Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (abbreviated III and called "Innovative" or "Triple I" in the industry) is a
software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
company specializing in
integrated systems for
library management
Library management is a sub-discipline of management, institutional management that focuses on specific issues faced by libraries and library management professionals. Library management encompasses normal managerial tasks, as well as intellectu ...
. Their key products include Sierra, Polaris, Millennium, and Virtua,
with customers in 66 countries.
Innovative was acquired by
Ex Libris (a
ProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power.
ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for l ...
company) in January 2020.
On December 1, 2021,
Clarivate
Clarivate Plc is a British-American Public company, publicly traded analytics company that operates a collection of subscription business model, subscription-based services, in the areas of bibliometrics and scientometrics; business intelligenc ...
completed their acquisition of ProQuest and, by extension, Innovative.
The company's software is used by various types of libraries including
academic
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
,
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
,
school
A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
,
medical
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
,
law, and
special libraries as well as
consortia. In September 2014 Sierra was installed at 1494 libraries (with 3435 facilities),
Polaris at 1339 (with 2808 facilities),
Millennium at 1316 (with 2640 facilities),
and Virtua at 224 (with 490 facilities).
Founded in 1978 by
Jerry Kline and Steve Silberstein in Berkeley, California, the initial product was a system to interface
OCLC
OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...
data with a library's cataloging system.
and JMI Equity invested in the company in 2012,
the same year Kim Massana, formerly president of
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational content-driven technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and maintains its headquarters at 1 ...
Elite, was appointed CEO.
[
] The equity firms purchased the company outright the next year.
The company also made several acquisitions within the next two years: SkyRiver Technology Solutions (which maintains partnerships with
3M,
EBSCO Information Services,
OverDrive, Inc., and Bibliotheca),
Polaris Library Systems, and
VTLS Inc. Bert Winemiller took over as CEO for a brief period in 2015
before the company named James Tallman as their new CEO in January 2016. During May 2019, Shaheen Javadizadeh was appointed CEO, and Jim Tallman was appointed to the role of executive chairman. In December 2019, Innovative was acquired by
Ex Libris. When acquired by ProQuest/Ex Libris, Yariv Kursh was named general manager.
Vega Platform
In April 2019, Innovative launched a new platform Inspire. The first product on this platform was Discovery.
It was architected on a cloud-based platform.
MARC records are converted to the
BIBFRAME model which are made searchable in a proprietary Context Engine. Search results were then shown in a Context Wheel that represents the relationships between resources, people, and concepts.
Later the platform was renamed to Vega and made publicly available in December 2020.
Innovative Users Group
Formed in 1991 as an independent organization, the Innovative Users Group serves the libraries that use the company's software. The Innovative Users Group organizes an annual conference, organizes ballots for user-submitted enhancements, and maintains the IUG Clearinghouse for users to share tutorials, scripts, guides, and other resources created to better use the software.
References
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External links
Innovative Interfaces, Inc. Home PageHome Page of the Innovative Users Group, an independent organization of users of the Innovative softwareList of current Encore libraries“Automation Marketplace 2013: The Rush to Innovate.” Library Journal.
Retrieved September 18, 2014.
“Automation Marketplace 2012: Agents of Change.” Library Journal.
Retrieved September 18, 2014.
Retrieved September 21, 2011.
Retrieved September 21, 2011.
Library automation
Library-related organizations
Software companies established in 1978
Companies based in Emeryville, California
1978 establishments in California