Bill Schickling has spent a good chunk of his professional life at what is now Polaris Library Systems, shaping both the older Galaxy system and the newer Polaris integrated library system (ILS). When he joined the company as a programmer in 1987, it was still part of Gaylord, known mostly for its furniture and supplies division. Schickling was…

This article presents an interview with Patrick Sommers, president of reference/information publisher "Gale" (part of Cengage Learning). Sommers took the helm in October 2007, after running system vendor Sirsi beginning in 2001 and engineering both the 2005 merger with Dynix and the 2007 sale of the newly created SirsiDynix to Vista Equity…

Many librarians who went to the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego last month did not find anything at the exhibits either, frequently because they did not take a serious look at them or talk to any of the vendors there. Sure, they may have attended the All-Conference Reception Friday night, but most never returned. Yet, they found the time to sit…

BookExpo America (BEA) had some extra zing this year, especially for librarians. A record 1800 library professionals preregistered for the book fair in Chicago, June 3-6, a leap beyond the 750 last year in Los Angeles. They found an industry that has shaken off post-9/11 doldrums. Bill Clinton's keynote to kick off the show and promote My Life…