November 23, 2005
Newton, MA
Ex Libris is delighted to announce successful SUSHI proof-of-concept testing; a significant milestone in the industry effort to automate requests for usage statistics from publishers of electronic resources. SUSHI, the Standards Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative, comprises a small group of ERM vendors, database publishers, and academic members that have come together to develop a standard protocol for a librarys Electronic Resource Management system that will enable the requesting and delivery of usage statistics from vendors and publishers. When put into production, the SUSHI protocol will help reduce administrative costs associated with statistics collection; and will streamline their inclusion and effective usage in ERM systems.
Ted Koppel, Product Manager for Verde, Ex Libris ERM solution, said, Customers are using ERM systems as analytical assessment tools for their electronic resources. Accurate and timely usage data is essential for library managers. ERM systems that work in tandem with publishers, and with each other, on projects like SUSHI will deliver better management information for their rapidly growing electronic collections.
Mr. Koppel added, Ex Libris is very pleased to be involved in SUSHI at this early stage; and the results of our proof-of-concept implementation are most encouraging. We look forward to including SUSHIs usage statistics collection power in future releases of Verde.
About Ex Libris:
Ex Libris is a leading worldwide developer and provider of high-performance applications for libraries, information centers, and researchers. ALEPH, the Ex Libris integrated library solution has been installed at over 1250 sites in 57 countries. MetaLib®, the information portal for library collections and SFX, the content-sensitive linking solution for heterogeneous electronic resources in the scholarly information environment, have collectively been purchased by more than 900 institutions in 36 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.
