Press Releases & News

Chicago, Illinois January 3, 2009 — A new free booklet helps business owners navigate the often complex activity of choosing internet marketing services.  The “Consumer Awareness Guide to Buying Internet Sales and Marketing Services” written by internet marketing expert Raynay Valles is available at
www.fasttrackinternetmarketing.com/freeguide/

“The average business owner who has a website is needlessly wasting thousands of dollars on internet marketing ripoffs.  As a result, these companies make millions of dollars and mislead business owners to believe, ‘The Internet doesn’t work.’”

These controversial words come from one of the nation’s leading internet marketing experts and business advocates, Raynay Valles and address a growing problem as more businesses try to increase sales using internet
marketing.

Focusing on step-by-step solutions to the concerns of business owners, this guide covers:

-Why 99% of the internet marketing services used by most companies are a waste of time and money
-How to avoid traffic-building scams and rip-offs
-How most business owners are asking the wrong question about their website
-5 costly misconceptions about getting business from the web
-The 3 most effective ways to find your customers online
-7 questions you need to ask before buying any internet sales and marketing services

About Raynay Valles:

Internet marketing specialist and author Raynay Valles is president of Jawdrop, Inc. a Chicago online marketing consulting firm.  Her articles have appeared in numerous online magazines, newsletters and blogs.  She speaks
to local business groups on the subject of succeeding with  internet marketing.  Available for interviews, Raynay welcomes questions
from writers and business owners alike.

Contact:

Raynay Valles, President
Jawdrop, Inc.
773-539-9309
http://www.FastTrackInternetMarketing.com

At this year’s Learning Technologies conference and exhibition, being held at London’s Olympia on 28^th and 29^th January 2009, Giunti Labs, a leading learning and mobile content management solution provider, will be showcasing new developments in its learn eXact learning content management system (LCMS) technology.

“Giunti Labs is taking the concept of the LCMS platform a step forward, designing a ‘corporate-wide’ technology solution aimed at absorbing all of an organisation’s knowledge base and delivering it in the most appropriate business/learning scope/learner type fashion,” said Fabrizio Cardinali, Giunti Labs’ CEO. “This is an innovative solution to empower learning and content management projects in highly dynamic organisations.”

“Organisations are currently experiencing massive increases in information-based, enterprise-wide projects and tasks - including information dissemination, corporate-wide learning and competence management - to support their evolution and business performance,” commented Andrea Gentili, Giunti Labs’ Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. “In its new version of the learn eXact LCMS – called learn eXact Enterprise - Giunti Labs is providing a solution to these problems.”

learn eXact Enterprise has been created to support all aspects of management of the process and the contents for distant learning in an organisiaton. In particular, it has been designed to integrate with other organisational management systems, such as ERP, HR and document management systems.

It aims to optimise all workgroup and corporate-wide projects with a high degree of content usage and sharing. It is best suited to:

· Enterprise-wide content based projects

· Content consolidation

· Knowledge dissemination over highly dispersed environments

· Blended learning programmes

· On-the-job, continuous learning

· Overall organisation performance enhancement

“The platform, which is SOA-based, is founded on a three level architecture - data, business and presentation layer,” said Cardinali. “It is a performance-orientated, extended learning engine which can easily accommodate any business model evolution in which information aggregation, distribution and activation are key in achieving superior operational performance, a strong competence-orientated and future-proof organisation.”

About learn eXact Enterprise LCMS

learn eXact Enterprise comprises a series of interoperable modules for domains, users and profiles and contents creation management, workflow processes, projects management, contents delivery and performances reporting. Among other things, it:

· Enables more flexible workflow

· Provides workflow status summaries and action lists

· Is a project management tool

· Includes more roles and metadata configurability

· Allows easy editing of user roles and permission

· Allows easy editing of content metadata

· Allows easy team structure management and revision

· Allows easy task editing and association, including within active projects

· Contains full versioning and roll-back functions

· Contains a fully customisable ‘skin’ to ensure a corporate family ‘feeling’

· Has localisation capability

· Enables data export in XML format via web services

· Includes simple search or metadata search at digital repository level

· Contains a search preview function

About Giunti Labs

Giunti Labs is a leading Online and Mobile Learning Content Management Solutions provider with global headquarters in Italy and offices in London (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Lund (Sweden), Boston (US), as well as Sydney and Perth (Australia).

Giunti Labs provides a wide range of solutions, in response to any content, learning and knowledge management need, covering:

· 24/7 multi language learning content production

· LCMS and Digital Repository Platforms

· Delivery solutions for mobile & wireless

· Consulting and professional services

Giunti Labs is part of Giunti Group, a leading educational and cultural heritage publisher with roots back to 1841. Over the years Giunti has built a catalogue of huge dimensions (over 7.000 titles) and acquired new brands in Italy and worldwide.

In 2008, Giunti Labs acquired the HarvestRoad Hive digital repository system, which manages any form of content used in online learning, corporate training and knowledge management initiatives. HarvestRoad Hive can interface with practically any ERP, Learning or Course Management System and is already integrated with several commonly used course management systems, authoring and content assembly tools.

Further information from:

Alessandro Lorenzelli, Giunti Labs, +39 0185 42123, a.lorenzelli@giuntilabs.com

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405, bob.little@boblittlepr.com

The Learning and Skills Network (LSN) - an independent not-for-profit organisation committed to making a difference to education and training - has concluded a deal to distribute Echelon Learning’s series of nine, online, interactive, video-rich teacher training programmes throughout the UK. The programmes, initially developed for Westminster Kingsway College (WKC), highlight best practice in teaching and are particularly intended for those teaching in colleges of further education.

Designed to help all users develop planning and pedagogical skills, the Teaching Best Practice programmes are suitable for both new lecturers needing to acquire and develop new skills and for existing teachers as part of their continuous professional development (CPD) activities.

“The programmes, which use video to highlight examples of best practice in teaching and learning, focus on teaching skills and classroom management skills,” explained Echelon’s Hugh Garai, “As such, they are applicable to teachers of all academic disciplines.”

WKC commissioned the programmes following some feedback following an Ofsted inspection of the college. Peter Armah, WKC’s head of human resources and development, explained: “We decided to develop some programmes which outlined best practice around key topics such as ‘effective differentiation’, ‘managing classroom behaviour’, ‘managing punctuality and attendance’, ‘integrating key skills into the curriculum’, and ‘making effective use of information and learning technology (ILT)’.

“Making these learning materials available online meant that our staff were able to tap into them as and when they wished. Later, we augmented these online learning materials with workbooks.

“A key strategy was to train the College Advanced Practitioners on how to use the programme, enabling them to become a resource to deliver both individual and team training.”

Based at centres in Camden and Westminster, WKC has some 14,000 students and a teaching staff of 600. The college offers a wide range of further, adult and higher education programmes, available for people of all ages from 14 years upwards.

“Using actual classes with WKC teachers and students enabled us to communicate programme content clearly in a context familiar to users and helped us to spill the beans on the magic ingredients that really make a teaching session that has the ‘wow’ factor,” Armah continued. “The overall aim was to develop programmes that could address both generic and subject specific issues, which are easy to use, accessible from anywhere, and flexible.”

The programmes are suitable for team discussion, reflective practice, independent and active learning. They can be used for curriculum team meetings, college planning and development days, subject sector days, centre days and cross-college days and for one-to-one support.

“Ever since we introduced these programmes, we have received highly positive feedback from those who have been using them,” Armah continued.

“We realised that other colleges face similar issues to WKC and so could benefit from these types of programmes. From there, it was a short step to deciding to make these learning materials available to the whole further education sector,” he added.

According to Garai, Echelon completed the last of the nine programmes - each of which contains some ten modules - towards the end of 2008. Although the programmes were originally designed for WKC, other colleges – including a large college in the east of Scotland – have also been using them with great success.

Further details of these programmes are available from the LSN (tel: 0845 602 5668

email: askus@lsneducation.org.uk; web: http://www.lsneducation.org.uk) or from Hugh Garai at Echelon Learning on 020 8568 1500 or email hugh@echelonlearning.co.uk

For further information please contact

Media contact: Bob Little Tel + 44 (0)1727 860405; Email: bob.little@boblittlepr.com

Sales contact: Hugh Garai Tel + 44 (0)20 8568 1500; Email:

hugh@echelonlearning.co.uk

About the Learning and Skills Network

The Learning and Skills Network (LSN) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation committed to making a difference to learning and skills. LSN aims to do this by delivering quality improvement and staff development programmes that support specific government initiatives, through research, training and consultancy; and by supplying services directly to schools, colleges and training organisations. It provides services for:

• policy-makers
• organisations that fund, manage and provide education
• individual providers and practitioners

These services fall into three broad categories:

· Programmes – to support learning providers (leaders, managers, teachers and trainers), to meet the challenges they face as the sector develops. Funded by QIA, the DCSF and the Learning and Skills Council among others, each programme is designed to support a particular priority.

· Research – focusing on sector priorities, including planning and funding, widening participation, technology and learning, and major programme evaluation. Its research supports policy-makers at a national or regional level by providing evidence about what works, and aids practitioners by highlighting and disseminating good practice.

· Training and consultancy.

The Learning and Skills Network, Fifth Floor, Holborn Centre, 120 Holborn, London, EC1N 2AD (tel 0845 602 5668; email askus@lsneducation.org.uk;

web http://www.lsneducation.org.uk)

About Echelon Learning Ltd

Echelon is an organisation development consultancy with a 20-year track record of delivering targeted communication, training and performance support solutions that really make a difference to corporate, government and not-for-profit organisations and professional bodies.

The company helps its clients create and sustain improved operational performance by developing high levels of employee engagement and competence that leverage their ability to achieve outstanding results, particularly in times of change.

Echelon publishes a wide range of self-development solutions that support lifelong career development: www.learningmatters.com

Clients include:

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

London Overground Rail (LOROL)

Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply

Department of Work and Pensions

Festival Housing Association

NHS

Royal Town Planning Institute

T-Mobile

Vodafone

Live Software Solutions (LSS), a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner which develops and delivers software, has helped OI Software to perfect its exciting new product, nGage. nGage is a rich, social application that integrates specifically with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007, using and extending SharePoint’s core functionality to transform the user’s intranet into a platform for universal employee engagement.

nGage with SharePoint enables, measures and celebrates:

• Leaders and managers being inclusive in inviting everyone in their team to be part of the solution to a challenge.
• People who enjoy making a difference.
• People who like to share their knowledge and their ideas.
• People who will always go that ‘extra mile’ when a colleague, partner or customer needs help.

Moreover, said OI Software’s CEO, Paul Henry: “It spreads this behaviour virally, around user organisations - even to the most cynical of individuals. nGage also gives leaders and managers powerful new tools to monitor and drive organisational, departmental, team and individual performance.”

James Boother, LSS’s Managing Director, explained: “OI Software had initially outsourced the development of this software to India but, for various reasons, it decided to bring the project back to the UK and contacted LSS.”

“Although our charges were – perhaps reassuringly – higher than those of the Indian software house, we allowed OI Software to bring nGage to market on schedule,” said LSS’s technical director, Mike Goatly.

OI Software’s CTO, Pete Denness, commented: “We initially engaged Indian software developers who did a good job getting the project started but, when we needed high quality, sophisticated user interface work added to the project, we turned to software development specialists LSS.”

nGage transforms SharePoint 2007–based intranets into measurably dynamic behavioural, communication, knowledge and talent management hubs. It does this by extending SharePoint’s out-of-the-box functionality with highly viral social networking features and rich support for generating and capturing ideas and innovation.

It then tracks every relevant use of SharePoint -  such as checking in a document, publishing a blog and contributing to a discussion - as well as in nGage’s proprietary functionality, such as giving feedback; questions and answers; submitting an idea; rating someone else’s idea, and so on. This data is then available to be aggregated, analysed and published to the individual’s ‘My Profile’ - defining that person’s reputation as an ‘engaged employee’ within her/his organisation.

Henry added: “Driving employee engagement is at the heart of how organisational intelligence – the ‘OI’ in ‘OI Software’ – can be captured and mined. Having been continually developing nGage for some time – latterly with help from LSS - we now believe that nGage is unique in driving and measuring employee engagement.”

About OI Software

OI Software, an independent UK company, based in Thame, Oxfordshire, is the developer of nGage, the software service that integrates with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to transform intranets into platforms for universal employee engagement.

About Live Software Solutions

Live Software Solutions (LSS) makes software that creates a difference.

Focusing on helping businesses that use Microsoft technologies, LSS – founded in 2004 – uses its business and software expertise to provide end-to-end solutions, from concept to implementation. In addition to software development services and consultancy, LSS also provides off-the-shelf packages. LLS’s approach is based on four core values:

· Service Excellence - achieving client confidence by truly understanding the business drivers and the project requirements, delivering the agreed solution to plan, managing issues and communicating clearly and regularly - while being easy to do business with and enjoyable to work with.

· Integrity - applying professional and technical expertise to ensure the right solution for the right reasons, as well as being open, honest and fair in all of our dealings.

· Teamwork - deploying the right blend of talent and experience to get the job done, and integrating effectively with client and third party personnel and activities.

· Development - continually seeking to enhance our own capabilities and processes, enabling us to remain innovative and challenging - and sharing this with our clients.

Further information from:

Tom Boother, LSS, 01707 267933/ 07967 633102; tboother@lss.co.uk

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 01727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com

Live Software Solutions (LSS), a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner which develops and delivers software for, among others, the insurance and publishing sectors, has entered into the ‘spirit of Christmas’ by offering all visitors to its website – www.lss.co.uk – a free utility, called ‘LiveDataScript’.

Mike Goatly, LSS’s technical director explained: “Software developers and database administrators alike often have the need to populate a database with a known set of data. LiveDataScript provides a quick and easy way to accomplish this for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 by extracting existing data into a set of SQL insert statements that can be re-used time and again.”

LiveDataScript’s features include:

· Scripting multiple tables, a single table or selected rows from a table.

· Connecting to multiple servers, allowing you to script from different servers into one file.

· Scripting straight to a file, to the clipboard or to a new window.

· Scripting derived columns or even completely arbitrary SQL - scripts are not confined to the columns currently in a table.

· Scripting with identity insertion for tables that have identity columns

Tom Boother, LSS’s business development manager, explained: “In the ‘spirit of Christmas’ we want to help every friend of LSS spend more time focusing on their products and services by providing them with a utility that we have found invaluable at LSS.”

About Live Software Solutions

Live Software Solutions (LSS) makes software that creates a difference.

Focusing on helping businesses that use Microsoft technologies, LSS – founded in 2004 – uses its business and software expertise to provide end-to-end solutions, from concept to implementation. In addition to software development services and consultancy, LSS also provides off-the-shelf packages. LLS’s approach is based on four core values:

· Service Excellence - achieving client confidence by truly understanding the business drivers and the project requirements, delivering the agreed solution to plan, managing issues and communicating clearly and regularly - while being easy to do business with and enjoyable to work with.

· Integrity - applying professional and technical expertise to ensure the right solution for the right reasons, as well as being open, honest and fair in all of our dealings.

· Teamwork - deploying the right blend of talent and experience to get the job done, and integrating effectively with client and third party personnel and activities.

· Development - continually seeking to enhance our own capabilities and processes, enabling us to remain innovative and challenging - and sharing this with our clients.

Further information from:

Tom Boother, LSS, 01707 267933/ 07967 633102; tboother@lss.co.uk

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 01727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com

“This Christmas, why not make a change from traditional Christmas cards and surprise family and friends creating your own personalized family Christmas Video Cards with brand new Pinnacle Studio™ 12 Winter Edition. Thanks to its ease of use, Pinnacle Studio video editing software is #1 in the consumer video editing market in the U.S. and in major European countries. It allows you to create and edit your pictures and short home-made videos so you can give a Christmas card that will last for years to come.

With the Pinnacle Studio Winter Edition software, creating your own videos cards with the family means this Christmas can be spent together building and preserving memories forever. As well as having fun, an edited video memory of the day or a video montage of photos from the year can make a great (and cost effective) card.

In just a few moments and simple clicks you can immortalize and enhance your holiday season images and turn them into a unique movie. With the Studio 12 technology you can produce an emotive Christmas card or a round robin letter for the 21st century - instead of writing about your past year, now you can show it!

Perfect for sharing Christmas best wishes

The Pinnacle Studio Winter Edition includes 38 festive titles and 15 seasonal DVD menus to give your home movie that Christmas feel. There are also 5 montage themes which apart from `Christmas’ includes `Presents’ and `New Year’. The clever Scorefitter music generator helps you add emotion to your movie by automatically creating a soundtrack to the exact length of your film!

Once you’ve created your Christmas Video Card, sharing it couldn’t be simpler. You can easily send it as emails or upload it on the internet. It can also be burnt directly onto DVD for sending as a thank you for your favourite presents or as a memento to those who joined you on Christmas day. It’s also a perfect gift for family and friends who are miles away and won’t be with you for the festive season.

Knowing what a busy time of the year it is, Pinnacle Systems has designed its Pinnacle Studio Winter Edition to be as easy as turning your PC or laptop on. It really is Santa’s little helper to add extra sparkle and colour to your Christmas memories for many years to come. Pinnacle Studio Winter Edition retails at £29.00. You can buy it at major retails or at www.pinnaclesys.com.

For tips, tricks and techniques on all Pinnacle solutions, visit Pinnacle Life.

About Pinnacle Systems, Inc.

Pinnacle Systems, Inc., a part of Avid Technology, Inc., is an industry leader in providing a complete set of home video editing and TV viewing tools for the consumer market. The company’s product lines including Pinnacle PCTV™, Dazzle®, Pinnacle ShowCenter®, and its flagship Pinnacle Studio™ line, cover the needs and requirements of any level of video storytellers or consumers who simply want to enjoy TV from their computer. Pinnacle Systems has received nine prestigious Emmy® Awards for its technical innovations and carries the commitment to help consumers enhance, preserve and share their memories with ease. For more information, visit www.pinnaclesys.com.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid is a worldwide leader in tools for film, video, audio, 3D animation, gaming and broadcast professionals – as well as for home audio and video enthusiasts. Avid professional and consumer brands include Avid, Digidesign, M-Audio, Pinnacle Systems, Sibelius, Softimage and Sundance Digital. The vast majority of primetime television shows, feature films, commercials and chart-topping music hits are made using one or more Avid products. Whether used by seasoned professionals or beginning students, Avid’s products and services enable customers to work more efficiently, productively and creatively. Avid received an Oscar® statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid® Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. For more information about the company’s Oscar, Grammy® and Emmy award-winning products and services, visit www.avid.com.

# # #

© 2008 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Promotions and discounts are subject to availability and change without notice. All prices are MSRP for U.S. only and are subject to change without notice. Contact your local reseller for prices outside the U.S. Avid, Digidesign, Film Composer, M-Audio, Pinnacle Systems, Sibelius, Softimage, Sundance Digital, the Pinnacle Pinwheel logo, Pinnacle PCTV, Dazzle, Pinnacle ShowCenter, Pinnacle MobileMedia, and Pinnacle Studio are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Oscar is a trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contact: Julie Thompson Dredge, Focus PR, Phone: 020 7845 6637, julie@focuspr.co.uk

Addition of hundreds of thousands of new users, growth of sales channel further expand Cornerstone’s global footprint and strengthen its experience in key segments.

Cornerstone OnDemand Inc., a leader in on-demand, integrated learning and talent management software and services, today announced that despite the recent turmoil in the economy, the company’s momentum has accelerated in the past four months. This includes the addition of hundreds of thousands of new users via the signing of top-tier clients, as well as the formation of strategic alliances with leading resellers and service organizations. The increase in new account bookings and growth of third-party sales channels further expands Cornerstone’s global footprint and strengthens its experience in key vertical segments.

Praised in a recent Bersin & Associates industry report for its impressive growth, extensive global capabilities and committed client focus, Cornerstone’s newest group of U.S. and international clients represent a wide range of verticals, including: travel and leisure (Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.); healthcare (SXC Health Solutions Corp, OhioHealth, CareOregon, Covenant Health); media (Scholastic); retail and distribution (Advantage Sales & Marketing, Sobeys, Chico’s FAS, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, Coca Cola Austria); manufacturing (Barry-Wehmiller Companies Inc.); and business and financial services (Travelex, Axiom), among others.

Cornerstone also is having success with its corporate alliance initiatives. In September, Monster Worldwide Inc. announced it is leveraging Cornerstone’s on-demand learning platform to launch a suite of online educational programs for job seekers on Monster.com. Additionally, the company has formed relationships with reselling partners in the learning management, HR outsourcing (HRO) and service areas such as Intrepid Learning Solutions, Laurus Strategies and Intelladon, as well as with specialized healthcare resellers such as Grotenhuis.

“The expansion of our global footprint and success of our strategic partnerships further validate Cornerstone’s leadership in the on-demand talent management software space,” said Adam Miller, President and CEO of Cornerstone OnDemand. “In the past year, we’ve closed some of the largest deals in the SaaS category because of our ability to support wide-scale, worldwide implementations. In 2009, we will continue to focus on the success of our clients, including investments in product innovation and in providing best-in-class client service and support.”

As part of its commitment to being a trusted strategic partner to its clients around the world, Cornerstone expanded its Consulting Services offerings, which includes growth of its internal team of experts and the addition of new strategic global consulting partners. The enhancements further streamline the client service experience, reduce implementation times and help support clients’ overall business objectives.

The company also has added a new team of experts, Cornerstone Success Services, which is dedicated to helping clients maximize their talent management software investments. This includes collaborating with clients to drive product innovation, familiarizing clients with new Cornerstone software features and helping clients optimize how they’re using Cornerstone to bring added value to their businesses.

Notes for Editors

About Cornerstone OnDemand

Cornerstone OnDemand (www.cornerstoneondemand.co.uk) empowers people around the world with on-demand, integrated learning and talent management software and services for connecting, developing and performing in the workplace.  Organizations employ Cornerstone’s easy-to-use, comprehensive Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based solutions to grow and develop a high-performance culture, align talent management strategies to specific business goals, gain insight into their workforce and create organizational efficiencies.  Cornerstone’s offerings span the workforce lifecycle, including onboarding, learning, social networking, compliance, performance, compensation and succession planning.  The company also provides extended enterprise solutions to help companies better collaborate with and train customers, vendors and other partners.  Available in 14 languages and supported by global, 24×7 customer care, Cornerstone is used by more than 1.5 million active subscribers in 141 countries.  The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California and has international offices in London, Paris, Munich, Tel Aviv and Mumbai.

Further information from:

Sinead Reynolds-Berti, Cornerstone OnDemand, + 33 (0) 6 28 33 55 66; sberti@cornerstoneondemand.com
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, + 44 (0) 1727 860405; www.boblittlepr.com

Cornerstone^® and Cornerstone OnDemand^® are registered trademarks of Cornerstone OnDemand Inc.

At this year’s Online Educa conference and exhibition, held in Berlin from 3^rd to 5^th December, Giunti Labs, a leading learning and mobile content management solution provider for the Educational sector, will be showcasing new developments in its Hive digital repository technology which was acquired by Giunti Labs in March 2008 from the Australian Stock Exchange quoted Harvestroad™ company.

In particular, it will be demonstrating the new HarvestRoad Hive online and mobile learning authoring plug-ins (Hive Packager™ and Hive Mobile™) as well as the new SOA architecture favouring state-of-the-art integration with Sakai and Moodle, the leading open source virtual learning platforms, using Hive’s advanced DR technology for managing, sharing and federating multi-channel learning contents across content providers and educational networks.

Michael Korcuska, Executive Director of the Sakai Foundation, an open source software project driven by a worldwide consortium of educational institutions, commercial organisations and individuals dedicated to providing course management, research collaboration and e-portfolio tools will be joining Giunti Labs’ exhibition booth at Online Educa Berlin on Thursday 4^th December, from 4:30pm to 7:00pm.

“The emergence of open source solutions, such as Sakai and Moodle, heralds a period of greater choice and flexibility,” said Fabrizio Cardinali, Giunti Labs’ CEO.

“HarvestRoad Hive is a content bridge solution – helping organisations to move their content safely from one learning management system to another while federating their content offerings and provisions into open digital marketplaces sharing both user generated and professional publishers’ materials. This not only allows organisations to protect their investment in content but also opens the way for greater choice and flexibility for managing learning and knowledge objects among the end user community, similarly to what the iTunes model has done for music.”

Digital repositories, such as HarvestRoad Hive, provide a centralised, co-ordinated and user-focused resource to serve the teaching, learning and research needs for organisations in all sectors of the economy. They bring together an organisation’s digital resources in a single, cohesive and accessible web-based environment that also provides access to external digital resources to further support the learning process.

Having a digital repository aims to accelerate the development and digital accessibility of unique interdisciplinary materials by creating an infrastructure that allows learners to bring together concepts, data, discoveries, ideas, interpretations and methods in powerful new ways.

According to, Andrea Gentili, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Giunti Labs: “A key ‘pain point’ facing the modern organisation is that it has a great deal of content but its staff spends a significant amount of its time to find this content when they need it.

“A recent study by Forrester Research shows that workers tend to spend between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of their typical working day trying to find existing content,” he said. “They then spend 70 per cent of the time left recreating the information that can’t be found.

“Organisations can easily develop ‘vertical’ silos of information which, by their very nature, make this information difficult for others to find.”

“In order to make this information available and accessible to all those within the organisation who need it – and, more importantly, all those who can benefit the organisation by having it - you need to store it in a single place but deliver it to multiple places. That is what a digital repository, such as HarvestRoad Hive, does.

“And, in learning terms, if you can’t even find the learning content you’re looking for, you can’t learn from it!” he pointed out.

“One way of overcoming this problem is to have a digital repository offering refined categorisation and search tools that help locate information quickly. Such a system would provide quantifiable savings in terms of time and resources – and that’s what HarvestRoad Hive does.”

“The system’s advanced copyright engine lets you record and track usage of copyright material and licences,” said John Rowling, Hive’s chief technical officer. “And it interfaces with other systems to provide a flexible hub for digital asset management, delivering content to a range of front-end delivery systems.”

It is in this way – as a ‘content bridge’ that Staffordshire University in the UK is using HarvestRoad Hive. Established in the early 1990s, Staffordshire University has some 16,000 students, based at two main campuses in Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford, as well as a co-funded University Centre in Lichfield.

The university provides courses at foundation, certificate, diploma, degree and postgraduate level in the arts, media and design; business and law; computing, engineering and technology; as well as health and sciences. It also runs a number of vocational courses, including a range of employer-backed foundation degrees, through its network of further education colleges throughout Staffordshire and Shropshire.

Recognising that geographical and time barriers can be a constraint to learning, the university continues to develop online courses for access at home and/or in the workplace.

Using HarvestRoad Hive, university staff can now share, re-use and repurpose their content. This avoids anyone having to ‘reinvent the wheel’, enabling the university’s investment in e-learning content – probably over a million pounds’ worth of effort - to be used more effectively.

“In addition, we can use HarvestRoad Hive to hold course-related information – for example, where a work-based mentor can go to a work-based support portal and get relevant resources,” said Professor Mark Stiles, Staffordshire University’s head of Learning Development and Innovation. “Thus, more than being used merely to develop course material, HarvestRoad Hive can support the entire learning experience.”

End

About Sakai

Sakai is an open source software project driven by a worldwide consortium of educational institutions, commercial organisations and individuals dedicated to providing course management, research collaboration and e-portfolio tools. The Sakai Project is supported by the Sakai Foundation, a non-profit organisation that is dedicated to coordinating activities around Sakai and the Sakai community to insure Sakai’s long-term viability.

For more information, please visit www.sakaiproject.org.

About Giunti Labs

Giunti Labs is a leading Online and Mobile Learning Content Management Solutions provider with global headquarters in Italy and offices in London (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Lund (Sweden), Boston (US), as well as Sydney and Perth (Australia).