February 22, 2005
Prague, Czech Republic
The Ex Libris Group is pleased to announce that Charles University in Prague, already a user of the ALEPH 500™ integrated library system, has selected the MetaLib® library portal, the SFX® link server, and the DigiTool digital-asset management system to enhance library and information services for the university community.
Pavel Krbec, head of the IT department, commented: Because of its flexibility, openness, and scaling functionality, MetaLib is the most suitable integration tool to increase the usage and effectiveness of information resources at Charles University. MetaLib meets our needs for a central information access point for students, staff, and academic researchers, all of whom will be able to use both local and remote information resources here and now.
SFX is an excellent tool for bringing on-line services of all the Charles University libraries to users just when they need them, added Mr. Krbec. We have been using SFX services for two years at the nationwide Uniform Information Gateway, an SFX installation managed by the Czech National Library. SFX is a great discovery tool, and we are looking forward to integrating it into the Charles University e-learning environment to provide our academic community with state-of-the-art technology.
Finally, concluded Mr. Krbec, we selected the DigiTool system for its functionality, its friendly user interface, and the assurance of long-term preservation of digital objects. DigiTool fits the bill for building collections of digitized rare historical resources from the Charles University archive. The integration of DigiTool with MetaLib and SFX will improve the search capabilities and make our digital collections easily accessible to our users.
About Charles University:
Established in 1348, Charles University is one of the worlds oldest universities and a major educational and scientific institution in the Czech Republic.
Charles University comprises 17 faculties, in Prague, Hradec Kralove, and Plzen; three university institutes; and a number of additional centers. Of the more than seven thousand staff, four thousand are academic and scientific personnel. The student enrollment is over 42,000.
The university library system serves 21 large faculty libraries and the branch libraries of dozens of university institutes and departments. It contains more than 4,000,000 library items, including incunabula, collections of rare periodicals, and special types of documents.
For more information on Charles University, please see https://www.cuni.cz/UKENG-1.html
About the Institute for the Study of the History of Charles University and the Archive of Charles University:
The main function of the Institute is the collection, preservation, and handling of archival collections and documents about the history of Charles University. The Institute also serves as a center for research about the history of higher education, science, student movements, and education in the Czech territory.
The Archive of Charles University consists of an archival department, which handles historical and contemporaneous materials related to the university, and a documentation department, which maintains a collection of contemporaneous documents containing text, images, and audio recordings related to the history of Charles University.
About Ex Libris:
Ex Libris is a leading worldwide developer of high-performance applications for libraries, information centers, and researchers. A multinational company, Ex Libris has offices around the world. ALEPH, the Ex Libris integrated library solution, has been installed at more than 1250 sites and consortia in over 50 countries. MetaLib, the information portal for library collections, and SFX, the context-sensitive linking solution for heterogeneous electronic resources in the scholarly information environment, have collectively been purchased by more than 700 customers in 34 countries. DigiTool, a solution for the construction of digital collections, and Verde, the new electronic resource management (ERM) system, round out the Ex Libris product suite.
