Single Activation with the Fully Flexible Setting - Consortia

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This article contains additional information for consortia.For general activation processes, please see Collection Activation for CDI in Alma with the Fully Flexible Setting.

Multi-Campus Environments with Distributed Electronic Resources

For more information about managing electronic resources in a multi-campus environment, see Configuring Distributed Access to Electronic Resources.

General Rules for Activations

In an Alma multi-campus (Distributed Electronic Resources) environment, electronic resources can be activated for full text and for search:

at the institution level: for everyone in the institution, or
at group level – a group consists of one or several campuses or libraries (also referred to as inventory group or inventory management group).

When using the Activate or Activate for Search in CDI actions in Alma, the activation is always for the whole institution. In the Electronic Collection Editor, it is possible either to activate for the whole institution, or to limit the activations to one or more inventory groups.

More specifically:

If no group settings are defined for a collection – search activations as well as full text activations or any other collection settings apply to the entire institution.
If a group setting is defined for a collection, the activations apply only to the campuses/libraries that are part of that group.

In general, search activations and full text settings in a multi-campus set-up follow the same process as all other activations.

Specific Rules for Activations in a Multi-Campus Environment with Distributed Electronic Resources

Search and full text activations are handled separately and have each their own group settings, there is no dependency between them. For example, it is possible to activate a collection for search for the whole institution, and to activate a collection for full text for one or more groups and vice versa.
Full text activations apply to both – the link resolver for full text and CDI for availability and search.

When a collection is active for the institution or group, users will see the full text in the link resolver, and the content is searchable on CDI (flagged as full text available). This is due to the rule that all active full text is automatically searchable.
It is recommended to do full text activation and to configure CDI-related settings at the same level (institution level versus group level), both for 'readability' of the settings and because some settings can only be used as such.

This is especially important when there is full text activation for a collection and the option Do not show as full text in CDI even if active in Alma (also called Suppress option) is used.

Full text can be suppressed from being flagged as available on CDI (via the Suppress option). In a multi-campus set-up this setting can be used at the institution and group levels. However, the suppression must be set at the same level as the full text activation, so either for one or several groups or for the entire institution. For example, it is not possible to activate at the institution level and suppress at the group level or vice versa.

In case of Available for group activation, you can use the Suppress option for either all or a subset of the groups for which the Available for group activation was defined.

Additionally, when using the CDI-only full text activation option, it is recommended to do this also at the same level (institution level versus group level). For a collection where there is Available for group activation (for example, for several groups), the CDI-only full text activation option can be used for one or more of the other groups but should not be used at the institution level. Setting the CDI-only full text activation option at the institution level will result in the collection being flagged as full text for the whole institution in CDI, overriding the Available for group activation.

This recommendation also applies when setting the CDI option We subscribe to only some titles in this collection to No for collections with portfolios. It is recommended to do this at the group level in case of Available for activation. Setting this option to No at the institution level will result in the collection being flagged as full text for all the portfolios in the collection, overriding any Available for group activation at the collection, service and portfolio levels.

CDI Drawer

A summary of the Available for information and CDI configuration settings can be found in the CDI drawer. This drawer appears in case there is either Available for settings or CDI available for configuration for the electronic collection.

The CDI drawer contains the following information:

Available for – Contains the Alma full text activation – same content as the ‘Available for’ drawer
Do not show as full text in CDI even if active in Alma – Lists all member institutions/campuses with this setting turned on.
CD-only full text activation – Lists all member institutions/campuses with FT in CDI only activation.
CDI search activation – Lists all member institutions/campuses active for search in CDI.

The values can be either the list of Available for institutions, campuses, or libraries, All (which means the activation setting is for the whole institution), or None (in case there are no active settings for the institution/campuses/libraries).

CDI Drawer Example

Collaborative Networks (with a Network Zone and Institution Zones)

For more information about managing electronic resources in a Network Zone, see Configuring Distributed Access to Electronic Resources from the Network Zone.

Consortia Inheritance Settings

Network Zone activations for CDI are controlled by the cdi_consortia_inheritance parameter in the Customer Parameters mapping table (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Other Settings) for each member institution. The following values are valid:

Y (default) – The member institution inherits NZ activations for the following:
- Full text activations for selective/aggregator collections with portfolios.
  - For the active collection, the 'Selective’ setting We subscribe to only some titles in this collection behaves as defined by the network zone at either the institution level or group level (if a group setting exists for the member institution).
  - For the active collection, the ‘Suppress’ setting Do not show as full text even if active in Alma behaves as defined by the network zone at either the institution level or group level (if a group setting exists for the member institution).
- Full text activations for collections of the type Database.
  - Activation is defined at either the institution level or group level (if a group setting exists for the member institution).
  - The 'Suppress’ setting Do not show as full text even if active in Alma behaves as defined by the NZ at either the institution or group level.
- CDI search activations.
  
  Activation is defined at either the institution level or group level (if a group setting exists for the member institution).
N – Inheritance is handled as follows:
- The member institution inherits NZ activations for full text activations for selective/aggregator collections with portfolios.
  - For the active collection, the ‘Selective’ setting We subscribe to only some titles in this collection behaves as defined by the network zone at the institution level or group level (if a group setting exists for the member institution).
  - For the active collection, the 'Suppress’ setting Do not show as full text even if active in Alma behaves as defined by the network zone at either the institution level or group level (if a group setting exists for the member institution).
- The member institution will not inherit the following:
  - Full text activations for collections of the type Database.
  - CDI search activations

When searching the NZ in the member institution, one of the following inheritance indications will be shown at the top of the results list: This institution is inheriting Network Zone CDI activations or This institution is not inheriting Network Zone CDI activations.

Institution is Inheriting from Network Zone

General Rules for Activations

In an Alma collaborative network environment, electronic resources can be activated for full text and for search:

At the network level: for all institutions in a network.
At group level, a group consists of individual institutions or a group of institutions (also referred to as an inventory group or inventory management group).

The Network Zone controls which institution belongs to which group and which group it activates a collection for. When using the ‘Activate’ or ‘Activate for Search in CDI’ actions in Alma, the activation is always for the whole network of institutions. In the Electronic collection editor, it is possible either to activate for the whole network, or to limit the activations to one or more inventory groups.

More specifically:

If no group settings are defined for a collection – every institution associated with the Network Zone inherits the activation - that applies for search activations as well as for full text activations or any other collection settings.
If a group setting is defined for a collection, only the institutions that are part of that group will inherit the activations.

In general, search activations and full text settings in a collaborative network follow the same process as all other activations.

Specific Rules for CDI Consortia Activations in the Network Zone

Search and full text activations are handled separately and have each their own group setting, there is no dependency between them. For example, it is possible to activate a collection for search for the whole network, and to activate a collection for full text for one or more groups and vice versa.
Full text activations apply to both – the link resolver for full text and CDI for availability and search.

When a collection is active for the network or group, users see the full text in the link resolver and the content is searchable in CDI (flagged as full text available). This is due to the rule that all active full text is automatically searchable.
It is recommended to do full text activation and to configure CDI-related settings at the same level (network level versus group level), both for 'readability' of the settings and because some setting can only be used as such.

This is especially important when there is full text activation for a collection, and the option Do not show as full text in CDI even if active in Alma (also called Suppress option) is used.

Full text can be suppressed from being flagged as available on CDI (via the Suppress option). In a collaborative network set-up this setting can be used at the network and group levels. However, the suppression has to be set at the same level as the full text activation, so either for one or several groups or for the entire network. For example, it is not possible to activate at the network level and suppress at the group level or vice versa.

In case of Available for group activation, you can use the Suppress option for either all or a subset of the groups for which the Available for group activation was defined.

Additionally, when using the CDI-only full text activation option, it is recommended to do this also at the same level (network level versus group level). For a collection where there is Available for group activation (for example, for several groups), the CDI-only full text activation option can be used for one or more of the other groups, but it should not be used at the network level. Setting the CDI-only full text activation option at the network level will result in the collection being flagged as full text for the whole network (all its members) in CDI, overriding the Available for group activation.

This recommendation also applies when setting the CDI option We subscribe to only some titles in this collection to No for collections with portfolios. It is recommended to do this at the group level in case of Available for activation. Setting this option to No at the institution level will result in the collection being flagged as full text for all the portfolios in the collection, overriding any Available for group activation at the collection, service and portfolio levels.

CDI Drawer

The CDI drawer contains the following information:

Available for – Contains the Alma full text activation – same content as the ‘Available for’ drawer
Do not show as full text in CDI even if active in Alma – Lists all member institutions / campuses with this setting turned on.
CD-only full text activation – Lists all member institutions/campuses with FT in CDI only activation.
CDI search activation – Lists all member institutions/campuses active for search in CDI.

CDI Drawer Example

Combined Searches

You can configure Alma to add the Network Zone search results to the Institution tab. This eliminates the need for the user to check the Network tab for additional resources available to the institution.

If CDI consortia inheritance is turned on for the member institution, the following collections will be included in the combined search - with an indication ‘From network’:

collections with CDI search activation from the network
collections with ‘Full text in CDI only’ activation from the network

If CDI consortia inheritance is turned off, these collections will not be included in the combined search.

For more information, see Combining Institution and Network Zone Search Results.

FAQ - Consortia Settings

What are the steps to activate a collection for search only for an existing group of institutions (The collection is not yet active in Alma and we do not want the full text active)

Log on to Alma as the Network Zone Electronic Collection Inventory Operator:
1. Search for the collection in the Community Zone.
2. Select action and Activate for search in CDI.
3. Go to the Institution Tab and search for the collection (note that it may take a few minutes before the collection appears in the institution tab).
4. Select edit to open the electronic collection editor.
5. Select the CDI tab and go to CDI Group Settings on the bottom of the page.
6. Select Add Settings for Group.
7. Choose the group to add and save. You can ignore the We subscribe to only some titles in this collection and Do not show as Full Text available in CDI even if active in Alma settings because you have no full text active in this collection.
8. Back on the Electronic Collection Editor page, select save again to confirm your new settings.
What happens if an individual institution wants to have a collection active for the link resolver but suppress it from CDI, but the other institutions want to have the full text active for both, link resolver and CDI?

The solution is:
1. In the network zone the collection and its portfolios are activated. They become available for search and for full text for all institutions.
2. Two groups are being created:
  - One group (Group A) that contains all institutions except the one that wants to suppress full text.
  - One group (Group B) with only the institution that wants to suppress the full text.
3. In the CDI tab, two new group settings are being added:
  - Group A without the suppression.
  - Group B with the suppression.