May 23, 2011 – Tallahassee, FL. The College Center for Library Automation (CCLA), system provider of automated library services and electronic resources to Florida's 28 public colleges, has upgraded the foundation software of its statewide library information portal, LINCCWeb, to operate using the new Primo Central discovery service. Primo Central is the newest library information discovery service from software vendor Ex Libris. CCLA has served as an early adopter of Primo Central, collaborating with Ex Libris on the product's development and refinement since 2010.
CCLA upgraded LINCCWeb for 15 of Florida's 28 public colleges on May 21, and expects to upgrade another half dozen colleges in the coming month as part of a phased integration. CCLA works closely with each college to ensure an upgrade schedule that best meets the needs of the college and its students.
Primo Central is a centralized, hosted index containing hundreds of millions of scholarly items harvested from primary and secondary publishers and aggregators. The service enables users to search for items of interest from a wide range of information providers at the same time as they search for items in their local, institutional materials. Results are presented in a single,
blended list, sorted by relevance. Primo Central provides Florida's college students, faculty, and staff with access to their library's collection of remotely-hosted electronic journals, eBooks and other scholarly materials with the same speed and ease that they enjoy when they access local, institutional resources.
CCLA and Ex Libris enjoy a longstanding relationship as library software development partners. In 2006, Ex Libris selected CCLA as a Charter member customer for its baseline discovery platform, Primo. CCLA utilizes the Ex Libris suite of library information products – the ALEPH integrated library system, MetaLib portal and metasearch solutions, and the SFX OpenURL link resolver – as the foundation of its statewide network, the Library Information Network for Cooperative Content (LINCC) and its web-based information portal, LINCCWeb.
"LINCCWeb provides one-stop convenience for college students to perform their online research, search their library's collection and a statewide collection of eResources, and, quite simply, to find the trusted, authoritative information they need to be successful students," said Donald Muccino, CCLA Chief Operating Officer. "Primo Central builds upon LINCCWeb's information-rich environment by placing hundreds of thousands of additional scholarly and educational resources right at students' fingertips, whenever and wherever they need them.
With Primo Central as LINCCWeb's new foundation software, Florida's public colleges enjoy one of the premier online library research tools in the United States. We are very excited about the immediate benefits this upgrade will provide," Muccino added.
About CCLA
Established in 1989 by the Florida Legislature, CCLA operates Florida's Library Information Network for Cooperative Content (LINCC) and associated web-based information portal, LINCCWeb, from its headquarters in Tallahassee, Florida. CCLA is a cooperative effort between the Florida Department of Education's Division of Florida Colleges and the College Council of Presidents.
Serving 82 college campus libraries in 66 cities throughout Florida, CCLA is widely regarded as a model library services organization, operating the first statewide, centralized automated library system in the nation serving public colleges exclusively. For more information about CCLA and LINCCWeb, visit www.cclaflorida.org and www.linccweb.org.
Institutions comprising Florida's College System: Brevard Community College, Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Edison State College,
Florida Gateway College, Florida Keys Community College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast Community College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter Community College, Miami Dade College, North Florida Community College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando Community College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College, South Florida Community College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida – Manatee-Sarasota, Tallahassee Community College, and Valencia Community College.
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 www.exlibrisgroup.com.
