OCUL Collaborative Futures to move forward with Ex Libris Alma and Primo

  • Posted on: 12 July 2018
  • By: Anika

 

Toronto, Ontario – July 12, 2018. The Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) is pleased to announce the selection of the Ex Libris Alma® library services platform and Ex Libris Primo® discovery and delivery solution, as the core platforms for its Collaborative Futures initiative. Thirteen of OCUL’s 21 member institutions are now participating in Collaborative Futures and, upon implementation, will use a consortial instance of Alma and Primo to meet the changing research needs of their students, faculty, and staff. The University of Windsor, an OCUL member already using these Ex Libris’ solutions, will also be joining the initiative.

 
Collaborative Futures is an OCUL initiative to develop a shared and distributed approach to print and electronic resource management. It builds on OCUL’s well established practice of collective licensing and partnership as a means of offering shared library services to Ontario’s 21 universities, including the Scholars Portal technology infrastructure and digital collection platforms.
The essential elements to achieving the vision of Collaborative Futures include:
 
1. Implementing a shared next generation library services platforms.
2. Collaborating to manage and preserve print resources in a sustainable system.
3. Effectively using shared systems to manage electronic & print resources.
 
OCUL is now able to move forward with the first of these steps.  The Ex Libris library services and discovery solution will enable participating libraries to work together in new ways, to share expertise and network level workflows, and to offer broader access to resources for the 340,000 students, faculty and staff working at the participating institutions.
 
Wayne Jones, Carleton University Librarian and Chair of the Ontario Council of University Libraries commented, “The Ex Libris library services and discovery platform will enable the member libraries of OCUL to build on the legacy and practice of collaboration which has made the consortium so innovative and successful over the years. Alma and Primo will facilitate staff members’ ability to manage the huge wealth of resources of all kinds which OCUL libraries hold and license. The end result will be that our staff, our researchers, our faculty members, and especially our thousands of students will be able to find, get access to, and use the materials they need in order to make them even more successful in their studies.”
 
“Ex Libris is excited to welcome the Ontario Council of University Libraries to our growing Canadian Alma and Primo user communities,” said Eric Hines, president of Ex Libris North America. “Alma analytics will offer extensive insights for individual OCUL members as well as providing valuable information about operations and collections of all the participating members of the consortium.” 
 
OCUL, an affiliate of the Council of Ontario Universities, strives to support its member institutions in providing world class information services to Ontario’s universities.
 
“This is a great opportunity to draw on the depth of expertise within the OCUL community to tackle some common challenges arising from the transformation of scholarly communication, rapid developments in information technology, and declining or limited resources” commented John Barnett, OCUL Executive Director. “We are confident this initial step will open the door to finding new ways to support students, faculty and researchers across our university communities.”
 

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About the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL)
OCUL is a consortium of Ontario’s 21 university libraries that was established more than 50 years ago. The consortium, an affiliate of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), enhances information services in Ontario and beyond through collective purchasing, a shared infrastructure for digital information, collaborative planning, advocacy, assessment, research, partnerships, communications, and professional development. The Collaborative Futures initiative is the latest example of how OCUL works together to the benefit of Ontario’s university community. For more information about OCUL, see https://ocul.on.ca/.
 
Contact:
John Barnett, OCUL Executive Director
john.barnett [at] ocul.on.ca
 
 
About Ex Libris
Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is a leading global provider of cloud-based solutions for higher education. Offering SaaS solutions for the management and discovery of the full spectrum of library and scholarly materials, as well as mobile campus solutions driving student engagement and success, Ex Libris serves thousands of customers in 90 countries. For more information about Ex Libris, see our website, and join us on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
 
Media Contact:
Miryam Brand
miryam.brand [at] exlibrisgroup.com
Telephone: +972-2-649-9308

For the full Ex Libris release visit: https://www.exlibrisgroup.com/press-release/ocul-members-select-ex-libri...