French National Library Chooses Exalead to Accelerate Digital Revolution

Strategic Choice Meets Today's Needs and Anticipates Those of Tomorrow

VÉLIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France, March 16, 2011 - Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) announced today that its subsidiary, Exalead, a global provider of search and information access software for the enterprise and the Web, has been selected by the French National Library (BNF/Bibliothèque Nationale de France) to provide the information access infrastructure for its "Gallica" digital library project. The BNF joins other prestigious French institutions in designating Exalead as its partner of choice in preserving and promoting the nation’s cultural assets in the digital age. These institutions include the French Office of the President (Elysée), the French Government News Agency (Journaux Officiels), the National Audiovisual Institute (INA/Institut National de l'Audiovisuel), and the French international news channel France 24.

Deploying an innovative and agile solution for information access is critical to the success of large scale digitization efforts like Gallica. To date, the BNF has digitized more than one million works, including books, maps, manuscripts, images, periodicals, scores and sound recordings, and made them available to the public via its Gallica Web platform, gallica.bnf.fr. To ensure broad adoption of this rich resource by the public, and to ensure the long-term survivability of the cultural heritage Gallica embodies, the BNF knew it needed an information access strategy that could satisfy contemporary modes of accessing and consuming information, while ensuring adaptability to future evolutions. Therefore the BNF issued a European call for bids and chose Exalead CloudView as the optimal solution for meeting its current and long term information access needs.  Advanced linguistic and semantic features, high performance, and flexibility are among the strong points that lead the BNF to make this choice.

“The Gallica project is a model of innovation. It is breaking new ground in leveraging digital technologies to preserve a distinctive cultural heritage in a global age, and in providing dual access to both public domain and copyrighted digital material while fully respecting copyright law and authors’ rights," explains Laurent Couillard, CEO of Exalead. “It's the perfect challenge for the 21st century, and we're thrilled the BNF has chosen Exalead as its partner of choice to fulfill its visionary mission.”