October 22, 2009
The bX scholarly recommender service delivers article-level recommendations to scholars around the globe
Jerusalem, Israel – October 22, 2009. Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce that over 180 academic institutions and consortia in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region are using the bX scholarly recommender service, following its launch in May 2009. The service was made immediately available to users at those institutions, enabling them to begin benefiting from the bX recommendations.
Among the new subscribers to the bX service are the following institutions and consortia:
- Arizona State University, University of Connecticut Health Center, Eastern Michigan University, University of Iowa, Kansas State University, University of Texas at Austin, and Western Michigan University (United States)
- University of Calgary (Canada)
- Aalborg University (Denmark)
- Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic)
- Finnish National Electronic Library (FinELib) consortium, (Finland)
- LIBRIS – Swedish University & Research Library Consortium (Sweden)
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) (Switzerland)
- University of Plymouth (United Kingdom)
- Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
- Tokyo University of Science (Japan)
- College of Management Academic Studies (Israel)
Focused on the scholarly domain, bX is the first service to provide article-level recommendations. Based on an analysis of over a hundred million usage logs—and growing rapidly every day— bX reflects the choices of researchers from institutions around the world. The bX degree of detail points researchers to specific scholarly articles.
A doctoral student at Arizona State University observed that the bX service quickly provides relevant recommendations. ”I found exactly what I wanted. In 10 minutes, I found more relevant articles than I’ve found in the last 10 months using more traditional methods of research.”
Kasper Lovschall, of Aalborg University Library, commented: ”The bX service makes a natural fit with a user’s exploratory search behavior and supports new findings and inspiration—this is true serendipity. Viewing the availability of direct full text is nice, but things get really fun when you “data-mine” recommendations by following one after another.”
”We are very pleased with the quick uptake of the bX recommender service by so many of our customers,” noted Nettie Lagace, product manager at Ex Libris. ”Libraries are pleased that the service offers recommendations based on the user’s perspective, a very useful complement to the traditional author’s perspective. It is exciting to see the ongoing growth of the bX corpus of knowledge as more and more institutions contribute their usage data.”
About Aalborg University Library
The principal task of the Aalborg University Library is to support research and teaching at the university by providing relevant documentation and access to quality information resources. With over 2,000 employees and 13,000 students at Aalborg University, the library services are primarily directed toward subject areas that are taught and researched at the university.
For additional information on the Aalborg University Library, see http://aub.aau.dk/ombiblioteket.
About Arizona State University
The vision of Arizona State University (ASU) is a new model for American higher education, a model aimed at academic excellence, entrepreneurial energy, and broad access. The university’s four campuses aspire to positively affect the economic, social, cultural, and environmental health of the communities that the university serves. ASU has an enrollment of more than 64,000 students in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, the nation’s fifth largest city. ASU champions intellectual and cultural diversity and welcomes students from all 50 states and more than one hundred nations across the globe. ASU offers outstanding resources for study and research, including libraries and museums with important collections; studios and performing arts spaces for creative endeavor; and unsurpassed state-of-the-art scientific and technological research facilities.
For additional information on Arizona State University, see http://www.asu.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.
