~ EBSCO Discovery Service™ is Selected For Its User-Friendly and Intuitive Interface ~

IPSWICH, Mass. — July 12, 2011 — Nanyang Technological University, an internationally known, research-intensive institution in Singapore, has selected EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) from EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) to enable users to discover all of the library’s content from a single search box.

Nanyang Technological University, wanted to provide users with a simplified way to search their collection. After their librarians conducted an extensive trial process of many services, EBSCO Discovery Service was chosen. Nanyang Technological University is the first institution in Singapore to implement EDS.

Deputy Director of Systems and Technology from Nanyang Technological University, Hazel Loh, says one of the deciding factors was finding a service that would create a good search experience to draw users to the library. “A key feature that we were looking for and found in EDS was that the interface should be simple and intuitive for our users to want to use often for finding information.”

Loh also credits the decision to the broad coverage in EDS and the speed of delivering results “We basically wanted a search that was simple to use, comprehensive in coverage and did not take long to return results.”

Nanyang Technological University has subscriptions to many of EBSCO’s databases and other resources. According to Loh this familiarity with EBSCO made EDS the right fit for them. “Our users and librarians were already familiar with the EBSCO interface and so there would not be a steep learning curve. We are also using EBSCO’s A-Z listing to maintain our e-journal holdings and therefore the knowledgebase is comprehensive and no extra work needed to be done at the backend to update holdings.”

Through EBSCO Discovery Service, libraries have the ability to customize their collection of locally indexed metadata, creating the optimal search experience for end users to take advantage of the library’s complete collection. The university plans to implement the customization option to name the discovery experience to their liking.

EBSCO Discovery Service creates a unified, customized index of an institution’s information resources, and an easy, yet powerful means of accessing all of that content from a single search box-searching made even more powerful because of the quality of metadata and depth and breadth of coverage.

The Base Index for EBSCO Discovery Service forms the foundation upon which each EDS subscribing library builds out its custom collection. Beginning with the Base Index, each institution extends the reach of EDS by adding appropriate resources including its catalog, institutional repositories, EBSCOhost and other databases, and additional content sources to which it subscribes. It is this combination that allows a single, comprehensive, custom solution for discovering the value of any library’s collection.

The EDS Base Index is comprised of metadata from the world’s foremost information providers. At present, the EDS Base Index represents content from approximately 20,000 providers in addition to metadata from another 70,000 book publishers. Although constantly growing, today the EDS Base Index provides metadata for nearly 50,000 magazines & journals, approximately 825,000 CDs & DVDs, nearly six million books, more than 100 million newspaper articles, more than 400,000 conference proceedings and hundreds of thousands of additional information sources from various source-types.

About EBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing is the producer of EBSCOhost®, the world’s premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives, and e-books. The company provides more than 300 databases and nearly 300,000 e-books. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of journals and magazines than any other discovery service (www.ebscohost.com/discovery). For more information, visit the EBSCO Publishing Web site at: www.ebscohost.com, or contact: information@ebscohost.com. EBSCO Publishing is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.

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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebscohost.com

LibLime Announces New Features in LibLime Academic Koha
“By Academic Librarians for Academic Librarians”

Bethesda, MD – July 12, 2011 -For over two years, LibLime has worked with Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization (WALDO), to build an ILS specifically for academic libraries. LibLime Academic Koha is the result. Designed, tested and used by academic librarians, LibLime Academic Koha offers the right platform for making an ILS be all that it can be. With LibLime and WALDO, academic librarians have the opportunity to work with like-minded professionals toward a shared goal of designing software that works for them.

LibLime Academic Koha offers libraries the option to establish overnight and hourly loans. This feature is designed to work with the library’s calendar so that holidays and adjusted open and closing hours are accounted for when establishing due dates and times.

LibLime Academic Koha features staff and patron initiated recalls. From the OPAC or the staff module, a recall can be placed on an item checked out letting the current holding patron know the item is of interest to another patron. If desired, fines can be established on recalls which are ignored by the holding patron.

LibLime Academic Koha allows libraries to enable Call Slips. This feature allows patrons to request items from closed stacks using the public OPAC. Staff may also place these requests on behalf of patrons. The items can be delivered to the patron at the circulation desk.

About WALDO
Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization (WALDO) is a membership organization supporting the procurement & administration of electronic information services for libraries since 1982. Supporting over 900 member libraries, WALDO offers consortial discounts for over 5,000 products and services. For more information, please visit WALDO at www.waldolib.org or contact Rob Karen at rob@waldolib.org or (866) 579-6051 ext. 101. Other advantages of choosing a LibLime solution through WALDO include volume discounts, standard contracts, consolidated renewal and centralized billing. Participation in the LibLime discounts through WALDO is available to all WALDO members.

About LibLime, a division of PTFS
LibLime, a division of PTFS, is the global leader in professional Koha support. LibLime’s robust staff of programmers, data specialists, librarians, system administrators and project managers, provides first class consulting, implementation, data migration, training, development, and maintenance/hosting services for Koha in libraries of all types and sizes. PTFS is the developer of the world’s leading digital content management software, ArchivalWare, and also specializes in library staffing requirements, digitization, and systems integration. For more information, see liblime.com or ptfs.com or archivalware.net.

DALLAS, TX, July 11 – Amigos Library Services will present a one day online conference, Digital Preservation: What’s Now, What’s Next on August 12. The conference will cover a variety of topics including digital preservation of email and e-books as well as preservation of audio and video.

“I am very excited about our program,” says Gina Minks, Imaging & Preservation Service Manager. “We have many presenters that are well known both in the Amigos region and nationally. It is going to be an opportunity to see presentations from people who normally are only at the large national conferences.”

Among the scheduled sessions are:

• Email: The Problem that Dare not Speak its Name, presented by Christopher J. Prom
• Fundamentals of Digitizing Audio and Video, presented by George Blood and Cassandra Gallegos
• Protect Future Access Now: Preserving E-Books and Other Digitized Content, presented by Amy Kirchhoff

In addition to these sessions, the conference includes Martin Halbert and Katherine Skinner’s presentation about collaborative, community-owned approaches to both digital preservation and digital curation, as well as presentations from Jacob Nadal, UCLA; William LeFurgy, the Library of Congress; Tom Clareson, Lyrasis; and Liz Bishoff, The Bishoff Group.

To see the full schedule and to sign up for the conference, visit http://www.amigos.org/node/891. Early bird registration runs through July 29, 2011.

About Amigos Library Services - For more than 35 years, Amigos Library Services has helped its members obtain affordable services and share library resources and knowledge. With over 600 members, Amigos is one of the largest consortia of libraries and cultural heritage institutions in the United States. Through membership in Amigos, libraries collectively gain access to the latest innovations and services in the library community; pursue opportunities for continuing professional education; leverage their buying power; and preserve the region’s rich cultural heritage.
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