NEWS

Ex Libris Alma Early-Adopter Program Launched in Israel

Eight prominent academic institutions will be the first in Israel to benefit from the next-generation Alma library services platform

Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce the launch of an early-adopter program in Israel for the Ex Libris Alma® library services platform. Eight top institutions of higher education are participating: the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, the University of Haifa, the College of Management—Academic Studies, IDC Herzliya, Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Oranim Academic College of Education, and the Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art. Four of the colleges belong to the 47-member Israel College Consortium. All the early adopters will be migrating from the Ex Libris Aleph library management system to Alma, which they will use in combination with the Primo® discovery and delivery solution to reap the benefits of an integrated, end-to-end system.

The early-adopter program in Israel, which was launched in early June 2015, focuses on regional workflows, support for Hebrew, and the integration with local systems. The diversity of the schools taking part in the program helps ensure that institutions of all sizes and emphases will be able to fully enjoy the benefits of Alma and will work on developing services for their students and faculty members. The University of Haifa, the first school to join the program, will go live with Alma in August 2016.

“As a technologically advanced library, we have been waiting for this moment since Alma was launched,” commented Pnina Erez, library director of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library at the University of Haifa. “Having Primo and the full suite of Ex Libris products in place for many years, we now look forward to benefitting from the synergies and full integration between Alma and Primo, which will help us better serve our users and provide added value to our institution.”

Edith Falk, chief librarian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, commented: “Moving from Aleph to Alma is a very exciting moment for us. Aleph was initially developed at the Hebrew University, and we have made great advancements at our library with the system. However, it is time to embark on a new path that will enable us to adapt to the shift of our collections toward digital and electronic resources; to adopt efficient workflows; and to easily generate business intelligence and management information in the system.”

"Implementing Alma at Tel Aviv University will be a major step in our ever-continuing efforts to create a learning and research environment for our students and staff which is advanced, friendly and service oriented and is adapted to the diverse and technologically savvy communities within the university," remarks Asher Rotkop, Tel Aviv University's CIO and Deputy Director General.   

“We regard our library as a crucial component of academic achievement,” remarked Professor Asher Tishler, president of the College of Management—Academic Studies. “Joining the group of early adopters was therefore most important for us, and we anticipate collaborating with other libraries and with Ex Libris to make Alma fit the special needs of Israeli universities and colleges.”

“I am happy to welcome this distinguished and loyal group of customers to the Alma early-adopter program,” commented Matti Shem Tov, Ex Libris president and CEO. “Ex Libris is committed to serving the Israeli market, with its unique needs, and I look forward to seeing the impact of Alma on library practices in Israel.”