27 November 2006

Boston, November 27, 2006 -- Xrefer, provider of customizable online reference collections to libraries worldwide, recently adopted the new COUNTER Code of Practice for Books and Reference Works for their Xreferplus online reference library. Xrefer was one of the first reference providers to achieve compliance of the standard since its initial publication in March 2006.

"Xreferplus subscribers have always had access to comprehensive statistics on usage of the database, however, it is now supplemented by the addition of COUNTER reports." commented Jenny Walker, Xrefer Executive Vice President of Marketing. "The standardization of the usage reports facilitates better understanding of users' patterns across a range of resources, helping librarians in their collection-development decision-making."

"I am very pleased that Xreferplus is COUNTER compliant," agreed James Mouw, Assistant Director for Technical and Electronic Services at The University of Chicago Library. "This useful enhancement to Xreferplus means that we can easily download and analyze statistics knowing that they comply with industry standards."

About Xrefer
Xrefer combines reference books from the world's leading publishers with unique cross-reference technology to deliver 24/7 online reference services for libraries. The award-winning Xreferplus service is the worldwide leader in online reference, offering access to an electronic library of more than 200 titles from 55 of the world's leading publishers. Millions of people from around the world use Xrefer services on a regular basis. For further details, see www.xrefer.com

About COUNTER
COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources) is a multi-agency, not-for-profit organization whose objective is to develop and maintain a single, internationally accepted, extendible Code of Practice that allows the usage of online information products and services to be measured more consistently. The definitive Register of COUNTER-compliant vendors is available at the COUNTER website. Only vendors and usage reports included on this list should be regarded as being COUNTER compliant. www.projectcounter.org