During the 4th quarter of 2024, the Content Working Group is coordinating a community vote on new providers to be added to Ex Libris content products.
We will be looking only at requests for providers that have no content whatsoever in the 360/Alma/SFX knowledge bases or Central Discovery Index – providers new to Ex Libris. New authorities sources or zero title databases will not be considered during this round of content enhancements. Please see the Best Practices for submitting content requests from existing providers.
Please submit your new provider requests to the Content Idea Exchange (using the “new provider” category in the drop down menu) by the deadline of November 13, 2024. Please check Ideas Exchange to see whether your new provider is already there. If so, then give it a vote or write a comment so we know it’s still necessary for the community. The content Ideas Exchange is open to the entire Ex Libris user community and allows the entire community to propose possible new providers.
In November, a curated ballot will be created in the CERV (Community Enhancement Requests and Voting) voting portal (ElectionBuddy) and then only ELUNA/IGeLU members will be able to vote on this from November 25 – December 9. Only items from Ideas Exchange will be featured on the CERV ballot. ELUNA/IGeLU members may vote for as many relevant new providers as they like and the ones with the highest number of votes will be brought to Ex Libris for provider outreach. There will be 2 slots each reserved for Italian and Chinese language providers.
Any member organization that has content, CDI, Summon, 360, Alma, Primo, SFX in their user profile will be eligible to vote. It is crucial that the institutional profile information in the ELUNA or IGeLU membership system is kept up to date for both the products licensed and the current email for a voting representative staff member or body.
- For ELUNA members – to update the ELUNA profile, please see this guide.
- For IGELU members – to see or change detailed information of your own institution, go to the membership list and click on the ‘Member’s Access’ in the right upper corner or go directly to the login page at https://identity.igelu.org/igelu/login.php.
Given that Ex Libris depends on provider cooperation and ability to deliver metadata, there are no guarantees that the highest voted providers will be added to Ex Libris KB’s and Central Discovery Index. If Ex Libris is unable to ingest content from any of the top voted providers, they will move down the prioritized list to seek content from other highly voted providers. Status updates on new provider voting and results will be sent via the Content listserv.
Finally, Ex Libris will continue to review and consider Ideas Exchange requests for new providers outside the CERV process. Ex Libris can add up to 20 new providers each year, depending on various factors.
Please contact anyone from the Content Working Group Enhancements Team if you have questions about the enhancements process (but note that you should follow the links above if you have questions about your ELUNA or IGeLU membership).
Molly Beisler, University of Nevada, Reno, abeisler@unr.edu
Lammy Benedictus, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, lammy.benedictus@uit.no
Anna Couthures-Idrizi, Sciences Po Bibliothèque, France, anna.couthuresidrizi@sciencespo.fr