Ex Libris Acquires Research Research Ltd.
Frequently Asked Questions
On August 6, 2018, Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, announced the acquisition of Research Research Limited (known as *Research), provider of the *Research Professional platform to universities.
1. About Ex Libris, a ProQuest Company
Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is a leading global provider of cloud-based solutions that enable academic institutions to create, manage, and share knowledge. In close collaboration with its customers, Ex Libris develops creative solutions that help institutions increase library productivity, maximize the impact of research activities, and drive student engagement.
The company has offices in 12 countries, including development centers in many locations around the world. The Ex Libris global staff of over 900 employees serve more than 7,000 institutions in over 90 countries. The next-gen Ex Libris products include the Alma library service platform, Primo and Summon discovery services, Esploro research services platform, Pivot funding and collaboration solution, RefWorks reference manager, Leganto course reading list solution, campusM mobile campus app, and Rosetta digital preservation system. Ex Libris’ cloudbased solutions are serviced through five data centers in the United States, Canada, China, the Netherlands, and Singapore.
Ex Libris is part of ProQuest, a global leader that supports the important work happening in the world’s research and learning communities.
More about Ex Libris at: www.exlibrisgroup.com/about-us/our-story-about-ex-libris
2. About *Research
Founded in 1994, *Research offers research funding opportunities data services and authoritative news and analysis of research policy via its *Research Professional platform. It has a strong customer base of over 250 institutions in the UK, continental Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It has close ties with leaders of the research enterprise in universities and policymakers in government. Its headquarters are located in London.
William Cullerne Bown, *Research’s founder and executive chairman, is a leading authority on the relationship between academic knowledge and the shaping of public policy.
3. Tell me more about *Research
*Research provides broad coverage of research funding opportunities, primarily focusing on the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The editorial team works in English, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Italian and German. Tools on the platform make it easy for administrators and researchers to work together.
*Research news and analysis ranges across all academic disciplines. It focuses on aspects of the research world that are often ignored by scholarly journals, particularly funding, government policy on research, and the interface between universities and industry. The platform includes online editions of the paper publications, *Research Fortnight (for the UK), *Research Europe and Onderzoek Nederland (in the Netherlands), which have been relied on by decision makers in government and universities for decades.
4. What is the rationale behind this acquisition?
Over the past years, Ex Libris has been investing in expanding the breadth and depth of its offering to academic research stakeholders. The Ex Libris research support offering already includes the Esploro research services platform, Pivot research funding and collaboration solution, RefWorks reference manager, as well as the Ex Libris Summon and Primo discovery services.
The *Research offering and expertise perfectly complement the Ex Libris research services offering and better position the two companies to help researchers, research offices, and libraries maximize research productivity, collaboration, and impact.
5. How will *Research Professional and Pivot work together?
Ex Libris is committed to continuing the success of *Research Professional and Pivot, and both offerings will continue to be enhanced.
Ex Libris will continue to expand the *Research Professional and Pivot databases of funding opportunities for the benefit of existing and new customers. Pivot is a leading provider of tools for the discovery and tracking of funding opportunities for customers in North America, while *Research is a leading provider of such services for customers in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. With *Research Professional and Pivot working together, and with their complementary funding databases, Ex Libris will be able to provide existing and new customers the broadest global coverage of funding sources, combined with the richest features for researchers and administrators to search, track and collaborate around funding opportunities.
Furthermore, *Research Professional authoritative news and analysis will help Ex Libris broaden its offering to researchers and decision makers in the academic research domain, strengthen its position in the emerging research technology ecosystem and enhance its position as a thought leader in the sector.
6. How will this acquisition benefit *Research customers?
We believe that this acquisition will positively affect *Research customers. The financial strength and proven record of innovation and growth of Ex Libris will enable *Research to continue expand its coverage of funding opportunities, enhance it research news service, and extend its market reach, thus enabling it to further improve its services.
*Research customers will also benefit from Ex Libris’ robust cloud operations and enterprise-level services, including, for example, the Ex Libris Customer Knowledge Center, Trust Center, and Idea Exchange.
7. How will this acquisition benefit Ex Libris customers?
This acquisition creates a powerhouse of research services that will benefit customers, as the *Research offering and expertise perfectly complement the existing Ex Libris offering. Together, the companies cover a wide range of research services, including data management, resource discovery, citation management, research analytics, cross-institutional workflows, funding opportunities, scholarly profiles, news, and more.
8. How will the *Research team be incorporated into Ex Libris?
The *Research team is joining Ex Libris’ Learning & Research Solutions business unit, led by Shlomi Kringel, corporate VP, Ex Libris.
William Cullerne Bown, *Research Founder and Executive Chairman will join ProQuest as Research Principal. With his extensive experience, Cullerne Bown will help ProQuest and Ex Libris achieve an even deeper understanding of the research world and enhance offerings for university research offices.
9. Will products or services change as a result of the acquisition?
Customers of Ex Libris and *Research will continue to have the products and services that they know and trust from both Ex Libris and *Research. Over time, we intend to enhance our products and services, leveraging our joint assets and expertise.
10. Will there be any change to *Research Professional integrations with third-party products and services?
Openness is a core value at Ex Libris, as our solutions integrate with a wide variety of tools and products in the academic ecosystem. We enable integrations vie open APIs, support industry standards, and facilitate interoperability with other systems. In fact, Ex Libris customers are using over 65 million API calls per month; check our Live API Dashboard for more details. Universities appreciate this open approach, which helps them avoid vendor lock in.
*Research has also had an open stance and this will continue, allowing integration between *Research Professional and university systems provided by any vendor. The APIs and all existing integrations will remain available and continue to be supported.
11. Will the acquisition affect current service contracts, support, or upcoming renewals?
No. All agreements, as well as products and service offerings, remain in effect without interruption.
12. Should *Research customers continue contacting their Sales, Support, and other contacts in the same way they have done so far?
Yes. *Research contacts remain the same.
13. What about the editorial independence and integrity of the journalism
Ex Libris is part of ProQuest, a company which has had a love affair with scholarly publishing for 80 years. It completely understands and cherishes the quest for truth that drives *Research Professional’s news.