NEWS

Over 150 Strong, the Worldwide Ex Libris Primo Community Continues to Expand

Web 2.0 features, intuitive display of search results, and the ability to find and obtain
diverse resources, guarantee the appeal of the Primo discovery and delivery solution

Jerusalem, Israel – Ex Libris™ Group is pleased to announce the ongoing expansion of the international Primo® discovery and delivery community. Among the newest members of the rapidly growing Primo customer base, which now totals over 150 sites, are: the Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center at Maxwell Air Force Base; the University of Utah and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in the US; the Austrian Library Network (OBV); Sainte-Barbe Interuniversity and Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University in France; the Campus-Bibliothek für Informatik und Angewandte Mathematik (CIAM) and the three Berlin universities in the KOBV consortium in Germany; Unitec New Zealand institute of technology; and the UNILINC network of higher education libraries in Australia.

The Austrian Library Network, which recently celebrated ten years of managing its collections with the Aleph® integrated library system, was drawn to Primo’s ability to support complex consortia. “The way in which Primo normalizes search results was another important feature for us,” commented Wolfgang Hamedinger, managing director of the Network. “As a large and diverse consortium, the Network was impressed by Primo’s flexibility and ability to provide access to widely dispersed resources. Ten years into our relationship, we continue to find Ex Libris an experienced and responsive partner.”

In conjunction with adopting Primo, CIAM—the common library of the Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, and the University of Saarland, Department of Computer Science—is replacing its homegrown integrated library system with Aleph by Ex Libris. “As a network of inter-related research facilities, one of our key selection criteria was the ability to find and obtain resources not held directly by the library—a requirement which Primo easily met,” commented Simone Schulze, library director of CIAM. “Primo also matches our criteria for a unified user interface, enabling users to find the resources they need from any part of the library, quickly and easily.”

For the University of Tennessee Libraries, Primo’s Web 2.0 features were a significant requirement. Alongside this, “we wanted to provide our users with a discovery and delivery platform with a simple search interface; expanded access to materials beyond the library catalog, including digital collections; and a solution that gives intelligent responses to searches,” commented Maribeth Manoff, coordinator for networked service integration of University of Tennessee Libraries. “Primo easily met all of these requirements.

“Built-in capabilities for inclusion of important local resources from Aleph, and remote sources obtained via our MetaLib® metasearch solution by Ex Libris, made Primo even more suitable for the Library. We appreciate the ongoing commitment of Ex Libris to empower libraries to configure out-of the-box products in response to their unique needs,” continued Manoff.

Jiri Kende, deputy director of the University Library of Free University Berlin—a member of the KOBV consortium—commented, “With Primo we not only enable a network of three Berlin universities to offer their users an up-to-date user interface with unified discovery and delivery of local and remote print and digital materials. We also expect high synergy effects within our consortial environment, especially in dealing with so-called national licenses for electronic resources.”

“We are very pleased to welcome these distinguished institutions to the Primo customer community, currently comprised of over 150 institutions spanning 22 countries and four continents,” Nancy Dushkin, vice president of marketing at Ex Libris, remarked. “Like all Ex Libris products, the next version of Primo—which includes seamless integration with the OPAC among its many enhancements, is the result of collaborating closely with our customers to ensure that new functionalities meet the needs of the global library market.”

About the Austrian Library Network
The Austrian Library Network (also referred to by the shortened version of its name in German—OBV) began operation in 1988. The consortium grew out of a governmental decision in 1986 which obliged the bibliographic data of all 20 university libraries of Austria, together with the Austrian National Library, to be unified in a single network. For ten years the network used a homegrown library system called BIBOS, but by the late 1990s it was clear that the libraries had outgrown this system. Aleph succeeded in an extremely tough selection process and now benefits staff and end-users in over 70 institutions throughout Austria.

For additional information on the Austrian Library Network, see http://www.obvsg.at

About the CIAM library
The Campus-Bibliothek für Informatik und Angewandte Mathematik (CIAM) is the joint library of the Max Planck Institute for Computer Science Saarbrücken (MPI-INF), the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems Saarbrücken (MPI-SWS), and the Departments of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics of the University of Saarland.

For additional information on the library, see http://www.infomath-bib.de/en/welcome.shtml

About the University of Tennessee at Knoxville Libraries
UT Knoxville's libraries serve as an intellectual, cultural, and social center for the university and the community. The mission of the libraries is to provide expertise, services, and resources to enable learning through inquiry, discovery, and exchange of information. UT Knoxville has a rich history in the innovative use of information technology to enhance the way we perform our core missions of academics, research, and public service, as well as serving as a key enabling resource in achieving ongoing improvements in our operating performance.

For additional information on the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, see http://www.utk.edu

About the Berlin Universities
The three Berlin members of the KOBV consortium—Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin—have worked together closely since 1998 when they jointly implemented Aleph. In recent years, this cooperation has deepened to include the implementation of Ex Libris e-Products solutions. Freie Universität Berlin is a leading research institution. It is one of nine German universities successful in all three funding lines in the federal and state Excellence Initiative. Freie Universität can thus take its place as an “international network university.”

For additional information on the Freie Universität Berlin see http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/.

Founded in 1810, according to the vision of academic and statesman Wilhelm von Humboldt, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin was designed to be the "mother of all modern universities." It lives up to its reputation as a reform-orientated institution by planting innovative ideas into study, research, and structure. For additional information on the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin see http://www.hu-berlin.de/standardseite/?set_language=en

The internationally renowned Technische Universität Berlin focuses on achieving four sharply-defined core goals: building a distinctive profile for our university, ensuring exceptional performance in research and teaching, providing our graduates with excellent qualifications, as well as a forward-looking approach to efficient university governance.

For additional information on the Technische Universität Berlin see http://www.tu-berlin.de/menue/home/parameter/en/

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