Thank you for your time, and welcome to Ringgold’s summer newsletter. The highlight of our busy  quarter was the User Group meeting held during SSP in Boston. The feedback from our customers has accelerated the release schedule of the new Identify Online platform, and we are excited to share it with the world. We are now in the process of broad internal testing which will transition into a release to our customer beta testers. The process of building a tool for our users to interact with Ringgold data has inspired improvements to the data itself. The result is a faster, more accessible way to find and refine the information you need.  We are eager to show you the new look and power of IDO and appreciate your patience while we finalize this first release.

Many of Ringgold’s European customers have asked about our privacy policy.  We can confirm that we are now compliant with the US-EU Privacy Shield and US-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework in the US. We will also be compliant with the EU GDPR when it is introduced in May 2018 and are actively watching developments as the requirements are completed. It is not an overstatement to assert that security is a top priority at Ringgold. It was a driving concern behind the decision to transition our technical infrastructure to a secure hosted cloud. We will never stop reviewing our security position to ensure we are protecting our data, and yours.

Jay Henry, CMO.

New Customers

Ringgold is delighted to welcome our new customers:

• Mary Ann Liebert Inc
• Company of Biologists
• SIAM
• Carleton University

Important Identify Database developments

New Ringgold Types added
Ringgold continues to enhance and develop the Identify Database in response to feedback from customers, staff and researchers. We have recently introduced new Ringgold Type classifications for schools, publishers, and we are expanding the (sector)/library classification. Full details of these changes can be read here www.ringgold.com/changes-to-ringgold-types-classifications-in-the-identify-database/

Location information
Ringgold is aware that there are sometimes variances in the naming of world-wide cities, states and regions and so we are developing an authority file which will be validated against industry standard sources. The authority file will be used to provide enhanced location information for the Identify Database records. We will provide customers with an update shortly with regard to implementation in the database.

Keeping Identify up-to-date

So far this year, Ringgold’s production team have updated over 50,000 existing records in the Identify Database. This has included a review of all records in the hierarchies of two academies of sciences: Ringgold ID 54589 Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Ringgold ID 54525 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

We’ve also updated several academic hierarchies:

• Ringgold ID 473281, Tecnológico Nacional de México. This record has a new Ringgold Type, academic/system, and the hierarchy now consists of 266 technical colleges
• Ringgold ID 27015, Université Grenoble Alpes. We have updated this record to reflect the merger of Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble 1), Université Pierre-Mendès-France (Grenoble 2) and Université Stendhal (Grenoble 3), which are now alternative names.
• Ringgold ID 8082, Pennsylvania State University. The full hierarchy under this system has been reviewed, with correct academic levels applied and classifications changed.

In addition, we’ve undertaken full checks for all records in two large Canadian hierarchies:

•  Ringgold ID 97531, Alberta Government
•  Ringgold ID 113243, Government of Saskatchewan

And in an on-going project we are working through Italian health system records, placing local health district records within regional health department hierarchies as they were previously unrelated.

How do they make it look so easy? Persistent Identifiers.

Our partners at Aries and Copyright Clearance Center are using Ringgold IDs and other PIDs to join systems and data needed to facilitate open access payment workflows in the Rightslink for Open Access tool set. To the authors and publishers using these systems, the workflow is seamless, accurate, and rapid. But in the background, PIDs and structured data are hard at work. Read more here.

Join us at the 2017 UK User Group Meeting

Don’t forget about the UK 2017 Ringgold Identify Database User Group meeting, being held in Central London in December. This is an opportunity to learn about new ways to leverage and implement Identify data, share expertise with fellow publishers who understand the benefits of standardized data, and help shape the future of the Identify Database.

• UK – Identify User Group Meeting in London, London W1, 2:00 pm December 4.

Speakers will be confirmed nearer the time. This session is free for our valued Clients, and space is limited so please Contact Us now to register.

Summer availability

Ringgold services will be operating normally over the UK Bank Holiday weekend, August 26 – 28, but with reduced staffing levels. Email support@ringgold.com for assistance.

Customer Support
Our customer support website is available 24/7 at http://support.ringgold.com. Find help for all of our products and easy access to user guides, editorial policies and latest news.