MUSAC Launches EDGE Library Manager
Tuesday 9 February 2016, 4:45PM
By MUSAC Ltd
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Starting February 9th 2016, MUSAC’s new EDGE Library Manager solution will be available to schools as a SaaS, or software-as-a-service, application. Since 2000 more than 1,200 of New Zealand’s schools have used the Classic MUSAC Library Manager (MLM), and the new licensure options allow greater flexibility for school size and subscription costs. The user-friendly EDGE Library Manager provides an effective resource management gateway for teachers, students and their caregivers to integrate assessment results with reading habits and bridge gaps between home and school.
Fully functional as either a standalone application or part of the full MUSAC EDGE Platform, the EDGE Library Manager brings student reading habits to the educational forefront and sends the need to read home, literally. Adopting the wisdom that "children who read succeed", the E LM will allow each student to have their own library account and access it from any device from any location. Students and their caregivers will log in to the EDGE Library Manager and see the books they’ve read, search for texts they’d like to read, and even track when books are available or due.
Young students will no longer have to search the shelves, frustrated as peers snatch their book first. Students and their caregivers will be able to scroll the virtual aisles at leisure, at home, see what the cover looks like and even read summaries and reviews online. Older students busy with studies and deadlines will simply search on their smartphones for the resources they need, allowing quick pickups and ensuring timely drop-offs. With the EDGE Library Manager, connectivity will encompass home, school and library through any device.
Teachers, librarians and library staff will benefit, too. The EDGE Library Manager documents availability and assignments for every resource in real time. Libraries can become true resource centers, focused on enhancing learning experiences and keeping students actively engaged. EDGE Library Manager allows all staff members access to the information they need when they need it, ensuring that positive library experiences help students learn and return.
MUSAC CEO Greg Twemlow (connect with Greg on LinkedIn) said that the MUSAC Classic Library Manager will still be available even after the Cloud Library Manager launches, but added, “We’re very excited about our integrated SMS and our new Library Manager. We want it to be affordable and easy to implement even for the smallest schools.”
Small Schools Enjoy Incredible Savings
License subscriptions start at $50 a year for small primary schools – those with fewer than 15 students – and when purchased with our SMS comes with 2 hours of free data migration services to preserve each library’s vital data. At the next tier, slightly larger primary schools with fewer than 50 students can subscribe for $150 while licenses for even the largest of primary, intermediate and secondary schools cost $300. A $1 fee per number of borrowers at each school covers administrative costs, and total licensure figures are eligible for discounts of 10 to 15 percent with multi-year licenses. “We cap our annual license fee at $1,300 and add in discounts when we can,” Twemlow said. “Even for a huge school with 1,500 students or more, enrolling for 3 years reduces costs to about $1,100 a year. In the technology world, that’s a bargain.”
MUSAC created the EDGE Cloud platform to support education-based technology developments well through the coming decade. It’s software as a service (SaaS), freeing schools from responsibility for expensive, in-house hardware and information technology (IT) support. With intuitive ease of use a priority, the EDGE Cloud solutions incorporate standard, modern Web architecture and navigation to give users powerful customisation, personalisation, analytical assessment and management options – all through any device with access to the Internet.
MUSAC is based at the Massey University Hokowhitu campus in Palmerston North, on New Zealand's north island. It offers school management system support, data integration, training assistance and user analysis for all the systems it develops.
For additional information, visit our website at http://www.musac.io/, contact MUSAC at (+64) 0800 600 159 or email the MUSAC staff at sales@musac.io