Bowker acquires Medialab

From Info Today

R.R. Bowker (www.bowker.com) has announced its acquisition of Medialab Solutions, creators of the AquaBrowser Library search and discovery platform (www.aquabrowser.com). Bowker said the acquisition is designed to align its collection of bibliographic data with AquaBrowser’s user-friendly visual faceted search technology, thereby improving Bowker’s ability to deliver new products that enhance the user experience in libraries.

AquaBrowser Library seamlessly integrates with any major library system, opening up both the library catalog and any other information source. Through AquaBrowser Library, libraries can offer the visual faceted search interface, without the need to change anything in the way they work, their existing ILS, or the OPAC.

Under the acquisition agreement, Medialab Solutions co-founder Bastiaan Zwaan and his senior management team and staff will all become part of the Bowker family. The company will maintain its offices in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where operations will continue under Zwaan’s leadership. You can find AquaBrowser in nearly 2,000 library locations around the world, including more than 120 library systems in the U.S.