NEWS

Ex Libris Releases Primo 4.0

The new version represents a milestone in the personalization
of library users' discovery experience

Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce the release of version 4 of the Primo® discovery and delivery solution. The discovery platform of choice for a global, rapidly growing customer community, Primo 4 enables users to personalize their discovery experience in ways that revolutionize traditional library searching. In addition, library staff members, particularly those in multitenant environments, benefit from enhanced administration tools.

The new version advances Primo functionality in all areas, enabling users to:

• Obtain relevant, personalized results. The Primo ScholarRank? technology now tailors the relevance ranking of results to the user's discipline and academic degree.

• Refine search results. Features added to Primo faceted browsing enable users to include and exclude multiple facets and thereby rapidly hone in on the required information. The ability to select multiple facets was included in Primo 4 as the result of collaboration with the Primo user community.

• Share Primo results via Facebook. Institutions can now include a Facebook "Like" button on individual Primo results. This feature enables Facebook members to use their profile or timeline as a platform for sharing items that they have discovered.

• Save a result page for future use. In Primo 4, users can save an entire page of results in their e-Shelf instead of saving them individually, as in earlier versions of Primo. This enhancement, another outcome of collaboration with Ex Libris customers, joins other options for preserving information about searches, such as receiving results through RSS feeds and saving search queries.

• Manage the system with greater independence. Each institution in a multitenant (consortium) environment can manage its own installation and configuration. Administrative permissions depend on authorizations determined by the consortium.

Michael North from Northwestern University, one of the early adopters of Primo 4, commented: "We are very excited to go live with the new Primo version. Personalized result-ranking stands out among the many enhancements in this product release. Primo ScholarRank leverages users' search context to help them discover items that are appropriate to their level of expertise and their area of research, a feature that is of particular help when the search terms are applicable to multiple fields. The new features of ScholarRank will be of immense value to our researchers."

"Improving the user experience has always been a core principle in Primo development," remarked David Beychok, vice president of discovery and delivery solutions at Ex Libris. "Just as crucial, the administrative interface has undergone a revolution in version 4. Each site in a multitenant cloud environment, as well as each institution in a consortium, can control its own administration, should it choose to. Exhibiting the flexibility that sets Primo apart in the library discovery marketplace, the multi-tenancy improvements introduced in this version further empower customers who wish to enjoy a low total cost of ownership without compromising on their control of their discovery solution."

www.exlibrisgroup.com