Ex Libris (UK) announced today that seven institutions in the UK--The University of Bristol; the British Council; Imperial College London; the Nottingham Trent University; Queen Mary, University of London; Sheffield Hallam University; and University College London--have recently signed contracts with the company for the MetaLib® library portal and the SFX® link server. These contracts will increase the number of UK and Irish libraries using the award-winning Ex Libris metasearch and context-sensitive linking tools to 30.
The new customers will be implementing the latest versions of MetaLib and SFX, which continue to set the standards for library portals and link servers. New features include:
- A redesigned MetaLib user interface, which addresses the needs and expectations of novice, informed, and advanced users
- Enhanced A to Z listing services
- MetaIndex, a component that harvests OAI-compliant repositories to make them available for metasearching
- Enhanced management of result sets, including relevance ranking and automatic merging and deduplication
- Enriched knowledge base content and functionality
- An improved personal research environment with links to reference management software
"We are very pleased that so many libraries recognize the value of MetaLib and SFX for enhanced service provision in their institutions," noted Marc Daubach, corporate vice president of international sales at Ex Libris. "We look forward to working with these new customers--as well as existing ones--to ensure that MetaLib and SFX continue to meet researchers' ongoing needs, including seamless navigation through research environments as well as integration with other parts of the E-Campus."
Clare Jenkins, Director of Library Services at Imperial College London, explained, "Imperial College is delighted to join the growing community of UK MetaLib and SFX users. One of the factors that attracted us to these products was the knowledge that there is an active customer community working together with Ex Libris to develop and enhance both the software and the knowledge base that underpins the service."
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 more than 600 institutions in 32 countries. DigiTool, a solution for constructing digital collections, and the new Verde Electronic Resource Management (ERM) system round out the Ex Libris product suite.