Credo Reference

For other uses of "Credo", see Credo (disambiguation).
Credo
Private
Industry Reference/Database services
Headquarters 201 South Street, 4th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Key people
 Chief Executive Officer: Mike Sweet
Products Credo General Reference
Credo Publisher Collections
Information Literacy Course Module
Literati
Website Corp.CredoReference.com

Credo Reference or Credo (formerly Xrefer) is an American company that offers online reference content by subscription and partners with libraries to develop information-literacy programs or produce library marketing plans and materials.[1] Founded in 1999, Credo Reference provides full-text online versions of about 1200 published reference works from more than 70 publishers in a variety of major subjects.[2] These include general and subject dictionaries as well as encyclopedias.[3] The company's customers are libraries, library systems, k-12 schools, and universities, which subscribe to the service for their patrons' use.[4]

In 2010, a review of general reference sources by Library Journal focused on Credo Reference and three similar services.[5] The review noted Credo Reference’s internal linking within the site from one reference work to another.

History

The company was founded as Xrefer in 1999. Xrefer initially provided free access to several dozen reference works.[6] In 2002, Béla Hatvany, founder of Computer Library Services (CLSI) and Silverplatter, invested in Xrefer and funded the company’s transition to becoming an online reference database product for libraries.[2][7] The company established an office in Boston, MA USA, which would later become its headquarters.[8] The name Credo Reference was adopted in June 2007; the company also moved its England office from London to Oxford in that year.

References

  1. ↑ Swoger, Bonnie. eReviews: Literati by Credo. Library Journal. 2012-05-15. Accessed: 2014-11-10.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Brynko, Barbara. Sweet: The Rise of Credo Reference. Information Today. 2011-06-16. Accessed: 2011-06-16. (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5zTYWk1pT )
  3. ↑ Jack O'Gorman (2008), Reference sources for small and medium-sized libraries (7th ed.), p. 11, ISBN 978-0-8389-0943-0
  4. ↑ Sheret, L. (2013). Literati by Credo. The Charleston Advisor, 14(3), 20-25. (http://mds.marshall.edu/lib_faculty/33/). Accessed: 2014-12-02
  5. ↑ Golderman, Gail; Connolly, Bruce. eReviews: General Reference Sources and Short Takes. LibraryJournal.com. 2011-06-15. Accessed: 2011-06-15. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5zTSt1ROw )
  6. ↑ Xrefer's front page as of August 17, 2000, via archive.org.
  7. ↑ Murphy, J. (2009). Reference tool helps organise scholarly resources. Research Information. April/May 2009. http://www.researchinformation.info/features/feature.php?feature_id=215
  8. ↑ Witte, S., & Cargill, M. (2008). Selected Reference Works, 2007–081. College & Research Libraries, 69(5), 459-475. http://crl.acrl.org/content/69/5/459.short

Further reading

External links