Ex Libris®, part of Clarivate, has announced that University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions Library Consortium (USMAI) has selected the Ex Libris Alma® library services platform and Primo for search and discovery.
The USMAI Library Consortium includes seventeen college and university libraries from public and private institutions within the State of Maryland and beyond. Founded over thirty years ago for the purpose of sharing a single, centrally managed online catalog system, the consortium has expanded its offerings to include additional platforms and tools, no-cost borrowing and lending of physical collections among member institutions, a portfolio of group-licensed electronic information resources, a shared staff development and training program, and other shared expertise and practices.
Built from the ground up with staff in mind, Alma allows libraries to manage print, electronic and digital resources and materials in one ecosystem. Alma supports teachers, learning, and research by removing unnecessary silos by streamlining processes that support all modern metadata and open standards. Alma serves as the central hub for libraries through its integration with many academic and financial systems, which empowers staff to spend more time on their important work outside of the ILS.
USMAI joins 42 other consortiums currently utilizing Alma, representing over 900 institutions worldwide.
The seamless integration of Primo with Alma provides an inherent discovery layer over held or subscribed resources and a simple, single point of administration. This unified experience simplifies backend processes enabling libraries to simplify administrative management, reduce duplicate administrative processes, streamline publishing, update records in real-time, and enhance the user experience with innovative features.
Librarians find that this unified solution reduces the time spent on setup, configuration, data updates, and more.
As a result, libraries can boost productivity and shift focus to strategic services, including those benefiting their users.
Click here to read the original press release.
