Ex Libris Group

Ex Libris Group Ltd.
Private
Industry Library automation software
Founded 1986 (1986)
Headquarters Jerusalem, Israel
Number of locations
 11
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people

Matti Shem Tov (CEO)

Eric Hines (President of North America)
Products see the Products section
Owner ProQuest
Number of employees
 500+
Website www.exlibrisgroup.com
Ex Libris development centre in the Jerusalem Technology Park

Ex Libris Group is an Israeli software company that develops integrated library systems and other library software. The company is headquartered in Jerusalem, and has ten other offices around the world.[1] The company claims to serve the 20 top universities worldwide as rated by Times Higher Education.[2]

History

Ex Libris started as an internal project at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1980 to develop a new library management system, as no system at the time was able to handle both Hebrew and Latin character sets as required by the University. The software was called Automated Library Expandable Program or ALEPH-100 (Aleph is also the first letter of many Semitic alphabets).[3] In 1983, Yissum (the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University) founded Aleph-Yissum Ltd., a new company to commercialize the software. Yohanan Spruch, the original developer of ALEPH, became the company's chief technology officer. Between 1983 and 1988, all of the eight universities in Israel bought the program and linked up in a network.[3]

In 1986 Ex Libris Ltd. was founded by technology entrepreneur Azriel Morag to market the software overseas. In 1993 ALEPH was deployed by the seventeen libraries of the Vatican[4] and by 1995 200 libraries in 27 countries had bought it.[3]

In 1995 Aleph-Yissum merged with Ex Libris Ltd. and reorganized as the Ex Libris Group, headed by Azriel Morag as the group's chief executive officer.[5]

In July 1997, Ex Libris acquired Dabis, a leading vendor of automated library systems in the German speaking countries.[6]

In 1999, venture capital funds Walden Israel and Tamar Ventures invest $4m in Ex Libris.[5]

In February 2000, Ex Libris acquired the rights to SFX, an OpenURL link server software, from the University of Ghent.[7]

In July 2000, Ex Libris launched MetaLib, a federated search system that conducts simultaneous searches in multiple information resources such as library catalogs, journal articles, newspapers.[8]

In 2004, Ex Libris launched Verde an electronic resource management system that manages the acquisition and licensing of electronic resources.[9]

In October 2015, it was announced that Ex Libris would be acquired by ProQuest from Golden Gate Capital, who had owned it since 2012. The new entity will be known as "Ex Libris, a ProQuest Company".[10]

Organization

Ex Libris has approximately 520 employees in 11 countries. Ex Libris operates a network of eleven wholly owned subsidiaries and 13 distributors. It has offices in Australia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and the US.[11] Ex Libris clients include the Library of Congress, the British Library, and the National Library of China.[12] In 2012, the company reached an agreement with the Orbis Cascade Alliance to supply its 37 academic institutions with a shared ILS.[13]

Products

Legacy integrated library systems sold by Ex Libris included:

Other Ex Libris products:

References

  1. ↑ Ennis, Matt (16 November 2012). "Ex Libris Group Acquired by Golden Gate Capital". The Digital Shift. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Our vision". Ex Libris Group. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Flusfeder, Helena (13 November 1995). "Instant access, distant library". Times Higher Education.
  4. ↑ "Aleph computerizes the Vatican". Israel Business Today. 22 October 1993.
  5. 1 2 "Walden Israel Venture Capital portfolio".
  6. ↑ "Ex Libris purchases Dabis". Library Systems Newsletter. July 1997.
  7. ↑ Ex Libris Acquires SFX Linking Software (Trade Publication), Computers in Libraries, Vol. 20 Issue 4, April 2000, p. 12
  8. ↑ Flett, Margaret. "Implementing cross-search tools: challenges and opportunities" (PDF). UCL Library Services.
  9. ↑ Sadeh, Tamar (2004). "Developing an Electronic Resource Management System: Verde from Ex Libris". LIBER Quarterly Vol 14, No 3/4.
  10. ↑ Breeding, Marshall (6 October 2015). "ProQuest to Acquire Ex Libris". American Libraries (Chicago: American Library Association).
  11. ↑ "Ex Libris around the world". Ex Libris Group. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  12. ↑ Breeding, Marshall (16 November 2012). "Ex Libris Group under new ownership: Leeds Equity sells company to Golden Gate Capital". ALA TechSource. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  13. ↑ Ennis, Matt (9 October 2012). "Orbis Cascade Alliance Signs Agreement With Ex Libris". The Digital Shift. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  14. ↑ "Ex Libris Alma". Ex Libris Group. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  15. ↑ "Primo". Ex Libris Group. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "Ex Libris Rosetta: A New Way of Preserving Cultural Heritage and Cumulative Knowledge". Ex Libris Group. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "campusM". Ex Libris Group. Retrieved 22 November 2015.

External links

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