NEWS

Ex Libris Delivers the Fourth Partner Release
of the Alma Library Management Service

This installment of the cloud-based service accelerates the product’s readiness
for general release in early 2012

Ex Libris® Group is pleased to announce that the fourth partner release of the Alma library management service is now available for testing by development partners.

Delivered on schedule, this fourth release is being deployed to partners in the Ex Libris cloud environment and represents a major milestone on the road to the solution’s general release, planned for early 2012. The fifth and final partner release is scheduled for November 2011.

Highlights of the fourth partner release include the following:

• Advanced integration with the Ex Libris Primo® discovery and delivery solution, offering a seamless experience for end users
• Incorporation of development partners’ feedback and requests, particularly regarding the user interface
• Further enhancements of the Alma resource editor, which streamlines and facilitates the management of inventory and cataloging  
• Enhanced fulfillment capabilities

As with all new Ex Libris solutions, the features for this release were defined in close collaboration with development partners. Their in-depth feedback on the first three partner releases has significantly improved the ease with which Alma handles the full spectrum of library workflows. 

“The fourth partner release of Alma brings our institution substantially closer to our objective of managing the full spectrum of library collections and services with a single solution,” commented Robert Gerrity, associate university librarian for library systems at Boston College, an Alma development partner. “By integrating Alma with our Primo solution, we can deliver a completely seamless experience for our users, whether they are requesting library services, searching our local collections, or accessing our licensed e-resources.”

The number and diversity of institutions that have committed to acquiring Ex Libris Alma as their next-generation library resource management infrastructure continues to increase with the recent addition of libraries in Europe and North America. For such early adopter libraries, this latest partner release provides further evidence that Alma not only streamlines library staff workflows but does so in ways that improve direct services for end users.

J. Stephen Town, director of information at the University of York—an Alma early adopter—noted: “Alma, with Primo as the discovery interface, will meet our need for an effective library infrastructure for the future, an infrastructure that suits the university’s reputation for excellence. With Alma, we will fulfill our aspirations for international collaboration and our strategy of building long-term alliances and partnerships. We are excited about working with Ex Libris and other early adopters to help the company create a product of great value.”

“This partner release is a major landmark in the development of Alma,” remarked Bar Veinstein, vice president of resource management solutions at Ex Libris. “Alma has now entered the final phase before its general release and continues to receive increasing recognition from the academic library community. Our two partnership programs—for development partners and collaborative partners—are well underway, demonstrating the library community’s confidence in Alma’s ability to take libraries to the next generation.”

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