360 and Intota to Alma Migration Guide
Introduction
- Electronic database and title activations: 360 Core/Link
- ERM: 360 Resource manager (360RM) and Intota
- COUNTER: 360 Counter reports
- Electronic activations (databases/e-collections and titles) – 360 Core/Link
- Electronic licenses – Intota/360
- Electronic Vendors, Vendor interfaces and contacts – Intota/360
- Linking key ERM data elements to database/e-collection level e-resources
- COUNTER: Reports described as supported in Managing COUNTER-Compliant Usage Data
- Extraction requirements from 360 / Intota
- Input required by the customer
- Rules and Assumptions about the migration to Alma
- An explanation of the Link Resolver Activation Report
Related Documentation
- This document is intended to complement the Intota to Alma Migration Form, an Excel spreadsheet that is read by the migration programs.
- Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of Alma and 360/Intota key concepts and architecture, and the requirements (including the migration-related approach) described in the Getting Ready for Alma and Discovery Implementation document, as well as the Electronic Resource Handling Approach in Alma Migration document.
- For more information on COUNTER data, see 360 COUNTER and Intota Assessment Migration.
Migration and Activation Overview
- Licenses
- Vendor interfaces
- ERM enrichment (includes linking e-collections to licenses, and enriching matched e-collections and/or purchase orders with relevant ERM-managed fields)
Naming Conventions
Alma | Definition | 360/Intota |
---|---|---|
Electronic Resource | An information source that the library provides access to in an electronic format and where the content is not managed by the library. | Electronic Resource |
Community Zone (KB) | The Alma Community Zone contains the electronic KB where globally shared descriptive resource metadata and electronic resources for use by all Alma clients. | Knowledgebase |
Portfolio | The specific coverage, services, and link information relevant for a particular electronic title within a database/electronic collection. | Title |
Electronic collection | A collection of electronic resources. Replaces “database” and “package.” Also called e-collection in Alma. | Database |
Local electronic collection | A collection of electronic resources that is managed by the Institution (not in the KB). | Library Specific Holdings |
Electronic collection | An electronic collection which happens to have no specific managed titles/portfolios. | Zero-title Database |
No direct analog (Searchable note tagging on e-collection instead) | A grouping of databases (electronic collections) | Collection |
Vendor | A person or organization that sells, gives, or licenses resources to libraries | Provider |
Vendor Interface | An Alma record associated with a vendor for tracking back-office information about a vendor’s site, including access information, usage statistics harvesting, contacts, notes, etc. | Platform (details of which may be tracked at the Provider or Database levels) |
Contact | A person or business unit associated with a vendor. | Contact |
License (DLF-ERMI) | Terms by which electronic resources may be used. | License (DLF-ERMI) |
Exporting files from 360/Intota
Link Resolver (360Link) Files
- Database Details Report
- Tracked Resources Report OR Tracked eBooks + Tracked eJournals reports: In the Management Reports Dropdown box, if you see "Tracked Resources Report", use that report. If you do not see "Tracked Resources Report", then export both "Tracked eBooks" and "Tracked eJournals" reports.
ERM (360RM or Intota) Files
- Contacts
- Cost Report - Details
- Database Details Report
- License Information Report
- License Data Uploader
- Notes and Comments
- Tracked Resources Report (only. Tracked eJournals and Tracked eBooks is not allowed here)
- Resource Administrative Information
- Resource Renewal Report
If desired, it is possible to migrate only licenses, which link to inventory, and not migrate the vendor interfaces or the ERM enrichment. In this case, simply provide the two license files (License Information Report and License Data Uploader). All of the other files may be provided or not provided as desired.
360 Link Migration
Loading Options
There are a few options that customers can consider when migrating from 360Link to Alma.
Combine activations (Yes/No) - When Combine Activations is set to Yes, if there are multiple E-Resource sources, then activations in the second input form will be combined with the existing activations in Alma. This options works even when the previously loaded activations are from a different e-resource system, such as SFX. For more information on this, see Multiple E-Resource Input, and also the "Multiple Institutions" section below.
Deduplicate Portfolios (Yes/No) - when Combine Activations = Yes, then if both activations are Selective (BY_TITLE), then portfolios in the packages will be deduplicated. Please note that if the multiple portfolios have different date ranges, only the date range from the first portfolio will be used.
We strongly recommend to use Yes here, unless customer wants multiple copies of each portfolio for selective activations.
Match by Title (Yes/No) - When a package is Selective (BY_TITLE), and the titles listed do not have an identifier such as ISSN or ISBN, then the loader can attempt to find a match by comparing the exact title of a portfolio with the titles of the portfolios in the specified package. The title is an exact match, including punctuation, so 'Biology.' does not match 'Biology'. Match by title is not attempted when an identifier is present but fails to find a match.
The match by title option can currently process 10,000 titles per hour, which may add a significant amount of processing time to your overall migration timeline. If you have 400,000 titles without an identifier, this could add 40 hours to your timeline.
If you wish to use one of these options, inform your Ex Libris representative so that they can inform the migration analyst.
Active Databases in 360
- Display in 360 Core
- Display in 360 Link
- Display in Summon
If ALL three of the above are N, then this database is considered not active and will not be activated in Alma.
The migration programs do not use the incoming 'status' column in Tracked Resources.
Notes
Notes at the database or title level are not currently migrated in 360Link-only migrations. Notes from both databases and titles are migrated to the associated Vendor record if the site is also migrating 360RM/Intota ERM.
360Core KB vs Alma KB and 1-to-many
BioChemBig for large libraries
BioChemPub for publics
BioChemCovid super sale from 2020 Covid
BioChemAcad for academic libraries
BioChemAll all resources

Activate All vs Selective Activation (title identifiers)
Dates, Embargo periods, and URLs
- When a title finds a match in the CZ: Custom Dates and Custom Embargoes are added to the title in the 'Local Coverage' area. Regular Date fields are not used in this case, since they presumably are the same as the Global Dates that are inherited from the CZ.
- When a title does not find a match in the CZ, it is added as a local portfolio. In this case, dates are added to the 'Local Coverage' area in the following manner: If Custom Dates or Custom Embargoes are present, use these. Else, use Regular Date and Regular Embargo fields. Local portfolios only use 'Local Coverage'.
Local Databases
Hidden (Deprecated) Databases
Proxy
If the 360 collection used a proxy, the Alma package is also set to use a proxy. The proxy is set at the service level.
Multiple institutions and "Available For" Groups
If you are migrating from multiple institutions in 360 into a single Alma instance, you can make a request to have the migration analyst assign Available For groups to a single incoming instance. All resources in the instance are assigned the same group code.
Assigning Available For groups in the 360 migration is a special request and must be approved by the migration analyst.
These groups are also known as Inventory Network Groups. To set up a group code in Alma, see the page https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/040Resource_Management/080Configuring_Resource_Management/160Configuring_Distributed_Access_to_Electronic_Resources
Since Available For groups are assigned at the service level, it is not currently possible to assign an Available For group for Databases during migration as there are no services for Databases.
For considerations on deciding how many available for groups you should have, see Considerations for Available For Groups.
E-collections That Have Two Service Options
- Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)
- DigiZeitschriften Open Access
- EBSCOhost Newspaper Source Plus
- EBSCOhost TOPICsearch
- Factiva
- Informit A+ Education
- Informit AGIS Plus Text
- Informit Australian Public Affairs Full Text
- Informit Family and Society Plus
- International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP)
- International Index to Performing Arts (IIPA)
- LexisNexis Academic
- LexisNexis Netherlands
- Nexis UK
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
- PubMed Central
- PubMed Central Open Access
- Westlaw Law School
- WestlawNext Campus Research Law
- WestlawNext Campus Research Law + News
E-collection special case: automatic holding feature
-
Ebook Central
-
Taylor & Francis
- SpringerLink Journals
- SpringerLink Books
- Elsevier ScienceDirect Books Complete
- Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals Complete
- ProQuest Ebook Central
- Books@Ovid Subscription Complete
- Books@Ovid Purchase Complete
- Journals@Ovid Complete
- Wiley Online Library Books
- Wiley Online Library Journals
- Taylor & Francis eBooks Complete
E-collection special case: CCC Copyright Clearance Center
Copyright Clearance Center packages are handled in Alma in a manner that is so different than how they are handled in 360, that they must be manually activated in Alma post migration. The customer would manually activate the publisher packages that are relevant to them.
360 Link Activation Report
Statistics Tab
The following statistics are provided on the first tab of the spreadsheet.
Before trying to decipher this section, please re-read the ''360Core KB vs Alma KB and 1-to-many'' section above. The map from 360 to Alma is not a one to one mapping. Also, as mentioned in the 1-to-many section, there are usually more 360 databases which map to fewer Alma e-collections becaues of the 1-to-many situation.
Therefore, we provide numbers from both perspectives -- counts of the 360 incoming databases (from the 360 perspective), and counts of the matched Alma e-collections (from the Alma perspective).
Broad overview:
1: Database counts from the 360 perspective
1.1, 1.2: breakdowns of 1
1.3: e-collection counts from the Alma perspective (this number will be smaller than 1 because of the 1-to-many situation)
2: title counts from the 360 perspective
2.1, 2.2: breakdowns of 2
2.3: Title counts from the Alma perspective
Statistic | Description |
---|---|
1. Total databases from 360 | The total number of databases from 360, from the Database Details report. This is a statistical number from the 360 perspective. |
1.1. Total CZ matched databases | The number of databases from 360 which matched an e-Collection in Alma, according to the KB team mapping. This number does not include MISSING, HIDDEN, LOCAL, or NA databases. |
1.1.1 Inactive Databases or BY_TITLE and 0 titles |
The migration program has identified the 360 db as inactive, although a map was sometimes found. These can be identified by checking the 'Activate?' column, and seeing 'N'. Whether or not a db is Active or Inactive is checked according to the 'Active Databases in 360' section above. Further, if a title is specified as BY_TITLE but there are no titles, this is considered inactive. Titles which have NA in the 'Alma Target ID', for example HIDDEN and MISSMATCH titles, are not included in this number. Those titles are counted in section 1.2. |
1.2. Total non-matched databases | The number of databases from 360 which did not find a matched e-Collection in Alma. To see the breakdown of these databases, see the section 1.4.x |
1.2.1. Missed Matches | The migration attempted to activate a matched database, but some technical error occurred in the activation. There should have been a match according to the map, but some problem occurred when using the map information to activate in the CZ. These should be reported to the KB (Data Services) team. These are on the '360 db to Alma e-collection' tab listed as 'MISSMATCH'. |
1.2.2. Gap Databases | The KB mapping team has not yet identified a matched Alma e-collection for this 360 DB. These are listed on the '360 db to Alma e-collection' tab as 'NA'. |
1.2.3. Hidden Databases | These databases are deprecated by the 360 KB team, and are not migrated to Alma. See https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/360_KB/Knowledge_Articles/360KB_Hidden_Databases. These are listed on the '360 db to Alma e-collection' tab as 'HIDDEN'. |
1.2.4. Local Databases | These databases were created locally in 360 and cannot be transferred to Alma. These must be re-created in Alma. Either find a suitable database in the Alma KB and activate it, or re-create locally again. These are listed on the '360 db to Alma e-collection' tab as LOCAL. |
1.3 Alma e-collections mapped (includes duplicates) | Post-mapping, the total number of mapped e-collections. This number includes duplicates because of the 1-many situation. This number does not include NA HIDDEN LOCAL MISSMATCH and BY_TITLE with 0 titles |
1.3.1 Unique Alma e-collections to be activated | Same as 1.3, except deduplicated. These collections should be activated in Alma. |
1.3.2 Alma e-collections from 1-1 match | Further breakdown of 1.3: the collections in Alma which were mapped from a single 360 db |
1.3.3 Alma e-collections from 1-many match | Further breakdown of 1.3: the collections in Alma which were mapped from multiple 360 dbs |
1.3.4 Unique Alma e-collections from 1-many match | Same as 1.3.3 but deduplicated. |
2. Total individual titles from 360 | The total number of individual titles that were found in the Tracked Resources report from 360Link. This number is typically fewer than the number of titles exported in the Tracked Resources file. First, titles from local, hidden, gap, missed, and inactive databases are not included. Further, titles that have multiple to/from dates have two entries in the Tracked Resources file but only one entry for Alma purposes. |
2.1. Titles belonging to a non-matched DB | Titles associated with a 360 selective database where a match was not found. This number contains titles from Selective databases only. |
2.1.1. Titles from non-matched selective DB without identifier | To read a description of this group of titles, see the “Titles from non-matched selective DB without identifier” section. |
2.2. Titles belonging to a matched DB/e-collection | All titles associated with a 360 DB where a matched Alma e-collection was found. All of these titles were activated in Alma except those in a Selective database where the title had no identifier (see "Titles for Matched Selective DB Without an Identifier" below). |
2.2.1. Titles belonging to a matched ActivateAll DB/e-collection | All titles associated with an Activate All 360DB where a matched Alma e-collection was found. Some of these titles may not have identifiers, but it does not matter because the e-collection was activated in entirety and individual title identifiers are not necessary. |
2.2.2. Titles belonging to a matched Selective DB/e-collection | All titles associated with a Selective 360DB where a matched Alma e-collection was found. Identifiers (ISSN/ISBN) are necessary for the migration programs to be able to activate the individual titles in a Selective e-collection. |
2.2.2.1. Titles from matched selective db, with identifier | The migration programs are able to load this group of titles for matched selective databases, since the migration programs have an identifier to use for matching individual titles. |
2.2.2.2.Titles from matched selective db, without Identifier | The migration programs are not able to load these titles to Alma due to the lack of identifier. See the “Titles for Matched Selective DB Without an Identifier” section below. |
2.3. Total Alma e-collection titles | Titles to be loaded to Alma: some titles may be loaded to multiple Alma e-collections because of 1-many DB matches |
2.3.1 ActivateAll titles | Number of portfolios in Alma for ActivateAll collections. These titles are the Alma counts for Activate All collections. Activate All collections do not list titles on the TITLES tab - the titles are only activated in ALma because they have the ActivateAll flag set. |
2.3.2 Alma selective e-collection titles to be loaded to Alma | Number of titles in the TITLES tab, for Selective e-collections. The TITLES tab only contains titles for selective e-collections. This number may contain duplicate because of 1-many DB matches |
2.3.2.1.Titles from matched selective e-collection, with identifier | Mapped titles in Alma which have an identifier. Similar to 2.2.2.1, except some 360 titles map to multiple Alma titles because of 1-many |
2.3.2.2.Titles from matched selective e-collection, without Identifier |
|
2.3.3 Unique Alma e-collection titles | Number of unique titles in the TITLES tab (deduplication of 2.3.2) |
360 DB to Alma E-Collection
-
Hidden databases - Ex Libris does not find matches for these since they are no longer supported by the 360 KB. https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/360_KB/Knowledge_Articles/360KB_Hidden_Databases
- Local databases - Ex Libris does not find matches for these since they are not linked to a 360 KB entry and therefore cannot be transferred to an Alma KB entry.
- Missed Matches - These should be reported to Ex Libris. Mapping was attempted, but failed for some technical reason.
- Inactive - these databases are no longer active in 360. They should be recreated in Alma with an active e-collection.
- Gap - The mapping team has not yet identified a suitable match for these databases.
-
Y = Activate all
-
BY_TITLE = Selective activation
Titles for Matched Selective DB Without an Identifier
When the migration programs activate an Activate All e-collection, no title information is needed. However, when a Selective e-collection is activated, information on the individual selected titles is needed. In order to do this individual title activation, the migratoin programs use an exact identifier (ISSN or ISBN) to find the matched title. Some titles do not have identifiers by design. The most common reason is that they were published before identifiers were used, but another common reason is that the 360KB has inadvertantly not provided the identifier.
Ex Libris introduced an option to match titles by title string if there is no identifier provided, as mentioned in the "Loading Options" section above. The matching option is "Match by title yes/no". As mentioned in a note in the "Loading Options" section, there could be a significant time delay if there are very many titles without identifiers, so use this option with caution.
If you choose to NOT use the "Match by Title" option, then the other options for handling these titles are:
- Activate the entire e-collection in Alma, and then go through and clear the titles you do not own
- Activate the titles in the e-collection manually
Ex Libris recommends that all titles on this list be evaluated, since some multi-volume titles may overlap with titles that do have identifiers.
Titles for Non-Matched Selective DB Without an Identifier
Titles for Unmatched Collection
- To evaluate the non-matched databases and provide feedback for the matching algorithm if desired.
- To evaluate the titles from selective databases where there is no identifier. See Titles from Non-Matched Selective DB Without an Identifier.
Titles which have an identifier in 360 but no match in Alma (local portfolios)
There may be titles in the Alma KB for certain e-collections which are not in the e-collection list in the 360KB, and vice versa. When a title is in the 360KB, and should be loaded to Alma as a title for a selective database, there is a small chance that the title is not present in the Alma KB yet. In this case, since there is an identifier, the migration programs load the title to the selective database but as a local title.
Neither these titles nor a count of these titles are currently provided in the 360LR Activation report.
To find these titles in Alma,
- Search for Electronic Portfolio
- Electronic Portfolio Is Local = Yes
- Electronic Collection Is Local = No
- If you also migrated from SFX, you may need to specify that TItle/Originating System contains keywords 'NON_SFX'
The results of this search will show you the titles which had an identifier in 360, are attached to a Selective Activation e-collection, but for which there was no matching title in Alma so they were added as local.
These titles may be manually linked to the title in the CZ once the Alma KB team has added them to the CZ.
When local portfolios are created, the default bibliographic record template is used. If the default template is modified, some extraneous fields/punctuation may be present in locally-created portfolios. We are working to correct this, but in the mean time as a workaround, wait to modify the default template until after go-live.
Providing feedback on the mapping process
The 360KB to Alma KB map is managed by the Data Content team, who also manages both KBs. Since both KBs are updated constantly, the map is constantly updated as well. The following situations may be reported via iQuest (Salesforce) case and will be forwarded to the Data Content team.
- Missing portfolios in the Alma KB for a Selective Activation or an Activate All e-collection.
- Incorrect mapping: provide the incoming (360) database information, the mapped e-collection, and the e-collection you think it should map to
- Missing mapping: provide the incoming (360) database information and the e-collection you think it should map to. If there is no relevant e-collection in Alma yet, you can request that one be added.
- No Alma KB collection present: even if the Alma KB does not contain the collection yet, continue to use iQuest to report these collections. In this case, provide the incoming (360) collection, and indicate that there is no collection in Alma KB yet.
In some cases, the mapping may be corrected between test and production loads, but in many cases the added/corrected KB entries will be available after go-live. Customers may localize the new CZ/KB entries when they appear.
The following schematic may be helpful to understand the linking/mapping process.
Report of Loader Events
A report of the events which took place during the E-Resource load for 360 is available upon request. This report is usually very large, and many entries are purely informational. However, it may be useful to review.
The important lines are for skipped resources. Here are some examples:
Skiping 2 for package: National Council of Teachers of English. Reason: Package was not selected for activation by titles - Job ID: 380284740008584
Package: Oxford Scholarship Online with service: getFullTxt does not exist in CZ, skipping - Job ID: 380284740008584
Intota/360 ERM Migration
Migration Form: Customer Input
Questionnaire Tab
Institution Code, Customer Code, Institution Name, Customer Name
Intota/360 Three Letter Customer Code
Cost Data
Negotiation Licenses
Alma Library Code for newly-created vendors
Alma License Location Tab
Alma License Status
Vendor Crosswalk
License Term Values
License Terms and Types
Further Explanation – ERM Migration Process
Licenses
Vendors
Order and Cost information
Reviewers/Patrons
Collections and Notes
Serials Solutions MARC Records
- Do not provide the MARC records when delivering records to the migration team for ILS migration.
- Provide the MARC records, but also provide a string on the migration form (SFX_PREFIX) that allows the migration programs to detect these records. This string is usually 'WaSeSS'. The migration program skips the records if there are no attached data elements and suppresses the records if there are attached data elements (such as items and orders).
- Provide the MARC records, but do not provide a string on the migration form (SFX_PREFIX) question. This results in duplicate records for the resource – one from the ILS and one from the 360RM/Intota -> Alma migration. These records need to be handled (merged) manually post go-live.