New product director for EBSCO

EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) has expanded its analytics and assessment team, hiring John McDonald as director of product management. McDonald will work with libraries to provide advanced decision-making support and intelligence.

McDonald has a strong background in academic services and library management, spanning more than 18 years. He served as associate dean for collections at the University of Southern California Libraries. Prior positions include chief information officer and library director at Claremont Colleges.

Prior to joining Claremont, he was the acquisitions librarian at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech). During his tenure at CalTech, he was a key team member responsible for developing and implementing the first OpenURL resolver system in an academic research library.

EBSCO Information Services senior vice president of SaaS products and platforms, John Law, says McDonald is the ideal individual to provide libraries with the best information to guide their decision-making and ultimately optimise their performance: 'John brings an extensive amount of experience in academic services. With recent advancements in big data, predictive analytics and visualisation technologies, the time is right for libraries to discover opportunities for delivering the best services to their institutions and patrons.'