General Rules for Activations

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

• 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 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 –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, full text activation 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

1. Full text activations apply to both the link resolver and CDI: in case 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 and flagged as full text available.

2. It is recommended to do full text activation and to configure CDI related settings at the same level (either at the institution level or at the group level), both for 'readability' of the settings and because some settings can only be used as such.

   This is especially important in case 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. It is for example not possible to set the activation at the institution level, but to set the 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 on 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.

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).

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.

      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.

When searching the NZ in the member institution, one of the following inheritance indications is displayed 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.

By default, the CDI Consortia Inheritance Setting is set to Y for new Alma collaborative networks. To change this setting, see Consortia Inheritance Settings.

General Rules for Activations

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

• 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’ action 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 full text activations and 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, full text activations in a collaborative network follow the same process as all other activations.

Specific Rules for CDI Consortia Activations in the Network Zone

1. 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 and flagged as full text available.

2. 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 in case 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 must 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 set the activation at the network level, but to set the 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 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

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.

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).

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 full text 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.