June 30, 2006

WebFeat & American University of Armenia Launch First Demonstration of Federated Search Services in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Yerevan - The first demonstration of a customized federated search service in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an alliance of 11 former Soviet Republics, has been launched by WebFeat, developer of the WEBFEAT™ and WebFeat Express™ Search Prisms, and the Papazian Library at the American University of Armenia (AUA). Library users can now simultaneously search the Library's catalog and selected popular databases from a quick search box.

WebFeat is used by over 5,000 leading public, academic, government, 'Global 1000' libraries, and information centers-including over half of the 20 largest U.S. public libraries, 9 statewide library systems, and one out of every 10 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions.

"WebFeat is pleased to team with the American University of Armenia (AUA) and SEFLIN, the Southeast Florida Library Information Network, to demonstrate federated search services for the AUA community. (SEFLIN is a membership organization of libraries dedicated to working cooperatively to advance library services). WebFeat is used by over 5,000 leading libraries and we are delighted to contribute our services to this demonstration project at the Papazian Library," stated Todd Miller, President of WebFeat. "We are grateful to Todd Miller, Founder & CEO WebFeat, and to SEFLIN, the Southeast Florida Library Information Network, for partnering with the American University of Armenia (AUA) in providing this valuable service," stated Satenik Avakian, AUA Library Director. "WebFeat enables patrons to search the online database resources and the library catalog simultaneously with a single search interface," said Avakian.

"WebFeat has already become an indispensable topic-oriented tool for AUA students. "It provides us with a unique opportunity to search the library's entire collection alongside many other articles and catalogs in a very organized manner" says Lena Hovivyan, 2nd year student in the AUA Political Science and International Relations graduate program.

"Through the generous support of Todd Miller and WebFeat, federated search services are being demonstrated for the first time in Armenia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)," said Tom Sloan, SEFLIN Executive Director. "We are pleased to have brought these partners together and congratulate WebFeat and the American University of Armenia in demonstrating innovative technology to search digital content," stated Sloan.