EBSCO Information Services

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EBSCO Information Services,headquartered inIpswich, Massachusetts,is a division ofEBSCO Industries Inc.,a private company headquartered inBirmingham, Alabama.EBSCO provides products and services to libraries of many types around the world. Its products include EBSCONET, a complete e-resource management system, and EBSCOhost,which supplies a fee-based online research service with 375 full-text databases, a collection of 600,000-plus ebooks, subject indexes,point-of-care medical references,and an array of historical digital archives. In 2010, EBSCO introduced itsEBSCO Discovery Service(EDS) to institutions, which allows searches of a portfolio of journals and magazines.[1]

EBSCO Information Services
Company typeSubsidiary ofEBSCO Industries
IndustryInformation services
Founded1984
HeadquartersIpswich, Massachusetts,United States
Key people
Annie Callanan (CEO) Tim Collins (Founder/Former CEO)
ProductsEBSCO Discovery Service, EBSCOhost, EBSCO eBooks, EBSCO FOLIO, DynaMed, GOBI, EBSCO Learning, many others
Websitewww.ebscoEdit this at Wikidata

History

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EBSCO Information Services is a division ofEBSCO Industries Inc.,a company founded in 1944 byElton Bryson Stephens Sr.and headquartered inBirmingham,Alabama. "EBSCO" is an acronym for Elton B. Stephens Company. EBSCO Industries has annual sales of about $3 billion. It is one of the largest privately held companies in Alabama and one of the top 200 in the United States, based on revenues and employee numbers.[2]

EBSCO Information Services originated in 1984 as a print publication calledPopular Magazine Review,featuring article abstracts from more than 300 magazines. In 1987 the company was purchased by EBSCO Industries and its name was changed toEBSCO Publishing.It employed around 750 people by 2007.[3]In 2003, it acquired Whitston Publishing, another database provider.[4]In 2010 EBSCO purchased NetLibrary and in 2011 it took overH. W. Wilson Company.[5][6][7]EBSCO Publishing merged with EBSCO Information Services on July 1, 2013, with the merged business operating as EBSCO Information Services.[8]In 2015 EBSCO acquired YBP (Yankee Book Peddler) Library Services fromBaker & Taylor,and later renamed it GOBI Library Solutions.[9][10]As of 2017,the President is Tim Collins.[11]

Metapress was founded in 1998 as anonline publication platformfor content creators to produce and host their printed journal editions online.[12]A division of EBSCO,[13]the platform became one of the world's largest scholarly content hosts,[14]with over 31,000 publications[15]from over 180 publishers.[16]Atypon acquired the Metapress business from EBSCO in 2014, with the Metapress platform to be discontinued and customers moved toAtypon's Literatum platform.[17][18]Content was migrated toLiteratumon May 21, 2015.[19]

In February 2020, EBSCO Information Services announced their agreement to acquire Zepheira, a company founded in February 2007 and headquartered inReston, Virginiawith leaders inSemantic Weband who helped developDublin Core,BIBFRAMEand the Library.Link Network.[20]Following its merger, Zepheira continues to operates as an independent division.[21]

In August 2024, EBSCO Industries announced the appointment of Annie Callanan as the new CEO of EBSCO Information Services. Annie Callanan replaced Tim Collins, who announced his retirement in January 2024 after serving as CEO of EIS for more than 40 years.[22]

Products

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  • Databases:EBSCO provides a range of library database services.[23]Many of the databases, such asMEDLINEandEconLit,are licensed from content vendors. Others, such asAcademic Search,America: History and Life, Art Index, Art Abstracts, Art Full Text, Business Source, Clinical Reference Systems, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Education Abstracts, Environment Complete, Health Source, Historical Abstracts, History Reference Center,MasterFILE,NetLibrary, Primary Search, Professional Development Collection, and USP DI are compiled by EBSCO itself. EBSCO can be configured to route toopen accesspublications throughUnpaywalldata.[24]
  • Discovery:This product is used to create a unified, customized index of an institution's information resources, and a means of accessing all the content from a single search box. The system works by harvesting metadata from both internal and external sources, and then creating a preindexed service.
  • FOLIO:amicroservicessoftware platform in open-source model. EBSCO provides implementation for the core of software, hosting services, as well as actively contributing to its continued development.[25]
  • eBooks:EBSCO provides ebooks and audiobooks across a wide range of subject matter. EBSCO reports that their database includes over a million ebooks from over 1500 publishers.[26]
  • DynaMedexis a clinical decision support solution. Under a new name, DynaMedex, formerly DynaMed and Micromedex with Watson,[27]continues to enhance clinical decision support and operations for healthcare providers and health systems is a clinical reference tool for physicians and other health care professionals for use at the point-of-care. In 2024, DynaMed was named 2024 Best in KLAS for clinical decision Support clinical resources[28]by KLAS, a research firm that specializes in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors.[29]In 2012, it ranked highest among 10 online clinical resources in a study in theJournal of Clinical Epidemiology[30]and also had the highest overall performance in the disease reference product category in two successive reports on clinical decision support resources by KLAS, a research firm that specializes in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors.[31]
  • Ebooks:It provides DRM-protected e-books through its subsidiary NetLibrary, which was purchased in 2010 fromOnline Computer Library Center.It competes in this market withOverDrive'sDigital Library Reserve.

Green and philanthropic initiatives

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EBSCO has two large solar electric arrays, is converting its corporate fleet of cars to hybrids, has established a "Green Team" at its headquarters, and has released GreenFILE, a free database designed to help people research the impact humans have on the environment. EBSCO was awarded a 2008 Environmental Merit Award Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's New England Office and was honored by the Special Library Association as "Green Champions" as part of the association's "Knowledge to Go Green" initiative onEarth Day2009.[32]

EBSCO philanthropic initiatives include efforts to bridge the digital divide (between the industrialized world and developing nations) and work with theOpen Society Foundationsto provide essential research databases for universities in 39 developing countries.[33]In 2012, the Stephens were recognized for their philanthropic work.[34]

For nine consecutive years, EBSCO has accepted applications for grants to fund solar installations from libraries around the world. Committed to decreasing its carbon footprint, EBSCO has awarded libraries more than $2,000,000 in grants since 2015.[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"The New and Improved EBSCO Information Services".Information Today.2013.
  2. ^"The Largest Private Companies".Forbes.November 9, 2006.Archivedfrom the original on May 9, 2007.RetrievedJuly 14,2020.
  3. ^Brynko, Barbara (2011)."Collins: EBSCO's Mission of Growth".
  4. ^"EBSCO acquires Whitston Publishing Company".Library Technology Guides.24 September 2003.Retrieved2 April2016.
  5. ^"EBSCO Publishing and The H.W. Wilson Company Make Joint Announcement of Merger Agreement".hwwilson(Press release). June 1, 2011.RetrievedAugust 24,2011.
  6. ^Barrett, William P. (December 29, 1997)."Mousetrapped".Forbes.RetrievedJune 5,2019.
  7. ^"H.W. Wilson Company".The New York Times.3 February 2009.
  8. ^"EBSCO Publishing and EBSCO Information Services merge"(Press release). EBSCO Industries. May 22, 2013.RetrievedJuly 13,2020.
  9. ^"EBSCO acquires YBP".The Bookseller.23 February 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 22 February 2015.Retrieved5 March2018.
  10. ^"GOBI Library Solutions".EBSCO.Retrieved5 March2018.
  11. ^"About: Leadership".EBSCO Information Services.Retrieved14 October2016.
  12. ^"Taylor and Francis Journal Host".EContent.January 10, 2003.
  13. ^"Digital Facilitators".infotoday.Retrieved2016-09-23.
  14. ^"ALA TechSource launches new Web site".ALA.org. 2009-06-05.Retrieved2016-09-23.
  15. ^"UK Federation Providers".ukfederation.org.uk.Retrieved2016-09-23.
  16. ^"Statistics Dissemination Project"(PDF).oecd.org.Retrieved2016-09-23.
  17. ^"Atypon Systems acquires Metapress from EBSCO Online, Inc".Atypon Systems, Inc. 14 April 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 17 February 2015.Retrieved17 February2015.
  18. ^"Atypon acquires EBSCO Online platform".Business Wire.April 14, 2014.
  19. ^"Atypon completes Metapress transition to Literatum".Atypon. 27 May 2015.Retrieved20 November2018.
  20. ^"EBSCO Information Services Acquires Linked Data Infrastructure Provider, Zepheira".EBSCO Information Services.February 27, 2020.Retrieved2022-04-25.
  21. ^Breeding, Marshall (April 2020)."EBSCO Information Services Acquires Zepheira".Smart Libraries Newsletter.Vol. 40, no. 4. pp.2–5.ISSN1541-8820.Retrieved2022-04-25.
  22. ^Breeding, Marshall (April 2020)."EBSCO Industries announces Annie Callanan as new CEO of EBSCO Information Services".KnowledgeSpeaks.Retrieved2022-04-25.
  23. ^"Title Lists".EBSCO Information Services.Retrieved2 April2016.
  24. ^"Unpaywall | EBSCO Apps & Cloud Services".Archived fromthe originalon 2021-01-29.Retrieved2020-04-25.
  25. ^"EBSCO FOLIO".ebsco.Retrieved2024-06-29.
  26. ^"EBSCO eBooks and audiobooks".Retrieved26 February2018.
  27. ^"DynaMed® and Micromedex® with Watson™ will now become DynaMedex™".Retrieved12 October2022.
  28. ^"DynaMed® receives prestigious Best in KLAS Award for Clinical Decision Support".Retrieved9 February2024.
  29. ^"Clinical Decision Support 2013: Sizing up the competition".KLAS Research. December 2013.[permanent dead link]
  30. ^Prorok, J. C.; Iserman, E. C.; Wilczynski, N. L.; Haynes, R. B. (September 10, 2012). "The quality, breadth, and timeliness of content updating vary substantially for 10 online medical texts: an analytic survey".Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.65(12):1289–95.doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2012.05.003.PMID22974495.
  31. ^"Clinical Decision Support 2013: Sizing up the competition".KLAS Research. December 2013.[permanent dead link]
  32. ^"A Small Company with Big Ideas for the Environment".Business & the Environment with ISO 14000 Updates.2007.
  33. ^"EBSCO: A Plan for All Seasons".Information Today.2011.
  34. ^"Outstanding Philanthropists: James 'Jim' and Julie T. Stephens".Birmingham Business Journal.2012.
  35. ^"EBSCO Information Services opens submissions for the 2024 EBSCO Solar Grant".Library Technology Guides.2024.

Further reading

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