Primo Customer Base in the UK and Ireland Continues to Grow

Following the selection of Primo by UCL, Kingston University, and the University of Salford, Primo will be running at more than 20 sites in the UK and Ireland

London, United Kingdom – April 6, 2011. Ex Libris® Group, a world leader in the provision of library automation solutions, is pleased to announce that the number of academic, national, and research libraries in the United Kingdom and Ireland that have selected the Primo® discovery and delivery solution now exceeds 20. This major milestone was reached when UCL (University College London), Kingston University, and the University of Salford, decided to implement Primo to maximize the exposure of their collections to library users.

With the addition of Primo, UCL will be running a full suite of Ex Libris solutions—the Aleph® integrated library system (ILS), the DigiTool® digital asset management system, the MetaLib® metasearch solution, the SFX® OpenURL link resolver, and the bX article recommender. Dr. Paul Ayris, director of UCL Library Services, noted: “UCL selected Primo with its Primo Central Index as a cutting-edge discovery platform for our researchers and students, to encourage their use of the resources that we make available to them. Having used Ex Libris solutions for several years, we know that we can rely on Ex Libris for a very high standard of commitment and responsiveness.”

Along with Primo, Kingston University has selected a number of cloud-based Ex Libris solutions, including the Aleph ILS—replacing the library’s Talis system—the MetaLib metasearch solution, the SFX OpenURL link resolver, and the bX article recommender. “We are very excited to be moving to cloud-based Ex Libris solutions,” commented Elizabeth Malone, head of content development in the Information Services department. “After an evaluation of several discovery solutions to replace our AquaBrowser® system, we concluded that Primo’s rich functionality and the access that it will provide to all our resources—electronic, digital, and print—via a single search are indispensable benefits. Consolidating our systems enables us to make significant financial savings while driving improved use of our resources.”

At the University of Salford, the selection of Primo was part of a wide-ranging strategy to transform library services. The university is developing a huge media, digital learning, and research space within the groundbreaking MediaCityUK complex, which will house several BBC departments and independent creative media organizations. “Our library and the entire university are experiencing a period of tremendous change,” remarked Sue Hodges, acting head of learning and research support at the University of Salford. “Primo will enable our students to easily discover all their electronic, print, and digital resources in one place and allow them to be fully creative in integrating library resources into their research and work. Primo will be a major part of the launch of the digital library, which will coincide with the opening of Salford’s site at MediaCityUK,” added Ms. Hodges.

“I am delighted that these important institutions have chosen Primo as a unified discovery platform for their libraries’ extensive information resources,” commented Christoph Frech, regional sales director at Ex Libris. “It is very exciting to see the rapid growth of the Primo customer base in the UK and Ireland, as well as in Europe as a whole—reflecting Primo’s leadership role in the discovery market for all types of libraries.”

Learn more about Primo at the UKSG 2011 conference, at booth 29 and 30.

About UCL (University College London)
University College London is an outward-looking institution, committed to engaging with the major issues of our times. One of the world’s leading multidisciplinary universities, UCL is among the world's top universities, as reflected in performance in a range of rankings and tables. 21 Nobel prizewinners have come from the UCL community. Over a third of UCL students come from outside the UK, attracted from nearly 140 countries around the globe. Much of the energy of UCL life comes from its students. The university provides opportunity and leadership in teaching and research, entrepreneurship, volunteering and overseas study. For more information, see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/.

About the University of Salford
The University of Salford was founded in 1896 as the Royal Technical Institute, Salford, following a merger of the Salford Working Men's College, founded in 1858, and Pendleton Mechanics Institute, founded in 1850. Serving the needs of industry and commerce, the university has established a successful global presence with three colleges, 12 schools, nearly 21,000 students, and 2,500 staff. In 2011, the university is joining five major BBC departments, at MediaCityUK, which is only a short distance from the campus and has a 100,000-square-foot space of technology and information services. For more information, see http://www.salford.ac.uk/.

About Kingston University
With more than 25,000 students, Kingston University is the largest provider of higher education in South West London, offering an extensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs both in the United Kingdom and overseas. The university is renowned for teaching excellence, has established itself as a growing force in research, and is a pioneer in e-learning. In its most recent university league table, the Sunday Times comments that Kingston’s record for teaching quality positions the school “among the best in the modern university sector.” For more information, see http://www.kingston.ac.uk/.

About Ex Libris
Ex Libris is a leading provider of automation solutions for academic 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 80 countries on six continents.

Dedicated to developing creative solutions in close collaboration with customers, Ex Libris enables academic, national, and research 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 more information about Ex Libris Group, see our Web site, join us on Facebook, visit our Commentary blog, and follow our Twitter page.

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

This release was published on openPR.