy.  A few of the available widgets include:  library news and bulletins; library calendar and events list; list of links to web sites; lists of recommended reading lists; and lists of new materials or popular titles that can be configured to scroll the book jacket images of the selected materials.  The company plans to expand the list of widgets.

 The appearance of Surpass Safari 6 can be customized by adding the library’s logo or graphic to the page header and by choosing from a variety of “themes” that alter the color scheme and surrounding graphics of the catalog.  A children’s theme called Safariland surrounds the main interface with cartoon-style animal images.  Further customization can be accomplished in Surpass Safari’s “Explore” area, which provides graphical icon-based browsing with buttons that can be configured by the administrator to launch catalog searches, display bibliographies, or even link to web sites or local documents.  An extensive graphics library is included, or users can upload their own images.

 Searching in Surpass Safari 6 is made easy with “find-as-you-type,” which provides a drill-down list of matching keywords, authors, titles and subjects that finds closer matches as the user types each letter in the search box.  A spell-checker with “did you mean…” suggestions is also provided.  Simple and advanced searches include a variety of “limiters” to help narrow the search.

 Among the list of features of Surpass Safari 6 are Web 2.0 features such as patron-written book reviews and star-ratings. 

Several enhancement subscriptions are available for Surpass Safari 6.  Surpass Reading Program Service integrates Accelerated Reader, Scholastic Reading Counts, and Lexile information. Surpass Awards and Honors subscription links dozens of literary awards such as Caldecott, Newbery, and state-level awards to the catalog holdings.  Safari Selections displays enhanced content including book jacket cover images, professional book reviews, chapter excerpts, author notes and more.

About Surpass

With over 25 years of experience in library automation, Surpass Software offers complete library automation solutions for public, school, and special libraries, with special packages available for small libraries and churches.  Surpass offers free full-functional trial versions of its products at www.SurpassSoftware.com or by calling 706-625-5399.