Library solutions provider Ex Libris Group, Israel, has announced the first academic institutions to begin collaborating with the company as development partners for Unified Resource Management (URM), a framework for library management services. The three initial development partners include Boston College and the Princeton University Library, both in the US, and K.U.Leuven in Belgium.
The development partners are seen to represent the needs of both single institutions and consortia and bring extensive experience with Ex Libris library management solutions. Under the banner of K.U.Leuven is the LIBIS library network, consisting of 30 independent member organisations (comprising universities, colleges, national and regional parliaments, and a network of public libraries). Teams from the partner institutions will embark on a programme of collaboration with Ex Libris over the coming months as the URM framework is developed.
In addition, Ex Libris is reviewing URM requirements and workflows with a first series of focus groups, comprised of over 80 customers representing institutions worldwide. These focus groups will explore the topics of metadata management, consortium support, selection and acquisition, and fulfillment/patron management. Ex Libris expects to expand the focus group activity in the future as well as to put in place additional forums for ongoing collaboration with libraries and the institutions with which they are affiliated.
With URM, Ex Libris expects to respond to the changing needs of libraries and research institutions exploring new approaches to managing their resources and providing services. The platform supports the unified management of back-office library operations - selection, acquisition, cataloging, management and fulfillment - for the full spectrum of library materials, regardless of format or location. URM is expected to enable libraries to implement more streamlined workflows, to integrate the library more fully with campus systems, and to leverage Web 2.0 and community features necessary for working in more collaborative ways.
The URM framework is designed to accommodate the emerging and future needs of libraries. The extensible design and adherence to the Ex Libris open platform philosophy are projected to ensure that URM will grow with the needs of individual libraries and the larger library and academic environments in which they operate.
By centralising data services in a software-as-a-service environment, URM seeks to support flexible models for collaboration across the functional spectrum - from cooperative collection development to more seamless sharing of metadata and resources with peer libraries.
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