OCLC and Ex Libris announce new partnership

The partnership will expose WorldCat content via Ex Libris discovery and delivery solutions

Dublin, Ohio and Jerusalem, Israel, September 13, 2011—OCLC and Ex Libris Group® have signed an agreement that will enable Ex Libris to integrate the WorldCat Search API into several Ex Libris discovery and delivery services, providing OCLC member libraries access to WorldCat through the Ex Libris Primo® and MetaLib® solutions.

Ex Libris will integrate the WorldCat Search API, which provides machine-to-machine access to WorldCat bibliographic records and holdings data, into its applications to make the collections of OCLC libraries discoverable. Libraries will be able to activate this functionality by registering their key to the WorldCat Search API within their Ex Libris system.

“This cooperative agreement makes it easier for Ex Libris users and OCLC members to take full advantage of the rich discovery experience that the WorldCat API can provide,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. “Both organizations are adopting an open approach that will improve services for the libraries that we mutually serve, as well as foster collective innovation. We will continue to work with library service providers to create partnerships that add value for members of the OCLC cooperative.”

Matti Shem-Tov, President and CEO of Ex Libris Group, commented: “As we implement our strategy of transforming both resource discovery and library management, extending access to shared services such as WorldCat is an important step. The integration of the Search API into Ex Libris unified discovery and delivery services demonstrates our commitment to providing a content-neutral solution that ensures the broadest possible coverage of the resources which are most important to libraries. We are pleased to be able to expose the rich bibliographic information in WorldCat to our mutual customers and to offer end users yet another option for expanding the scope of their search beyond the resources of their local institution.”

About OCLC
Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat on the Web at www.worldcat.org. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.

About Ex Libris
Ex Libris is a leading provider of automation solutions for academic libraries. Offering a 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 a customer base that consists of thousands of sites in more than 80 countries on six continents. For more information about the Ex Libris Group, visit www.exlibrisgroup.com.

Ex Libris
Daniela Wittig
Gasstrasse 18, Haus 2
22761 Hamburg
Germany

This release was published on openPR.