Drexel University Chooses Cloud-Based Ex Libris Alma Library Services Platform

 November 28, 2017

Chicago, Illinois—November 28, 2017. Ex Libris^®, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce that Drexel University has selected the Ex Libris Alma^® library services platform to integrate with the university’s Summon^® discovery and delivery service. The Alma-Summon combination will improve the discovery of and access to scholarly resources needed for learning, teaching, and research. As a single system, Alma will streamline procedures for managing the Libraries’ acquired and licensed electronic and print resources, help the Libraries raise staff productivity significantly, improve workflows, and eliminate data silos. The Alma platform replaces the Innovative Interfaces Millennium integrated library system (ILS), which Drexel has used since 1998.

With Alma, the University anticipates automating various library functions that are critical for efficiently managing acquisitions, the licensing of electronic information resources and databases, metadata descriptions, discovery, circulation, reserves, and resource-sharing services. These activities increasingly involve multiple formats beyond print books and journals, audio recordings, and visual images, and require future capacity for managing research data, something Alma was designed to handle.

When evaluating products that met Drexel’s main selection requirements, the University noted Alma’s core functionality, interoperability, and easy integration with Summon. Drexel sought a visionary, action-oriented, collaborative, and technologically innovative vendor. As Drexel and Ex Libris became better acquainted, the University realized that Ex Libris understood the Drexel vision and was excited to enable it.

Drexel’s Dean of Libraries Danuta A. Nitecki said, ”As a Summon customer for over six years, Drexel University Libraries is pleased to continue using our discovery layer with the addition of Alma to improve our ILS platform. We are most excited, however, to participate in the Ex Libris efforts to develop tools that will extend our capabilities for managing the diverse range of information and data resources and enable our scholars to conveniently manage Drexel research data output. We will also be pleased to engage with Ex Libris in its forward-thinking work on developing data analytics that can help us understand search behavior and the impact of our libraries on academic success.”

”We are excited to be working with Drexel University and anticipate helping its libraries extend the reach of their systems and programs,” said Eric Hines, president of Ex Libris North America. ”We see great potential for Alma services in the realm of future research and scholarly communication.”

Founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Drexel is a nationally-ranked, comprehensive research university recognized for its focus on experiential learning through cooperative education, its commitment to cutting-edge academic technology and its growing enterprise of use-inspired research. With more than 24,000 students, Drexel is one of the nation’s largest private universities. Drexel is committed to translational research and is poised to respond to novel opportunities for research, scholarship and technological development. Drexel is one of Philadelphia’s top five private employers, and a major engine for economic development in the region. For more information about Drexel University Libraries, see https://www.library.drexel.edu/.

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.