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

Jerusalem, Israel – December 1, 2009. 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.

About Purdue University
Located in West Lafayette, Indiana, in the United States, Purdue University consists of six campuses. Purdue was founded in 1869 as a land-grant university, when the Indiana General Assembly accepted a donation of land and money from Lafayette businessman John Purdue to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name. Purdue has the second largest undergraduate body in Indiana and its international student population is one of the largest for a public university in the United States. Heralding its ongoing involvement in aviation and space technology, Purdue was the first university in the world to offer an aeronautics program.
For additional information on Purdue University, see http://www.purdue.edu/.

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.