NEWS

Purdue University Libraries Joins the Ex Libris Next-Generation Library Framework as the Fourth Development Partner

Along with Boston College, Princeton University Library, and the Catholic University of Leuven, Purdue will participate in the design of the Unified Resource Management (URM) framework

Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce that Purdue University Libraries has joined the Company’s initiative to redesign library services and build the future management system for back-office library operations—selection, acquisition, cataloging, management, and fulfillment—for the full spectrum of library materials, regardless of format or location.

The Ex Libris Unified Resource Management framework, or URM™ provides libraries with a suite of the traditional functions necessary to streamline current management tasks across print, electronic, and digital resources. In addition, the famework is designed to support the transformational activities—for example, managing e-research, institutional repositories, and preservation—that are required to meet the changing needs of a library’s parent organization and user community. Offered primarily as a network-level service, the framework leverages the collective effort of its participating libraries in such areas as collection development, metadata management, and resource sharing. The URM framework embraces the Ex Libris Open Platform environment, enabling libraries to customize or extend functionality based on local requirements.

Purdue University Libraries—which has been running the Ex Libris Voyager® integrated library system for many years—joined the development partner program in view of the rich functionality embodied in the URM framework. James Mullins, dean of libraries at Purdue University, commented: “Our library system is committed to serving the increasingly complex research needs of faculty and students throughout the University and is keen to explore the potential of the URM framework to enhance the library’s role across disciplines. Furthermore, the URM framework will provide a way to collaborate with other libraries in meeting the ever-growing collection management challenges faced by the Purdue Libraries.”

“The URM partnership will support several aspects of the Purdue Libraries' strategic plan,” added Mullins. “We are excited about the URM framework for many reasons. First, it will provide us with a platform for managing and developing robust collections. Collaborating with the partner institutions in the development of a management tool will ensure that the system will indeed enable us to manage our existing collections more effectively. Just as important, we are exploring roles for libraries in the management of emerging forms of scholarly communication and in data curation in e-science. We look forward to seeing how the URM system will enable us to address future challenge in these areas.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Purdue University Libraries to the URM development partner program,” commented Oren Beit-Arie, chief strategy officer at Ex Libris. “URM represents a dramatic shift from traditional library automation systems to the unified management of back-office library operations for the full spectrum of scholarly materials. URM provides a unique opportunity for libraries not only to do things differently and much more efficiently but also to do completely new things, offering new services to their institutions and users. Delivering novel services to researchers is of particular interest to us and will be one of the key focuses of our partnership with Purdue. It was a great pleasure to work with our colleagues from Purdue and the other development partners at our recent solution-review meeting at Princeton University.”

More information about the URM framework is available at the URM Resource Center.