-- Thumbnail images highlight local collections, images and archival material in the Summon discovery service

SEATTLE, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Summon Spotlighting, a new feature of the Summon discovery service, provides dynamic display options for specialized content types. Image Spotlighting dramatically improves discoverability of libraries' most unique and valued collections. Libraries benefit from increased exposure and use of their local collections, image content and archival materials – and researchers are able to discover, view and navigate this high value content in an experience similar to Open Web search engines.

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The unique architecture of the Summon unified index allows for hundreds of digital collections contributed by Summon customers to be made available for discovery by patrons at any library with the Summon service. Exposure to locally curated image content from disparate special collections and repositories increases significantly – and researchers benefit from easy access to highly relevant and freely available image content beyond what is available at their own library.

"We are pleased to be able to provide libraries with opportunities to make their highly valued repositories and local collections more discoverable," said John Law, vice president, discovery service, Serials Solutions, a ProQuest business. "Researchers around the world will benefit from the ability to more easily discover image content available in the hundreds of digital collections and repositories curated by members of the Summon community."

With Image Spotlighting, relevant thumbnail images display dynamically in search results from all types of image collections and repositories (local, open access, commercial, non-profit) such as collections contributed by Summon customers, LUNA Commons, and mutual customers of the Summon service and Bridgeman Education or the ARTStor Digital Library. Convenient links guide users to view more images, as well as link directly to the content in the native repository or collection.

The Summon Service

Used by more than 500 libraries in more than 40 countries, the Summon service is the first and only discovery service based on a unified index of content, leveraging its unique "match and merge" technology to combine rich metadata and full text from multiple sources to ultimately make items more discoverable. In just three years, the Summon unified index has grown from 200 million items to more than one billion items – with the vast majority of article and book content full-text searchable. Proven to increase usage of library resources, the Summon service consistently meets user expectations by delivering innovative new features for enhancing discovery.

About Serials Solutions www.serialssolutions.com

Serials Solutions provides industry-leading technology solutions for libraries worldwide. The company helps libraries work better by providing innovative, practical Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions for discovery and management. Driven by a comprehensive knowledgebase and coupled with unparalleled client support services, these solutions uniquely merge unsurpassed understanding of libraries. Serials Solutions is a dedicated partner of libraries working to remain vital and relevant to their users and communities.

Serials Solutions, a ProQuest business, is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

SOURCE Serials Solutions