Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce that the number of academic, national, and research libraries around the world that have opted for the Primo® discovery and delivery solution now exceeds 200.
Recent newcomers to the worldwide Primo community include the following institutions:
- American Libraries in India (U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulates General in India)
- Texas Tech University (United States)
- United States Center for Disease Control United States Department of Transportation Utah Academic Library Consortium (United States)
- Research Libraries Consortium (South Africa)
- Cardiff University (United Kingdom)
- National Academic Library Information System (Bulgaria)
- University of Westminster (United Kingdom)
- Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Singapore)
Pat Busby, project manager of the Research Libraries Consortium in South Africawhich consists of the Universities of Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, the Witwatersrand, and Pretoria; and Rhodes and Stellenbosch Universitiescommented on the Consortium's recent selection of Primo: "We carried out a very thorough review of the discovery solutions available today and found that Primo best met our users' need for a unified search interface with sophisticated search and Web 2.0 capabilities. The power of the Primo publishing platform was also critical to our decision, as it will enable us to integrate a wide variety of data sources, such as DSpace and Eprints, as well as Aleph, into the system."
Suzanne Enright, director of information systems and library services at the University of Westminsterwhich runs the Aleph® integrated library system together with the SFX® OpenURL link resolver, the MetaLib® gateway and metasearch solution, and the Verde® eresource management systemcommented: "We wanted to create a unified gateway for all of our library collections. Primo was the only solution to combine a single interface with the sophisticated search technology and Web 2.0 functionalities demanded by our users, and whichin version 3.0will fully integrate OPAC functionality.
"We are looking forward to the upcoming release of Primo Central," Ms. Enright added. "This index of scholarly econtent will enable our users to search locally managed collections and global scholarly econtent simultaneously and to instantly receive a single relevanceranked result list."
With Primo, libraries provide users with a superior onestop discovery and delivery solution that combines the richness of library collections, the unique value added by library cataloging services, and an Internetage user experience:
- Primo enables libraries to expose the full scope of their collections, and their special collections in particular, and enables users to discover library resources that they were not aware of. Uptodate availability information and delivery options are displayed for every discoverable item.
- The Primo Central index of scholarly materials makes it possible for users to simultaneously search a wide range of global and local information resources and receive a single, blended, relevanceranked list of results, instantaneously. Librarians control the ranking and blending of the different sources, including crawled Web pages.
- Primo services can be embedded in commonly used Web pages, such as an institution's Web site, learning management systems, and social networking sites, to increase the accessibility of library services. The Primo support for the OpenSearch standard enables institutions to offer Primo as an optional search engine from the browser's search box.
- Designed with library staff in mind, all Primo functionality can be easily configured through pointandclick Web pages, without the assistance of technical IT staff. Outofthebox features enable library staff to modify the metadata that Primo uses in searches and in the presentation of results. Librarians can also configure the attributes (such as author and availability status) that Primo uses for faceted categorization.
- Consortia can choose configuration options ranging from complete centralized control to total independence, allowing each member library to select its own settings for the search options, user interface, calculation of item availability, and delivery options.
- With the upcoming launch of Primo version 3, users will benefit from a newly designed user interface, which will enable them to perform the full spectrum of OPAC operations, such as item requests, directly from the Primo interface.
"We are delighted to welcome all of the newcomers to the international Primo customer community," commented Nancy Dushkin, corporate vice president of discovery and delivery solutions at Ex Libris. "We are also thrilled that more and more institutions worldwide are now going live with Primo and providing their users with a whole new standard of library user experience."
Primo sites that have recently gone live include the National Library of New Zealand; the State Library of Victoria, in Australia; the TriUniversity Group of Libraries and the University of Quebec, in Canada; the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, in the United States; the University of Strathclyde and the University of East London, in the United Kingdom; Haifa University, in Israel; and Yonsei University, in Korea.
About the University of Westminster
With sites in central and northwest London, the University of Westminster teaches more than 22,000 students, enrolled in undergraduate and master's degrees, professional programs, and conducting research. Since its foundation in 1838 as Britain's first polytechnic, the university has been closely involved in the business, professional, and academic life of London. The mission of the University of Westminster is to provide high quality higher education and research in both national and international contexts for the intellectual, social, and professional development of the individual and for the economic and cultural enrichment of London and wider communities.
For more information about the University of Westminster, see http://www.westminster.ac.uk/.
About the Research Libraries Consortium
The Universities of Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, the Witwatersrand, and Pretoria, and Rhodes and Stellenbosch Universities have joined together to form the Research Libraries Consortium, which will provide sophisticated information discovery and access for graduate students and faculty via Primo and other Ex Libris solutions, including Aleph, MetaLib, and SFX.
For more information about the member institutions, see the following Web sites:
University of Cape Town, http://www.uct.ac.za/
University of KwaZulu-Natal, http://www.ukzn.ac.za/
University of the Witwatersrand, http://web.wits.ac.za/
University of Pretoria, http://www.up.ac.za/
Rhodes University, http://www.ru.ac.za/
Stellenbosch University, http://www.sun.ac.za/
Recent newcomers to the worldwide Primo community include the following institutions:
- American Libraries in India (U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulates General in India)
- Texas Tech University (United States)
- United States Center for Disease Control United States Department of Transportation Utah Academic Library Consortium (United States)
- Research Libraries Consortium (South Africa)
- Cardiff University (United Kingdom)
- National Academic Library Information System (Bulgaria)
- University of Westminster (United Kingdom)
- Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Singapore)
Pat Busby, project manager of the Research Libraries Consortium in South Africawhich consists of the Universities of Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, the Witwatersrand, and Pretoria; and Rhodes and Stellenbosch Universitiescommented on the Consortium's recent selection of Primo: "We carried out a very thorough review of the discovery solutions available today and found that Primo best met our users' need for a unified search interface with sophisticated search and Web 2.0 capabilities. The power of the Primo publishing platform was also critical to our decision, as it will enable us to integrate a wide variety of data sources, such as DSpace and Eprints, as well as Aleph, into the system."
Suzanne Enright, director of information systems and library services at the University of Westminsterwhich runs the Aleph® integrated library system together with the SFX® OpenURL link resolver, the MetaLib® gateway and metasearch solution, and the Verde® eresource management systemcommented: "We wanted to create a unified gateway for all of our library collections. Primo was the only solution to combine a single interface with the sophisticated search technology and Web 2.0 functionalities demanded by our users, and whichin version 3.0will fully integrate OPAC functionality.
"We are looking forward to the upcoming release of Primo Central," Ms. Enright added. "This index of scholarly econtent will enable our users to search locally managed collections and global scholarly econtent simultaneously and to instantly receive a single relevanceranked result list."
With Primo, libraries provide users with a superior onestop discovery and delivery solution that combines the richness of library collections, the unique value added by library cataloging services, and an Internetage user experience:
- Primo enables libraries to expose the full scope of their collections, and their special collections in particular, and enables users to discover library resources that they were not aware of. Uptodate availability information and delivery options are displayed for every discoverable item.
- The Primo Central index of scholarly materials makes it possible for users to simultaneously search a wide range of global and local information resources and receive a single, blended, relevanceranked list of results, instantaneously. Librarians control the ranking and blending of the different sources, including crawled Web pages.
- Primo services can be embedded in commonly used Web pages, such as an institution's Web site, learning management systems, and social networking sites, to increase the accessibility of library services. The Primo support for the OpenSearch standard enables institutions to offer Primo as an optional search engine from the browser's search box.
- Designed with library staff in mind, all Primo functionality can be easily configured through pointandclick Web pages, without the assistance of technical IT staff. Outofthebox features enable library staff to modify the metadata that Primo uses in searches and in the presentation of results. Librarians can also configure the attributes (such as author and availability status) that Primo uses for faceted categorization.
- Consortia can choose configuration options ranging from complete centralized control to total independence, allowing each member library to select its own settings for the search options, user interface, calculation of item availability, and delivery options.
- With the upcoming launch of Primo version 3, users will benefit from a newly designed user interface, which will enable them to perform the full spectrum of OPAC operations, such as item requests, directly from the Primo interface.
"We are delighted to welcome all of the newcomers to the international Primo customer community," commented Nancy Dushkin, corporate vice president of discovery and delivery solutions at Ex Libris. "We are also thrilled that more and more institutions worldwide are now going live with Primo and providing their users with a whole new standard of library user experience."
Primo sites that have recently gone live include the National Library of New Zealand; the State Library of Victoria, in Australia; the TriUniversity Group of Libraries and the University of Quebec, in Canada; the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, in the United States; the University of Strathclyde and the University of East London, in the United Kingdom; Haifa University, in Israel; and Yonsei University, in Korea.
About the University of Westminster
With sites in central and northwest London, the University of Westminster teaches more than 22,000 students, enrolled in undergraduate and master's degrees, professional programs, and conducting research. Since its foundation in 1838 as Britain's first polytechnic, the university has been closely involved in the business, professional, and academic life of London. The mission of the University of Westminster is to provide high quality higher education and research in both national and international contexts for the intellectual, social, and professional development of the individual and for the economic and cultural enrichment of London and wider communities.
For more information about the University of Westminster, see http://www.westminster.ac.uk/.
About the Research Libraries Consortium
The Universities of Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, the Witwatersrand, and Pretoria, and Rhodes and Stellenbosch Universities have joined together to form the Research Libraries Consortium, which will provide sophisticated information discovery and access for graduate students and faculty via Primo and other Ex Libris solutions, including Aleph, MetaLib, and SFX.
For more information about the member institutions, see the following Web sites:
University of Cape Town, http://www.uct.ac.za/
University of KwaZulu-Natal, http://www.ukzn.ac.za/
University of the Witwatersrand, http://web.wits.ac.za/
University of Pretoria, http://www.up.ac.za/
Rhodes University, http://www.ru.ac.za/
Stellenbosch University, http://www.sun.ac.za/
