Best‐Seller: a Canadian library automation system

Best‐Seller Inc. has been a developer of standards‐based library automation systems since 1986. Its products have evolved to meet unique challenges worldwide but more specifically those in Canadian library operations especially bilingual collections and access. Best‐Seller’s third generation system, PortFolio, is developed in JAVA and is entirely Web‐based. The PortFolio BestOPAC offers unique ways of linking local collections to electronic resources and multimedia collections. In addition to incorporating all traditional library practices, Best‐Seller products include a Legal Deposit subsystem, electronic ordering, links to external accounting systems from Acquisitions, WebExport, a fee‐based Z39.50 record download and links to external patron files. Best‐Seller is now rapidly expanding its customer base in France while evolving its offerings to support UNICODE, UNIMARC and other features such as sophisticated closed stacks management. Best‐Seller customers are public, special and academic libraries in the USA, Canada, France and the West Indies.