IGeLU is pleased to embrace the extension of our community by many international institutions that use ProQuest Workflow Solutions products.
The recent acquisition of Ex Libris by ProQuest has resulted in a move of products such as Summon, 360 solutions, Intota and SIPx to the portfolio of Ex Libris. As a consequence all customers using these products are now Ex Libris customers and so part of our customer community.
Reaching out
The Steering Committee has, together with the working group coordinators, launched activities to reach out to our new community members to invite them to join IGeLU. Besides advocating for IGeLU membership, thus strengthening the representation of all customers in our organization. We are stimulating and helping these new Ex Libris customers to organize themselves into working groups that will be an integral part of IGeLU. Together with ELUNA we have sent a welcoming email with an introduction and invitation for membership to more than 90 thousand relations using ProQuest communication channels. Besides this massive mail we use more targetted channels to contact existing product customer groups and individual relations in our own professional network.
Here is how you can help
We encourage all IGeLU members to actively approach colleagues within your professional network that use products now being part of the Ex Libris portfolio. Explain them your reasons to participate in IGeLU and encourage them do join us. Also national and regional groups are invited to reach out to our new community members. Let’s all work together to give them a warm welcome into our community and we will all benefit of this extension of our family.
Our goals
The priority of the Steering Committee is the formation of Product Working Groups for the most widespread products during the next two quarters of this year. At our upcoming Trondheim conference in September, we want to be able to welcome and announce at least a Summon Product Working Group and a 360 Product Working Group. Other groups can and will be formed the moment active product customers approach us.
And we very much encourage customers using the former ProQuest Workflow Solutions products to submit proposals for presentations at the 2016 IGeLU conference in Trondheim. The call for presentations is open to all product users and we will actively announce it to product specific communication channels.
Can we do it?
This is the second time IGeLU is facing the challenge of incorporating new members in our community. In the past we have done it when Ex Libris acquired Endeavour and the embedding of the product customers into IGeLU was very successful. Luckily we still have people in our organization that actively took part in that operation and we are confident we will succeed again this time.
Theo Engelman
IGeLU Chair