EBSCO Announces Live Integration of SUSHI
Initiative Goals are Realized in Collaboration with Innovative and University of Nebraska, Lincoln 

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, U.S.A., March 8, 2006 – Three months after successfully testing a Web service to enable automated data retrieval as part of the SUSHI ( standardized usage statistics harvesting initiative) pilot, EBSCO is pleased to announce that this evolving standard is now in production within EBSCOhost^® Electronic Journals Service (EJS). As a result of this technical innovation, customers of Innovative’s Millennium library technology platform will be able to automate the transfer of journal usage data from EJS for use within Millennium’s ERM module.

SUSHI builds on the work of Project COUNTER by allowing completely automated request and delivery of COUNTER reports. A founding member of SUSHI, EBSCO recognizes the inherent value of Web services – which provides a standards-based architecture for seamless integration and interoperability between systems – and its practical applications for library automation.

“We have committed our top resources to this project from the outset,” said Initiative Co-Chair and EBSCO’s Chief Strategist of E-Resources Oliver Pesch. “Not only does this solve a very real problem for our customers, it provides us with a model and platform to automate other critical parts of the information supply chain, such as holdings and license data.”

Dee Ann Allison, professor and director, COR Services, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, expressed her excitement to have automated usage statistics collected for individual e-journals. “This information is automatically gathered according to our schedule where we can analyze it in Excel. It was too time consuming to manually collect the information before. This new feature helps us effectively evaluate and justify our e-journal collections.”

“We’re proud that Innovative is the first library technology vendor to bring the potential of the SUSHI standard home to libraries,” said Ted Fons, senior product manager, Innovative Interfaces. “Having quick access to usage statistics through SUSHI, in a reliable format through COUNTER, will give library staff more power to make the most intelligent e-collection development decisions possible.”

SUSHI will be released by NISO as a Draft Standard for Trial Use in 2006. This release will be followed by a workshop later in the year which will introduce the initiative to a larger community of stakeholders. More information on the initiative can be found at http://www.niso.org/committees/SUSHI/SUSHI_comm.html.

About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services provides libraries and research centers with electronic and print journal subscription services, e-resource access and management services, full-text and secondary database development and access, an OpenURL-compliant link resolver, online book purchasing and related information services. EBSCO maintains a title database of more than 300,000 title listings and upholds relationships with more than 78,000 publishers around the world.

EBSCO’s 32 Regional Offices worldwide are staffed with personnel who speak the local language and understand the particular challenges faced by librarians in their areas, offering a uniquely personal level of service. Specialized divisions serve academic, biomedical, government, public, school and special libraries as well as corporations.

About Innovative Interfaces
For over 25 years, Innovative Interfaces has dedicated its energies to meeting the needs of libraries and the challenges of library automation. Core to this mission are trusted products including the Millennium integrated library technology platform, INN-Reach next-generation resource sharing, the Symposia digital repository, and Electronic Resource Management. Today, thousands of libraries of all types in over 40 countries rely on Innovative’s products, services, and support. The company is located in Emeryville, California with offices around the world.