Alexander Street Content Reload and Mapping
We are excited to announce a major project underway to improve and enrich the Alexander Street content currently represented in the Alma Community Zone.
In this way we can ensure that our new mechanism for matching these records can be implemented properly and will not retain any residual items that may have been corrupted in the past.
Our plan has also been discussed with the CZ Management Group and the Content Working Group to confirm that it is viable from the community perspective.
Our plan is to roll out this enhancement in two phases that will ensure as seamless a transition as possible while not affecting Discovery usage:
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(Phase 1) Create new DB Type (zero-title database) collections in Alma that will represent the current and accurate list of Alexander Street offerings. Note that the Interface will be updated to the newly named “Alexander Street” as well.
In parallel we will begin to remove the existing “Alexander Street Press” collections, while assisting any institutions that have activations in transferring those to the new collections (mapping will be provided)
Phase 1 - COMPLETED -
(Phase 2) Once all of the corrupt collections have been removed and only the most current collections are available as DB Type collections, we will enhance these collections and add the relevant titles. The collections will transition from DB Type to Full Text, and the titles will contain the unique match-point obtained directly from Alexander Street. This match point will allow us to maintain updates as well as perform enrichments. As soon as this has completed we will start on the enrichment process, using MARC records provided to us directly by Alexander Street.
Title Reload - COMPLETED
Title Enrichment - IN PROGRESS
While the process itself will be lengthy, at its conclusion we will be able to confidently maintain the Alexander Street collections on a weekly basis with high levels of confidence in our updates.
Note that this plan will not affect Discovery usage in any way.
Phase 1 has been completed successfully, so you can expect to find new “Alexander Street” DB Type collections added to the Community Zone.
Feel free to start activating those and performing any other activities around these collections.
Phase 2 status: Title list reload has completed, and starting in late June we are beginning to process the title enrichment
All information on the progress of this project will be available in the Alma CZ Release Notes and within this Article, where we will provide the necessary mapping.
We have taken many aspects into consideration, not least of which is the effect on the community members who have activated this content.
As mentioned above, customers who had previously activated the Alexander Street content within the CZ, will need to transition their Purchase Orders and activations to the new Alexander Street collections.
If you require assistance, please let us know and we will assist you in this process. A clear mapping will be provided to ensure you are activating the appropriate collections, within this Article.
If you have any further issues throughout this process, please submit a support case.