~U.K. University expects EBSCO Discovery Service™ to Play Key Role in its Digital Library~

IPSWICH, Mass. — September 20, 2011 — The University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom has chosen EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) from EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) to play an integral role in bringing a readily accessible digital library to students. The University will use its implementation of EDS to provide on-and off-campus end users with the most efficient way to search multiple eResources from a single search box, and to offer seamless access to full-text results.

Since the implementation of EDS at the University of Cumbria, statistics have already shown an increase in the usage of eResources overall, and the University expects EDS to prove particularly useful to those students who study off campus, according to Michael Stanning, Information, Policy and Administration Manager at the University of Cumbria. “Students told us that using multiple electronic resources was confusing and time consuming. EDS provides them with a familiar Google-like interface by which to access much of the online licensed full-text content that the University subscribes to. This ease of access to online content is fundamental to our plans for a digital library,” says Stanning.

Stanning says the University’s decision to go with EDS was strongly influenced by the positive feedback EDS received from subject librarians in response to presentations and trials, as well as the solid relationship the University enjoys with EBSCO. He also noted that the Base Index associated with EDS contained many of the University’s key eResources, and Stanning cited the “amount and quality of results from the base index” as another deciding factor. He reports that students have found the system fast, easy to use and a real aid to research.

The University has taken advantage of the robust customization options available in EDS and the ability to create a unified branding image. The University has made EDS its own, running a student competition to find a new and original name. The result was Quest— branding it beyond the basics to align with corporate branding and giving what Stanning referred to as “an attractive look” to the portal.

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 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