Follett Software Company utilizes FairCom technology as part of their Catalog Plus and Circulation Plus library automation systems. Catalog Plus offers powerful searching of entire library collections including books, periodicals, audio and video files, eBooks, and a host of other media.
Follett's Circulation Plus system is designed to minimize the work associated with circulation and inventory management by automating these tasks. This includes routine circulation tasks that are typically performed by hand such as checking-in and checking-out books, calculating fines, sending overdue notices, and processing renewals. Circulation Plus puts complete inventory control in the hands of the librarian.
The portability and flexibility that has been part of FairCom's reputation for over 20 years have been fundamentally important to FSC. c-tree Plus' native support for multiple platforms, including Windows, Novell Netware, and Apple Macintosh, means that no changes are required in the database code when moving an application to different operating systems. The c-tree Server's heterogeneous networking allows FSC's engineers to implement Catalog Plus and Circulation Plus on different server platforms while supporting clients using any combination of Windows and Mac operating systems. FairCom handles all data conversions between the various operating systems and allows FSC to concentrate on what its customers need from the application and how to deliver it most efficiently.
The c-tree Server's client/server architecture allows FSC to maximize performance since database operations take place on the Server machine, thus reducing network I/O common with other databases. Clients access the server only when requesting data and only the results travel across the network, not the entire data search detail. In addition, FairCom's full-featured transaction processing assures that vital data will be preserved even in the face of a catastrophic failure, such as a machine crash or power failure.
(510KB PDF)
