The Worldwide Ex Libris Primo Community Continues to Expand

The Primo customer base exceeds 260 institutions, as more academic and research libraries select the Primo discovery and delivery solution

Jerusalem, Israel – March 16, 2010. Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce that additional libraries from around the world have selected the Primo® discovery and delivery solution as a unified gateway to their library collections and will join the international Primo community in benefiting from the Primo Central mega-aggregate of scholarly e-content, scheduled for release in mid 2010.

Some recent newcomers to the Primo community include the following institutions:
• Linda Hall Library (United States)
• Austrian National Library
• Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria)
• Novo Nordisk Healthcare (Denmark)
• Université Paris 3 - Sorbonne Nouvelle (France)
• Paris-Dauphine University (France)
• Quai Branly Museum (France)
• Saxony State Library - Dresden State and University Library (SLUB) (Germany)
• University and State Library Münster (Germany)
• Hungarian National Assembly
• Consortium of Icelandic Libraries
• Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (New Zealand)
• Cape Peninsula University of Technology (South Africa)
• University of the Western Cape (South Africa)
• Swedish Environmental Protection Agency

New Zealand’s Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) selected Primo TotalCare and the MetaLib® gateway and metasearch system as managed solutions. Primo TotalCare is a subscription-based, fully managed Primo package. Effortlessly integrated with the library’s ILS and link resolver systems, the Primo TotalCare package provides all the rich functionality of Primo—sophisticated search technology, relevance ranking, sorting, and facets—delivered with rapid implementation, managed services, and minimal impact on library staff.

Commenting on his institution’s decision, John Wynn-Williams, CPIT digital librarian, said: “We were looking for a unified search interface for searching across all of our library resources (catalog, databases, and digital repository), which we can make available directly on our library homepage, as well as in Moodle—our learning management system. It was crucial that the discovery solution include Web 2.0 tools such as user tags, user ratings, and recommendations. In addition, we wanted user-generated data to sit alongside library-managed metadata to make our resources more accessible and familiar and to accommodate users’ expectations based on their experience with sites such as Amazon and Google. Primo and its metasearch component meets our requirements best.”

“We chose Primo TotalCare to ensure that we can go live quickly yet still have the freedom to customize Primo. Having worked closely with Ex Libris for several years as users of the Voyager® integrated library system and the SFX® OpenURL link resolver, we are happy to strengthen our relationship through our selection of Primo,” added Mr. Wynn-Williams.

“The central catalogue is the business card of a library,” commented Dr. Achim Bonte, deputy director general at the Saxony State Library – Dresden State and University Library (SLUB). “Our goal was to provide our users with a radically improved search interface with manifold new functionalities. Primo delivers a major stepping stone towards high performance and competitive advantage for our library.”

Nancy Dushkin, corporate vice president of discovery and delivery solutions at Ex Libris, commented: “I am delighted to welcome these distinguished institutions to the rapidly growing international Primo community, now numbering over 260 institutions and spanning 29 countries. This is a very exciting year for Ex Libris discovery initiatives, with the launch of Primo version 3.0, on track for spring 2010, and Primo Central—now in beta testing at 10 partner sites. We are looking forward to rolling out the tremendous potential of Primo Central to the entire Primo customer community.”

About Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
The Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT), located in Christchurch, New Zealand, provides full- and part-time education leading to certificates, diplomas, applied bachelor's degrees, and applied master's degrees in technologies and trades. Established in 1906, CPIT is one of New Zealand's largest tertiary institutions and is the largest polytechnic in the South Island.

For additional information on CPIT, see http://www.cpit.ac.nz

About Ex Libris
Ex Libris is a leading provider of automation solutions for academic, national, and research libraries. Offering the only comprehensive product suite for electronic, digital, and print materials, Ex Libris provides efficient, user-friendly products that serve the needs of libraries today and will facilitate their transition into the future. Ex Libris maintains an impressive customer base consisting of thousands of sites in more than 75 countries on six continents.

Dedicated to developing creative solutions in close collaboration with customers, Ex Libris enables libraries to maximize productivity and efficiency and, at the same time, greatly enhance the user experience. By empowering users to discover and obtain the information they need, libraries ensure their position as the bridge to knowledge.

For additional information on Ex Libris Group, see our Web site, visit our Initiatives and Commentary blogs, and follow our Twitter page.

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This release was published on openPR.