Syndetic Solutions Introduces New Content
Options for Enhancing Libraries’ Online Catalogs

New Providence, N.J. – October 4, 2005

Syndetic Solutions, a subsidiary of R.R. Bowker and the premier provider of enriched content for a library’s online catalog, has added a series of new data sources for enriching a library’s online catalog.

Syndetic Solutions was the first to develop a suite of product offerings that allow libraries to present their holdings to patrons in a more informative and interesting way. Working closely with publishers and ILS vendors, the company gathers and disseminates data for seamless and effortless integration into a library’s OPAC System. “Our active dialog with our customers enables us to add new content and functionality that provides a superior user experience with a library’s OPAC for patrons, faculty and staff,” added Boe Horton, Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Library Division.

Enrichment options include cover images, summaries, fiction profiles, biography profiles, author notes, first chapters, excerpts, tables of contents, and book reviews. Currently thousands of public, academic, school, and special libraries around the country rely on Syndetic Solutions for its unique “added-value” content.

All of these new data features from Syndetic Solutions can be previewed now by visiting the company’s totally redesigned and user-friendly Web site at www.syndetics.com. The four new data sources now available to libraries include the following:

• Expanded Book Reviews - Syndetics now offers library patrons direct access to book reviews from Kirkus Reviews. Founded in 1933, Kirkus Reviews offer professional reviews, three to four months pre-publication, of titles such as: fiction, mysteries, sci-fi, translations, nonfiction, and children's. The reviews date back to 1983.
• Awards - Libraries can allow patrons to view the list of awards that an individual book has either won or been nominated to win. Syndetics tracks 400 of the industry’s leading awards that currently link to more than 100,000 titles.
• Fiction Profiles - Syndetics’ staff analyzes more than 12,000 new works of fiction and short-story collections annually. There are currently in excess of 130,000 fiction profiles in the searchable database, grouped within a broad range of headings for each title (e.g., genre, major and ancillary topics, main characters, time periods, etc.).
• Book Series Information - Each fiction title within a series is linked to the complete series record so that patrons can quickly refer to the other titles in the series. The record displays each title in reading order and also displays the publication order if different. Syndetics provides information for more than 4,100 new and existing series.

Syndetic Solutions is the leading supplier of descriptive content designed exclusively for library catalogs. Syndetics' services enable libraries to link to cover images and a variety of data elements relating to more than 1,800,000 books and videos published since 1985. For additional information, visit www.syndetics.com or contact Syndetics at 877-737-9722 or via email at solutions@syndetics.com.

Founded in 1872, R.R. Bowker is North America’s leading provider of bibliographic information, and is also the official agency for assigning ISBNs in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company’s flagship product, Books In Print®, is available on the Internet at www.BooksInPrint.com, on CD-ROM and in hardbound print format. R.R. Bowker is a unit of privately owned Cambridge Information Group based in Bethesda, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.bowker.com, call 1-888-BOWKER2 (1-888-269-5372), or e-mail marketing@bowker.com.

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