Capstone Updates Collection Analysis Service, New Features Allow for More Customization Based on Librarians’ Needs

Minneapolis, MN, May 07, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Capstone, the leading publisher of children’s books in the U.S. education market, announces enhancements to its premium collection analysis service CollectionWizTM, a free, online tool assisting library professionals with their collection development and planning efforts. New features provide users with even more ways to customize their analysis and meet their unique collection development needs and goals.

Among the most anticipated new features available to CollectionWiz users is “Schools Like Mine” which allows librarians to see how their distribution of materials compares to similar schools. A Collections Comparisons report is available for users to visually communicate these differences. Another new feature allows users to easily specify and customize their age preferences for the Dewey ranges.

“Collection analysis is a critical tool to help keep a library's collection a vibrant center of learning. Librarians have come to find that CollectionWiz is the perfect complement to the other collection development practices they already perform. It’s a valuable tool that now is even more flexible allowing users to truly tailor the analysis to their unique needs,” said Tom Ahern, CEO of Capstone.

Capstone recently hosted a free webinar on inventory with authors Patricia Franklin and Claire Stephens of Library 101: A Handbook for the School Library Media Specialist. The webinar offered time-saving tips and referenced CollectionWiz as a valuable resource for librarians. The archived webinar is available at www.CapstonePub.com/content/WEBINAR_INVENTORY_101.

CollectionWiz is available to registered account users of www.CapstonePub.com and www.HeinemannRaintree.com. Through a special promotion, first time users will receive a coupon for $150 off their next $500 purchase. Offer expires Dec. 31, 2010.

CollectionWiz is an intuitive free service that notifies library professionals of duplicate Capstone or Heinemann-Raintree titles in their collection, recommends new titles that correlate to their state curriculum standards, allows the copyright age parameters for Dewey ranges to be easily adjusted, compares their collection to other CollectionWiz users, and features related fiction links at each Dewey range and built in searches by genre. With detailed reports and graphs, CollectionWiz allows librarians to visually communicate and advocate their purchasing needs.

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