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    Configuring Primo Delivery of Alma Data and Services

    Translatable

    If you are working with Primo VE, see Primo VE Delivery Services for more details.

    Other than a few exceptions (such as changing labels and modifying the Online Resource delivery category), delivery to Alma has been configured out of the box and does not require any changes. Alma delivery requires the use of specific delivery templates. If you feel changes are necessary, consult with Ex Libris Support.
    The following sections explain how Primo delivers Alma data and services. For a general explanation about delivery, see The Delivery Section.
    For records discovered in Primo, Alma offers the following service categories:
    • View It – Displays links to full text or the online representation of the resource.
    • Get It – Displays additional services related to the physical representation of the resources (such as providing request options for print items).
    The View It and Get It services can now be integrated with any third-party discovery system that is configured to use a SAML-based identity provider for both Alma and the discovery interface authentication. For detailed information, see https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/integrations/discovery.
    Alma data sources provide delivery information for the following types of records, and Primo must be configured to display the Alma View It and Get It services for these types of records:
    • Local – Alma records that are harvested and stored on your local Primo server.
    • Remote – Records that are located via remote searches in CDI and MetaLib.
    For both local and remote records, Primo sends an OpenURL request to Alma when an end user selects a delivery tab (View It or Get It) in the Primo Front End. For more information on the delivery tabs, see Configuring Alma’s Delivery System.

    Delivery Settings for Local Primo Records Harvested from Alma

    Primo uses the following delivery categories for Alma records:
    • Alma-P – Used for physical records.
    • Alma-E – Used for electronic records.
    • Alma-D – Used for digital records.
    • Alma-C – Used for digital collections.
    For standard publishing, Primo checks the INT field in the records that were harvested from Alma in order to assign one of the above values to the delivery/delcategory (delivery category) field in the PNX record.
    An exception to this rule occurs when the INT field is set to P and the record also includes an 856 field (which indicates that the record has an online representation). In this case, Primo sets the delivery/delcategory field in the PNX record to Online Resource, which indicates to the system to provide a link to the online resource via the 856 field instead of using Alma directly. This exception may occur if the migration from another ILS to Alma is not able to convert the records to electronic. To handle this scenario, it is necessary to modify the out-of-the-box settings. For more information, see Modifying the Online Resource Delivery Category.
    For centralized publishing, Primo checks INST subfield b to assign a delivery/delcategory per institution.
    The rules Primo uses to normalize the harvested records are defined in the Alma MARC - Template and Alma Dublin Core - Template templates. For more information about these templates, see Alma MARC 21.

    Modifying the Online Resource Delivery Category

    Out of the box, Primo uses the 856 link (which is normalized to the links/linktorsrc field in the PNX) as the basis for the main delivery option (GetIT 1) for online resources. It is necessary to change the default label for the Online Resource delivery code in the GetIT! Tab 1 Text Configuration mapping table to reflect the terminology used for Alma.
    In addition, Primo configures the secondary delivery option (GetIt 2) to send the standard OpenURL template to Alma’s link resolver for online resources.
    If you are working with Alma, you need to change the settings in the following mapping tables to request Get It services from Alma:
    • GetIt! Tab 1 Text Configuration – Configures the code that determines the label used for the Get It 1 tab.
    • GetIt! Tab 2 Text Configuration – Configures the code that determines the label used for the Get It 2 tab.
    • GetIt! Link 2 Configuration – Configures the template that is used to build the OpenURL request, which is sent to Alma.
    To configure the online resource settings for Alma:
    1. Use the following table to modify the codes for each Online Resource delivery category in the GetIT! Tab 1 Text Configuration mapping table:
      GetIT! Tab 1 Text Configuration Mapping Table
      Delivery Category Code Availability Status Code Tab 1 Label Code (Change) Tab 1 Label Code (To)
      Online Resource
      may_be_restricted
      tab1_onl_mayrestrict
      alma_tab1_mayrestrict
      Online Resource
      restricted
      tab1_onl_restrict
      alma_tab1_restrict
      Online Resource
      not_restricted
      tab1_onl_norestrict
      alma_tab1_norestrict
    2. Use the following table to modify the codes for each Online Resource delivery category in the GetIT! Tab 2 Text Configuration mapping table:
      GetIT! Tab 2 Text Configuration Mapping Table
      Delivery Category Code Availability Status Code Tab 2 Label Code (Change) Tab 2 Label Code (To)
      Online Resource
      may_be_restricted
      tab2_onl_mayrestrict
      alma_tab2_mayrestrict
      Online Resource
      restricted
      tab2_onl_restrict
      alma_tab2_restrict
      Online Resource
      not_restricted
      tab2_onl_norestrict
      alma_tab2_norestrict
    3. Use the following table to modify the codes for each Online Resource delivery category in the GetIT! Link 2 Configuration mapping table:
      GetIT! Link 2 Configuration Mapping Table
      Delivery Category Code Availability Status Code Link field in PNX (Change) Link field in PNX (To)
      Online Resource
      may_be_restricted
      openurl
      Almagetit
      Online Resource
      restricted
      openurl
      Almagetit
      Online Resource
      not_restricted
      openurl
      Almagetit
    Alma collections do not provide availability status.

    Out-of-the-Box Delivery Settings for Local Alma Records

    The tables below summarize the out-of-the-box settings in the Primo mapping and code tables to support the Alma delivery categories (Alma-P, Alma-C, Alma-D, and Alma-E). You can modify these settings as needed.
    The following table describes the Alma-specific settings in the Delivery mapping tables:
    Local Mapping Table Configurations
    Mapping Table Use Delivery Category / Availability Status Definition
    GetIt Link 1 Configuration
    Defines the main delivery option (Get It 1)
    Alma-P / all statuses
    The system uses the Almagetit template to request Get It services from Alma.
    Alma-E and Alma-D / All statuses
    The system uses the Almaviewit template to request View It services from Alma.
    Alma-C  / No status
    The system uses the linktocollection template to display the collection in the Collection Lobby.
    GetIt! Tab 1 Text Configuration
    Defines the codes for the label of the GetIt 1 tab. The text is defined in the GetIt! Tab 1 code table.
    Alma-P, Alma-E, Alma-D / All
    Every delivery category/status has a separate code. See the mapping rows in this mapping table for details.
    Alma-C  / No status
    The system uses the linktocollection code.
    GetIt! Link 2 Configuration
    Defines the secondary delivery option (Get It 2).
    Alma-P / All statuses
    No additional delivery option is defined. All Alma services are offered via Get It. You can add a local definition if an additional delivery option is needed.
    Alma-E and Alma-D / All statuses
    The system uses the Almagetit template to request additional services from Alma.
    GetIt Tab 2 Text Configuration
    Defines the codes for the label of the GetIt 2 tab. The text is defined in the code tables.
    Alma-E and Alma-D / All
    Every delivery category/status has a separate code. See the mapping table for details.
    All of the templates mentioned in the above table are defined in the Templates mapping table under the Delivery subsystem.
    The following table describes the Alma-specific settings in the Delivery code tables:
    Local Code Table Configurations
    Code Table Use Delivery Category Definition
    GetIt! Tab 1
    Defines the label for the Get It 1 tab.
    Alma-P
    Get It
    Alma-E and Alma-D
    View It
    Alma-C
    View Collection
    GetIt! Tab 2
    Defines the label for the Get It 2 tab.
    Alma-P
    No tab defined.
    Alma-E and Alma-D
    Get It

    Out-of-the-Box Delivery Settings for Remote Search Records

    Records that Primo retrieves from CDI or MetaLib searches are assigned the Remote Search Resource delivery category. In order to support out-of-the-box configurations for both Alma’s link resolver and non-Alma link resolvers, the Remote Search Resource:Alma virtual delivery category provides a dedicated configuration for Alma in the delivery tables. If the user's institution is defined as an Alma institution, the system first checks the tables for the virtual delivery category.
    The availability status for CDI records is based on information from Alma that is published to CDI. For more information, see Alma as a Source of Holdings Information for Cenrtal Discovery Index. For records retrieved from MetaLib, Primo uses the Alma RSI API to check for full-text availability status.
    The following table describes the out-of-the-box settings in the Delivery mapping tables for remote searches:
    Remote Mapping Table Configurations
    Table Use Delivery Category / Availability Status Definition
    GetIt Link 1 Configuration
    Defines the main delivery option (Get It 1)
    Remote Search Resource:Alma /
    fulltext
    The system uses the Almaviewit_remote template to request View it services from Alma.
    If a title is configured to be a direct link to the online resource, the system uses the Almasingle_service_remote template.
    Remote Search Resource:Alma /
    fulltext_unknown
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / no_fulltext
    The system uses the Almagetit_remote template to request Get It services from Alma.
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / no_fulltext_linktorsrc
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / citation_available
    GetIt! Tab 1 Text Configuration
    Defines the codes for the label of the GetIt 1 tab. The text is defined in the code tables
    All
    Every delivery category/status has a separate code. See mapping table for details.
    GetIt! Link 2 Configuration
    Defines the secondary delivery option (Get It 2)
    Remote Search Resource:Alma /
    fulltext
    The system uses the Almagetit_remote template to request additional services from Alma.
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / fulltext_linktosrc
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / fulltext_unknown
    GetIt Tab 2 Text Configuration
    Defines the codes for the label of the GetIt 2 tab. The text is defined in the code tables.
    All
    Every delivery category/status has a separate code. See mapping table for details.
    All of the templates mentioned in the above table are defined in the Templates mapping table under the Delivery subsystem.
    The following table describes the Alma-specific settings in the Delivery code tables for remote searches:
    Remote Code Table Configurations
    Code Table Use Delivery Category / Availability Status Definition
    GetIt! Tab 1
    Defines the label for the Get It 1 tab.
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / fulltext
    View It
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / no_fulltext
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / citation_available
    Get It
    GetIt! Tab 2
    Defines the label for the Get It 2 tab.
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / fulltext
    Get It
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / no_fulltext
    Remote Search Resource:Alma / citation_available
    No tab defined.