InfoTech: Ex Libris Adds Google Book Search Features

Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 3/25/2008 7:36:00 AM

• Extras added to Primo, SFX, Aleph, and Voyager
• Provides full text, book previews, cover thumbnails, more
• Kansas State, University of  Iowa, Texas at Austin first users

Ex Libris has incorporated Google Book Search’s “About this Book” info into its stable of products. “Using a new ‘viewability’ application programming interface (API), library patrons can now enhance their findings with Google Book Search features such as full text, book previews, cover thumbnails, and a mashup from Google Maps linking pages in a book describing a specific place to its location on the world map,” Ex Libris said. The “viewability” API has been added to the Ex Libris Primo discovery and delivery solution, SFX context-sensitive link resolver, and the Aleph and Voyager® integrated library systems.

According to the vendor, Primo now displays a link from an item’s detailed view to Google’s “About this book” pages. SFX will feature a new Google Book Search target, which will alert users when results from Google Books are available for OpenURL book requests and will link to these results. Links to “About this book” pages will also appear in the full display of a record in Aleph and either the brief or full view in Voyager if there is a match between the results in one of these integrated library systems and Google Book Search.

Kansas State University, the University of Iowa. the University of Texas at Austin, and Universita degli Studi di Padova in Italy are among the first to add the Google service.