Primo alternatives

Primo may well be the URD2 (Unified Resource Discovery and Delivery) of choice for CCCU, but it is worth keeping an eye on the alternatives. Here I have listed (in no particular order) the alternatives I know of with a link to their web site and some of their official blurb.

(After this list was compiled, OCLC and Ebsco announced their URD2 offerings. View this site for more info)

Aquabrowser
http://www.aquabrowser.com/
AquaBrowser Library® with My Discoveries™ is the must-have technology for search and discovery. AquaBrowser has proven to be an extraordinary starting point for search and discovery in academic libraries, and is the most effective tool for finding and using all the content in your institution.
AquaBrowser Library also enables you to go live quickly with proven technology that already is in use at over 200 locations worldwide. In the Unites States, AquaBrowser has been implemented at many universities, including the University of Chicago and Oklahoma State University libraries.

Summon
http://www.serialssolutions.com/summon/
Introducing the Summon™ service, the revolutionary new unified discovery service from Serials Solutions. The Summon™ unified discovery service allows the researcher to quickly search, discover and access reliable and credible library content. It goes beyond federated search, beyond next-generation catalogs to create an all-new service for libraries. Through one simple search, Summon™ provides instant access to the breadth of authoritative content that's the hallmark of great libraries - digital and print, audio and video, single articles to entire e-journals, and every format in between. No need to broadcast searches to other databases - it provides one search box for a researcher to enter any terms they want and quickly get credible results in one relevancy ranked-list.

XC
http://www.extensiblecatalog.org/
The eXtensible Catalog (XC) Project is working to design and develop a set of open-source applications that will provide libraries with an alternative way to reveal their collections to library users. XC will provide easy access to all resources (both digital and physical collections) across a variety of databases, metadata schemas and standards, and will enable library content to be revealed through other services that libraries may already be using, such as content management systems and learning management systems. XC will also make library collections more web-accessible by revealing them through web search engines.Since XC software will be open source, it will be available for download at no cost. Libraries will be able to adopt, customize and extend the software to meet local needs. In addition, a not-for-profit organization will be formed to provide the infrastructure to incorporate community contributions to the code base, encourage collaboration, and provide maintenance and upgrades.


VuFind
http://www.vufind.org/
VuFind is a library resource portal designed and developed for libraries by libraries. The goal of VuFind is to enable your users to search and browse through all of your library's resources by replacing the traditional OPAC to include:

• Catalog Records
• Locally Cached Journals
• Digital Library Items
• Institutional Repository
• Institutional Bibliography
• Other Library Collections and Resources

VuFind is completely modular so you can implement just the basic system, or all of the components. And since it's open source, you can modify the modules to best fit your need or you can add new modules to extend your resource offerings.

PurpleSearch
http://purplesearch.ub.rug.nl/help.docs#general_intro
PurpleSearch makes it possible to search the most important databases of academic literature simultaneously. It is an interface that simplifies and eases so-called federative searching because you no longer need to select the databases to be searched in advance. PurpleSearch learns, over time, what each databases contains and will give good results for any given search query. PurpleSearch combines smart search techniques and local indexing, and uses that index for each new search. Databases to present results from are selected from the index, based on which ones seem to score the best for a que
It is also possible to do targeted searches within different databases.
Search results may differ from each other at different points in time. This may be due to

• changes/additions in one of the databases being searched
• the non-availability for whatever reason of one of the databases approached
• the introduction of a new database
• changes to the indices of the self-training system on the basis of earlier search actions, as a result of which a certain database may be allocated a different position in the ranking list of most suitable databases for a certain search.

Summa
http://www.statsbiblioteket.dk/summa
Summa is a search engine, that simultaneously can access a number of different data and data sources. Summa presents the results for the user in a single search result sorted by relevance. The user can also prioritise the result after a number of different criteria.
Summa is open source and is available for everyone who’s interested.

Endeca
http://www.endeca.com/
Across the enterprise, Endeca's information access solutions help people explore, analyze, and understand information in ways never before possible. Users locate information quickly and easily, and discover new products and content that was previously hidden. And as users succeed, benefits such as increased productivity, higher sales, and greater efficiency accrue to the business.

Fast
http://www.fastsearch.com/l3a.aspx?m=986
You’ll find that FAST’s offerings don’t just return results– they guarantee confidence and protection. Current customers can vouch for the productivity and profitability gains they get and the improvements invisibility and accuracy they see. There’s a FAST solution for your needs too. Read more about the solution that can help your business:
Search - Provide answers, not references to somewhere that might contain the answer. FAST’s search solutions filter out all the irrelevant, peripheral data and provide the exact information end users are looking for. After all, people are not interested in searching – they are interested in finding.


Encore
http://encoreforlibraries.com/
Encore transforms the way people connect with their library. A fresh approach to discovery, Encore has been embraced by libraries of all types and sizes and has become a fast favorite among library users. With Encore, you don’t have to wait to deliver the library of the future today.