his page covers Display Logic only as it applies to General Electronic Services and Full Text Services. 

Step-by-step guide

You must have configuration privileges in Alma to complete this process. 

1. In Alma, go to Configuration > Fulfillment > Display Logic Rules. Click Add Rule to create a new rule.
2. Not all fields in the form are required! You may ignore the "users" option, for example.
3. Under Hide Service, choose either General Electronic Service (for services you have defined) or Full Text (for subscription databases/ecollections).
   1. For a GES: under with, choose Service.
   2. Under with value, choose the name of your GES
   3. For Full Text: under with, choose either Interface or Electronic Collection.
   4. Under with value, choose the name of your interface or ecollection. You can only choose Interfaces or Ecollections that are active in your IZ; no NZ resources will appear on the list.
4. In general, Interface is the more flexible option:
   1. Choosing an Interface allows you to impact multiple ecollections. For example, specifying EBSCOhost interface will affect all databases you have on that platform, even if those databases are only active in the NZ.
   2. You can have an active Interface in your IZ even if you do not have an active Ecollection from that platform in your IZ.
      1. In your Alma Vendors, any vendor you set as an Access Provider must include an Interface Name. These Interfaces are available for Display Logic!
5. Rules are constructed negatively. That is, they are basically phrased as "Do not display X if Y exists." There is no option to construct a positive rule like "Display X if Y is true." You can only construct enough negative rules to exclude every option but the result you want.

Important points

• Order matters. Rules listed first are applied first.
• Rules are immediately effective once you add them (Add or Add and Close).  Because the CSUs effectually lack a sandbox, you cannot test your rules anything other than live!
• You can deactivate a rule without deleting it by toggling its Active button to off.
• If the name of a service, interface, or ecollection changes, then you must update any Display Logic Rules that use the old name!

Use Case: Prevent duplication of full text databases in the services menu

This rule prevents multiple EBSCOhost databases from being listed in the online services menu when all of them offer the same full-text resource. (Other interfaces where this may be relevant include ProQuest and JSTOR.)

Text of the rule is: Hide service Full Text with Interface = EBSCOhost if exists service Full Text with Interface = EBSCOhost

(missing image here)

Use Case: Prevent display of one GES when a different one is available

Example: I have a GES that gives the user an option to search for free ERIC documents when the item has an ERIC ED accession number. In such a case, I do not want ILLiad to appear, because it may generate unnecessary ILL article requests.

Text of the rule is: Hide service General Electronic Service with Service = ILLIAD_JOURNALS if exists service General Electronic Service with Service = ERIC

Helpful information:

Display Logic Rules cannot be considered in isolation from the General Electronic Service Availability Rules!

General Electronic Services (GES) provide a variety of options to end-users in the Primo online services (aka "View It") menu. Most notable is ILLiad, but other common GES include "report a problem" forms, Google Scholar searches, ERIC searches, and ProQuest dissertation searches.

The initial display conditions of a GES are controlled its Service Details and Service Availability Rules. Display conditions may additionally be dependent upon your Display Logic Rules. 

Step-by-step guide

You must have System Administrator or Fulfillment Administrator privileges to complete this process.

1. In Alma, go to Configuration > Fulfillment > General Electronic Services.
2. Click Add Service. (To edit an existing service, click its title.)
3. Service Code and Service Name are used only internally, within Alma. Code identifies the GES for things like Display Logic. Name can be more descriptive.
4. Service Description is also internal-only and optional, but can be useful for recording notes.
5. Public Name is how the service appears to end-users in Primo.
6. Public Note is optional but can provide additional info to end-users. You may use basic html coding in this field, for example, to provide a web link.
7. Display Location can be Viewit (the online full text services menu), Getit (the physical library items menu), both, or none (effectively disabling the GES).
8. URL template is basically an openURL will vary depending on the type of service.
9. Enable without login -Yes means that this GES will display only after an end-user has logged in to Primo.
10. Disable service offers several basic criteria for display. 

After you create the initial GES, you must then edit its Service Availability Rules (SAR).

1. Go to the GES's Service Availability Rules tab.
2. The Default Rule, at the bottom of the page, is always IsDisplay=False
3. For a GES that needs no other display conditions, just edit the default rule. Click the ellipsis icon next to the rule and choose Edit.
4. Under Output Parameters, change IsDisplay to True, then Save.
5. On the SAR tab, click Save. Your rule is now being applied. 

Important points

• There is a limit of 25 total resources (including full-text databases and GES) on the "View It" menu.
• Order of the GES list here does not matter. Order is controlled under Configuration > Fulfillment > General Electronic Services Order
• Order of SARs does matter; rules listed first are applied first.

Understanding Service Availability Rules

The Default Rule, at the bottom of every new SAR tab, will always be IsDisplay=False 

• For a simple GES that you want to display all the time, simply change the default rule to IsDisplay=True.
• A GES that should display based upon specific criteria will require at least one additional SAR.
  1. If you leave the default rule set to IsDisplay=False, then most of your additional rules will have the condition IsDisplay=True.
     1. Another way to say this: Never display this service unless X condition is present.
  2. If you change the default rule to IsDisplay=True, then most of your additional rules will have the condition IsDisplay=False.
     1. Another way to say this: Always display this service except when X condition is present.
• Because the order of SARs matters, put the rule that will apply most broadly at the top of the list. The system will read rules until it finds one that applies, then stop.
• You can deactivate a rule without deleting it by toggling its Enabled button to off. 

Creating a SAR

1. On the SAR tab, click Add Rule.

2. Give the SAR a Name. The Description is optional.

   Because the conditions of an individual rule do not display on the SAR tab's rule list, it will make your life easier later to put the rule criteria into either the Name or the Description, as shown here:

    

3. Click Add Parameter
4. Name is the list of data fields.
5. Operator is the condition (contains, is empty, is not empty, equals, does not equal, etc.)
6. Value is what appears in the data field you chose.
7. Click Add Parameter
8. You may add multiple parameters; they will be treated as an AND operation (i.e., both parameters must be true for the rule to apply).
9. Make sure IsDisplay is set as you prefer; True will be the default.
10. Click Save.
11. NB when you are testing new rules: You must click Save on the SAR tab to make the rule live.

Tip for selecting fields and values to use in your parameters

1. In Chrome, right-click in the background area of the Viewit or GetIt menu (it's an iframe)
2. Select View Frame Source
3. Remove view-source: from before "http" in the URL field
4. Jump to the end of the URL, find svc_dat=getit and change it to svc_dat=CTO
5. Press Enter. An XML page displays with the OpenURL elements for this record.

The PNX bookmarklet and, in the case of the link resolver, the openURL, may also be helpful for inspecting records. 

Use Case: ILLiad

Theoretically, your could have a single GES for ILLiad, but there is good reason to divide ILLiad into at least two, articles and books. Primarily, ILLiad's parsing limitations mean that you should not include ISBN and ISSN in the same URL Template. Splitting into two GES also allows you to present more specific information or instructions to the user about the different types of material.

More than two ILLiad services are possible; however, you would need to carefully tailor the conditions for their availability via SARs. 

ILLiad Articles

My library uses EZproxy (locally hosted) to authenticate users of ILLiad (hosted with OCLC), so our URL Template is our proxy prefix, followed by our ILLiad base address, followed by:

Currently, we have only one SAR:

ILLiad Books

The URL Template is slightly different from the one for articles:

Several SARs apply:

The first rule is display=false, so that any results coming from our systemwide shared library catalog will automatically be excluded.

The next rules are display=true. So if a result is from somewhere other than our shared catalog, and it is a book or book chapter, the ILLiad book option will appear. 

We also use a Display Logic rule to hide the ILLiad Books GES if our systemwide Resource Sharing option is present. 

Use Case: Report a Problem

SFX had a built-in "report a problem" form, but in Alma you must build your own. Once you have a form, you can link to it via a GES.

The form grabs the OpenURL data (i.e. the citation information and the URL of the link resolver menu) and passes it along to you for troubleshooting

Sample code for building your own form: 

• From Ian Chan of CSU San Marcos (PHP based) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
• From Orbis Cascade (Drupal & Java based) [no longer available December 2024]

Please note that the forms above are customized for their local circumstances; you will want to test their output and edit them to reflect your library's needs.

Once you have a reporting form, create a GES for it, as shown in this example:

For URL Template, I have the address of my library's web form, plus the openURL data we want to include. YOU CANNOT JUST COPY AND PASTE THIS LINK! YOU MUST EDIT IT TO PROVIDE YOUR OWN FORM'S ADDRESS.

Display location is Viewit only because this GES is only for reporting link resolver issues. 

This GES has only one SAR, IsDisplay=True.

Use Case: Google Scholar Search

Grabs the article title and plugs it into a Google Scholar search. This is handy for locating articles that may be available free via Institutional Repositories or are otherwise open access. 

URL Template is: 

Display location can be just Viewit, or Viewit & Getit. If using the "both" option, you may wish to Disable service: When Resource is owned by institution

This GES has only one SAR, IsDisplay=True.

Use Case: ProQuest Dissertations Search

Grabs the dissertation title and plugs it into a search of the ProQuest Dissertations database(s). Since all CSUs have subscription access to at least one of the ProQuest disssertions products (Humanities & Social Sciences), make sure to proxy the URL so your off-campus users can get to the full text.

URL Template is: 

This GES requires some SARs so that it will display only on records for dissertations. 

My library uses a second Dissertations GES for dissertation references coming to the link resolver the PsycINFO and MLA databases. The SARs address conditions specifc to only those sources:

We use Display Logic rules to hide other service options, such as ILLiad, when a Dissertations GES is present.

Use Case: ERIC Documents Search

Our blended EBSCOhost results include results from ERIC. Many recent ERIC Documents are available free, so we wanted to offer an ERIC search rather than an ILLiad form.

URL Template is:

This GES requires some SARs so that it will display only for ERIC Document records. Notice that rule one has two conditions:

Use Case: Hide Resource Sharing (CSU+) on the Link Resolver Services Menu

Please see Sarina Sinick's original wiki post, Hiding the CSU+ link on your Primo Services page, option 2.

What follows is a condensed version:

FIrst, create a placeholder GES that appears only in the link resolver.

1. Give it a descriptive name, e.g. Hide CSU+
2. Put any fake URL into the URL Template field; display it everywhere, disable service never.

3. Change the default SAR to display=true, then create one additional SAR:

   If rfr_id contains primo.exlibrisgroup.com-01CALS_ALMA, display=false

The CALS_ALMA SAR should prevent your placeholder from appearing on the services menu for results from PCI or the CSU shared catalog. In other words, the Hide CSU+ GES should appear only in the link resolver. Test to verify before proceeding!

Then, create two Display Logic Rules, as follows:

1. Hide service Resource Sharing Request with Resource Sharing System = Alma if exists service General Electronic Service with Service = Hide CSU+
2. Hide service General Electronic Service with Service = Hide CSU+

The rules must go in this order! The first rule prevents resource sharing from showin up on any page where our placeholder GES appears.The second rule then hides the placeholder, so it won't confuse your users. 

Control the order in which full-text databases are presented to the end-user in your Alma services menu.

You do not need to account for every resource. If you have not specified an order, the default is alphabetical.

Step-by-step guide 

You must have configuration privileges in Alma to complete this process.

1. In Alma, go to Configuration > Fulfillment > Online Services Order.
2. Choose Add to Top or Add to Last Services. Entries in Top will always sort first on the list, and entries in Last will always sort at the bottom, Within each section, you can control relative order using the Move Up and Move Down buttons.
3. Your first choice is Service Type, but effectively, the only option there is Full Text.
4. The next option is Service Name. You have the option of choosing a specific Electronic Collection or an Interface.
5. In general, Interface is the more flexible option:
   1. Choosing an Interface allows you to impact multiple ecollections. For example, if you add the EBSCOhost interface to the table as shown below, all associated databases will sort to that position in the Top services table, even if those databases are only active in the NZ.
   2. You can have an active Interface in your IZ even if you do not have an active Ecollection from that platform in your IZ.
      1. In your Alma Vendors, any vendor you set as an Access Provider must include an Interface Name. These Interfaces are available for populating your Online Services Order!
6. Under Additional Preferences, choosing yes for Prefer Source Service overrides any other order rules. For example: if a record came from JSTOR, then a JSTOR service will automatically be the top choice on its list, even if your rules specify that other ecollections or interfaces would normally sort first. 

TIP: You can combine Interfaces and Electronic Collections in your lists. For example, you might choose to include the JSTOR Interface fairly low on your Top services list, but place JSTOR Current Scholarship Program Complete above that, so that current content appears first in a menu.

TIP: You may wish to construct a very robust Top services table. Certain ecollections commonly managed in the NZ (such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library) appear near the beginning of the alphabet, but you may not want them to show near the top of a menu. If it is only in the NZ, then you would not be able to add it to your Services to be placed last. However, if you specify the order for all of your important publisher and aggregator interfaces, then the Biodiversity Heritage Library would only appear after more desirable collections. Or the publisher or aggregator can be added as a vendor. Then it can be placed in the 'Services to be placed last".

Image

ER staff may need to consult with Systems, Fulfillment as well as Discovery to set up and maintain the processes described in this best practice document.  

The openURL, proxy, and Discovery Interface Display Logic are driving forces behind display and access of electronic resources.  It is essential to have recommendations and best practices that allow us to customize and maximize the system for the benefit of staff and library users.

OpenURL

• Alma's UResolver complies with 0.1 and 1.0 OpenURL (Sept 2016).  The goal of the Alma Link Resolver is to provide patrons access to electronic resources that they have identified using OpenURL-compliant discovery tools such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Primo, etc.
• As a link resolver, Alma provides services for searches performed in sources other than Alma. Alma’s link resolver uses the Services Page view  This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.(which is defined in Primo) in order to display these services.
• The Link Resolver Base URL consists of the following parameters:  https://<Primo_domain>/openurl/<Alma_institution_code>/<view_code>?   This same URL is also available in Alma by navigating to General Config menu > General Config > Other settings > Primo service page url.
• The Alma resolver augmentation function is a component of the Alma Link Resolver process that enhances OpenURL metadata with DOI, OAI, and PubMed information.  We recommend that you implement this, a one time only task.  Look under General Configuration > Integration Profiles > Add Integration Profile.  Note:  Ask Jessica at CO for CrossRef details.
• Alma supports the ability to check the validity of the full-text URL before presenting it to the end user through the View It services menu. This functionality is only available for EBSCOhost – The EBSCO Link Resolver Plugin.  In an NZ environment, the Link Resolver Plugin integration profile must be created for the network institution and for all the member institutions.  We recommend that you agree to let Jessica implement this plugin for you.
• If you need to provide an openURL when submitting support cases, this Ex Libris document (How to Extract OpenURL This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.) explains how to extract an openURL from Primo, Alma and Google Scholar.

Proxy

• Proxy is configured in Alma on the General Configuration page (Administration > General Configuration > Configuration Menu), click Integration Profiles under External Systems.
• Most institutions use a single proxy server, in which case one proxy profile should be defined. If an institution uses several proxy servers, a proxy profile should be defined for each proxy server.
• This chart is helpful in understanding the effect of proxy enabled at the collection, service and portfolio levels.  Portfolios inherit the proxy-enabled setting from the service-level, proxy-enabled setting to which they are attached. As a result, you do not need to set a portfolio-level proxy-enabled setting unless you want it to be something different from the service-level setting.
• Which proxy setting is best for you?  We recommend:  Selective – This proxy is used for resources where EnableProxy=Yes and this proxy is selected (this is equivalent to selecting Always for a non-default proxy).  This option takes into account that most of us have open access collections and thus, will not apply the proxy.

Discovery Interface Display Logic

 In Alma, most electronic resources configuration options having to do with display in Primo are found in the Fulfillment Configuration Menu > Discovery Interface Display Logic (image of menu below).   Most options/features/services/labels you see in the Primo View It and Get It windows are determined by how you configure and order the items you see in the menu below.

General Electronic Services

Some things to know:

• GES redirects the user to an external source whereas Display Logic determines what to show/hide in Primo.
• To configure these tables requires System Administrator or Fulfillment Administrator roles.
• Note:  View It is limited to 25 resources (services and databases). 

GES examples

1.  Look it up in Amazon (Note:  Consortial agreement to  turn off the Amazon GES in Primo Back Office)
2. Ask a Librarian
3. ProQuest Dissertations (should already be implemented)
4. ERIC
5. Search Google Scholar
    

You might choose to have Ask a Librarian for the Get It window and a separate GES Report a Problem that only displays for electronic resources (the View It window). The KB has some documentation about creating a web based form (How to create a "Report a Problem" link to be included in the "Get It" or "View It" menus, including the OpenURL? This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.) but we found this  Developer Network Tech Blog This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. by our own Ian Chan (CSU San Marcos) about creating a UResolver form to be really helpful.  Note that Ian’s form includes some information reflective of their local situation, where it sends an email to their ticketing system; so other campuses may not need all of that information.   SJSU and CSUSB for instance have the form emailed to the appropriate staff.  You can see CSUSB’s adaptation in action on any View It menu, where it is labeled as “Report a problem with this link.” Here is an example from SJSU This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..

See Adding a General Electronic Service for more information.

Another GES you may want to set up is Search Google Scholar.  Basically, it takes the article title and throws it into Google Scholar; this is handy for locating articles that may be available free via Institutional Repositories or are otherwise open access.  You'll need this URL to add This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. to the URL template in your GES.  
 

Display Logic

Display Logic Rules examples:
 

1.  ILLIAD or Resource Partner Sharing Request - when to hide or not show
2. Hid a particular electronic collection if full text available in another electronic collection
3. Get It Now
4. Hide Purchase link in Primo
5. Hide service Digitization
6. Hide a service for certain user groups.
    

Some things to know:

An institution cannot define display logic rules based on shared collections in the NZ. [An enhancement was submitted by Jessica at the Chancellor Office; Sept 2016; see ERM known issues.  FYI, rules that are enabled at the campus level (based on IP ranges) override all electronic display logic rules enabled at the institution level.  Probably not applicable to CSU.  Patron purchase requests is a service exposed from Alma to Primo. This service is initially hidden from users by default with the rule Hide Service Purchase Request.

A Display Logic Rule may have unintended consequences.  Best Practice in this order:

 

• To configure a rule, please follow examples available from documentation listed below, such as, Discovery Interface Display Logic This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. or ask for help using the ULMS TS listserv
• Test one rule at a time
• Test in sandbox before implementing a rule
• Questions?  Submit to ERM in Slack or ULMS ERM listserv
• Questions?  Use the Alma listserv
• Open SalesForce case

Display Logic Labels

The Discovery Interface Labels Code Table page (Fulfillment > Fulfillment Configuration > Configuration Menu > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Labels) contains predefined labels that appear on the Get It and View It tabs in Primo. You cannot add or remove these labels, but you can edit the label’s text to suit your requirements.  You may also change the font size and color as well as apply html code.  Here is an example of the table in which one of the labels has been modified.  The text was changed from the default "Not Loanable" to "Library Use Only". 

Here is what displays in Primo:

Integration Profile 

Integration profiles list page can be found:  Configuration Menu > General > External Systems > Integration Profiles, click Add Integration Profile.

Add EBSCO API Link Resolver:

1. Select Link Resolver Plugin from the Integration Type drop-down list.
2. Select EBSCO from the Vendor drop-down list.
3. Select Active.

4. Enter the API User ID provided to you by EBSCO. The API User ID is an EBSCO authentication string that is customer specific and consists of three parts, separated by periods, custid.groupid.profileid where:

   • custid is the EBSCO admin customer id
   • groupid is the Group ID in EBSCOhost where the database resides
   • profileid is the Profile ID in EBSCOhost where the database resides

   For example: s123456.main.eit. The structure of this authentication string is identical to the target Information for Z39.50 Connections.

   Contact your EBSCO representative if you do not already have this information.

5. See Documentation for more set up configurations needed in the e-collections after the Integration Profile is setup.
6. List of EBSCO e-collections This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. that do not use the API Link Resolver.

Licenses

Alma allows you to display an online resource's license information in Primo. The terms of the license are configured in Alma, as well as the license-related labels that display in the View It tab.  In order to view licenses in Primo, you will need to enable the license first and that is found:  Fulfillment Configuration Menu -> Discovery Interface Display Logic →Other Setting.  You may also change the labels and specify which license terms to display.  To set this up, please refer to Displaying License Information This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. document.  It also includes a helpful 5 minute video This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Related Records

Alma allows you to configure the display of records that are related (e.g., title changes) to electronic records by using the Related Record Services Configuration page.  Related Records is similar to Related Objects in SFX.  It displays in the Primo View It tab.

Options available: 

1. Enable Related Records services as part of original services
2. Enable Related Records services separately from original record services in Primo
3. Do not enable

We recommend #2 because it separates the two services thus avoiding potential problems and because it is visually easier to view in the window.
Direct Linking

Direct Linking says:  if only one fulltext service available, then take the user directly to the fulltext.  Specific instructions to enable this function are available in the Discovery Interface Display Logic This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. document.  Here is one forum thread arguing against using direct linking  This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..  Alma Product Management plans to implement improvements for when direct linking does not work (Sept 2016).  We recommend that this service is at the discretion of each campus.

Alma attempts to enrich the incoming URL using DOI. If this does not succeed, Alma attempts to enrich the incoming URL using the PMID. Similar to how CrossRef works. 

Note that if you do not include a PubMed API key, Alma continues to augment using the existing syntax; but there is no guarantee regarding how long PubMed will remain backward compatible.

Instructions

1. Login or Register with PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/account/ This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

2. To create a key, go to the Settings which is located under your account name in the top right hand corner of the page.

    

3. Go to the API Key Management and click on Create an API key.

4. Copy the key and login into Alma

5. Go to: Configuration Menu > General > External Systems > Integration Profiles), select Add Integration Profile This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

7. Go to Augmentation

8. Go to the Actions tab after clicking on the Edit link.

9. Scroll down to the PubMed Definitions and paste in the API Key from PubMed.

10. Save changes

• See this article in PubMed This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. about changes to linking on their end.

• PubMed Utilities Help This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Alma has the ability to autoload the holdings for SpringerLink journals and ebooks from Springer using a KBART file to update the holdings in Alma.  There are e-collections for both the SpringerLink Journals and E-books in the CZ. These e-collections must be used with the Integration Profile for Upload Electronic Holdings This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. configuration. 

Instructions

1. Go to Springer and read the section, Automated KBART Holdings Feeds This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
2. Login to the Springer Admin (link on the Springer KBART page: https://librarian.springernature.com/organizations/content This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.)
3. You are on the "Your content" page and copy the token for Alma.
4. Then go into Alma and activate the appropriate Springer AutoHoldings collection
5. Do not activate the portfolios when activating the e-collection
6. Then go to Configuration > General > Integration Profiles
7. Add Integration Profile
8. Choose Integration Type > Upload Electronic Holdings
9. Choose Springer under Provider
10. Choose when to schedule the job and Save the profile
11. During the initial set up of the Integration Profile, run the job before saving all changes to make sure everything is working
12. After the job is finished, check the e-collection to see if all of the titles have been activated
13. Springer KBART/Autoholdings Troubleshooting  This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.is available from the Springer site

There have been changes to the configuration and management of perpetual collections for collections that were previously part of an SDLC subscription.  If a library cancels a centralized subscription and perpetual access is part of the subscription, those titles will need to be configured and managed in the IZ.  

When a collection is canceled, perpetual access is different for each library and depends on when they started the subscription and when they ended the subscription.   Access to titles and the coverage for those titles can be different for each library.  Since there is no longer a central subscription for the collection, the collection will need to be activated in the IZ with the content included in the perpetual access at the time the subscription is canceled.  SDLC can help with what is included in the perpetual access, but most content admin sites have an option to download titles lists with the perpetual access holdings. 

Exception to this change, if CO/SDLC purchased a perpetual collection, such as the AAPT Book Archive or Ethnic & Diversity or the Adam Matthew collections.  These collections will be maintained in the NZ since the collections were purchased for all libraries at the same time.  Coverage will be same for all libraries for these one-time purchases.

From Kirstie Genzel:

Background: As more subscriptions are canceled, more information has been provided by SDLC about perpetual collections and what libraries can access after cancelation.   Coverage is not the same between the libraries because of when they added the collection and when it was canceled.  The NZ Wiley collections will be discontinued at the end of January 2025 and all libraries will need to set up the Wiley Autoholdings.  Please see below for instructions.

From Kirstie Genzel:

Because of the differences in coverage for Wiley, which has not been a part of the centralized negotiated collection since 2014, the Wiley NZ collections will be removed.  It is recommended to configure the Wiley AutoHoldings collections in the IZ.

Below are instructions for configuring the Wiley Integration Profile:

Configuring Wiley Autoholdings collections in the IZ: (Instructions provided by Nikki DeMoville)

• Autoholdings is quite easy to set up This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
  • You need to have administrator access to Wiley Online Library (same as for setting up access, usage stats, etc.)
  • Alma Administrator role to set up the integration profile
  • Alma user role/permission to monitor Repository jobs
• Autoholdings is very useful for making sure that your journal holdings are up to date—users will see accurate portfolio information or links to ILL options
  • The downside of this is if Wiley decides to change your access, your portfolio coverage will reflect the changes, even if they are in error
  • You need to monitor the job and occasionally handle multi-matches or errors
• Autoholdings is useful for managing EBA programs
• Autoholdings often results in a LOT of record changes and churn
  • If you add local fields to CZ records, expect these to get overwritten frequently as records are deleted and reactivated
• If you have portfolio or bibliographic metadata or local fields you need to preserve, or want to distinguish purchased titles from EBA titles, I recommend creating a local collection for these portfolios.  You can name it Wiley Perpetual or whatever and add a Display Logic Rule so that only your local collection displays in Primo.  Autoholdings will continue to update these titles in the main collection, so you'll get full CDI indexing for these titles.

Description of Advanced Alma Queries and examples of advanced search queries in the NZ to locate shared electronic collections.  These searches can be adapted for IZ Repository Searches.

1. Must use Electronic Collection or Electronic Portfolio to locate e-collections in Alma, not All Titles, Electronic Titles or Collection.
2. In the NZ, can use the Facets and Advanced Search to narrow down the search results.
   1. Advanced Search for NZ e-collections for a specific library: Electronic Collection: Available for > Equals > LIBRARY_NAME
3. Click on Facets section and go to the Available for in either the Electronic Collection or Portfolio search results
4. Locate Electronic Collection
   1. Search by Electronic Collection > Electronic Collection Name > Enter in name of e-collection
      1. If searching for all of the EBSCO resources, enter in EBSCO or EBSCOhost
      2. Use Electronic Collection > Keyword search to locate a specific collection with or without the vendor name
5. NZ Electronic Collections
   1. Search by Electronic Collection and Electronic Collection Name and then click Advanced Search and
   2. Choose Electronic Collection: Collection Available For in Electronic Collection section > equals > Choose Campus from dropdown list
      1. This will list the e-collections and databases shared by your library
      2. If you want to weed out the OA e-collections to look at only subscribed collections first, add a condition to the Advanced search the Electronic Collection search: Internal Description > Not Contains Keywords > Open Access or OA
      3. If you want to weed out the Database-only e-collections (no portfolios), choose Electronic Collection Type > Not Equals > Database
6. Opt-in Electronic Collections in the NZ for a specific library
   1. Search by Electronic Collection and Electronic Collection Name and the click on the Advanced Search
   2. Choose Electronic Collection: Internal Description > Contains Keywords > "Opt-in"
   3. Add condition, Electronic Collection: Collection Available For in Electronic Collection section > equals > Choose Campus from dropdown list
      1. Both of these searches together will list the Opt-in collections for a specific library.
   4. If your library upgraded an ECC collection, i.e. EBSCO ACADEMIC ULTIMATE, it is notated as an Opt-in in the NZ but also as an "UPGRADE" in the NZ.
7. ECC Electronic Collections in the NZ for a specific library
   1. Search by Electronic Collection and Electronic Collection Name and the click on the Advanced Search
   2. Choose Electronic Collection: Internal Description > Contains Keywords > "ECC"
   3. Add condition, Electronic Collection: Collection Available For in Electronic Collection section > equals > Choose Campus from dropdown list
      1. Both of these together will list the ECC e-collections for a specific library.
   4. If your library upgraded an ECC collection, i.e. EBSCO ACADEMIC ULTIMATE, it is notated as an Opt-in in the NZ but also as an "UPGRADE" in the NZ.
8. Open Access Electronic Collections in the NZ
   1. Search by Electronic Collection and Electronic Collection Name and the click on the Advanced Search
   2. Choose Electronic Collection: Internal Description > Contains Keywords > "Open Access" or "OA"
9. IZ Full Text e-collections
   1. Search for a list of full text e-collections in the IZ.  The Advanced search conditions will narrow down the results to the available full text e-collections.
      1. Choose Electronic Collection > Electronic Collection in the IZ and then choose Advanced search
      2. Locate Electronic Collection: Service Type > equals > Full Text and the second condition is Availability > equals > Available
         1. This will weed out collections that may be in the IZ but may not be activated
         2. Use Availability > equals > Not Available to locate e-collections that are in the IZ but not active for search in Primo
10. Electronic portfolio search
    1. Choose Electronic Portfolio > Choose search option from dropdown list > enter in search term
       1. In the NZ can narrow down results to specific library by choosing the library name under Facets
11. Inactivate Portfolios search
    1. Choose Electronic Collection > Electronic Collection Name > Leave search box empty
    2. Click on Advanced Search
    3. Choose Electronic Portfolio > Equals > Not Available
    4. A list of collections will appear in the search results
    5. Go to the Edit Service > Portfolios tab > Status = Unavailable
       1. Either reactivate the portfolio, remove it, or link it to a CZ bib record
12. BrowZine Query
    1. Browzine Set Query needed for Browzine.  *Can also be used for a general query of what a library is sharing for e-collections and e-portfolios in the NZ.
    2. Set Type Logical Where (Material Type equals “Journal” AND Collection available for equals “LIBRARY_NAME” AND Availability (Electronic Portfolio) equals “Available” AND Available for equals “LIBRARY_NAME”
    3. *BOTH E-collection availability and E-portfolio availability are needed in the query to account for portfolio-level sharing, not just e-collection-level sharing.  Some libraries share portfolios within an e-collection, for example, Oxford University Press. There are several libraries that have access to five portfolios in the subscription that other libraries do not subscribe to.
13. Provider Subscription Tool (My Electronic Resources by Provider)
    1. This tool This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. can help by creating a list of resources available by provider to determine if all of the available e-collections are active.  The Provider ID in the documentation is referring to the linking parameter for the e-collection. It is not the ID used in the vendor record or license.
14. Use NZ CDI login to view internal notes for e-collections.
    1. The CDI login for the Network Zone allows users to view the internal notes for the collections.  Users can see when the CDI settings were last updated. Also, users can check if the collection is OA, ECC, or Opt-in.

Searching for e-collections with a local public name in the NZ

Currently in the NZ, if I’ve updated the Public Name of an e-collection in the NZ, that name does not appear in a search from the local Alma search of the NZ tab.  For example, the CZ name for EBSCO e-books is EBSCOhost Ebooks. I have local public name of NetLibrary e-Books (EBSCO e-books) because our NetLibrary e-books were migrated to EBSCO e-books several years ago.  You can search the NZ for NetLibrary and the e-collection will appear in the search results but you will not see the local name, just the CZ name, EBSCOhost Ebooks. I’ve had a case open for about a year asking to display the local public name.  Unfortunately, Ex Libris does not have plans to change the current display. The Inventory tab of the NZ license does display both names if you are not sure which e-collection is being used in the NZ.

Note from Ex Libris about searching Alma NZ:

Instructions for the IZ:

Ask the NZ ERM Manager to copy NZ license templates to the IZ. 

Once the templates has been copied to the IZ, create a template from the NZ license. This template can be used to create licenses for the same vendor.

Go to the Licenses: Acquisitions -> Acquisition Infrastructure -> Licenses

• Locate templates, usually have a green check mark next to the license name.

• Go to More Options and click on View. 

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• Then choose Save as a Template.

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• This template can now be used to create licenses for the same vendor.

  • The license terms will copy over from the NZ license and can be edited.

• When adding a new license, choose Load from Template

• Pick the template created from the NZ shared license

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After saving the new license, go back into the new license and check the

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Background 

This best practice document applies to resources purchased and managed by individual campuses. Once electronic resources are activated within Alma, they need to be updated from time to time to reflect changes to access details and dates of availability. There is a cooperative element to this process due to the availability of information in the Community Zone and the likelihood of changes to affect multiple CSU campuses. However, centrally acquired resources will be managed and updated centrally, so individual libraries will generally only be editing collection and portfolio level information that applies to their own library's IZ.

Best practice recommendations

Updating date coverage for portfolio

When your dates of access don’t match the global statement, edit the portfolio’s Coverage Information tab and “Add Date Information,” leaving “Until” fields blank if access continues through the present.

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 When reviewing the Portfolio Coverage Updates in the Community Zone Updates Task List, if you notice the global date information has been updated to match your local information, you may wish to delete your localized version in favor the of the community zone information to make sure you continue to receive future updates. This is especially relevant for titles from aggregator packages, add-on titles in a Big Deal, and other portfolios likely to experience frequent changes in coverage information.
Activating new portfolio in selective title package e-collection

When selecting a small number of individual journals from a provider, you will likely activate these titles manually and individually.

If you’ve already activated the relevant electronic collection, that will be indicated with an icon in the community zone. You can search or browse within the portfolio list to locate the portfolio you need. Click “activate.” If any customization is needed, click the institution icon that now appears next to the portfolio in question, then click edit.

Alternatively, you can activate CZ portfolios from the collection service level in your IZ. When editing the full text service, enter the Portfolios tab and select Add Portfolios from Community.

If you've selected a large number of titles from the same provider, but your new holdings don't correspond exactly to any given collection, you'll likely want to use the Load Portfolios option in the Portfolios tab of the Full Text service.

Deactivating portfolio from e-collection

Search for the portfolio in your IZ. You can start your search at the portfolio level or go through the relevant collection first. Once you find it, you just hit “deactivate.”

If you deactivate a portfolio for an electronic resource, and that portfolio had been the only inventory associated with the bibliographic record for that resource, the record will no longer appear in Primo.

Updating the links, jkeys, bkeys, URLs, etc. in the parse parameters

Updating this information for article level linking can be quite tricky, as those parsers tend to be fairly complex. In those cases, it’s probably best to submit a case instead. However, updating journal or book level linking is relatively straightforward.

When editing a portfolio, enter the “Linking Information” tab. If you’re entering a journal level URL, you will probably need to use the Bulk::BULK parser, that is likely already selected. To update the link, enter a new parameter in the Parser Parameters (override) field with the syntax jkey=http://www.website.org This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

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 Even with some vendor-specific parsers, an update to the parser parameter may be fairly straightforward. For example, for an ABC-CLIO ebook portfolio using the ABC::ABC parser, the parameter is just the ISBN. If you notice a typo in the ISBN, you might just correct it using the Parser Parameters (override) field and the following syntax: bkey=9781440829918

Adding notes to electronic collections, services, or portfolios

It's possible to add various types of notes at the collection, service, and portfolio level. At each level, there is a Public Note, an Authentication Note, an Internal Description, and a Note. Despite sticking with the same naming conventions, there are important functional differences for these notes at each level. For example, there are plans to include the Authentication Note in analytics at the collection and portfolio level, but not at the service level. Similarly, the Note at the portfolio label has its own search index in Alma, while that is not true for the Note at the collection or service level. See the table below to see the functional implications for using each type of note. Developing a systematic practice is important. For example, if entering notes about perpetual access, you should always use the same note field for that information.

Editing Alma Collection Notes.xlsx This link will open a Excel file.This link will open a Excel file.This link will open a Excel file.

(XLSX, 9.65 KB)

Instructions for creating licenses, updating license terms of use, and adding the RapidILL Lending Note to collections.

How to reconcile an electronic collection in Alma based on a list of available titles provided by the vendor/access provider

Scenario: There is an electronic collection in Alma. The vendor/access provider removed access to an unknown number of titles. You have a list of titles available for your library. 

Goal: Remove bibliographic records and portfolios in Alma for titles we no longer have access to.

Step-by-step guide

This How to Article was written by Marcus Jun, August 2018 in response to managing the dynamic JSTOR DDA collection

Reconciling an electronic collection in Alma based on a title list provided by the vendor.docx This link will open a Word document.This link will open a Word document.This link will open a Word document.

(DOCX, 56.94 KB)

HTML tags can be used to enhance electronic resources, such as, a public note in a portfolio or electronic collection.  View the TS Open Forum presentation This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..  Chat talked about using HTML for display labels, portfolio loader option for batch jobs. 

HTML Tags.docx This link will open a Word document.This link will open a Word document.This link will open a Word document.

(DOCX, 561.31 KB)

Follow this flow chart to see if eBooks are lendable for an eBook collection subscription.  Your library may need to contact the publisher if lending is not spelled out in the library's license.

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Central Discovery Index (CDI): This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. The Central Discovery Index (CDI) is a searchable database of citations collected from scholarly e-resources including journal articles, e-books, legal documents and more. They are harvested from thousands of primary and secondary commercial publishers and aggregators, and from open-access repositories. CDI is maintained in the Alma Collections, in the CDI tab under Edit Collection. 

Global Title Index (GTI) - Index of records from institutions that are Rapido members. When selecting the global index, you are actually searching in the Discovery Rapido Global Title Index + CDI. 

PrimoVE: Known as OneSearch in the CSU, it is the front-end public facing interface to discover your holdings (print, electronic, images) from Alma (OCLC, vendor, CZ records), from external sources such as ScholarWorks, and from Central Discovery Index (CDI).  Each CSU has its own Alma, PrimoVE and CDI to reflect its particular content; and we have the Network Zone to reflect our shared content. PrimoVE is updated with data from Alma every 6 hrs. 

Consortia Manager: An electronic resource management (ERM) system designed for library consortia, streamlining the management of electronic subscriptions, renewals, and related data, offering a centralized platform for consortiums to manage their electronic resources.  SDLC uses Consortia Manager This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. to efficiently manage and communicate information about systemwide shared electronic resources subscriptions.

Council of Library Deans (COLD) - The Council of Library Deans membership is comprised of the deans of the 23 CSU campus libraries.  COLD develops strategic plans for systemwide library initiatives and programs, and, in partnership with the Chancellor’s Office, manage any systemwide central budget allocations for CSU libraries 

Electronic Core Collection (ECC) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.: is a portfolio of core library educational e-resources acquired by Systemwide Digital Library Content (SDLC) on behalf of all CSU campuses and is funded by the Chancellor’s Office. Campuses do not contribute any of their own funds to the purchase of ECC e-resources.  Access for these resources are managed in the Network Zone in Alma. 

Opt-in Collections: These are the resources that are negotiated and maintained by the CSU Chancellor’s Office. These central resources are managed in the NZ in Alma. 

The Systemwide Digital Library Content (SDLC): The Chancellor's Office team manages the contracting of electronic information resources in support of the CSU’s academic mission.

Systemwide Digital Library Services (SDLS): The Chancellor's Office team that ​oversees the adoption, development, implementation and support of systemwide library information systems aimed at providing improved management of, and greater access to, the collections and services of the CSU Libraries.

Shared Resources and Digital Content (SRDC) - is charged with supporting cooperative and collaborative collection development and management across the CSU Libraries. 

​​Unified Library Management System: Known as ULMS, this shared library services platform consolidates the CSU libraries’ various back-office functionality into a single system, creating more streamlined workflows for managing print and electronic resources, while saving the CSU over a million dollars annually.

Alma Link Resolver: The Alma Link Resolver ensures that library patrons get the right links to library owned electronic content. This lesson provides an in-depth view of link resolving in Alma, including detailed demonstrations. Alma component that responds to external requests with a menu of physical, electronic, and digital services. For physical resources, requests are offered; for electronic resources, context-sensitive links are provided; for digital resources, direct links to the digital object are provided. 

Auto-load Holdings: This is an integration profile that can be set up for a few e-collections. The e-collection is directly updated by a file sent by the publisher. The e-collections that can use this profile are ProQuest Ebook Central DDA, Springer Journals & Ebooks, Ovid, Elsevier Journals & Ebooks, Taylor & Francis, Project Muse. 

Available For: This tab or label indicates which library is sharing this electronic collection or portfolio in the NZ. This label appears on the ECC and Opt-in e-collections in the NZ. 

Community Zone (CZ) - This is the Alma knowledgebase shared by the Alma community which contains electronic collections, portfolios, and bib records. 

Electronic Collection: A collection of portfolios, which can be journals, ebooks, or streaming media, that are included in a subscription to an electronic resource, such as EBSCO Academic Search, ProQuest ABI/INFORM, Ebook Central, or AVON.

Electronic Collection Activation: The process of enabling access to e‐resources for patrons and confirming that the library is able to access the resource from OneSearch.

Group Settings: Group settings are used to configure each library for sharing collections in the Network Zone.  

Held by This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.: This tab shows which library has a record for this item, physical or electronic. Usually referring to the bib record. 

Institution Zone (IZ) - This is the library’s individual inventory for bib records, portfolios, orders, licenses, and other information for print resources.  

Inventory: The resources that are owned or licensed by or associated with a particular library, institution, or consortium. All descriptive bibliographic metadata resides in the Metadata management system (MMS) with appropriate links from the inventory to the corresponding descriptive information. 

Linking tab in a Portfolio: This is the linking information used to link to a database or a journal from Alma. The Linking tab has information on the linking level for the journal or the electronic collection. Most e-collections are ARTICLE linking-level but some are JOURNAL linking level. Many portfolios require a jkey or bkey to link directly to the journal. A local “parse parameter” (the term used for journal or article linking) can be added if the global “parse parameter” is not working correctly. 

Material Type: The type of material, such as a book or electronic journal package, from which an item takes its form. Note that the material type does not control the PO line workflow and can be modified when creating/editing a PO line.

Network Zone (NZ): The Network Zone contains all the shared bib records and centrally paid-for and negotiated electronic collections. The CSU uses OCLC records for shared bib records. The CSU also uses the CZ for shared electronic collections (ECC and Opt-in e-collections).  

Portfolio: The specific coverage, services, and link information relevant for a particular journal or e-book title within an electronic collection. May include administrative/access information. May be local (managed by the library) or global (managed by Alma Data Services).

Provider-Neutral/Database-only records: These are the records that represent the resources or electronic collections that do not have portfolios or link to a database or website. There are CSU-specific policies for their use in the NZ. 

Selective Package: A type of electronic collection that includes a selection of subscribed portfolios, the library does not subscribe to all the titles in a resource, example, AIP, ScienceDirect, and Springer. 

CRITERIA FOR California State University (CSU)  ELECTRONIC INFORMATION RESOURCES CORE COLLECTION (ECC)
(Revised 2021/2022 - November 15, 2022) 
 
    I. INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE 
The Electronic Core Collection (ECC) is a collection of system-wide supported electronic resources that are essential to the academic mission of the CSUs.  These resources support the common "Core" of CSU curricula, including baccalaureate and master's programs that are offered by at least two-thirds of the CSU campuses in the general categories of Arts and Humanities; Life and Physical Sciences; Social Sciences; and Professional Programs, or two-thirds of the CSU campuses have opted-in to an SDLC-negotiated resource.  Electronic resources designated as "Core" support broad, interdisciplinary research and teaching, high-enrollment programs, and general education requirements.  
This document's purpose is to help evaluate resources for inclusion in the ECC. 
The creation of the ECC is based on the following rationale and principles:
* Equitable access.
The ECC ensures that all CSU students, faculty, and staff can access a basic and indispensable group of electronic information resources for research, study, and teaching across a number of Core disciplines. This principle does not preclude any particular campus from offering more than these basic resources as their local conditions permit. 
* Support for core curricular programs.
Every student enrolled in and faculty member teaching a core curricular program of the CSU should reasonably expect an adequate level of research/instructional support for that program. Programs qualifying as "Core" under the criteria below should receive system-wide support in the provision of electronic information resources.
* Cost efficiency.
The ECC enhances the ability of the CSU to leverage cost-efficient access to electronic resources. Leveraging costs includes two factors: 1) Using the combined bargaining power of all CSU campuses to secure the best prices from database vendors, and 2) Presenting a united front when approaching the CSU administration to request centralized funding for ECC resources.

II. CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION IN THE ELECTRONIC CORE COLLECTION (ECC)
The primary criteria for the inclusion of resources in the ECC are: 
  * Supports the CSU Core Curricula
  * Sufficient interest among campuses  
  * Affordability for all campuses
  * Alignment to campus curricula and meets the curricular needs of all campuses
  * Benefits the greatest number of users across the campuses

III. FUNDING CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE CSU ELECTRONIC CORE COLLECTION
To assure system-wide access, the CSU ECC will receive funding from the Chancellor's Office. The rationale for funding is outlined in Section I. Sufficient and stable funding to support the ECC is considered a priority by the libraries of the CSU.
In the event of insufficient central funds as reported by SDLC after the budget is approved by the State and Chancellor's Office, the CSU libraries will agree to adjust the scope of the Core.  Members of SRDC and other Collection Development library personnel will be informed of the proposed removal of resources.  Should no agreement be reached, the resource will be changed to an opt-in option.  
In addition, COLD shall advocate for additional funding on an annual basis.  The CSU libraries and COLD recognize that efficiencies can be realized through a greater number of statewide deals, but the ECC must be funded to withstand inflation and its base allocation must grow at the same rate as the rate of inflation, if not more, in order to remain sustainable.

APPENDIX: CSU CORE CURRICULA
Search Degrees at the CSU:
https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/degrees-certificates-credentials/Pages/search-degrees.aspx

Academic Master Plans:
https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/administration/academic-and-student-affairs/academic-programs-innovations-and-faculty-development/program-development/Pages/academic-master-plan.aspx
 

E-book providers use different language to describe their user limits (multiple user access, unlimited user access, 3 concurrent users, etc). This language was standardized across the different e-book collections in the Network Zone (NZ) to facilitate a better user experience. These public notes appear in the view it section in Primo as a Public Note. The standardized language used for the different access models are described below. 

Unlimited licenses with DRM (e.g., ProQuest Ebooks Central Academic Complete Collection, ACLS Humanities e-book)

This note is at the e-collection level in the Public Note field under the Notes tab. Notes at the e-collection level filter to all the portfolios within that collection.

Previous Public Note:

Revised Public Note:

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Unlimited licenses DRM-Free (e.g., JSTOR DDA, O’Reilly Safari E-books)

This note is at the e-collection level in the Public Note field under the Notes tab. Notes at the e-collection level filter to all the portfolios within that collection.

Previous Public Note:

Revised Public Note:

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Limited User Access (e.g. 3 users / 1 user licenses, NetLibrary/EBSCO e-books, ProQuest Ebook DDA Perpetual,)

This note is added to the e-collection at the portfolio-level. The note will need to be updated using the Portfolio Loader This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Export the portfolios from the e-collection and update the public note to standardize the user limit public note and then upload the edited file. EBSCO will send a spreadsheet with user limits for EBSCO E-books.

Previous Public Note:

Revised Public Note:

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E-book Purchases from Gobi:

This is the criteria used to activate a new Open Access electronic collection in the NZ.  When Ex Libris adds a new Open Access or Free electronic collection to the CZ, these are the criteria used to activate the new open access e-collection in the NZ.  Collection development decisions should be done by the library, will this OA fit with the content the library makes available to their students.  The NZ manager does not make collection development decisions with the open access e-collections.                                        

1. Check to see if the OA e-collection is predatory on Beall's List This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..
   1. Definition of Predatory Journals. This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
2. Are the journals or e-books available from another e-collection?
   1. If there is a Wiley OA e-collection activated and a new e-collection is added, run an overlap comparison to determine if a second OA e-collection is necessary
   2. If the new OA e-collection added is replacing a previous OA e-collection from the same vendor, activate the new OA e-collection and delete the older OA e-collection
3. Check if the content is truly full text not just abstracts or reviews or articles
4. Check the vendor's site for information about their OA titles
   1. Check if the articles are truly open access
   2. Doesn't require a institutional membership or a membership fee to gain access
5. Check if the OA resource requires a login
   1. Does the site require the user to login to gain access
      1. If user has to create an account on the site, do not activate this resource
6. If the OA collection contains content in a language other than English, check if the PDFs are translated to English
   1. Notify libraries the new OA contains content in another language and state what language the content is published
7. Libraries decide if the content is appropriate for their collection development purposes
   1. Notify NZ manager to set up the collection to be shared for the library
8. If the OA e-collection is activated
   1. Add internal description note so collection can be found in an Advanced Search
      1. "This is an Open Access OA resource"
         1. Can create a query of Open Access resources in the NZ.  The default "Equals Free" query does not always return all OA e-collections in Alma
   2. Add Public Note
      1. "May need to re-submit the search in the journal or e-book.  Freely-available online resource is not maintained by the library.  Access may be inconsistent"
      2. Add "LocalOnly" to the Internal Description for the RapidILL lending note so that OA items do not trigger an ILL request
      3. If the ebooks or articles are in another language, a note is added with instructions on how to open in a PDF format in English.
         1. Some PDFs are not in English, please follow these instructions to translate the PDF:
            1. Go to Google Translate in your browser  
            2. Click Documents at the top  
            3. Select the languages to translate to and from  
            4. Click Browse your computer  
            5. Select the PDF file to translate  
            6. Click Translate  
            7. Click Download translation
   3. The Proxy settings must be set to NO in each library's group setting
      1. Exception, if the OA is available because of an institutional subscription, like ProQuest, the proxy will need to be set to "yes" for each library
   4. Set up CDI settings and add note to Internal Description the date CDI was set up and notate any changes to CDI settings in the Internal Description

   5. Update collections that have odd naming convention

      1. Bacon American Association For The Advancement Of Science Global Openaccess $AAAS_GLOBAL_OPENACCESS
         1. Change to American Association for the Advancement of Science Open Access

       

• Related article This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Workaround for comparing an e-collection in the NZ to an e-collection in the CZ.  This will allow libraries to compare e-collections that are active in NZ to e-collections either in the CZ or the IZ.  The tool was reconfigured and works differently then when we went live on Alma.  There are two different configurations and procedures for the Network and for the Institution Zone.

Ex Libris has made a note that if the library is comparing two collections to determine and overlap and unique titles, begin with the larger of the two collections as the Source collection, to get an accurate result.

Steps:

• Start Overlap by going to Resources > Advanced Tools > Overlap and Collection Analysis and then click on New Analysis to start new comparison.

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• Choose the collection as the source, the collection being evaluated and compared to one other collection or multiple collections.

  • Click on Choose the Collection (source)

  • Locate the collection searching Electronic Collections

• To see which titles are unique and which titles have overlap between the two collections, the source collection needs to be the bigger of the two collections.  

• In the NZ, collections can be compared in the NZ or compared against collections in the CZ.  The NZ collections cannot be compared to IZ collections from the IZ.

• The tool in the IZ does allow for a comparison against collections in the NZ

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• Locate the collection and then click on Select.

• In the NZ, it will state the collection is for the IZ.  The NZ is known as an institution zone when in the NZ admin.

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• Example of the Source collection.

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• Click on Choose Target collection and locate target collection.

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• Check the box next to the Target collection.

  • More than one collection can be selected.

• Click on Done once collection or collections have been selected.

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• Click on Generate to create a new analysis report.

• Click on the View report button once the analysis is complete.

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• Quick look at the analysis between the two collections.  

• The reports can be downloaded.

• There are 376 titles in Oxford University Press Full collection.

• There are 176 titles in Oxford University Press Current collection.

• The reports show where the overlap is between the collection.

• There is also a report of the unique titles where this is no overlap.

  • In this example, there are 202 titles in the OUP Full collection that do not appear in the OUP Current collection.

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More information This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. about Overlap Analysis and Comparison tool.

IZ Overlap Analysis resources:

• YouTube training webinar recording This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

• IZ/NZ analysis This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. - starts about half way down the ExL article

Managing the Free or Miscellaneous Collections in the NZ 

There is a list of 15 collections where the content is managed by the community, instead of Ex Libris Content. The recommendation is for the community to update the linking, coverage, deletion, or addition of the problematic portfolio in the CZ. Since many of these collections are in the NZ, they will need to be updated by the NZ ERM admin, Jessica Hartwigsen (jhartwigsen@calstate.edu).

• The library can update the CZ portfolio and does not need to contact Ex Libris Support when they update the portfolio.

• Please email the NZ ERM admin to update the NZ collections, if the collection is available in the Network Zone.

Note from Ex Libris Support:

We are excited to update you with a new feature regarding "Miscellaneous" collections. "Miscellaneous" collections are now managed by the community, and customers are able to edit the contents in the collections below. Please note that Content Operations will no longer be handling such cases when there are fewer than 15 changes to be made.
Please feel free to open a case with Alma Support if you would like instructions on how to edit the collections.

Knowledge article This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

These collections include:

Free E- Journals – collection ID 61110976638852340
Miscellaneous Ejournals – collection ID 61111016833201000
Miscellaneous Free eBooks – collection ID 611000000000001091
Miscellaneous eBooks – collection ID 611000000000001090
U.S. Government Documents – collection ID 613170000000000069
Freely Accessible Business Journals – collection ID 615280000000001780
Freely Accessible General Interest Journals – collection ID 615280000000001781
Freely Accessible Arts & Humanities Journals – collection ID 615280000000001779
Freely Accessible Social Science Journals – collection ID 615280000000001783
Freely Accessible Science Journals – collection ID 615280000000001782
Freely Accessible Medical Journals – collection ID 614910000000003147
http://NewspaperARCHIVE.com This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. – Collection ID: 613780000000001293
Universal Library - Collection ID: 613790000000001215

Guidelines for opening a case with EBSCO. 

When reaching out to EBSCO Support This link will take you to an external website in a new tab., it is helpful if you provide the following information. (If you don’t have an EBSCO account yet, scroll to the bottom of this page for instructions)

Steps taken that results in the error or issue including:

• What database are you searching?

• Where you started the search (EBSCO database link, EBSCO discovery service or other vendor discovery, etc.)? 

• What search was performed?

• What record was trying to be accessed (title of the article/publication name and provide AN number from detailed display, if possible)?

• If possible, provide test credentials so that we can test the issue as a user of your library.

• Include screenshots of the error or issue is helpful as well. 

• Videos showing the steps taken are always welcome.

 This is the ideal information for a faster resolution.

After logging into EBSCO Connect, there is a Live Chat option. Support is Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.

Click on Live Chat Button: 

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If you do not have an EBSCO account, go to EBSCO Support This link will take you to an external website in a new tab., choose Sign In, and you will have the option to ‘Request Account’. You will be prompted for your institution name (all CSU campuses are in the list, you might have to try a few different campus names to find yours), then add your name and email and an account will soon be delivered to your email. Then you can choose a password and start entering cases.

Introduction 

Electronic resources are managed very differently than physical resources in Alma. While physical items rely on item records to provide access and availability information, Electronic Portfolios are used to manage this information for electronic resources.

The IZ, NZ, and CZ also play very different roles with electronic resources compared to physical items. Electronic Collections and Portfolios will generally only reside in the NZ for centrally purchased or negotiated resources.

For resources that are purchased individually, Electronic Collections and Portfolios will reside in the IZ, even if several different CSU campuses own the resources.

Additionally, while some localization may occur, the CZ will be the source for most Electronic Collection and Portfolio information.

Best Practice for Electronic Resource Management

These documents provide best practices and procedures for selecting and activating new e-Resources in the Institution Zone (IZ) as it relates to IZ: Local Only.   These resources will continue to be locally acquired, licensed, and managed by the individual libraries.  SDLC and the Electronic Resources NZ administrator will activate, maintain, and in some cases, order e-resources that will be shared by some or all of the libraries in the NZ.  These procedures and best practices are for Network Zone - ECC and Network Zone - Opt-in resource management and acquisitions in the NZ admin instance.  Please Note:  E-Books and Media will have a different policy.

These are also best practices for maintaining and updating e-resources and portfolios that are already activated in Alma. This would be for updating date thresholds, activating or removing portfolios, updating parse parameters (jkeys/bkeys/URLs) and updating linking parameters.

Often it is necessary to make local changes to linking and availability information for e-resources when the information from the community zone is either inaccurate or does not match local details. While this localization is sometimes required, always keep in mind that updates to the CZ information may come later, so be sure to look carefully at update notes when localized information is involved.

When discussing electronic resource management, it’s important to keep in mind the types acquisitions available, local IZ and NZ:

• Institution Zone: Local Only
  The local acquisition, licensing, and e-resource management by the individual libraries. Libraries will continue to manage acquisitions of their own e-collections in the IZ.  
• Network Zone: ECC (Central Only)
  The centralized acquisition, licensing, and e-resource management of the ECC e-resources in the NZ. The Chancellor's Office will manage the acquisition and payment for the e-collections included in the ECC.
• Network Zone: Opt-ins (Mixed Central & Local)
  The centralized negotiation and management of the Opt-in e-resources in the NZ and local acquisitions by libraries in the IZ. License terms and fees are negotiated by the Chancellor's office and purchasing and invoice processing is done by the individual libraries. Libraries will need to create a vendor for the Chancellor's Office in the IZ for the Opt-in e-collections. The library will use the CO as a vendor to pay for the Opt-in resource. 

Electronic Collections: The following example illustrates a single title that is offered by two vendors. (ERM)

Physical Record: The following example illustrates an ongoing serial with three issues with holdings in Periodicals. (Cataloging)

Workflow of Catalog items and ERM items:

Catalog:

• OCLC imported to NZ. Master Record is in the NZ.
• CSU-wide library catalog is in the NZ.
• Local fields, holdings and items, located in the IZ.
• NZ and IZ records linked.

ERM:

• NZ linked to the CZ for ECC/Opt-in e-collections.
• IZ linked to the CZ for local subscriptions to e-collections.
• NZ and IZ e-collections are not linked. Shared e-collections will not appear in the IZ.
  • There is an option to display subscribed ECC/Opt-it collections, residing in the NZ, to appear in the IZ.  Combined Search Results will display subscribed NZ collections in the IZ tab.

Related policies:

Provider-Neutral Records & Use of Database-level records

Instructions for logging into the Ex Libris System Status page and choosing which product can be subscribed, to receive alerts. The CSU is on the NA03 server for all subscribed products, except for CDI and RapidILL which are on the CR01 server. North American server service reports This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. 

1. Go to this page: https://status.exlibrisgroup.com/system_status This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

2. There are TWO places to login but one of them does not work! Use this one:

3. Click on the portal button here (“Continue with Ex Libris Support Portal”) and login:

4. If it worked, you should see your name here:

5. Now you can subscribe to any of the updates you want. We are on NA03 for everything except CDI and RapidILL, which are on CR01.

b. And you can limit it to NA03 or search CDI:

6. Just click on the bell for each one and then you will start getting the updates for all of those in email. You can see that I subscribed to all those relevant in NA03 and the RapidILL and CDI CR01 updates.

7. For each one, there is the option to just view (what you would see when you came to this page under My Services, vs. view & notifications – that’s the one where you get the email.

8. Here’s what I subscribed to and what I see on My Services:

You can see the wrench and click on it to see what happened:

9. If you want to unsubscribe to any of the emails, just click on the bell icon for that product/server:

Click on the ‘trash can’ icon to remove your subscription:

And Unsubscribe at this dialog:

When you return to the list of your products/servers, you will see a bell with a line through it to indicate you are not getting that subscription.

Shared e-Resources (ECC and Opt-in) - Problem Reporting Best Practices and FAQ

Background 

Shared e-resources are negotiated, and in some cases paid for, by the Chancellor's Office Systemwide Digital Library Content (SDLC) department. E-collection and portfolio activations for shared e-resources are maintained in the Alma Network Zone by the Chancellor's Office Electronic Resources Manager. 

• The Electronic Core Collection (ECC) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. is a portfolio of core library educational e-resources acquired by Systemwide Digital Library Content (SDLC) with funds from the Office of the Chancellor on behalf of all CSU campuses. Campuses do not contribute any of their own funds to the purchase of ECC e-resources. The e-resources contained in the ECC are selected by Shared Resources & Digital Content (SRDC) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. committee and approved by Council of Library Directors (COLD) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..
• Opt-in e-resources are also negotiated and acquired by SDLC on behalf of campuses. However, the Chancellor's Office does NOT pay for opt-ins using its own funds. Each campus chooses whether to “opt-in” to the available subscriptions and pay using their own local funding. This collaborative acquisition of library resources allows the CSU system of libraries to leverage their buying power and minimize their administrative expenses. 

Problem Reporting Recommendations

The chart below outlines problem reporting guidelines for various types of ERM issues, particularly as they relate to Shared E-Resources, and are intended to help you get support and a resolution to the problem as quickly as possible!

When in doubt, you may also email eresourceshelp@lists.calstate.edu directly and we will help you identify the best course of action and/or will help escalate your existing case!

The eresourceshelp@lists.calstate.edu email reaches 3 people at the Chancellor’s Office, all of whom have various roles in the acquisition or management of Shared E-Resources: i) Jessica Hartwigsen, the Electronic Resources Manager (SDLS), ii) Kirstie Genzel, the Systemwide Digital Library Content (SDLC) Program Manager, and iii) Christina Hennessey, Systemwide Digital Library Services (SDLS), Director, Unified Library Management System (ULMS)

Quick Help Links

• CDI tips and tricks This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
• Vendor Support Contacts
• Overview of Collection Development and Acquisitions for Shared E-Resources (ECC and Opt-in)
• EBSCO Support Case guidelines (can be applied to other support cases with other vendors)
• Tips for submitting SalesForce cases to Ex Libris and ProQuest
  • Working with SalesForce cases This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
• An overview of problem reporting workflows and guidelines for handling shared e-resources (Kirstie Genzel & Jessica Hartwigsen/CO) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab., presented at the Technical Services Open Forum, March 21, 2024

FAQs

• Q:   What makes something a Shared E-Resource (ECC or Opt-in) vs. a local e-resource?
• A:   The main factor that determines whether something is considered a “shared e-resource” is how it’s ordered/paid for:
  • Electronic Core Collection (ECC) e-resources are negotiated and purchased by the Systemwide Digital Library Content (SDLC) team based on decisions from the Shared Resources and Digital Content Committee (SRDC) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. and the Council of Library Deans (COLD) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab., AND are paid for by the Chancellor’s Office (CO) on behalf of all 23 CSU campuses. Campuses do not contribute any of their own money for ECCs!
  • Opt-in e-resources are also negotiated by SDLC on behalf of campuses, but the CO does NOT pay using central CO funds. Each campus chooses whether to “opt-in” to the available subscriptions and pay using their own funding. Campuses place their order(s) through SDLC and transfer money to the CO for the subscription fees instead of paying the vendor directly. SDLC then uses the funds received from “opt-in” subscribers to pay the corresponding invoice from the vendor.
  • More information: Collection Development and Acquisitions Overview for Shared E-Resources (ECC and Opt-in)

• Q:   Are “NZ Managed E-Resources” the same as “Shared E-Resources”?
• A:   Mostly….but with a few caveats.
  • While the NZ managed e-resource activations are generally based on order information received from SDLC (for both ECC and Opt-In “shared e-resources”), any campus can choose to be added to an existing NZ e-collection at any time, even if they purchased the resource locally! The “NZ managed e-resources” are NOT restricted to just the campuses that “opted-in” and ordered through SDLC.
  • There are also many Open Access e-collections managed in the NZ. More information on NZ Open Access Activation Criteria
  • There’s also going to be a shared Cal Docs collection in the NZ.
• Q:   What about “Chancellor’s Office Managed E-Resources?” Is that the same as “Shared E-Resources?”
• A:   This term has been used interchangeably with “Shared E-Resources” and “NZ Managed E-Resources” over the years, but its meaning has often varied depending on who you ask. Official description of this term:
  • This is an umbrella term to describe the main activities the CO is involved in related to shared e-resources (acquisitions and NZ management).
  • It does NOT mean that all aspects of these e-resources are managed centrally by the CO, especially when it comes to troubleshooting and access.
  • While the CO team is always available to assist with a number of access issues for shared e-resources (as outlined in the chart above), campuses are still responsible for the general administration of their shared e-resources beyond the acquisition and NZ activation stages. Each campus should establish and maintain their own institutional administration accounts for their e-resource subscriptions, even for Opt-Ins and ECCs! This is the only way to manage local platform configurations (i.e. OpenURL resolver, branding/logos, discovery/search settings, IP addresses, etc.) and also allows allowing for on demand access to information about their subscriptions (i.e. complete usage stats, SUSHI info, access entitlement lists, MARC records, etc.).

Examples of scenarios described in the chart above: 

Included are scenarios and answers for various troubleshooting issues for electronic resources. 

Bad linking for ebook or journal: 

When linking for an ebook or journal are reported, there are several steps that can be done.

• Check the linking (parser parameter of the item)
  • Is the link up-to-date?
  • Is the jkey or bkey correct?
    • Look up journal or ebook on the publishers site.
    • If the bkey or jkey do not match what is in Alma, update the portfolio linking and report to ExL Support.
  • Is the book or journal available in Google Scholar? (This is good for finding OA book or journal URLs)
    • Could be that the ebook or journal are now available from a different publisher.
      • Report the portfolio to ExL Support and remove the portfolio.
      • If the item is available from a new publisher and is not in Alma, add the portfolio, add the new link to the correct collection and report it to ExL Support.
  • Example: Harm reduction [electronic resource] : pragmatic strategies for managing high-risk behaviors / edited by G. Alan Marlatt, Mary E. Larimer, Katie Witkiewitz.
  • JSTOR Public Health (Research Reports Only): Full Text
  • Portfolio ID: 53721374740002901
    • The title is no longer available from JSTOR, could not locate the title in JSTOR.
    • Looked in Google Scholar and it appears the item may be available from a different provider, no records appear for JSTOR.
    • Reported the portfolio to ExL support and removed the portfolio.

Ahead-of-Print/In Press articles:

Example: Imposter phenomenon and experiences of discrimination among students at a predominantly White institution This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

When there are articles that are Ahead-of-Print or “In Press,” and the full text is not available, a Public Note should be added to the portfolio stating that articles labeled Ahead-of-Print are not available. There is currently no functionality in Alma or PrimoVE that will suppress the link to full text. Ex Libris has plans to add functionality in the second half of 2024 but there are no specifics available yet.

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Adjusting coverage for gap year:

Example: The Journal of Gerontological Nursing as hosted by Gale (present in General, Academic, and Health and Medicine Onefile, and Health and Wellness) has a coverage exception for the year 2020, which is not reflected in the availability dates in Alma.

*Gale is known to have gaps in coverage that is not reported in the files they send to Ex Libris.

Make local changes and report to Ex Libris Support. Watch for future Alma weekly updates for changes to the global coverage dates. Local date can be removed after global update.

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Adding public notes for different volume numbers:

This usually happens with ebooks or reference materials, there are multiple volumes for the title. Ex Libris does not include the volume number in the description so it appears to the user that there are multiple links for the same item. In reality, the link is going to a different volume, each portfolio with a unique link. Solution: This means clicking on each full text link in PrimoVE (OneSearch) to locate the volume number and then add that number to the Public Note in Alma.

Example records:

• Encyclopedia of philosophy / Donald M. Borchert, editor in chief. Macmillan Reference USA, Detroit 2005 [0-02-866072-2]
• American Governance Macmillan Reference USA Farmington Hills, MI 2016 [1-4103-3904-1]
   

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DOI Error Message:

When the “DOI not found” message appears, this usually means the DOI has not been registered for the article. The DOI issue can be reported at DOI.org This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. or CrossRef.org This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. CrossRef Support appears on the vendor contact page.

FYI: CrossRef is a good source for finding which publisher “owns” the DOI and article. If a record in PrimoVE (OneSearch) has incorrect metadata and there is a DOI available, searching CrossRef will display the metadata the publisher has indexed. This can be used to report metadata issues to Ex Libris Support.

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Unable to access e-book from JSTOR EBA or ProQuest Ebook Central:

In most cases, when a user see the message that the library does not have access to the ebook from either JSTOR EBA or ProQuest Ebook Central, it means that the e-book is no longer available from the vendor or the ebook is not included in the CSU subscription. ProQuest does not send separate files to Ex Libris Content, for Ebook Central, so the collection include ebooks the CSU may not be able to access. Report the ebook to Jessica Hartwigsen, requesting the ebook be removed.

ProQuest Ebook Central: "Sorry, this book is not available. Please contact your librarian about purchasing it, or search for another book." This message usually means that this ebook is not included in the subscription due to territorial reasons (only available outside the U.S. territory).

JSTOR EBA: There can be a delay in JSTOR sending the latest file for JSTOR EBA to Ex Libris. E-books appear in PrimoVE (OneSearch) when the e-book is no longer available. Report the e-book requesting it be removed.

FYI: Each library should receive a list of e-books, from JSTOR, that the library has selected. These are owned by the individual library and should be activated locally in the IZ.

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CDI - Settings and configurations to check before opening ExL Support Case:

• CDI in the Network Zone can be updated by the library CDI liaison, using the NZ CDI.
  • Update CDI settings/activations
• Ex Libris has a useful Tips and Tricks This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. document that helps troubleshoot where links are originating, see what records are in a CDI collection, and the source of the CDI record.
• If the CDI collection(s) require link configuration or proxy, check the settings in the Discovery module:

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• After troubleshooting the settings, the configurations, analysis and the link still does not work, open an ExL SalesForce case.
• Example below: The CDI link for Gale is has a bad link (sid=summon&u=xxxx) since the sid should be “primo” and the “u=” should be the Gale ID for the library. In this case, the same library ID is being applied to all libraries, causing a linking issue.

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CDI Inheritance:

If your library sees this message: "This institution is not inheriting Network Zone CDI activations,” this indicates that the library is not inheriting CDI Databases (zero-title collections) from the Network Zone. All libraries are inheriting CDI collections that have portfolios. CDI settings can be updated in both the IZ and NZ. There is a CDI login for the Network Zone that will allow the CDI liaison to update settings for the library.

CDI Tips and Tricks: This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. The Ex Libris Tips and Tricks page is good for troubleshooting records that originate from CDI.

CDI/Alma Availability This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. -coverage date:

There is an important note in the Publishing to CDI page, when CDI checks for holdings in Alma, it looks at the year/month/day, but is not looking at the year/volume/issue, which can lead to linking issues or missing full text links in PrimoVE. Solution: Add year/month/day to portfolio when linking issue arises.

Example: Link to Gale did not initially appear. The coverage needed to be updated to include month/day as well as volume/issue. After a local coverage was added to the portfolio, the link to Gale This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. appeared.

For portfolio coverage information from Alma, only the From/Until Year, Month and Day fields (not the Volume and Issue fields) are used for CDI availability calculation.

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CDI Activation Analysis - Missing CDI links or CDI links that should not appear:

Example: Link to Gale was appearing but the library does not have access to that particular article, it is not included in the subscription. Where is the full text link coming from?

Use Activation Analysis tool to check if the full text link should be available and where the full text link may have originated. The tool  This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.is easy to set up and use. The results state there is full text but doesn’t mean that you will see a full text link for every resource listed. It gives you a place to start adjusting CDI settings. Can take up to 48hrs for changes to be reflected in PrimoVE/OneSearch.

Second scenario: If a full text link is missing, the tool can let you know where the full text is available and CDI settings can be adjusted so the full text will appear.

CDI settings can be updated in both the IZ and NZ. There is a CDI login for the Network Zone that will allow the CDI liaison to update settings for the library.

Sample record This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (screenshots below for example record):

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Quicklink Issues:

The PDF and Read Online link were initially going to Emerald instead of ProQuest Ebook Central. Ex Libris Support suggested setting the Link Prioritization This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. for the Quicklinks This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Report issues with Quicklinks to Ex Libris Support.

• The PDF is being proxied This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (when it shouldn’t be) or not proxied (when it should).
• Quicklink is going to incorrect publisher
• Quicklink is not working - broken link

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Springer Nature Debug links:

Springer has provided two debug links to test access and linking issues for both Springer and Nature.

Open a case with with Springer if there are issues with access journals or articles:

If you are still experiencing this problem, and have not already done so, please provide us with a hyperlink to the content you cannot access along with a screenshot of the results of clicking on the appropriate debug link below.

The debug results will give us the information needed to determine if the cause of the issue is your access setup.

SpringerNature Debug Tool This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Cloudflare IP Whitelist:

This was posted to the EZProxy listserv and this is the current list of vendors to contact if there are EZProxy access issues, the library may have to register their IP ranges on the vendor’s whitelist.

      My institution will have an EZproxy server IP address change.  I remember (may not be accurate) sending our EZproxy IP address to some publishers/vendors listed below to whitelist.   Are there any other vendors/publishers?

• American Physical Society
• IEEE
• ProQuest
• Sage
• Tayor & Francis
• Wiley

Recommendations for video titles and other titles matching erroneously in PrimoVE records. 

April 2024: Video titles and other titles matching erroneously in PrimoVE records

After migrating to PrimoVE, we noticed that services for ebook titles, generally from NZ collections, were matching on IZ streaming video records. Also, some IZ and NZ videos with similar titles matched, too. The “nodedupe” rule we were able to use while in Primo Back Office could not be used in PrimoVE.

Many support cases were opened. Some of our cases have been resolved but w/o any understanding as to what Ex Libris did. Ex Libris is still investigating a solution.

Here are some examples:

Why this is happening:

It has to do with Uresolver/link resolver matching and the algorithm used to determine matching.

Documentation: This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

"If there was no search by identifier (no identifier as part of the Context Object), a search is performed by "title" only.”

From the chart, it is searching 245 $$a, b, and so. Yet, it seems to be ignoring $$b from our experience since incorrect matching occurs. Also, this matching does not seem to understand that videos do not have typical identifiers such as ISSN, ISBN, etc.

Then, in August 2023, Ex Libris provided a possible solution, something to do with fuzzy logic.

August 2023 Alma release notes This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.: (This was supposed to help with the problem; but it does not seem to be doing much).

Currently, when Alma gets an open URL from Primo, it tries to find resources according to three main methods:

Match by identifier

Match by title and author

Search by title only ("Fuzzy Match")

If the open URL contains only a title, Alma attempts to find a match, since there are no other elements by which to search.

Control Ability to Ignore Title Based Link Resolving

Alma enables institutions to prevent "Fuzzy match" attempts based on title-only matches when patrons search for resources. By default, this option is disabled, and in instances that the URL had "Identifier + Author + Title" and there was no match on the "Identifier + Author", Alma tries to find a match by "Title". However, when the option is enabled, patrons no longer receive wrong search results based on title matches only. This option is controlled by the following customer parameter: avoid_fuzzy_search_resolving.

Several CSU enabled this functionality but still saw that videos and ebooks were matching on title and sharing a bib record. So, it didn’t seem to solve much.

Recommendation:

The ULMS ERM committee suggests 2 possible solutions to implement. You may also choose to do nothing until Ex Libris provides a working solution.

Option 1: If you use vendor supplied records, you may add a 020 field. For example, you might add a Kanopy number. This will stop ebook titles from appearing in streaming video records. Keep in mind, using the 020 field which is generally reserved for ISBN/ISSN is not adhering to standard cataloging rules. Also, this is probably not sustainable if you have many records in which the problem occurs. Do not use this solution for CZ records.

Ex Libris explanation to Bakersfield:

“I've investigated the issue, and unfortunately the behavior you are seeing is expected due to the way Link Resolver matching is done for View It. For records/titles without any standard identifiers such as this one, the Alma Link Resolver matches can be based on title alone. This is because when there are no standard identifiers in the IZ record, the Link Resolver will perform a generic search using the metadata sent in the context object from the member institution, which would in this case is the title. In this case, the 'Gather : Richard Van Camp on the Joy of Storytelling' from the NZ is being returned because this record also has 'Gather' in 245 $$ a:”

Their suggestion: “Alternatively, adding identifiers if they exist would help. For titles which do not have standard identifiers, you can also try adding a dummy identifier. For example, if you add a 020 MARC field with $$&nbsp;, you will see that services for portfolios from the NZ are no longer returned.”

Option 2: Add Display Logic Rules. This is what some CSU are doing.

You can add a broad Display Logic Rule that will prevent other collections appearing on the streaming video title. You may add just one rule or individually. Here is an example of just adding one rule.

This hides all collections including streaming collections. Do not worry, the records for those collections still appear on their own in PrimoVE.

You may also choose to refine and add specific collections:

The Member Library settings in Rapido are the foundational settings determining what pods you are in, how they are prioritized, and what items can be physically loaned to other libraries. To access the settings go to Alma Configuration  > Resource Sharing > Configuration > Members and select your Resource Sharing Library. 

Member Attributes 

This section allows you to add or change the basic information about your library. You can change your address, library name, or set your status to inactive in Rapido from this tab. While you can set your library as inactive here, that is not the same as setting your library to non-Lending. 

Physical Items and Lending Policies

The Physical Items and Lending Policies tab is where you set your library as an active Lender, set what items can be physically sent to each pod using Participating Items rules, and attach those rules to specific Rapido pods. To receive Lending requests you must have Supplies Physical Items checked. While unchecking this box will stop Lending requests, it is not recommended to uncheck this setting as a way of going non-Lending because doing so will cause issues with requests that have already been shipped to your library. 

Participating Items Rule

The Participating Items rule determines which items can be shared in Rapido. Everything that can be shared through ILLiad should be included in the these rules. You may make one rule for all pods, or multiple rules to share certain items in certain pods. For example, you may choose to only loan DVDs to other CSU libraries. 

To make a Participating Items rule click +Add Participating Items. In the resulting pop up you can make the rule using several filters. You can choose to only include or exclude certain Material types, include or exclude items with certain Item Policies, and/or include or exclude certain Locations. You may make rules that use multiple filters, for example: Materials Type Equals Books, Item Policy Not Equals Non-Circulating, and Location Equals 2nd Floor South.

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You may also choose to only use some filters. For example: Location Equals 2nd Floor South. 

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While you can make several Participating Items rules, you can only attach one rule to a pod at a time. 

Physical Items Lending Policies

The Physical Items Lending Policies section lists all the pods your library has joined using the Rapido Pod  This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.form. Joining the pods lets you borrow items from them, but you will not receive requests from libraries in those pods until you attach a Participating Items Rule, like the one created in the previous step. 

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To attach a participating items rule click the ellipsis (...) next to the pod and select Edit. Click the drop down menu for Participating Items and select the rule you want the pod to use. Do not select All Items because that will mark every item in the catalogue as okay to loan to libraries in that pod. Each pod can only use one rule at a time, but they don't all need to use the same rule. With different rules libraries can choose to loan certain items to specific partners only. 

In this section you can also create a Physical Lending Policy for libraries not in a pod in a geographic region. These policies do not impact partners in your pods, but can be used if the library chooses to use the Find Partner feature in Rapido.

To create a new Physical Lending Policy click +Add Physical Lending Policy. Select the Participating Items rule like you did with the pods and then select if the Supply Term For is country or state and then specify the country or state. Lastly add the policies you want the system to follow for the region. 

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Override Pod Policies for Specific Hybrid Pod Partners

A new section was added to the Lending Policies tab to allow libraries to make specific rules for individual libraries in a Hybrid Pod (a pod with both Rapido and Alma Resource Sharing partners). No libraries in the CSU currently use this feature. 

Borrowing Policies

The Borrowing Policies tab is where you set the pod priority for Borrowing. In the Pod Priority chart, the pod at the top of the list will always be checked first when a patron requests library materials. If none of the partners in the highest priority pod are able to fill the request the next pod on the list will be checked. Pods should be ordered with the California State Network pod at the top followed by pods in the western United States, then US wide pods, and lastly international pods. 

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To rearrange the pods click and hold your courser on the small columns of dots next to the pod. Drag the pod to the desired location. 

Rapido uses pods to share physical items instead of using the rota system from traditional Alma. There are two kinds of pods you should be aware of: official pods and unofficial pods. An official pod is a pod with shared rules with all the members and an unofficial pod is a set of rules you set for your institution to borrow and loan to a geographic area.

When people talk about Rapido pods these are the pods they are talking about. Official pods share lending terms that cannot be changed locally since they cover all libraries in the pod. Shared policies include:

• Delivery Time (Days)
• Loan Period (Days)
• Cost
• Allow Renewals
• Allow Automatic Renewals
• Maximum Renewals Allowed
• Expiry Time (Days)

Several of these policies determine what will display in the Rapido estimate when a patron requests an item through a Rapido tile. The information in the estimate will reflect the highest priority pod where the item is currently held and available. 

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There are many Rapido pods libraries may join to easily share with partner libraries. Generally speaking, the more pods a library is in, the more partners we can borrow from. To get the most out of Rapido as possible, it is recommended libraries join the following pods: 

• California State Network
• West Coast Courier Pod
• US West
• US Pod
• SUNY Western
• RapidR

Libraries may also join international pods to share with libraries outside the United States. Currently, no one is in the International Pod with libraries across the globe, but several are in the North American pod with libraries in Canada. 

To join a pod either fill out the Rapido Pods Form This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. or contact the Resource Sharing Manager (RSM) to get added to a pod. For a list of all publicly available pods please refer to the Ex Libris Knowledgebase This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. 

In Rapido you can make your own Physical Items Lending Policies for a geographic area and Default Borrowing Policies to set what kinds of items your patrons can borrow. In Rapido, if an institutions Default Borrowing Policies fall within another institutions Physical Items Lending Policies Rapido requests will pass between the institutions if an item is not available from an institution in an official pod.

Physical Items Lending Policies

To get to the Physical Items Lending Policies section of Rapido go to Alma Configuration → Resource Sharing → Configuration → Members and select your Member Library. Go to the Physical Items Lending Policies tab and the Physical Items Lending Policies section.

This section will list all your pods, both official and unofficial. There isn’t an obvious difference between the pods unless you try to edit them. Official pods cannot be edited except for attaching your Participating Items rule for the pod.

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To make an unofficial pod for a region select Add Physical Lending Policy. On the resulting page you can attach a Participating Items policy to limit what items can be shared with institutions in the unofficial pod region. You can then set all the standard pod policies, but for a region such as the United States or California. If a Rapido library in the set region has matching borrowing rules they will then be able to request from you library.

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With the above example, the library would be willing to lend items meeting the Pollak Lending Rules parameters to Rapido libraries not in an official pod the state of California with a delivery time of 7 days, 112 day loan period, and no cost.

Default Borrowing Policy

To configure the Default Borrowing Policy go to Alma Configuration > Resource Sharing > Configuration > Members and select your Member Library. Go to the Borrowing Policies tab and the Default Borrowing Policies section.

The Default Borrowing Policy is the opposite of the Physical Items Lending Policy. This policy determines how much you are willing to spend to borrow an item, how long you are willing to wait for the item, and how you would prioritize institutions that both meet the previous policies.

For example, you could set the Maximum Cost to $5.00 meaning you are willing to pay up to $5.00 per request to an institution to lend an item, the Maximum Time to Delivery to 10 days meaning you will only wait up to 10 days for an item to be delivered, and you can prioritize institutions with the fastest delivery time. With this setup, if two institutions have a book and institution A is free with a 9 day delivery time and institution B charges $3.00 with a delivery time of 5 days, the rule will prioritize institution B because it is faster.

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Special Borrowing Policies per User Group

The Special Borrowing Policies per User Group section lets you add exceptions to the Default Borrowing Policy based on user group. For instance, you can configure the rule to prioritize checkout length for faculty instead of fastest delivery.

Borrowing Mediation Rules are rules you can make in Rapido to automate certain processes or pause a request for mediation. These rules are very useful for keeping your Borrowing requests organized and moving along smoothly. Clarivate has routinely updated the options available for Borrowing Mediation Rules so it is encouraged for staff to try out new rules to see if they can tweak their workflows to be clearer and more efficient. Below are explanations of the parts of a Borrowing Mediation Rule as well as a list of recommended rules. 

To configure Borrowing Mediation Rules, go to Alma Configuration > Resource Sharing > Rapido Rules > Borrowing Mediation Rules. Once in the Borrowing Mediation Rules List, click +Add Rule to add a new rule. 

Input Parameters

The Input Parameters in a Borrowing Mediation Rule determine the circumstances that trigger a rule. Any request meeting the parameters you set forth will have the Output Parameters you set up automatically enacted. You can add multiple Input Parameters to make complex rules to streamline your workflows. To add an Input Parameter click +Add Parameter. 

Most updates to the Borrowing Mediation Rules in Rapido have been to add more parameters, so the list of actions is fairly long, but the process of setting them up remains fairly simple. With all rules you will select a Name, Operator, and Value to describe the action triggering the rule. 

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Name

The Name parameter is the main list of actions like Requested Format, Supplying Pod, or Missing Article Metadata Fields. These parameters are often self explanatory and the list of options continues to grow, so it is a good idea to occasionally look at your options to see if you want to make a new rule to try out. For example, the Requested Format parameter is referencing the Format (either physical or digital) the patron is requesting when they place a Borrowing request. 

Operator

The Operator parameter determines how the Name and Value parameters will interact. The following are the most commonly used Operators:

• =: This is used when the rule needs to meet exactly one condition. For example, a rule that stops all physical requests for mediation would be Requested Format = Physical.
• In List: The rule will activate if any of a list of variables is met, like an OR statement. For example, a rule where the request is stopped for mediation if the request is missing an ISSN, volume, or title would be Missing Article Metadata Fields In List ISSN, Volume, Title.
• All In List: The rule activates if all the variables are met, like an AND statement. For example, a rule where the request is stopped for mediation only if the request is missing an ISSN, volume, and title would be Missing Article Metadata Fields All In List ISSN, Volume, Title. All three variables must be missing for the rule to activate.
• NotInList: The opposite of In List. This rule will activate at all times unless variables in a list are met. For example, stop all requests for mediation except ones from the California State Network or US West pod would be Supplying Pod NotInList California State Network, US West.
• Is Empty: This Operator is used to mediate a request when there is nothing in a field. For example, to stop all requests without a label add a rule like Labels Is Empty.
• Is Not Empty: The opposite of Is Empty. This would stop requests as long as a variable is present. For example, to stop all requests with a label make a rule like Labels Is Not Empty. 

The most commonly used Operators are In List and Not In List. 

Value

The value is the variable you want the rule to trigger with. Depending on the Name the list of Values changes greatly. For example, the available Values when you select Supplying Pod in the Name field are all the pods you subscribe to, while the Values when the Name is Labels are all your available labels. 

Escape Parameter

There is a special set of Input Parameters that should be included in almost all Borrowing Mediation Rules: the Escape Parameter. This is a Label you designate to override the rule and let a request process when it would normally be stopped for mediation. For example, Say you have a rule to stop all requests missing an ISBN, but a patron requested an old thesis that does not have an ISBN. You will add the Escape Parameter Label to make the request not trigger the rule, even when there is no ISBN. 

The Escape Parameter is:

• Labels, NotInList, (Label)

Most campuses use a label called Approved or Staff_Approved as the Escape Parameter. 

The Output Parameters are the results of the rule. There are two types of Output Parameters: Labels and Actions. 

Labels

The Labels parameter is simply the label you want added to any request triggering the rule. These make it easy to instantly see why a request was stopped so staff know what they need to do to fix the request so it will process. You can add anything as a label, but if you want a label with multiple words you will need to use underscores (_) instead of spaces. Common labels include: Approved, Document Delivery, Missing_ISSN, and Missing_Volume. 

Action

The Action parameter is what you want the rule to do when triggered. There are four Actions, though at first glance it looks like there are only three. 

• (Blank): The Action represented by a blank, empty, Action field is the most commonly used Action. A Blank Action stops the request from automatically processing so staff can fix it in some way. It essentially stops it for mediation.
• Cancel Request: A mediation rule with the Cancel Request Action will cancel the request when the rule is triggered. If you select this Action you can add a message to be added as a note in the cancellation notice. This is helpful if you find you consistently cancel requests meeting certain criteria.
• Test Locally: The Test Locally Action lets a request act like it is being processed without actually sending it out to another library, to a patron, etc. Sometimes useful for testing.
• Fill Locally: This Action adds your own institution as the Lending library so you can fill the request locally. Requests impacted by this Action should be handled in Lending and not in the Borrowing side of Rapido. 

Now that you understand how to make Borrowing Mediation Rules you may want some rules to make. The following page shows the recommended rules used in the CSU.

The Copyright Mediation Rules are set up like the Borrowing Mediation Rules except that they have a few different options, only trigger for digital format requests, and change the request status to Pending Approval. The primary purpose of the rules are to catch requests needing copyright payment and stop requests breaking copyright rules. Some rules can be set to interact with Borrowing Mediation Rules as well to make more complex actions. 

Copyright Mediation Rules have the same structure as Borrowing Mediation Rules, so the similarities will not be added to this page. For information on how to make a rule in general see the Borrowing Mediation Rules page.

To configure Borrowing Copyright Rules, go to Alma Configuration > Resource Sharing > Rapido Rules > Borrowing Copyright Rules. Once in the Borrowing Copyright Rules List, click +Add Rule to add a new rule. 

The rules are essentially made the same way as a Borrowing Mediation Rule. Inputs work the same way, though there are different options for the Parameters. There are far fewer options for Parameters, but they are often far more specific then the Parameters for Borrowing Mediation Rules. Some of the most commonly used Parameters include:

• Years Since Publication: This Parameter lets you make a rule based on how recently an item was published. This is important if you make a rule based on the CONTU guidelines Rule of 5.
• Total Copyright Work Percentage: This Parameter lets you make rules stopping requests asking for page ranges over a certain percentage of the work. This is useful when making rules around the CONTU guidelines.
• Number of Requests Per User for Specific Resource: This Parameter is useful to make rules stopping duplicate requests. 

The Operators used for Borrowing Copyright Rules are the same as the Operators used for Borrowing Mediation Rules. For information on Operators see the Borrowing Mediation Rules page.

The Borrowing Copyright Setup is similar to the Output Parameters used for Borrowing Mediation Rules, but there are different options. 

Copyright Clearance

By default the Copyright Clearance checkbox is unchecked. If you leave the box unchecked the rule will not stop a request for copyright processing and it will automatically be processed with the Copyright Status set to No Copyright Restriction, meaning the request does not require payment. 

If you click the Copyright Clearance checkbox, the Copyright Status will be set to Copyright Not Approved and the request status will be changed to Pending Approval, sending the request to the Awaiting Copyright Clearance set. After checking the Copyright Clearance checkbox two new options will appear under a new option called Copyright Clearance Management.

Copyright Clearance Management will have two options that do opposite things. The options are: 

• Automatically Approved: the Copyright Status will be automatically changed to Copyright Approved and the request will automatically go through RapidILL to be filled. An analytics report can then be used to find all the requests with a Copyright Approved status to process copyright for payment through Research Solutions or the Copyright Clearance Center.
• Blocks Digitization Workflow: This option will stop the request for staff to process in the Awaiting Copyright Clearance set by either changing the Copyright Status to Copyright Approved, purchase the request through the Article Galaxy Cloud App, or Cancel the request. 

Labels

The Labels parameter is simply the label you want added to any request triggering the rule. These make it easy to instantly see why a request was stopped so staff know what they need to do to process the request. You can add anything as a label, but if you want a label with multiple words you will need to use underscores (_) instead of spaces. Common labels include: Rule_of_5, 10%, and More_Than_2.

Now that you understand how to make Borrowing Copyright Rules you may want some rules to make. The following page shows the recommended rules used in the CSU. 

• Next Page

How Search Profiles and the Global Title index interact is an extremely impactful part of Alma and Rapido that is sometimes overlooked. When the CSU went live with Rapido we did not understand how Rapido would impact Discovery, and how Discovery would impact Rapido. After several years of using Rapido it is worth re-evaluating how our default Search Profiles are set up to provide the most intuitive setup for our patrons while looking at impacts on Resource Sharing staff and shipping costs.

To easily request materials outside the CSU system Rapido uses the Global Title Index (GTI). The GTI has records from any Alma library using Rapido or who has contributed their holdings through a Data Sharing Profile. Patrons can search the GTI in Primo to find materials held at other libraries and request them using the Rapido Offer Tiles.

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There are two ways patrons can access the GTI in Primo. They can either go to the specific Search Profile from the drop down menu next to the search box or click the prompt to expand your search. The wording for Search Profiles and the prompt can both be customized.

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In configuration there is no specific GTI Search Profile or scope, checkbox, or really any clear setting. The GTI populates a Search Profile if it has “Filter by Availability” unchecked under the Central Index scope. If this box is checked the ability to expand results and see other libraries materials will disappear. To get the most use out of the Search Profile, additional scopes with Institution Zone and CSU Network Zone scopes should be added to create a Search Profile that searches everything available to the patron regardless of the owning library. To edit your Search Profiles go to Configuration > Discovery > Search Configuration > Search Profiles.

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Once a scope is created it needs to be added to a Search Profile Slot in your Default View for Primo. Go to Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Configure Views and click the ellipsis (...) to edit the view marked as the Default View. Once inside the Default View select the Search Profile Slots tab to edit the different active Search Profile Slots in Primo. Make sure at least one Slot has the Search Profile for the GTI. It is possible to have multiple GTI scopes, but the one highest on the list will be the Slot selected when patrons expand their results. If the top Slot is the GTI Search Profile your patrons will search the GTI in default searches.

That is the basic setup of the GTI Search Profile, but the Default Search Profile can have a dramatic impact on Resource Sharing at your library.

The Default Search Profile is the first search profile listed in your Search Profile Slots located under the Search Profile Slots tab at Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Configure Views. There are three different basic setups seen in the CSU with various pros and cons.

The following example setups will use three Search Profiles that do the following:

• Institution Zone (Local Library Collection): This Search Profile should be configured to contain records of items available from your Institution Zone.
• Network Zone (CSU Collection aka CSU+): This Search Profile should be configured to search the Network Zone AND your Institution Zone.
• Global Title Index ( Records from hundreds of Alma Libraries): This Search profile should be configured to search the Global Title Index, the Network Zone, AND your Institution Zone.

Narrow to Wide Search

The view Ex Libris seems to expect is to start library searches with a narrow search of the libraries collections and expand out to the Global Title Index. Other search profiles, such as a search profile of the CSU collections, can be accessed by the drop down menu.

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Pros

With this setup the library collection will be prioritized and the results in the default search will all be records vetted at your library. There wont be duplicate records unless you have made them yourselves. Since records from other libraries wont appear until the patron expands their search to the Global Title Index they are unlikely to request as many items from across the country from a duplicate record of an item you own.

Cons

Patrons are less likely to change the Search Profile from the drop down box than they are from the expand search results prompt, so patrons are likely going to skip any search profile for the entire CSU collection. This Search Profile does not promote access to the wide variety of materials accessible in the CSU through Rapido and the courier. With this scope patrons are just as likely to request from a library in New York as they are from another CSU.

Prioritizing the library collection over the whole CSU collection also limits the ability for patrons to find materials outside your library at all. While patrons may be more likely to expand results than use the drop down menu, they are even more likely to stay in the local search and focus only on materials in the library.

Wide to Narrow Search

The opposite of starting with the local collection is to make the default Search Profile the GTI. In this view the expand prompt won’t appear unless the patron manually changes to a narrower Search Profile. With this profile as the default, patrons will start every search by searching all the records in the GTI.

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Pros

Prior to the move to Rapido, many libraries found starting with a wide search of all available materials promoted the use of CSU+ (Resource Sharing between CSUs) and let patrons find the best resources for their research regardless of the institution holding the item. When we went live with Rapido, many libraries turned their “Everything” in the CSU Search Profile into an “Everything” in the GTI search profile. This is the widest possible search so patrons are likely to find materials meeting any search term and it promotes heavy use of Resource Sharing because libraries will find the right material, not just the materials physically closest to the patron.

Cons

The inclusion of the GTI into the wide “Everything” Search Profiles may be too wide. The GTI has many duplicate records for the same books with minor differences based on cataloging decisions. The first record for a book may show holdings from libraries across the country while records further down the list for the same book may show holdings in the CSU. Patrons are more likely to request the first result, which leads to needless requesting across the country. This increases shipping costs and makes the patron wait longer for materials to arrive. Resource Sharing staff have added some mediation to help with this issue, but it is not perfect and turns requests that should be unmediated into additional work for Resource Sharing staff.

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CSU+ as Default

Sometimes the best approach is somewhere in the middle. The wide to narrow search worked extremely well when the widest we could search was the whole CSU collection and CDI. We can still set the default search to search all the records in the CSU as the default Search Profile without making it the expanded GTI. The local collection will appear in this search, but a local only Search Profile can still be added. The GTI will still be accessible for patrons who cannot find what they need in the CSU through the expanded GTI Search Profile.

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Pros

Setting the default to the CSU Collection will prioritize the entire CSU so patrons can easily find the right materials available through our courier routes. This will make a wide search without as many duplicate records that will come from libraries across the country. Prioritizing libraries on our shared courier should reduce the amount of requests for the same items from libraries across the country to reduce shipping costs without requiring time consuming workflows for Resource Sharing staff. In short, this should cut shipping costs, help patrons get materials faster, and help reduce the number of items needing staff mediation.

Cons

The default search won’t be as wide as possible, so the perfect resource may not appear without expanding the results to the GTI. If the GTI had no duplicate records it would be ideal to start with the GTI, unfortunately there are still many duplicate records and they are unlikely to ever be fully cleaned up. The GTI is necessary to request materials outside the CSU, but it can be overwhelming and confusing to use.

Recommendation

The recommended setup for Rapido is the CSU as Default setup. This will start each search with a wide search of the whole CSU but will leave out the influx of duplicate records available in the GTI.

Librarians and Library Staff often are not programmers and vary wildly in their experience writing any sort of code. This works as a crash course in programing for Alma Letters. This is information I wish I knew before I started working on Letters. Provided information includes XSL Basics and Specific codes to paste into Letters for desired effects.

Please note I am self taught and this is not comprehensive. If there is any information you want added or changed please let me know at cwlee@calstate.edu. 

Alma Letters can be complicated and are often edited by different people over time. To keep things simple, and to avoid issues, there are several habits you should consider developing when working with Letters.

• Copy the Letter and save it in a folder on your computer, drive, or department server before editing. Then if something goes wrong you can easily restore the previous version of the letter.
• Click Preview after every change to see if the change breaks the code.
• Keep a change log of some sort. This can be a note in the code using Note Tags (<!-- Note Text -->).
• Formatting and spacing in the code isn’t as strict as other forms of programming, but keeping things formatted will make it easier for you, and future code editors, to read and understand. I recommend pasting the code into a XML formatter to keep it formatted after editing. I use this one: https://www.freeformatter.com/xml-formatter.html This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. 

Before you can edit letters it is useful to know where to edit them and the basic options. To edit the Letters go to Configuration > General > Letters > Letters Configuration. Search for the Letter you want to edit and click the Letter name to open it for editing. The Letter interface has multiple areas you should be familiar with:

• XSL: This is where the code generating the Letter lives. You can edit this code to make the letter do everything from list the request metadata to displaying library logos. This is the main section you will be working in to edit any Alma Letter.
• XML: The XML code is the information supplied by Alma that the XSL pulls from. When a Letter is triggered the unique information from the request or item will automatically be added to an XML file behind the scenes in Alma. This is useful to find what information can be added to the Alma Letter and how to tell the XSL where to find the information in the XML file.
• Example: A visual example of the Letter generated takes up nearly half of the Letters area. This is extremely helpful to know that your code works and does what you want it to do. As you make edits to the XSL code the example will update to reflect the change.
• Labels: In the default Letters you will often see codes beginning and ending with @@ (example: @@title@@). These are Labels and they display whatever you add as the corresponding Description in the Labels table. To access the Labels table click Labels. The templates shared across the CSU do not use most Labels because these customizations cannot be shared, but they can be useful to make local customizations.
• Letter Examples: The Letter Examples page lets you select the most recent XMLs generated for this Letter to use as real world examples. 

When writing XSL you need to keep in mid that the code needs an opening and closing tag for each action. An opening tag is formatted as <X> and a closing tag is </X>. Most opening tags have a closing tag, and everything between the two tags has the effect of that tag, so it will be on the same row or cell, have the same font, or all be highlighted depending on the tag used.

Example: 

• <text>Almost all tags have an opening and a closing tag</text>

A few tags open and close themselves. These tags all end with a / and do not need a specific closeing tag.

Example: 

• <xsl:value-of select="notification_data/metadata/title" />

Common Tags

While there are many, many tags that can be used in XSL, the following are the most commonly used tags in both the default XSL code and the CSU templates:

Rows, Cells, and Table Tags

• <tr> is a row. Use this when you want the nested information on its own line. Close a row with </tr>
• <td> is a basic cell. This is a space to add standard text or images. Close a cell with </td>
• <th> is a header cell. Text in this cell will be bold and centered. Close a header with </th>
• <br /> is used as a line break in the text. This can stand alone without opening and closing.
• <table> is used to create a table where the rows and cells will be contained. By default the table is invisible, but it can be coded with table formatting such as spacing, padding, and a border. Close the table with </table>
  • A table with formatting can look something like this: <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1">. This code would say there is no added spacing or padding, but there is a 1px border around each cell. Tables can be placed inside other tables to create a single cell with a border with inside cells with no borders.

Formatting Tags

• <font color="X"> is used to change the following text’s basic color. For example <font color="red"> will make the text red. Close with </font> when you want the text to return to the default color.
• <b> is used to make the text bold. Close with </b>.
• <text> is used to add static text that does not change with the XML. Close with </text>.
• <strong> can be used to combine <b> and <text>. A word or sentence between <strong> tags will be bold and static. Close with </strong>.
• &#160 ; is used to add a permanent space in text. The space between 0 and ; will need to be removed to work. This web page translates the example into a literal space if added without a space breaking the code.
• <center> is used to make the following text centered in the cell or document. Close with </center>

Note Tag

• <!-- is to place a note in the code or disable a section of code. Anything between the opening and closing of this tag will be ignored when the code is run and is essentially invisible outside of the editing view. This is very handy if you want to disable, but not delete, a section of code or leave a note about what a section of code does. Close with -->

Variable Tags

Some tags tell the system to pull information from the XML and place it in the Letter in a specific spot. The information pulled from the XML varies every time the Letter is triggered. The tag is usually a variation of <xsl:X> where X can change depending on if you are selecting information or activating a section of code if certain variables are present. 

• <xsl:value-of select="X" /> tells the XSLT code to input the information from a specific location in the XML generated in Alma. For example, the code <xsl:value-of select="notification_data/metadata/title" /> will pull the book title from the XML listed at notification_data/metadata/title. Since the tag contains a / it opens and closes itself and does not need a closing tag.
• <xsl:if test="X='Y' "> For Example, <xsl:if test="notification_data/incoming_request/format='PHYSICAL' "> will only use the code between this opening and closing tag if the Alma generated XML lists PHYSICAL as the variable at notification_data/incoming_request/format. Close with </xsl:if>

Several codes are specific to Alma and pull information from behind the scenes in Alma. These include things such as Barcodes and Labels.

Barcodes

One of the most important codes for printed Letters are the barcode files. Technically you can use code to make anything a barcode with a barcode font, but those barcodes are often too big to scan with library scanners. Thankfully there are several codes for Alma specific barcode files generated in Alma. The following can be pasted into Letters to generate a barcode:

Item Barcode

The following code will add the barcode of the item received by the Borrowing Library. This is useful for Circulation Staff to check out the item.

                              <tr>
                                 <td>
                                    <img src="cid:item_id_barcode.png" alt="Item Barcode" />
                                 </td>
                              </tr>

The Resource Sharing Receive Slip Letter uses a different image file for generating the barcode. In that letter use the following code instead.

External ID (Full) Barcode

The following code will add a barcode for the full External Identifier. This version of the External ID may contain the 01// or 02// prefixes, which may prevent the barcode from scanning properly at the Borrowing Library. This is why this barcode works for articles and book chapters but not shipping items.

External ID (Truncated) Barcode

The following code will generate the External ID without the 01// or 02// prefixes. The official name of this ID is the Group Qualifier. This code works both at the Lending and Borrowing library and should be used when possible. This barcode is not available in all letters at the moment. Ex Libris will add it to more Letters in a future update.

                          <tr>
                             <td>
                                <img src="cid:group_qualifier.png" alt="group_qualifier" />
                             </td>
                          </tr>

Internal ID Barcode

The following code will add a barcode for the Internal ID. This barcode is important for the article and book chapter paperwork because the scanned or downloaded files need to be saved as the Internal Identifier.

Editing Letters can be daunting if you are new to the process and it can take awhile to learn how to make all the edits you want to make. To make this process easier you can use templates created by staff in the CSU where you only need to make minor edits to customize it for your campus. This page will show how to download and upload templates in Alma, and the next few pages will show templates you can either download or Copy and Paste from online. 

To download a template you should first find the Letter you want to edit by going to Configuration > General > Letters > Letters Configuration and open the Letter you want to edit. You can see if there are available templates to download by clicking the ellipses (...) in the XSL section and selecting Shared XSLs. 

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On the following table you will see all the letters contributed to the Alma community as well as the email address and institution who contributed the Letter. If there is a template you would like to try, select it and click Select. Your previous XSL will be replaced by the template and you are free to make additional edits to ensure your information is displayed correctly. 

If you make a Letter and want to share it with the wider Alma community you can upload it to Alma for everyone to download. Go to Configuration > General > Letters > Letters Configuration and open the Letter you want to upload. Make sure all the final edits are complete and click Save. Click the ellipses (...) in the XSL section and select Contribute to share your custom Letter. 

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After clicking the Contribute add a title for the template in the description field and click Confirm to finish the upload. 

WorldShare can be used as the Partner of Last Resort with Rapido instead of ILLiad. Once WorldShare and Rapido are connected, requests not available from a Rapido partner can be pushed to WorldShare so staff can search for the item using OCLC’s network. If your library has already set up ILLiad as the Partner of Last Resort the setup will be very similar.

Before you begin configuration you will need an API Key from OCLC to connect WorldShare to Rapido. Follow OCLC’s directions for the ILL Request Transfer Service This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..

The first step to adding WorldShare as the Partner of Last Resort is to add WorldShare as a partner in Rapido. In Alma, go to Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Partners and select +Add Partner.

General Information Tab

On the General Information tab add the following settings:

• Code: WSILL
• Name: WorldShareILL
• Profile Type: NCIP
• Status: Active
• System Type: WorldShare ILL
• Average Supply Time: 0
• Delivery Delay (Days): 7
• Currency: (Leave blank)
• Alternate Symbol: (Leave blank)
• Locate Profile: (Leave blank)
• Default Partner: (Unchecked)
• Supports Borrowing: (Checked)
• Borrowing Workflow: Borrowing NZ workflow
• Supports Lending: (Checked)
• Lending Workflow: Lending NZ Workflow
• New Request Alert: (Unchecked)
• Enable Direct Charge Functionality: (Unchecked)

After filling out the General Information tab, proceed to the Parameters tab.

Parameters Tab

The Parameters tab is much more complicated than the General Information tab, but it is nearly identicle to the ILLiad partner Parameters tab, so you can refer to your specific settings there if you previously used ILLiad as the Partner of Last Resort. On the Parameters tab add the following settings:

General Information

• User Identifier Type: Primary Identifier
• Request Pushing Method: Link
• URL Template: (Leave blank)
• Broker System NCIP URL: (Leave blank)
• Enable Service For Guest User: No
• Disable Service When: Never
• Loan Period: 112
• Default Library Owner: University Library

Request Item

• Bibliographic Record ID Type: OCLC Number
• Support Borrowing: (Checked)
• Default Location: (Your library’s Resource Sharing location)
• Default Pickup Library: (Your library’s Circulation Library)

Check-Out Item

• Default Location: (Your library’s Resource Sharing location)
• Default Item Policy: (Your Library’s Resource Sharing policy)

Accept Item

• Default Location: (Your library’s Resource Sharing location)
• Default Pickup Library: (Your library’s Circulation Library)
• Automatic Receive: (Unchecked)

Look Up User

• Require Authentication: No

Export To Third Party

• Export to Third Party: Yes
• API Key: (Paste the API Key supplied by OCLC after filling out the ILL Request Transfer Service Form This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.)
• Server: (Paste the server address supplied by OCLC after filling out the ILL Request Transfer Service Form This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.)
• Send Requester Information: (Unchecked)
• Request Agency ID: OCLC-(your OCLC symbol)
• Close Request When Exported: (Unchecked)

Create User Fiscal Transaction

Create Fee Using: Ignore Message

Click Save and you now have WorldShare as a partner in Rapido.

To use the WorldShare partner in an automated process you need to set up a Rota for the partner. The set up for this is almost exactly like the configuration for the ILLiad as Partner of Last Resort. Go to Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Rota Templates and select +Add Template to begin. Add the following information under General Information:

• Code: WSILL
• Name: WorldShare ILL
• Type: Non Ordered
• Status: Active
• Locally Manage Rapido Pod: (Unchecked)

Click Save and Add Members once you have added the above information.

On the next page you will connect the WorldShare Partner to the WorldShare Rota. Click +Add Partners and select the WorldShare Partner you created in the previous step. Click Select and Add Partners to add the Partner to the List. Click Save to finish creating the Rota.

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The next step is to add a Rota Assignment Rule to let Alma know when to use the Rota. go to Alma Configuration > Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Rota Assignment Rules to add the rule. Click +Add Rule to configure the rule and add the following information.

Rota Assignment Rules

• Name: WorldShare Partner
• Description: WorldShare ILL as last resort.

Input parameters