EBSCO Information Services
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2014 PLA conference booth | |
| Industry | Information services |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1944 |
| Headquarters | Ipswich, Massachusetts, United States |
| Products | EBSCO Discovery Service, EBSCOhost, EBSCO eBooks |
| Website |
www |
EBSCO Information Services, headquartered in Ipswich, Massachusetts, is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., the third largest private company in Birmingham, Alabama, with annual sales of nearly $2 billion according to the BBJ's 2013 Book of Lists.[1] EBSCO offers library resources to customers in academic, medical, K–12, public library, law, corporate, and government markets. Its products include EBSCONET, a complete e-resource management system, and EBSCOhost, which supplies a fee-based online research service with 375 full-text databases, a collection of 600,000-plus ebooks, subject indexes, point-of-care medical references, and an array of historical digital archives. In 2010, EBSCO introduced its EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) to institutions, which allows searches of a portfolio of journals and magazines.[2]
History
EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a family owned company since 1944. "EBSCO" is an acronym for Elton B. Stephens Co. According to Forbes Magazine, EBSCO is one of the largest privately held companies in Alabama and one of the top 200 in the United States, based on revenues and employee numbers.[3] Sales surpassed $1 billion in 1997 and exceeded $2 billion in 2006.
EBSCO Industries is a diverse company which includes over 40 businesses. EBSCO Publishing was established in 1984 as a print publication called Popular Magazine Review, featuring article abstracts from more than 300 magazines. In 1987 the company was purchased by EBSCO Industries and its name was changed to EBSCO Publishing. It employed around 750 people by 2007.[4] In 2010 EBSCO purchased NetLibrary and in 2011, EBSCO Publishing took over H. W. Wilson Company.[5][6][7] It merged with EBSCO Information Services on July 1, 2013. The merged business operates as EBSCO Information Services.[8]
Products
- Databases: EBSCO provides a range of library database services. Many of the databases, such as Medline and EconLit, are licensed from content vendors. Others, such as Academic Search, MasterFILE, and Environment Complete, are content licensed directly from publishers and compiled by EBSCO.
- Discovery: This product is used to create a unified, customized index of an institution's information resources, and a means of accessing all the content from a single search box. The system works by harvesting metadata from both internal and external sources, and then creating a preindexed service.
- eBooks: EBSCO provides ebooks and audiobooks across a wide range of subject matter.
- DynaMed is a clinical reference tool for physicians and other health care professionals for use at the point-of-care. DynaMed ranked highest among 10 online clinical resources in a study in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology[9] and also had the highest overall performance in the disease reference product category in the last two reports on clinical decision support resources by KLAS, a research firm that specializes in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors.[10]
- It provides DRM-protected audio and DRM-protected audiobooks through its subsidiary NetLibrary, which was purchased in 2010 from Online Computer Library Center. It competes in this market with OverDrive’s Digital Library Reserve.
Green and philanthropic initiatives
EBSCO has two large solar electric arrays, is converting its corporate fleet of cars to hybrids, has established a "Green Team" at its headquarters, and has released GreenFILE, a free database designed to help people research the impact humans have on the environment. EBSCO was awarded a 2008 Environmental Merit Award Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's New England Office and was honored by the Special Library Association as "Green Champions" as part of the association's "Knowledge to Go Green" initiative on Earth Day 2009.[11]
EBSCO philanthropic initiatives include efforts to bridge the digital divide (between the industrialized world and developing nations) and work with the Open Society Institute to help provide essential research databases for universities in 39 developing countries.[12] In 2012, the Stephens were recognized for their philanthropic work.[13]
References
- ↑ "Birmingham's largest private companys". Birmingham Business Journal. 2012.
- ↑ "The New and Improved EBSCO Information Services". Information Today. 2013.
- ↑ "The Largest Private Companies". Forbes. November 9, 2006. Archived from the original on May 9, 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
- ↑ Brynko, Barbara (2011). "Collins: EBSCO's Mission of Growth".
- ↑ "EBSCO Publishing and The H.W. Wilson Company Make Joint Announcement of Merger Agreement". hwwilson.com (Press release). June 1, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- ↑ Barrett, William P. (December 29, 1997). "Mousetrapped". Forbes. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
- ↑ "H.W. Wilson Company". The New York Times.
- ↑ "EBSCO Publishing and EBSCO Information Services merge" (Press release). EBSCO Industries. May 22, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ↑ Prorok, J. C.; Iserman, E. C.; Wilczynski, N. L.; Haynes, R. B. (September 10, 2012). "The quality, breadth, and timeliness of content updating vary substantially for 10 online medical texts: an analytic survey". Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 65 (12): 1289–95. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2012.05.003. PMID 22974495.
- ↑ "Clinical Decision Support 2013: Sizing up the competition". KLAS Research. December 2013.
- ↑ "A Small Company with Big Ideas for the Environment" (PDF). Business & the Environment with ISO 14000 Updates. 2007.
- ↑ "EBSCO: A Plan for All Seasons". Information Today. 2011.
- ↑ "Outstanding Philanthropists: James 'Jim' and Julie T. Stephens". Birmingham Business Journal. 2012.
Further reading
- "Interview with Sam Brooks, Senior VP for Sales and Marketing with EBSCO Publishing, About H.W. Wilson". The Charleston Advisor. Denver. 2011.