May 6, 2010
Monash adds Primo to its suite of Ex Libris solutions to provide seamless discovery and delivery of local and global collections Adelaide, Australia—May 6, 2010. Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce that Monash University Library has chosen the Primo® discovery and delivery solution, together with the Primo Central mega-aggregate of scholarly e-content, to provide users with a unified interface for the discovery and delivery of the library’s vast collections and global electronic resources. Monash University joins the rapidly expanding international Primo community, now over 270 strong and spanning 29 countries. The library selected Primo and Primo Central to achieve a streamlined experience that would enable university students and faculty to search and access the university’s physical and electronic collections with ease. In recent years, the library catalog at Monash has been supplemented by a host of other sources of information for library users. These changes resulted from the revolution in users’ expectations and behavior, the increasing number of databases (surpassing 800) to which the library provides access; and the implementation of academic repositories such as the Australian Research Repository Online to the World (ARROW). Primo will enable library users at Monash to access the full breadth of the university’s collections via a single search interface. Primo Central is a centralized index containing hundreds of millions of electronic resources of global and regional significance, which are obtained from primary and secondary publishers and aggregators. Users simultaneously search locally managed collections and global e-content, and receive a single relevance-ranked list of results. Now undergoing beta testing by 14 partner libraries around the world, Primo Central will be available to the customer community later this year. Suzanne Clarke, Director of Information Resources at Monash University, commented: ”Monash University Library carried out a thorough evaluation of solutions that provide a single search interface across all library resources and found that Primo met each one of Monash’s requirements. The Primo interface will enhance user discovery and facilitate access to the large collection of information resources at Monash University Library. Primo will also integrate seamlessly with the library’s existing systems, in particular Voyager, to provide a high-quality user experience.” In addition to the Voyager® integrated library system, Monash University has run the Ex Libris SFX® OpenURL link resolver and the MetaLib® gateway and metasearch solution for several years, and subscribes to the bX™ scholarly recommender service. Monash University has a good track record of partnering with Ex Libris, having recently collaborated in developing bX. ”We believe that Primo version 3 is the resource discovery solution that will provide a long-term solution for the evolving needs of our students and faculty,” added Ms. Clarke. ”I am delighted to be strengthening our relationship with Monash University through their selection of Primo and Primo Central,” remarked Douglas Barnard, managing director of Ex Libris Australia. ”We are pleased that Primo was singled out for its rich functionality, its sophisticated search technology, and the excellent user experience it provides for both library staff and end users.” About Monash University Library Monash University Library is one of Australia’s leading academic libraries, with multiple locations and a collection of more than three million items. The library advances scholarship through the effective discovery and use of information for education and research. For additional information on Monash University Library, see http://www.lib.monash.edu/. 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 75 countries on six continents. Dedicated to developing creative solutions in close collaboration with our 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 additional information on Ex Libris Group, see our Web site, visit our Initiatives and Commentary blogs, and follow our Twitter page.
