News from Ex Libris

Citation

(2003), "News from Ex Libris", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 37 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/prog.2003.28037aab.005

News from Ex Libris

News from Ex Libris

MetaLib and SFX penetrate German-speaking library market

Ex Libris (Deutschland) GmbH is pleased to announce that three prominent institutions in German-speaking Europe have licensed MetaLib with SFX: the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) and Bayer AG, in Germany, and the University of Innsbruck, in Austria.

MetaLib is the perfect solution for managing a hybrid library environment. Serving as a portal for information resources selected by the library, MetaLib is a gateway to any type of resource, locally hosted or off-site, free or licensed. MetaLib provides federated search capabilities that enable users to search simultaneously across heterogeneous resources. Personalisation features enable users to manage their research environment. MetaLib is fully integrated with SFX to allow onward navigation from records that MetaLib has retrieved.

SFX is an innovative tool for providing users with links to context-sensitive services defined by their institution's librarian on the basis of its e-collections and policies. Such services, which are dynamically created, can include links to the full text of an article, the OPAC (to check local holdings), preferred document-delivery suppliers, Web-based resources, local information repositories, and a range of other services.

Ex Libris announces DigiTool is in general release

Ex Libris has announced that DigiTool, its digital asset management product, is now available in general release. DigiTool is a full function, digital asset management system designed for libraries and information centres and can be used as a stand-alone system or integrated with the ALEPH system or other ILS systems. The system is being implemented in multiple libraries around the world and was most recently put into production use at Brandeis University.

The production version of DigiTool has benefited from the close partnership formed by Ex Libris with a key customer, the University of Maryland, which is planning to use the product in its Performing Arts Library. Through that partnership a number of capabilities have been added to DigiTool including support for streaming delivery of digital assets, authentication and authorisation, use of one-time tokens and more. Other partnerships have been formed with other key customers, including New York University, a GEAC ILS system user, which will result in the addition of support for METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard). Curtin University in Perth, Australia is also a development partner.

Carl Grant, President of Ex Libris (USA), said: "DigiTool represents a unique approach for those libraries wishing to implement another facet of digital asset automation. DigiTool comprises a collection of powerful and sophisticated tools that can be used with products like ALEPH, MetaLib and SFX, as well as other vendor systems. The tools can also be bundled together and used as a stand-alone, comprehensive solution for managing digital assets and their associated metadata, while providing users with sophisticated resource discovery. We've taken an approach at Ex Libris where we provide libraries with choices that enable them to offer their users solutions built to meet their needs. We won't force libraries to redo work they've already invested in creating digital assets or the metadata, nor do we push them towards any certain vendors content – we enable choices."

DigiTool features the ability to load digital objects, automatically extract technical metadata, create thumbnails, search full text, define and control digital rights, monitor and control usage, and support a variety of delivery mechanisms including streaming.

Grant said: "We encourage all libraries pushing forward on this frontier to contact our sales team and personally learn about the power and flexibility of DigiTool for extending the use of digital assets in their libraries. When coupled with ALEPH and MetaLib/SFX, libraries can set new standards of service for their users."

Ex Libris to provide automated library management system for Italian university libraries

Atlantis Srl, the sole Ex Libris distributor in Italy, is pleased to announce that the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca and the Università degli Studi dell'Insubria have selected ALEPH 500 as the library automation system for a consortium formed by the two institutions. The decision was reached in collaboration with Consorzio Interuniversitario Lombardo per l'Elaborazione Automatica (CILEA; www.cilea.it), a consortium to which the two universities belong and which is providing the support for the project. The ALEPH 500 software resides on a server at the CILEA centre; library staff members of the two universities are accessing the service to configure, customise and manage the system.

On the basis of the consortium agreement between the two schools, a single bibliographic catalogue has been created to which two autonomous administrative databases are connected. With the assistance of Atlantis, the conversion of all the bibliographic data to UNIMARC format is now in progress, as well as the conversion of the administrative data from the automation system previously used by the universities, SBN/UNISYS.

Originally part of the Università degli Studi di Milano, the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca became an independent institution in 1999. Today this young university boasts eight faculties (Arts; Economics; Law; Mathematical, Natural and Physical Sciences; Medicine and Surgery; Psychology; Sociology; and Statistics), which offer a total of 40 courses of study, a student enrolment of nearly 28,000, and a teaching staff of approximately 800. The centralised library is housed in three units: a central library, science library, and medical library. At the end of 2001, the library contained 65,700 volumes, 1,965 serials, 341 microfilms, and 266 CD-ROMs. Rich in digital library services, particularly for an institution of such a young age, the library provides access from all university intranet workstations to 46 databases and 2,700 electronic journals. For more information about the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca library, please see www.biblio.unimib.it

Università degli Studi dell'Insubria was established at the end of 1998 and has two campuses, Como and Varese, with approximately 7,000 students and a teaching staff of 354. Twenty-five degree programmes are offered through five faculties, three at Varese campus (Economics; Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences; and Medicine and Surgery) and two at Como (Law; and Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences). A central library system (SiBA) co-ordinates the acquisition and maintenance of the library's resources to support research and teaching activities throughout the University. The library contains about 40,000 volumes, 680 subscriptions to paper journals, and more than 3,250 subscriptions to electronic journals, which are available online with the full text of articles. In addition, the University community can access more than 50 databases online from the University intranet. For more information about the Università degli Studi dell'Insubria library please link to www.uninsubria.it and select Sistema bibliotecario SIBA (in Italian).

World's largest academic consortium chooses SFX

Ex Libris has announced that the California State University system of 23 universities, which together comprise nearly 400,000 students and 42,000 staff and faculty members, has purchased the SFX linking solution from Ex Libris. The California State University libraries will share one server, to be hosted at Long Beach at the Chancellor's Office, but each member institution will be able to independently manage its own SFX linking environment. Implementation of SFX for the California State University libraries is already under way.

According to Harold Schleifer, Dean of Libraries at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and Co-Chair of the California State Serials Linking Task Force: "SFX has clearly set the standard for context-sensitive reference linking for libraries. SFX provides the comprehensive and ready solution we were seeking and is suitably flexible and adaptable to meet the varying needs of our member libraries. SFX will provide our end users with seamless access not only to e-journals and articles but also to a range of other services."

Jenny Walker, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Ex Libris Information Services Division, commented: "We are very pleased to add the California State libraries to our growing list of SFX sites around the world. The SFX architecture is designed to accommodate the needs of a wide range of consortium models. For California State, SFX allows an ideal combination of centralised administration of shared resources, on the one hand, and local control over both the local resources and choice of services to be offered to end users, on the other. This purchase by such a large and prestigious group will further drive the adoption of the OpenURL standard."

The California State University (CSU) is the largest system of senior higher education in the USA (www.calstate.edu). Since its creation in 1960, the system has awarded about two million degrees. The CSU is renowned for the quality of its teaching and for the job-ready graduates it produces. Its mission is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever-changing needs of the people of California.

Ex Libris is a leading world-wide developer of high-performance applications for libraries, information centres and researchers. A multinational company, Ex Libris has offices around the world. ALEPH, the Ex Libris integrated library solution, has been installed at over 700 sites in 50 countries. Other Ex Libris software products include MetaLib, an information portal for library collections that provides libraries, institutions, and consortia with a standardised user interface; SFX, a context-sensitive linking solution for heterogeneous electronic resources in the scholarly information environment; and DigiTool, a solution for constructing digital collections as components of an overall digital strategy.

For further information please contact: Ex Libris (UK) Ltd, Bridge House, 119-123 Station Rd, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 4BX. Tel: +44 (0) 20 8561 5614; Fax: +44 (0) 20 8561 5634; E-mail: exlibris@exlibris.co.uk; URL: www.exlibrisgroup.com

New high speed Internet access for museums and archives

Since 2000, Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries has been working with BT to ensure that the sector has up-to-date, rapid access to the Internet, as cheaply as possible, to the benefit of visitors and staff alike.

As a result of this collaboration, BT has announced that museums and archives have been added to the list of learning institutions that are able to purchase broadband access at a special educational discount. They will be able to purchase BT LearningStream, a networking technology already used by a number of library authorities in the development of the People's Network.

The BT LearningStream range of products includes a fast-speed (2Mbit) connection, using HDSL (High data rate Digital Subscriber Line) technology, which is available throughout most of the UK. The technology is similar to the ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) technology, but allows fast network connections in both directions.

The technology is already available to public libraries in the UK and will be extended to:

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  registered museums, operated for the public good, and located on non-commercial premises;

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  archives, recognised by a body with specific responsibility for archives (such as the Regional Archives Council) and also located on non-commercial premises.

Welcoming the announcement, Chris Batt, Acting Chief Executive, said: "Resource would love to be able to extend the highly successful People's Network to museums and archives, and this is a welcome first step in achieving that objective. The announcement is also a step towards the Government's objectives of becoming a world leader in broadband connectivity, and the e-Europe 2005 Action Plan, which recognises the key role of museums, archives and libraries in e-learning."

For further information please contact: Emma Wright, Media and Events Manager, Resource, 16 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AA, UK. Tel: +44(0) 20 7273 1459; Fax: +44(0) 20 7273 1404; E-mail: emma.wright@resource.gov.uk; URL: www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk/infra/btls.asp