Ex Libris News

Saturday May 18, 2013

All 660 Press Releases from Ex Libris

20 most recent items:

April 30, 2013. The Alma Community exceeds 150 institutions as University of Windsor's Leddy Library selects Ex Libris Solutions . Ex Libris announce that the University of Windsor, a member of the Ontario Council of University Libraries, has selected the Primo discovery and delivery solution and the Alma library management service. Alma's automatic workflows and unified approach to the management of electronic, print, and digital resources will significantly improve library efficiency while also offering a range of new user services through Primo. Alma will replace multiple systems that are now in use—among them, the open-source Evergreen integrated library system. Primo will provide comprehensive discovery of library resources and will leverage Alma's smart fulfillment capabilities to optimize access to collections in all formats. <<more>>

April 30, 2013. Ex Libris Alma goes live at Swinburne University of Technology. Ex Libris announced that Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology—an Alma collaborative partner—is in production with the Ex Libris Alma library management solution. In addition, Swinburne University is the first live Alma site whose cloud-based services are delivered by the company’s new data center in Singapore. <<more>>

April 17, 2013. Ex Libris appoints New General Manager for European Region. Ex Libris announced that Koby Rosenthal, a prominent manager in the high-tech industry, will run the Company’s European operations and serve as a corporate vice president effective May 6, 2013. <<more>>

March 19, 2013. BIBSYS Consortium selects Ex Libris Primo . Ex Libris announced that BIBSYS, the Norwegian national provider of library services, has selected Primo for its discovery and delivery solution. BIBSYS provides a range of integrated library products and services for a consortium that comprises libraries of Norwegian institutions of higher education, the National Library of Norway, and Norwegian research libraries. Rather than creating a homegrown search interface, BIBSYS selected the Primo discovery and delivery solution. <<more>>

March 14, 2013. Ex Libris Primo Central Index to cover SwetsWise online content catalog. Ex Libris announced that following an agreement with Swets, a leading developer of innovative content management services for libraries and publishers, mutual customers will be able to search the SwetsWise Online Content e-journal gateway via the Primo Central Index of scholarly electronic materials. <<more>>

March 14, 2013. Ex Libris selects Basis technology for Chinese analysis. Basis Technology, the global leader in multilingual text analytics, and Ex Libris announced that Ex Libris has licensed the Rosette linguistics platform from Basis Technology for integration into the Primo discovery and delivery solution. Rosette enables search-based applications to analyze complex multilingual documents, including those written in Chinese. <<more>>

February 27, 2013. Free University of Bozen/Bolzano goes live with Ex Libris Alma . Ex Libris announced that the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano in Italy is in production with the Ex Libris Alma library management solution. The library adopted the Primo discovery and delivery solution in 2011 to provide users with a unified showcase for all the institution’s collections. Complementing Primo, Alma now consolidates all the library’s back-office operations in a single, cloud-based solution that will lead to substantial improvements in efficiency. <<more>>

February 18, 2013. Lancaster University makes strides with Ex Libris Alma . Ex Libris announced that Lancaster University in the United Kingdom is live in production with the Ex Libris Alma library management solution. Having launched the Primo discovery and delivery solution to users in 2010, Alma now consolidates all the library’s back-office operations in a single, cloud-based solution that supports many aspects of the library’s modernization strategy. <<more>>

February 12, 2013. California State University, Sacramento, moves to the Ex Libris Alma Library Management Service. Ex Libris announced that California State University, Sacramento has selected the Alma unified library management solution. The University Library at Sacramento State will consolidate library operations under Alma, which will replace a number of systems: the Innovative Interfaces Millennium integrated library system, Ex Libris SFX OpenURL link resolver, and Serials Solutions 360 Resource Manager. Alma supports the full range of library operations for the entire spectrum of materials—electronic, print, and digital—regardless of their format or location. <<more>>

February 11, 2013. Tutte per una, Primo per tutte. La Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano ha scelto Primo di Ex Libris per offrire ai suoi cittadini l'accesso integrato all'intero universo bibliografico delle biblioteche di lingua italiana del territorio attraverso la creazione di un catalogo unico virtuale. Il vasto patrimonio presente nei rispettivi cataloghi della Biblioteca Provinciale Claudia Augusta, della rete cittadina che fa capo alla Biblioteca Civica di Bolzano "Battisti" e del sistema BIS, che aggrega 21 biblioteche pubbliche e 20 scolastiche della Provincia di Bolzano, è infatti accessibile oggi agli utenti da un'unica interfaccia di ricerca. <<more>>

February 4, 2013. Macquarie University selects Ex Libris Alma. Ex Libris announced that Macquarie University has selected the Alma library management solution. By adding Alma to the Primo discovery and delivery solution, which the Macquarie community uses for searching the university library’s local and global collections, Macquarie offers staff members and researchers a single environment for resource management and discovery. This environment provides seamless access to library resources as well as a range of new services. Macquarie joins over 120 other institutions worldwide that have chosen to take advantage of the tight integration between Alma and Primo for the management and discovery of all resource types and collections. <<more>>

January 28, 2013. Bibliothek am Guisanplatz in Switzerland selects Ex Libris Primo and Alma. Ex Libris announced that the Bibliothek am Guisanplatz has adopted the Primo discovery and delivery solution and the next-generation Alma resource management service. One of Switzerland’s oldest research libraries, Bibliothek am Guisanplatz—the leading library of the Alexandria Library Network—required an integrated framework to transform the management of its vast collections and to expose and deliver those collections to federal employees, military personnel, scholars, and the public. Alma is replacing the library’s VTLS system. <<more>>

January 27, 2013. Ex Libris extends its support for open access by launching registration of institutional repositories for Primo Central. Ex Libris announced that it has launched a self-registration service enabling institutions to easily add the contents of their institutional repository to the Primo Central Index of scholarly electronic materials and thus expand the breadth of IR content in the index. <<more>>

January 23, 2013. Brandeis University selects Ex Libris Alma and Primo. Ex Libris announced that Brandeis University has selected the Primo discovery and delivery solution and the Alma library management service. Having used the Ex Libris Aleph integrated library service for many years, the University decided to migrate its library systems to the Ex Libris cloud environment and take advantage of the two solutions’ tight integration and unified framework for the management and discovery of all resource types and collections. <<more>>

January 22, 2013. Portland Academic Health libraries consortium Selects Ex Libris Primo and Alma. Ex Libris announced that the Portland Academic Health Libraries consortium has selected the Primo discovery and delivery solution and the Alma resource management service. PAHL members are the National College of Natural Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, and University of Western States. Replacing their Innovative Millennium systems, these schools are joining a community of over 120 institutions that have selected Alma, many of which are replacing systems from other vendors. <<more>>

January 21, 2013. Washington University in St. Louis selects Ex Libris Primo . Ex Libris announced that the University Libraries of Washington University in St. Louis have selected a cloud-based installation of the Primo discovery and delivery solution. Washington University, a member of the Association of Research Libraries, has also subscribed to the bX Recommender, one of the bX suite of usage-based services. <<more>>

January 16, 2013. University of Adelaide’s Barr Smith Library selects Ex Libris Primo. Ex Libris announced that the Barr Smith Library of the University of Adelaide has adopted the Primo discovery and delivery solution. <<more>>

January 2, 2013. The National Library of Israel Selects Ex Libris Rosetta for Digital Preservation. Ex Libris announced that the National Library of Israel has adopted the Rosetta digital preservation solution. As part of the Library’s strategic renewal program, Rosetta will manage and preserve the NLI’s collections of e-books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, audio recordings, websites, and images. In addition, Rosetta is the main engine driving the large-scale digitization project for manuscripts, rare and out-of-print books, and special collections at the Library. <<more>>

December 10, 2012. Ex Libris announces numerous Primo sales around the world. Ex Libris® Group, a world leader in the provision of library automation solutions, is pleased to announce that in recent months, numerous academic and research libraries have selected the Primo® discovery and delivery solution, which includes the Primo Central Index of electronic scholarly content. <<more>>

December 5, 2012. Ex Libris promuove le tecniche di Linked Data per rendere i dati di bilioteca più aperti e accessibili Ex Libris entra a far parte del Community Group Schema Bib Extend W3C. Ex Libris è lieto di annunciare di essere diventato membro del Community Group "Schema Bib Extend W3C". Questa community riunisce diverse organizzazioni bibliotecarie e singoli individui impegnati nella creazione di proposte finalizzate ad estendere gli schemi per migliorare la rappresentazione delle informazioni bibliografiche su Internet. Il gruppo opera sotto l'egida dell'iniziativa schema.org <<more>>

November 27, 2012. Boston University Libraries go live with Ex Libris Alma . Ex Libris announced that Boston University Libraries, a member of the Association of Research Libraries, has gone live with the Ex Libris Alma next-generation resource management solution. An early adopter of Alma, BU Libraries collaborated closely with Ex Libris to deliver a successful and seamless transition to the cloud-based service. Alma replaces the Innovative Interfaces Millennium library system. <<more>>

Note: The information on this page is a directory listing and is not the company's own Web site. The company may offer additional products and services other than those listed here. Library Technology Guides focuses primarily on Integrated Library Systems. Return to company list

Ex Libris

1350 E Touhy Avenue Suite 200 E
Des Plaines, Illinois 60018
United States
Toll free: 800-762-6300
Phone: 847-296-2200
Fax: 847-296-5636
Web site: http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/
Email: info@exlibris-usa.com

Executives

Matti Shem Tov -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Oded Scharfstein -- Chief Financial Officer
Oren Beit-Arie -- Chief Strategy Officer
Ziv BenZvi -- Vice President for Asia Pacific
David Beychok -- Vice President, Discovery and Delivery Solutions
Anat Kuper -- Corporate Vice President, Global Support
Uri Livnat -- Vice President, Cloud Services
Shlomo Sanders -- Chief Technology Officer
Mark Triest -- President Ex Libris North America
Bar Veinstein -- Vice President, Resource Management Solutions
Koby Rosenthal -- Corporate Vice President, General Manager for Europe
Sagit Halpern -- Chief Financial Officer, Ex Libris North America

Company Ownership

Ex Libris is owned by Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA.

Library automation systems

Ex Libris offers the following Integrated Library Systems:

Aleph 500 (1191 libraries, 1596 facilities in lib-web-cats)
Public libraries: 434
Academic libraries: 532
School libraries: 26
54 libraries have migrated away from this system.
Voyager (933 libraries, 1389 facilities in lib-web-cats)
Public libraries: 3
Academic libraries: 682
School libraries: 2
166 libraries have migrated away from this system.

A total of 2985 library facilities included in lib-web-cats use an ILS provided by Ex Libris.

Ex Libris offers an OpenURL Link Resolver:

SFX used in 656 libraries, 818 facilities in lib-web-cats)

Corporate Chronology

Oct 16, 2012	Golden Gate Capital acquires Ex Libris from Leeds Equity Partners. Golden Gate Capital, a prominent San Francisco-based private equity firm with $12 billion in capital under management, has entered into an agreement to acquire Ex Libris from its current owner, Leeds Equity Partners.
Jul 2, 2012	Boston College becomes the first library to put Alma in production.
Feb 8, 2010	Ex Libris acquires Fujitsu Services A/S library division. Ex Libris acquires the Fujitsu Services A/S library division--the exclusive distributor of Ex Libris products in Denmark and Sweden--and the assumption of all interaction with the Company’s approximately 200 customer institutions in these countries. The newly opened Ex Libris Scandinavia office is part of the continually expanding Ex Libris worldwide organization.
Jul 6, 2009	Ex Libris announces development initiative for Unified Resource Management -- later branded as Alma. The URM framework is designed to accommodate the emerging and future needs of libraries, not just the traditional back-office management activities common today. The extensible design and adherence to the Ex Libris open platform philosophy ensure that URM will grow with the needs of individual libraries and the larger library and academic environments in which they operate. By centralizing data services in a software-as-a-service environment, URM will support flexible models for collaboration across the functional spectrum—from cooperative collection development to more seamless sharing of metadata and resources with peer libraries. In this new network environment, libraries will be able to join forces to optimize technical support, purchasing power, collections, and even staff knowledge and resources.
Aug 5, 2008	Leeds Equity Partners acquires Ex Libris Group. Ex Libris Group announced that Leeds Equity Partners, the largest fund focused exclusively on investing in knowledge industry companies, has completed the acquisition of the Ex Libris Group. Silver Point Capital L.P. provided acquisition financing for Ex Libris. Value of transaction estimated at $170 million.
Nov 21, 2006	Francisco Partners acquires Endeavor Information Systems from Elsevier.
Jun 26, 2006	Francisco Partners acquires Ex Libris for $62 million. Francisco Partners, a private equity firm based in Menlo Park, CA with about $5 billion under management, purchased 100% of Ex Libris Group. Previous owners included venture capital firms Walden Israel and Tamar Technologies; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and current and former company executives.
Mar 2006	Ex Libris announces Primo for the discovery and delivery of library resources. Primo enhances existing library solutions by providing users with a unified presentation of the exact information they need, where and when they want it. Drawing on the latest in search technologies and web 2.0 models such as social computing and content mashup, Primo goes beyond existing search engine tools, enabling libraries to take full advantage of their unique ability to provide access to physical and electronic information resources.
Aug 2005	Azriel Morag retires from Ex Libris. Azriel Morag retires from Ex Libris, selling his interest in the company.
Jun 21, 2004	Ex Libris announces Verde electronic resource management system. Ex Libris announced Verde, a new system that assists libraries and information centers in managing and providing access to electronic resources. Complementing the existing suite of Ex Libris tools, Verde builds on the power of SFX and benefits from its ongoing penetration of the global library market.
May 11, 2003	Matti Shem Tov appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Ex Libris. Ex Libris Ltd. announced that Matti Shem Tov will be heading the expanding global operations of the company as its new president and CEO, effective immediately.
Jan 28, 2002	Ehud Arad steps down as President of Ex Libris. Ex Libris Ltd. announced that Ehud Arad, President is stepping down. Mr. Arad was a founder of the company and the year just completed, year 2001, was a year in which Ex Libris, on a worldwide basis, made substantial achievements, and serves as a an excellent conclusion to Mr. Arad's leadership of Ex Libris.
Jul 8, 2000	Ex Libris introduces MetaLib federated search application. Ex Libris announced a new product named MetaLib. This new product addresses two major goals: that of providing users with a new, more powerful way to perform information discovery and navigation and, helping libraries and information centers that are actively embracing digital library initiatives to make all of their content readily available to those users through a standardized interface.
Apr 7, 2000	Endeavor Information Systems acquired by Elsevier. Elsevier Science Inc., acquired Endeavor Information Systems Inc., the leading vendor of automated library systems for academic and special research libraries. Value of transaction estimated at $30-40 million.
Feb 2000	Ex Libris acquires rights to SFX from University of Gent . Ex Libris acquires the sole rights to the SFX Reference Linking Software Solution from the University of Gent in Belgium.
Feb 1999	Endeavor employees gain full ownership of Endeavor Information Systems. Endeavor’s founders paid off their debt to TFI, the investment firm that provided the capital to launch the company, in February 1999, gaining complete ownership of the company.
1999	Walden Israel and Tamar Ventures invest in Ex Libris Group. Two Israel-based VC firms, Walden Israel and Tamar Ventures, invested a total of $4 million in the company. This investment provided the two firms seats on the Ex Libris board of directors.
1999	Ex Libris enters United States library automation market.
Jul 1997	Ex Libris acquires Dabis. Ex Libris acquired the German company Dabis, which had a three hundred-library customer base using its BIS system.
1996	Company reorgainzed as Ex Libris group. The company reorganizes as Ex Libris Group, which stood as the parent company for a growing number of subsidiaries and distributors around the globe.
1995	Yissum Aleph and Ex Libris, Ltd. merge into a single company. Yissum Aleph, owned by Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ex Libris, Ltd., owned by Morag, merge, taking the Ex Libris identity.
Nov 1994	Endeavor Information Systems founded. Endeavor Information Systems, Inc., came into existence in November 1994, when it acquired the Voyager Library Series from MARCorp. Endeavor provided support for the existing version of Voyager, but the company immediately began the creation of a new client/server system of its own design.
1986	Ex Libris, Ltd. founded. Ex Libris, Ltd., was formed in 1986 to market and support the software outside of Israel, allowing Aleph Yissum to focus on the software development and to support its use by Israel-based libraries.
1983	Aleph Yissum founded to commercialize ALEPH. Yissum, the technology transfer department of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, hires Azriel Morag to commercialize the ALEPH software, launching a new company called Aleph Yissum.
1980	ALEPH software created at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Ex Libris began in 1980 as an effort to create software to automate the libraries of HUJ. Its software, Automated Library Expandable Program or ALEPH-100

Key Articles from Library Technology Guides

The following are a sample of articles related to the major events in the corporate history of Ex Libris, or you can view all articles related to the company from Library Technology Guides.

Breeding, Marshall, Smart Libraries Newsletter (March 2012). Ex Libris: Alma, Aleph, and Primo

Ex Libris has made progress across multiple products. There have been developments with Alma, its new unified resource management platform, Aleph, one of its integrated library systems, and with its Primo discovery product.

(January 6, 2011). Ex Libris announces the cloud-based Alma Library Management Service

Ex Libris announced that the company’s next-generation library management solution has been named Ex Libris Alma. Harnessing the Unified Resource Management (URM) framework, Alma supports the entire range of library operations—selection, acquisition, metadata management, digitization, and fulfillment—for all library materials, regardless of their format or location. The Ex Libris Alma solution accelerates libraries' move toward next-generation services by consolidating, optimizing, and extending library workflows. Alma consolidates the disparate systems used by today’s libraries to manage print, electronic, and digital resources. Alma’s cloud infrastructure helps libraries improve their operational efficiency through data sharing and collaboration. As a result, libraries can focus their resources on extending services within and outside the institution and on supporting the institution’s teaching and research missions. The general release of the Alma solution is scheduled for early 2012.

Breeding, Marshall, Smart Libraries Newsletter (January 2011). Ex Libris Marks Progress in Developing URM

Ex Libris continues to make progress on the development of its next-generation library management platform called Unified Resource Management, or URM. This product, which was developed as the company's long-term strategic library automation platform, continues in the research and development stage, with expected release at the beginning of 2012. Although the product is still some time away from general availability, it has progressed from the proof-of-concept prototypes to a functional model. Though preliminary, some versions have been made available to development partner libraries for testing and assessment

Breeding, Marshall, Smart Libraries Newsletter (August 2008). Ex Libris Sets Strategic Course on Open Systems

Ex Libris specializes in automation products, primarily aimed at academic and research libraries, and has a large base of customer libraries throughout the world. In June 2008, Ex Libris announced that it had launched what it calls an "open-platform program" formalizing and expanding its commitment to deliver its products and services in a more transparent approach.

Breeding, Marshall, Smart Libraries Newsletter (January 2007). Consolidation continues: Endeavor acquired by Francisco Partners

Following its July 2006 acquisition of Ex Libris, private-equity firm Francisco Partners announced a definitive agreement late last fall to acquire 100 percent of Endeavor Information Systems from Elsevier. This acquisition represents a major step toward consolidation in the academic library-automation industry. As a result, this combined company stands as the largest provider focused solely on providing systems and services to academic libraries.

Breeding, Marshall, Smart Libraries Newsletter (December 2006). Francisco Partners completes Ex Libris buy

Breeding, Marshall, Smart Libraries Newsletter (March 2006). OPAC sustenance: Ex Libris to serve up Primo

Marshall Breeding provides a description of Primo, a new information discovery and delivery tool from Ex Libris.

Breeding, Marshall, Smart Libraries Newsletter (November 2005). Ex Libris withdraws from IPO

In a move to gain additional funding for its business strategies, Ex Libris recently embarked on an initial public offering of stock to raise capital. But late in the process, the company’s board of directors withdrew from the IPO; the aborted effort follows another significant company event--the retirement of Azriel Morag, company founder and longtime chairman of the board.

Breeding, Marshall, Smart Libraries Newsletter (April 2005). Ex Libris reorganizes its U.S. operations

Library Systems Newsletter (July 1997). Ex Libris purchases Dabis

Ex Libris Lts., the Israeli company which sells the Aleph 500 automated library systems and supports several earlier generations of that system, has purchased DABIS of Germany and DABIS of Austria, a former leading vendor of automated library systems in the German speaking countries. DABIS had gone into receivership, primarily because of failure to sell new systems. ExL GmbH, a new Ex Libris subsidiary, will service the 300 DABIS accounts and will seek to migrate them to its product. It has hired 26 former DABIS staffers and will maintain offices in Hamburg, Berlin, and Cologne.

Library Technology Guides