Serials Solutions Signs New Beta Partners and Content for the Summon™ Unified Discovery Service
Serials Solutions, a business unit of ProQuest, has signed new beta development partners and new content providers to its revolutionary new Summon™ unified discovery service. University of Sydney and University of Liverpool join Dartmouth College and Oklahoma State University as a beta development sites for the new service. New content will be contributed from such publishing leaders as the American Psychological Association (APA) and Alexander Street Press, both acclaimed sources of scholarly journal content. The new beta site and content additions are part of the Summon service’s aggressive growth and development program in preparation for its launch mid-year.
"Libraries around the world are responding so positively to this service that it’s inspiring an extraordinarily active schedule for the development of the Summon service," said Jane Burke, Vice-President, Serials Solutions. "We’re delighted with the addition of University of Sydney and University of Liverpool as beta partners. They are creative, forward-thinking institutions -- exactly the sounding boards this service requires. Just as important are the new content providers that are bringing depth and breadth to the service’s content base."
Announced in January, the Summon unified discovery service has captured the attention of both librarians and media for its creation of Google-like searching of the full breadth of content found in library collections—from books and videos to e-resources at the article level. The Summon service addresses what research shows is a fundamental barrier between libraries and users: a simple, obvious starting point for searches.
The service is being developed in close cooperation with library beta partners, with a goal of not only bringing the researcher back to the library, but providing a channel for greater return on the library’s content investment. The University of Sydney and University of Liverpool library systems, particularly good fits because of their acclaimed user-centered technologies and services, will provide feedback that will refine all aspects of the service. "We’re facing challenging budget years ahead. It’s essential that we raise the profile of the library and demonstrate real value," said John Shipp, University Librarian at University of Sydney. "The Summon service’s ability to simplify access and uncover the genuine riches of our collection is an opportunity for the library to shine when we need it most."
The participation of content providers is also a vital component of the service’s development. The Summon service surpasses federated search in favor of a single search against pre-harvested content enabling fast results, in true relevancy-ranked order. Publishers have embraced the service for this ability to surface content in the right context at the right time for the right user. With lead participants ProQuest and Gale, the Summon service’s list of contributors has expanded dramatically in two months. The journals of APA—from acclaimed databases PsycARTICLES, PsychBOOKS and PsycCRITIQUES—along with the works of Alexander Street Press are significant scholarly scientific and humanities contributions that join the works of Springer, Taylor & Francis, SAGE Publications, and other prestigious organizations.
The Summon™ unified discovery service creates a library-branded search box that eliminates the confusion users have in finding a starting point for library research, making collections simple to use. It’s the result of Serials Solutions’ unique combination of assets and expertise, enabled by its growing list of content providers. The hosted service is built with an open API that will allow it to integrate with existing library Web sites or campus systems with low impact on staff. To learn more about the Summon™ unified discovery service, visit http://www.serialssolutions.com/summon.
About Serials Solutions
Founded in 2000 by a librarian for librarians, Serials Solutions is the global leader in E-Resource Access and Management Services (ERAMS) that serves more than 2,000 libraries of all sizes and types. Serials Solutions® KnowledgeWorks, the authoritative e-resource knowledgebase, is the foundation for Serials Solutions® 360, the only complete and integrated e-resource access and management solution.
Serials Solutions also is the exclusive source for Ulrichs™ Global Serials Intelligence and represents the AquaBrowser Library® unified discovery interface in the academic market in North America. The WebFeat® federated search service recently acquired by ProQuest soon will be incorporated into the Serials Solutions family of access and discovery services.
Serials Solutions provides fast implementation, easy customization, and outstanding value to libraries throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.serialssolutions.com or call 1-866-SERIALS. Serials Solutions is a business unit of ProQuest LLC.
About ProQuest
ProQuest provides seamless access to and navigation of more than 125 billion digital pages of the world’s scholarship, delivering it to the desktop and into the workflow of serious researchers in multiple fields, from arts, literature, and social science to science, technology, and medicine. ProQuest is part of the Cambridge Information Group.
ProQuest’s vast content pools are available to researchers through libraries of all types and include the world’s largest digital newspaper archive, periodical databases comprising the output of more than 9,000 titles and spanning more than 500 years, the pre-eminent dissertation collection, and various other scholarly collections. Users access the information through the ProQuest® and CSA Illumina™ online information systems, Chadwyck-Healey™ electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary® and SIRS® educational resources, Ulrich’s® Serials Analysis System, COS Scholar Universe, and Serials Solutions® resource management tools. Through the expertise of business units Serials Solutions and COS, ProQuest provides technological tools that allow researchers and libraries to better manage and use their information resources. For more information, visit www.proquest.com, www.proquest.co.uk, and www.csa.com.