EBSCO Publishing last week announced new or expanded partnership agreements with OCLC, SirsiDynix, and Innovative Interfaces that will enhance discovery and offer easier access to many databases, e-journals and other content.

The agreement between OCLC and EBSCO Publishing will make EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) interoperable with the OCLC WorldShare Management Service (WMS) “enabling libraries to use EDS as their discovery layer and WMS as their library management system,” the company explained in a release. As part of the agreement, EBSCO is currently working with OCLC to integrate key WMS functions into EDS, including patron identity management, item availability, circulation and system configuration.

The partnership “reduces duplication of effort at the same time that it vastly increases the availability of library resources,” Jay Jordan, OCLC president and CEO, said in a release. “It will be a model for future collaboration on the WorldShare platform across the library ecosystem.”

Separately, a new agreement between EBSCO Publishing and SirsiDynix will allow EDS to be integrated into SirsiDynix’s eResource Central solution, providing mutual customers of the two companies with easier access to databases, e-journals and other content for their patrons. The service will also allow SirsiDynix customers who own or subscribe to ebooks on EBSCOhost to find those books and check them out. “Checkouts will be integrated with physical holdings, and users will be able to launch EBSCO’s ebook viewer directly without additional authentication,” a release explains.

The company also announced an expansion of its collaborative agreement with Innovative Interfaces. A new joint development will ensure more tightly integrated access between EDS and Innovative’s Millennium ILS, its Sierra Services Platform, and its Encore discovery platform. Encore users will be able to search EBSCOhost databases via the Encore interface.
“As we continue to develop EDS and its interface, we also want to provide a rich discovery experience for library users who begin their research on a partner platform such as Encore,” EBSCO’s executive vice president of technology and CIO, Michael Gorrell, explained in a release.

EBSCO is also expanding its collections and adding new features to its NoveList solution. NoveList Select—the catalog enrichment component of the NoveList readers’ advisory service—now features new upgrade options, including book jackets, professional book reviews, sample excerpts, tables of contents, and more from Baker & Taylor’s Content Café database.

Separately, EBSCO Publishing announced the release of the new Community College Ebook Collection, a new, multidisciplinary collection of nearly 40,000 titles tailored to the needs of community colleges. All titles will be available via an unlimited user model and can be downloaded to a variety of devices including Kindles, iPads, and other e-readers.

And, through an expanded partnership with the American Psychological Association, PsycTESTS—a repository of more than 7,000 psychological test profiles and over 5,000 instances of actual tests or test items from 1910 to the present—will now be available via EBSCOhost.