Australia’s University of New England Goes Live with Ex Libris Alma and Primo

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, March 17, 2016 – Ex Libris^®, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce that the University of New England (UNE), in New South Wales, Australia, has gone live with the Ex Libris^® Alma^® library management service and the Primo^® discovery and delivery solution. Alma replaces an Innovative Interfaces Virtua integrated library system.

The UNE library sought a system that would manage print and electronic resources efficiently, eliminate functional silos, enable staff to create automated workflows, and provide robust analytic tools that would help the staff maximize the potential of the library’s collections. In addition, the library wanted a truly cloud-based SaaS platform that could reduce the total cost of ownership of the physical and technical infrastructure, support the requirements of a twenty-first century library, and facilitate the discovery of, and access to, library resources and services by online and on-campus students. UNE found that Alma delivers just what the library requires: a unified management system for electronic, print, and digital resources, along with the Alma Analytics reporting capabilities—all provided as a seamless, cloud-based service.

“With the shift toward greater numbers of digital and electronic library collections, the use of Alma collaborative features will enhance acquisitions, cataloging, and resource sharing,” commented University Librarian Barbara Paton. “The collection of data for analytics will provide us with business intelligence to help the library satisfy current and future requirements. Furthermore, the new platform will enable us to streamline processes, giving our staff more time to support new initiatives that contribute to teaching, learning, and research.”

In addition, UNE are now able to realize the potential of Primo’s seamless interoperability with Alma, its real-time availability of holdings and item records, flexible back office, refreshed and intuitive new user interface, and more.

Ziv BenZvi, Ex Libris vice president for Asia Pacific, remarked: “Following a combined implementation effort by Ex Libris and the library, the University of New England is now benefiting from Alma and Primo in everyday library operations. We are delighted to have UNE join the more than 40 libraries in the Australia-New Zealand region that have adopted the Alma and Primo solutions for library management and discovery. We are looking forward to collaborating with UNE in harnessing Ex Libris technology to support the academic and strategic goals of the university.”

About the University of New England

The University of New England was the first Australian university established outside a capital city. With a history extending back to the 1920s, UNE has a well-earned reputation as one of Australia's great teaching, training, and research universities.

Through its leading role in the provision of distance education, UNE has contributed to the nation's development for more than half a century, while enhancing the lives of thousands of people who would otherwise have been unable to pursue university studies. Today, UNE is extending its global reach through the adoption of the latest communication technologies and is recognized as an innovator in flexible online education.

UNE is dedicated to identifying and delivering innovations of value to society and industry, in Australia and internationally, with a particular emphasis on interdisciplinary research. The university seeks solutions to complex problems in rural and regional Australia, such as future food and water security, climate change and environmental sustainability, health and well-being in rural communities, and the protection and promotion of cultural heritage.

For more information, see www.une.edu.au.

About Ex Libris

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.

About ProQuest (http://www.proquest.com)

ProQuest connects people with vetted, reliable information. Key to serious research, the company’s products are a gateway to the world’s knowledge including dissertations, governmental and cultural archives, news, historical collections and ebooks. ProQuest technologies serve users across the critical points in research, helping them discover, access, share, create and manage information.

The company’s cloud-based technologies offer flexible solutions for librarians, students and researchers through the ProQuest^®, Bowker^®, Coutts^® information services, Dialog^®, ebrary^®, EBL™, and SIPX^® businesses – and notable research tools such as the Summon^® discovery service, the RefWorks^® citation and reference management platform, MyiLibrary^® ebook platform, the Pivot^® research development tool and Intota™. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with offices around the world.