MnPALS Selects Summon Discovery Service, 360 Link and 360 Resource Manager

SEATTLE, Sept. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The MnPALS consortium of libraries recently selected the Summon discovery service from Serials Solutions^®, a ProQuest^® business to offer users a more satisfying search experience. In support of MnPALS vision to provide user-focused information services, incorporating innovative technology and effective use of resources, the organization will also use the consortium edition of 360 Resource Manager. Holdings information for individual libraries across the consortium will be managed more efficiently, and with 360 Link, users will have quick access to full text.

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The Summon API enables consortia and libraries, regardless of size, to build completely custom interfaces, integrate with open source interfaces and create custom landing pages. Using the Summon API, the consortium integrated Summon search results into MnPALS Plus, a customized implementation of VuFind, addressing the difficulties users experience when searching the OPAC. MnPALS will be able to centralize and simplify e-resource management for member libraries by using 360 Resource Manager Consortium Edition.

"We are thrilled that students at member institutions of all sizes will have access to Summon and benefit from using the service before transferring to the universities. And with 360 Resource Manager, we will be able to easily populate holdings for member libraries including statewide database subscriptions," said Stephen Elfstrand, executive director, PALS. "These new capabilities help our member libraries save time, and deliver a more compelling discovery experience for their users. Quick access to full text was an important factor in our decision – because we know that is what users expect."

"The architecture of the Summon service with its single, unified index, coupled with a sophisticated rights management layer provides consortia and their member libraries the ability to scope searches to display holdings from specific libraries within the consortia. As a result, it empowers users to easily navigate and filter results to select combinations of member library collections in order to discover the most relevant search results," said Kevin Stehr, vice president, global sales for technology solutions, ProQuest. "The combination of our discovery and management solutions clearly supports MnPALS' mission of providing reliable and efficient access to library resources for the benefit of their user communities."

Metropolitan State University, a MnPALS member, has reported significant increases in database usage since the Summon service was implemented in October 2012. Comparing usage reports pre- and post-implementation, the library has data which illustrates an increase in successful full-text article requests by library users. An overall increase of 385% indicates students and faculty are discovering items previously not found.

Used by more than 600 libraries in more than 40 countries, the Summon service is the first and only discovery service based on a single, unified index of content, containing more than 1.1 billion items in which the vast majority of article and book content is full-text searchable.

With the introduction of Summon^® 2.0 – groundbreaking features and a new, modern interface – the Summon discovery service continues to deliver a user experience that resonates with users familiar with open web search engines. Streamlined navigation and contextual guidance features significantly advance the research experience and provide greater opportunities for librarians to deliver value and scale their services to connect with more users.

About ProQuest (www.proquest.com)
ProQuest connects people with vetted, reliable information. Key to serious research, the company's products are a gateway to the world's knowledge including dissertations, governmental and cultural archives, news, historical collections, and ebooks. ProQuest technologies serve users across the critical points in research, helping them discover, access, share, create and manage information.

The company's cloud-based technologies offer flexible solutions for librarians, students and researchers through the ProQuest^®, Bowker^®, Dialog^®, ebrary^®, EBL^®, and Serials Solutions^® businesses – and notable research tools such as the Summon^® discovery service, RefWorks^® Flow™, Pivot™ and Intota^®, a new library services platform. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with offices around the world.

SOURCE ProQuest

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