Ex Libris (UK), together with EDINA, a data service center based at Edinburgh University, is starting a two-year, government-funded project of over one million dollars to set up and deliver SUNCAT, the United Kingdom`s national union catalog of serials data.

SUNCAT (an acronym for serials union catalog) will deploy ALEPH 500, the basis of a growing number of union catalogs throughout the world, including catalogs in Germany, Austria, Latvia, Brazil, and Mexico, as well as the completely new version of the MELVYL catalog, just rolled out at the California Digital Library.

The SUNCAT database will be a centralized catalog with the ISSN world database as its nucleus and will contain bibliographic records from contributing UK libraries. Liz Stevenson, of the Edinburgh University Library, will coordinate the project with first-phase partners from the universities of Glasgow, Oxford, and Cambridge. EDINA will provide user support and help desks for the benefit of end users.

The project will proceed in three phases. A SUNCAT pilot service should be available as early as the fall of 2003. Phase 2, to be completed by 2005, will extend coverage to about 200 libraries, with a focus on specialist collections, including old and rare materials. By the end of 2006, in the words of Dr. Leah Halliday (EDINA project manager) and Peter Burnhill (director), SUNCAT will be a fully operational first port of call for serials information held in UK libraries.

Julie Booth, managing director of Ex Libris (UK), expressed her confidence in the proposed ALEPH 500 infrastructure and functionality: "We are proud to be part of the development of SUNCAT, the first UK national union catalog of serials data," said Julie. "Our partnership with EDINA and our experience with large complex union catalogs around the world further strengthen the position of Ex Libris as the supplier of choice for this type of project."

For more information about EDINA, see edina.ac.uk.

About Ex Libris

Ex Libris is a leading worldwide developer of high-performance applications for libraries, information centers, and researchers. A multinational company, Ex Libris has offices around the world. ALEPH, the Ex Libris integrated library solution, has been installed at over 800 sites in 50 countries. MetaLib, the information portal for library collections, and SFX, the context-sensitive linking solution for heterogeneous electronic resources in the scholarly information environment, have been purchased by more than 370 customers in 24 countries. DigiTool, a solution for constructing digital collections as components of an overall digital strategy, rounds out the Ex Libris product suite.