Limo is based on the Primo software by Ex Libris. Primo is more than an OPAC, this discovery tool searches and gives access to a variety of sources in various formats (physical, online, digital).
Limo can search both the library catalogue, and a large collection of more than a billion articles, e-books, reports, etc. from the most important international publishers and information providers (CDI). The institution's own databases and other electronic collections can also be integrated into Limo. The application is fully managed by LIBIS.
Each institution in the LIBIS network has its own Limo catalogue. The UI is multi-lingual, including English, French and Dutch as standard languages. Standard customization options include the colour scheme and institution logo, but other customizations are also possible. The interface has been developed according to responsive design, so it is adapted for use on mobile devices. Limo can be integrated into the institution's website via permalinks and search widgets.
The search software uses intelligent algorithms to optimize the search experience by, for example, identifying variations of terms or spelling errors (“did you mean?”), expanding the search query with keyword synonyms, expanding searches based on variations on the linguistic root of the word when there are few search results, etc.
Users of institutions in the LIBIS network can always choose to either search only in their own catalog or also in the wider network. Additional sub-collections of the institution (e.g. per sub-library, by theme...) can be configured on request. Searches can be saved and alerts can be set so that you are automatically notified by e-mail of new search results for a particular search query.
Limo offers several tools that stimulate discovery and exploration like:
Limo offers quite some flexibility in terms of displaying the search results. For example, each institution can determine which metadata is displayed per record, which options are available to further filter the search results, how those filters are displayed, etc.
The search results can be filtered via a wide range of facets, for example, on availability (physical,online), type of record (book, image, magazine, audiovisual, ...), date, author, topic, language, library, source, journal title, and so on. Additional facets can be configured, such as a filter for new records in Limo. Search results can also be expanded to articles and book chapters that are not part of the library collection. These items can be requested via interlibrary loan or document delivery.
The Primo software uses complex and high-performance algorithms to determine relevance, taking into account various parameters. Further, for institutions in the LIBISnet context, the results of the own institution are given a higher ranking so they are at the top of the results list after searching in all LIBISnet collections.
For online records, Limo links to the online version of the document directly from within the results list and/or from the details of the record. The library system Alma can be configured to use a proxy like e.g. Ezproxy so that online resources that are only available within the IP-range of the institution, are available to off-campus users. Authentication can be integrated with the proxy system so that logged in users are automatically signed in to the proxy.
For physical items, real time availability and other relevant information as lending policy are indicated. Integration with location maps is also possible.
For records that are not available to the user, there are several different request options, thanks to the integration with Alma, the library system. Several forms can be presented to request or book items from the library, to request items from another library (Interlibrary loan), or to request a scan of a physical item. Thanks to a ese request can be followed up in Alma by library staff.
These tools can be made available in the top menu: “Collection Discovery” allows the library to present specific collections in a visually appealing way and thus place them in the spotlight. The user can browse through a hierarchical structure of collections and sub-collections. This may concern historical or valuable collections, but also, for example, collections of reference works, or collections that are temporarily brought to the attention of users. These collections are managed in Alma.
Limo offers specific search tools to search for journals and databases. “Journal search” makes it easy to quickly find a specific journal. “Database search” facilitates the discovery and exploration of the databases of the institution.
“Browse search” allows users to browse the library catalogue by Author, Title, Series, Subject and Call Number.