Web technology, a different way of working

The big difference to previous BIBIS products is that Bibis LMS has been built for web technology. This makes it a completely different product to the previous character-oriented versions. Bibis LMS no longer has a 24-line screen, but a HTML page with as many lines as the user needs. This leads to a completely different way of working. But it also makes requirements of the technology used. After all, a dynamic environment like a library/knowledge center needs an application that operates just as dynamically with the server. Square has found the solution to this challenge, the result being Bibis LMS in combination with the Verity Information Server.

Modular structure

Just as with previous versions, Bibis LMS has been constructed from the catalogue, ordering, acquisitions, loans, journals and configuration modules. All the BIBIS functionality is either present or possible here as well. But thanks to the web technology the solutions have, of course, been achieved in a different way. The programs interact with each other differently. Firstly, HTML pages are sent to and fro with all the information needed to tell the server what is supposed to happen and secondly, the browser constructs a much larger page than there is data sent over the network. The browser offers the facility of constructing a menu screen from your own favorite programs right across the modules. The links to programs that you use a lot are also very handy.

Messaging-layer

A starting point in developing Bibis LMS was the fact that computerization within an organization generally starts with the installation of hardware. A network and 'messaging layer' are subsequently added on to this, both of them necessary for mutual communication. The Internet facility e-mail is just such a messaging layer, and can now be found in many companies. Square decided not to reinvent the wheel, and built e-mail into Bibis LMS as its messaging layer.

The possibilities for communication that this offers at Intranet and Internet levels form a substantial difference to the previous BIBIS products. Taking central place in this stream of communications are the 'Hot DoX', the documents that are of vital importance for day-to-day decision making within the organization. These are the knowledge carriers. The 'Verity Information Server' search engine extracts them with no difficulty whatsoever and is also used if people want to go further than the library application: if it is the intention that information, supposed to be easily accessible, should be presented to the outside world via the web. Everyone who has a browser on their work station can, in principle, search it.

BIS, the Bibis Internet Server

Square has developed the BIS, the Bibis Internet Server, for connecting to the web. What are the distinguishing features of BIS within Bibis LMS and what does this mean in practice? A further explanation of Bibis LMS and a selection of its facilities can be found on the following pages.