October 6, 2014
Alma and Primo will consolidate multiple systems and enable WMU to provide unified resource management and discovery to staff and users
Chicago, IL—October 6, 2014. Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce that Western Michigan University has selected the Alma library management service and the Primo® discovery and delivery solution to provide unified resource management and unified resource discovery. Alma and Primo replace multiple homegrown and commercial systems including the ProQuest Summon discovery service.
Alma will enable the University Libraries to manage and deliver a single, cloud-based platform for all its information resources, regardless of physical format or how the items were acquired. Library users will use Primo to readily discover and seamlessly access those resources without needing to know where that information originates or how it was made available to end users.
”Currently the library uses different systems with add-ons and custom coding to manage and deliver information to our users,” commented Joseph Reish, Dean of University Libraries at WMU. ”By consolidating our systems into Alma and Primo, the library will adopt simplified and streamlined workflows, which will also enable us to offer the appropriate discovery approach to different users: one-stop searching for undergraduates and sophisticated discovery for advanced researchers.”
Dr. Reish continued: ”It’s time for us to move to a system that is able to respond to our current operations. We look forward to a cloud-based system that frees us from in-house server maintenance, that offers simpler integration between information management and user-facing functions, easier and more insightful reporting, more powerful evaluation tools, and efficient integration with other WMU systems. All of this will provide more time for our staff to focus on the end-user experience. Ex Libris has the technology, support teams, and track-record showing that it can successfully deliver what we are looking for.”
Eric Hines, president of Ex Libris North America, remarked: ”Western Michigan University joins more than 370 institutions worldwide that have chosen to revitalize their library operations by moving to the cloud-based Alma service, and over 2,100 that have adopted Primo. With its decision to adopt Ex Libris solutions for both resource management and resource discovery, the university is positioning its library to make a greater contribution to the success of students, faculty, and researchers in its learning community.”
About Western Michigan University
Located in Southwest Michigan, WMU is a vibrant, nationally recognized, discovery-driven and globally engaged research institution with an enrollment of nearly 25,000. WMU delivers high quality undergraduate instruction, has a strong graduate division, and fosters significant research activities. Founded in 1903, the University now offers 142 bachelor’s, 72 master’s and 30 doctoral programs. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has placed WMU among the 76 public institutions in the nation designated as research universities with high research activities. For more information see https://wmich.edu/.
About Ex Libris
Ex Libris is a leading provider of automation solutions for academic, national, and research libraries. Offering the only comprehensive product suite for electronic, digital, and print materials, Ex Libris provides efficient, user-friendly products that serve the needs of libraries today and will facilitate their transition into the future. Ex Libris maintains an impressive customer base consisting of thousands of sites in more than 90 countries on six continents.
Dedicated to developing creative solutions in close collaboration with customers, Ex Libris enables libraries to maximize productivity and efficiency and, at the same time, greatly enhance the user experience. By empowering users to discover and obtain the information they need, libraries ensure their position as the bridge to knowledge.
