January 11, 2005
Boston, MA
Ex Libris is pleased to announce the general release of SFX® version 3, Version 3 is a milestone in the transition of SFX from a link server to the core component of a digital library.
New key features include:
- Support for OpenURL v1.0, including San Antonio profiles 1 and 2
- A new, flexible design for the SFX menu
- HTML and XML options for greater customization opportunities
- End user preferences including choice of interface language
- Options for brief or extended menus
- Enhanced A-Z list of journal
- New search functionality and additional browsing options
- Preassigned e-journal categories, with an option to apply local categories
- Extended services for known citation searches and document-delivery requests
- Overlap-analysis reports
- Enhanced knowledge-base content and tools for managing local resources and services
Marvin Pollard, of the California State University, a consortium of 23 university libraries in California, reports, “We are very pleased with the significant ongoing advancement of the SFX technology. With many of the new features in version 3, SFX becomes an even more important service point for our users in the virtual library world.
SFX version 3 represents a coming of age for link servers, commented Jenny Walker, vice president of marketing and business development for the Ex Libris Information Services Division. Ex Libris has benefited from the significant and rapidly growing number of customers around the world, who represent a range of library types, and brings their collective feedback and ideas to bear in this new release. SFX version 3 also provides the basis for exciting new developments, including Verde, the soon-to–be-released Ex Libris electronic-resource management (ERM) system.
Institutions that have recently joined the SFX family include the Royal Library/LIBRIS in Sweden; the consortium of university libraries in Norway; the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL); the University of Manchester, Liverpool John Moores University, and Sheffield Hallam University in the UK; Beijing Normal University and Sichuan University in China; and Pennsylvania State University, NASA Langley Research Center, Tulane University, and the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) in the United States.
About SFX:
SFX, the original link server from Ex Libris, is the first to address the appropriate copy problem in scholarly communication. First developed by Herbert Van de Sompel and his team at Ghent University in Belgium and subsequently purchased by Ex Libris, SFX set the standard for link servers and led to the development of the OpenURL standard.
For additional information on SFX, please see www.exlibrisgroup.com/sfx.htm
About Ex Libris:
Ex Libris is a leading worldwide developer and provider of high-performance applications for libraries, information centers, and researchers. The ALEPH integrated library solution from Ex Libris has been installed at over 1250 sites in 51 countries. MetaLib®, the information portal for library collections, and SFX, the context-sensitive linking server for heterogeneous electronic resources in the scholarly information environment, have been adopted by nearly 700 institutions in 34 countries. DigiTool, a solution for constructing digital collections, and the new Verde electronic resource management (ERM) system round out the Ex Libris product suite.
