~ Customized API to Create Enhanced Access to EBSCO Discovery Service™ via Encore™ for Mutual Customers ~

IPSWICH, Mass. — August 9, 2011 — In an effort to improve accessibility and usability for customers requesting various ports of entry into EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) and Innovate Interfaces, Inc. (Innovative) are working to develop improved access into these resources via Innovative’s Encore™ discovery platform. The result of the partnership is a smarter experience for mutual customers and library users who begin their search from Encore. EDS will be available via a dedicated API with enhanced functionality.

Executive Vice President of Technology and Chief Information Officer for EBSCO Publishing, Michael Gorrell, says a dedicated API allows users accessing EDS through the Encore platform access to the valuable resources available in EBSCO Discovery Service. “EDS has quickly become the discovery service for hundreds of universities around the world. EDS provides a full-featured experience for end users. In other words, we have brought together a comprehensive index and a single search approach, but we also offer a true academic and powerful environment in order to facilitate a comprehensive discovery experience. As much as we’ve invested into our native user interface, we also must accommodate the users who may start their research on a partner platform such as Encore. This agreement lets users who are in the Encore platform access the power of EDS from within the Encore user environment.”

For Innovative, partnering with EBSCO to satisfy the needs of mutual customers is a key strategy for the company. This most recent announcement builds on a long-standing relationship with EBSCO in which the two companies continue to explore areas where collaboration would benefit libraries. According to Innovative Interfaces’ Vice President, Encore Division, John McCullough, Encore users will benefit from this arrangement. “Our goal with Encore is to offer users the most successful library discovery experience possible and providing access to services like EDS from within Encore is a fundamental part of that strategy.”

Encore Synergy’s Services Oriented Architecture seamlessly integrates powerful discovery services like EDS into the user experience without the limitations and trade-offs of ‘one size fits all’ systems. McCullough expanded on the partnership saying, “with libraries facing an increasingly complex world of content and technology, it’s a Web imperative that discovery systems interoperate and scale collaboratively to ensure that libraries have the freedom to choose best-of-breed functionality for their users.”
###

About Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
Innovative (www.iii.com) creates cutting-edge products that allow libraries to succeed in a modern technology environment and the freedom to implement solutions that best meet their specific needs. The company’s versatile and market-leading solutions include: the Sierra Services Platform, the Millennium ILS, the Encore Synergy discovery application, Electronic Resource Management, and INN-Reach resource sharing. An established company with a vision for the future, Innovative connects with thousands of libraries of all types in over 50 countries as customers and partners. Innovative’s commitment to service is reflected by its 24/7/365 Help Desk, Innovative University, and the CSDirect Web support center. The company is located in Emeryville, California, with offices around the world.

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 eBooks. The company provides more than 350 databases and nearly 300,000 eBooks. 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.

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