March 19, 2025

 

Question from Attendee: Can you please mention embargo and if this happens often with articles if that is possible to say?

Answer from Clarivate / Ex Libris Staff: Embargos are dependent on the publisher and/or access provider. If there is an embargo, the details (six months, one year, etc.) are visible in Alma: Look in the Electronic Portfolio Editor > Coverage tab > Global Embargo/Rolling Year section, or the Local Embargo Rolling Year section. Many providers offer the same title in different collections, with different embargo periods (usually for different prices!). 

 

This might be out of scope, but just wondering if/how the vendor would communicate new titles in a selective package?

Other than the vendor notifying you directly, you could use the Community Zone Updates Task List and search for Report Type = Portfolio added to non auto-active electronic service. See here for details on using that tool. 

 

Are we able to search/limit search by service level? Eg. if I wanted to generate a list of collections that are not full text.

There is an advanced search index under Electronic Collection called Service Type. That has three variables available via dropdown (Full Text, None, Selected Full Text). This information is probably also available in Analytics.

 

Are those images from Syndetics Unbound?  How to you get those into Alma?  We only see it in Primo VE.

Cover art does come from Syndetics. Images match based on ISBNs and ISSNs. They should show in Alma and in Primo VE/Summon.

 

Does this series cover Community Zone Updates and how to manage this area of e-resources?

This topic will not be covered during the series. Please refer to this documentation: Working with the Community Zone Updates Task List. 

 

Is it possible to search for titles with license limitation? Thank you.

Not within Alma directly, but using Analytics, you can create an E-Inventory analysis of an electronic collection and associated license terms. 

 

Are there standalone portfolios in the CZ or only in institution zones?

Standalone portfolios are portfolios that are not assigned to a collection. The Community Zone is for packages sold by vendors, so the portfolios in the CZ are associated with electronic collections. (If you do a search, you'll find a standalone portfolio in the CZ ... and you'll see it's just a test!) If a vendor does sell an individual title "outside" of a package, it will be organized into a Collection of some kind in the CZ.

 

If we purchased the Aggregator [collection], why the portfolio is zero for the region?

(Answer based on a follow-up conversation with the attendee.) The screenshot below is of a collection. The number of portfolios in the collection (18) is listed in the top right corner in the row-action menu. The numbers listed by global regions (Asia Pacific, Europe, etc.) are the number of Alma institutions that have activated this collection in that region and have enabled data sharing.

   

 

Is the Electronic Titles and All Titles searches indexing Electronic Collection names as well,? Results seem inconsistent when I test it.

The electronic titles search searches for titles with electronic inventory. All titles searches titles with print, electronic, and no inventory. I would expect some differences in results. But neither of those searches will return a Collection as a result. 

 

Hi, can I replicate this configuration in sandbox? for practice?

That is an excellent use of your sandbox!

 

RE: Vendor updates - when you have a customized date range, what happens when vendor updates the record?

It is possible to define local coverage dates that won't be affected by changes made in the Community Zone.

 

What is the most accurate way to find the right bibliographic record to order?

It depends! We show a variety of searching methods in Alma in the presentation, ways that you can search to locate the particular resource that matches what you're purchasing from the vendor.

 

Where can we get clarification on the CDI tab on the e-collection for what checking the box "Do not show as Full Text available in CDI even if active in Alma" does?

We'll talk more about activating collections next week, including these options.

 

Oops, missed that, how did he search JAMA the first time?

The first search was for Electronic Collection > Electronic Collection Name. If you are looking for a collection that has the title JAMA, but you search Electronic Collection Name like Kevin did, you'll find only collections where JAMA is in the Collection's name. The second search he did was to search for Electronic Collections where there was a Title named JAMA.

 

How is the ranking of collections defined?

By default, search results are sorted according to an internal ranking mechanism.

 

What is the difference between the Portfolio ID, Service ID, Collection ID, and MMSID?

These are the unique Alma identifiers for the particular entities: electronic portfolio, electronic service, electronic collection, and bibliographic record, respectively.

 

Is a good way to distinguish a standalone portfolio as opposed to a collection is to look at words below the title? Like, if you look at 1177 you see Online: Full Text but no collection shown?

Yes, that's a good way to see at a glance, as long as you're looking at a list of portfolios.

 

When a vendor makes a record update, is there any kind of notification triggered that let's the institution know an update occurred?

Different vendors may have different methods of letting you know directly, but on the Alma side, you can use the Community Zone Update Task List.

 

Once you activate a portfolio how long before patrons will be able to see it?

Within 15 minutes for the portfolio/title itself, up to 48 hours for articles via the CDI. We'll talk more about activation next week.

 

What does the garbage can with the No Red Strike line mean next to a collection?

This icon indicates resources that have been marked as "Committed to Retain" by your institution.

 

---

March 26, 2025

 

Question from Attendee: How does the invoicing work for subscription-type of PO Lines? Each yearly invoice is associated to the same open PO Line?

Answer from Clarivate / Ex Libris Staff: Exactly. All invoices will be associated with the renewed PO Line, separated by fiscal year. For more information on renewals in Alma, please see the Renewals Workflow documentation.

 

If you renew a ejournal package/subscription order in Alma, there is no need to activate the resource again, for subscription year 2, 3 etc, correct.? The resource stays active until you deactivate or delete it?

Correct, the renewal process is purely related to acquisitions. The electronic resource remains active unless otherwise deactivated.

 

Are you going to cover the renewal process in these trainings? 

Renewals and the rest of the acquisitions process are not included in these trainings. There is a lot more information on acquisitions in the Knowledge Center.

 

So you would use "Save and continue" for collections ordered through EDI, and "Order now" for items you've already placed an order for at the vendor site?

Not necessarily. Using Save and Continue vs Order Now is your own preference. Order Now packages the PO Line into a PO right now. Save and Continue does the PO packaging overnight, and if any other PO Lines created that day are for the same Material Supplier, then all those PO Lines will be in the single purchase order.  Alma has a PO Line-centric focus and looks at PO Lines when determining if you need to be notified about a resource that has not arrived or been activated. The PO is a shell that associates PO lines with one another from a single vendor in a single order.

 

Is there any way to not have "save and continue" button highlighted?  We always use "Order now" & never use "save and continue" 
(And another attendee asked): Why is Order Now not Highlighted in Blue. Can it be highlighted? 

These are great ideas, and we encourage you to share it via the Ex Libris Idea Exchange.

 

What does "waiting for cdi" mean?

This is an example of a status you might create for a task, for example to indicate that you're waiting for the resource to publish to CDI (which happens 24 to 48 hours after activation) to confirm articles can be accessed in your discovery service.

 

What's the difference between activate the service and making the service available? 

Activating the service creates the service in your institution and is required to add portfolios. Making the service available makes the resource available to your patrons. You can make it available now, or you can do so later after you've completed your other workflow steps.

 

So making the service available makes it show up in Primo? And activating it makes it show up in the Institution Zone? 

Roughly speaking, yes. Try this in your sandbox to see its behavior.

 

In the earlier step regarding proxy info, how do I get the proxy info into the selection list?

The proxy needs to be configured by an administrator. See these instructions.

 

If I activate a collection and copy it to my catalogue, I'll miss the ExLibris updates, won't I?

The normal activation process copies a collection's Community Zone (CZ) record to your Institution Zone (IZ), but maintains a link with the CZ record. As long as a collection is still linked to the CZ and shows that CZ-linked icon, you'll receive updates. However, if you localize a collection so it is no longer linked to the CZ, you will no longer receive updates. We'll talk more about maintaining e-resources in a couple weeks.

 

How is ordering resources going to be affected by the recent announcement by Clarivate regarding perpetual purchasing of resources?

There won't be any changes to workflows. Alma workflows allow for single (one-time) and subscription purchases ... whatever the vendor offers.

 

Do you need to consider the type of linking (link resolver, link in record, or hybrid) when activating a collection? In other words, does this impact the settings you choose in the activation wizard or CDI tab in the Electronic Collection Editor?

No. Type of linking is not a factor when activating an electronic resource. 

 

Does every vendor use IP authentication? Or do some use something else?

I don’t know if every vendor does, but typically resources are accessible from within the library network (IP range) without having to log in. 

 

Are there CZ entries for freely available resources, especially government resources (i.e., regulations.gov)?

There are government resources and open-access content available in the Community Zone. If anything in particular is missing, please add a suggestion to the Content section of the Ideas Exchange.

 

Will the order and activation process be different if we are part of a NZ?

If you’re a NZ administrator, you can purchase resources at the NZ level for members of the consortium. There are a few details that are different, but it mostly looks like what we demonstrated today. If your institution is part of an NZ but you personally do not manage the NZ, and you need to purchase resources for your IZ, the workflow will look like the demonstration; you'll have the option to use NZ records as the starting point of the order, in addition to the CZ records that everyone can use. 

 

How long does it take in Primo to activate a subscription?

The subscription is activated immediately. What takes time is activating resources in the Central Discovery Index so that article-level metadata appears in search results. That takes 24-48 hours.

 

Can the licenses automatically populate notes in the portfolio?

(and from another attendee) Does selecting a license in the POL cause the license information to appear in the discovery service? Or is this just for info tracking?

It is possible to configure license terms to appear in your discovery service. See this explanation in the Developer Network.

 

Where would you set access restrictions or access model (ex. 2 concurrent users)

You can't within Alma. That's a restriction placed by the access provider, and they'll block (for your example) the third concurrent user from accessing the resource. But by adding the access provider's license to Alma, some of those restriction notes can appear in your discovery service on the patron's search results, so that third patron can at least understand why they're being blocked. See the question and answer above about licenses.

 

How does automated renewal work?

See the documentation for the Renewals Workflow.

 

What is the purpose of having a separate PO line and package?

If, by "package," you mean the Purchase Order (PO), then the separateness is because a PO can contain multiple PO Lines (ordering different resources) from the same vendor, but a PO Line can only have one resource (a collection, or a portfolio.) On the other hand, if the "package" you're referring to is the collection from the vendor, the difference is that the PO line is a record in Alma tracking your purchase, and a package is an electronic collection that a vendor has put together for purchase.

 

Is there a glossary to help with learning all the acronyms? Thanks!

We do have an Alma Glossary available on the Customer Knowledge Center.

Are tasks similar to work orders for print resources?

Tasks are how Alma raises a flag that something needs attention. I can appreciate how this is similar to work order for physical resources. 

 

Do you recommend attaching a POL to a bibliographic record or a portfolio?

A POL is an order for a specific resource from a specific vendor, so you need to attach a PO line to the vendor resource (collection or portfolio) so that vendor, coverage, and linking data is associated with the PO line. 

 

You want to mark the [collection-level] bib as not suppressed if you want it to show up in Database Search though, correct?

Correct. If you want to be able to search for and locate the collection-level record in your discovery service, do not suppress it when activating. 

 

Can I go back and change "Mark Bib as Suppressed" after the initial set-up?

Yes! Any of these activation configurations can be changed later.

 

I've always activated from the CZ and then order/create POL from the more actions menu in the IZ.  Is this way better or is my way just different?

Mostly it's just different. We show the workflow as "order and then activate" because many institutions use Alma to automatically place the order with the vendor; they don't want to activate the resource before the vendor even gets the order. But there are situations where your e-resource is already activated, and then you go back later to add orders in Alma for those (perhaps long-ago purchased) resources, so you can track costs, etc.

 

Are the proxy settings at the collection level inherit down to the portfolios when activating a full text collection?

Proxy settings at the collection level proxy only the collection (usually used for database-type collections -- see question above). Today, we demonstrated setting the proxy at the service level. That does inherit down to portfolios. 

 

This may better answered in text later. We are in the middle of migration and I was looking at Digital Theatre + this morning. Our record migrated as a database so there are no portfolios in it. There is a collection record in the community zone. Is it possible to move an order record to use the community zone record that includes the portfolios? Or would I just want to active the collection on its own?

A (local) collection in your IZ can later be linked to its counterpart in the CZ, to provide for automatic updates, and to allow for adding portfolios. We'll show that process next week.

 

Do you know of an example of when you would want to be selective with an aggregator collection by using the excel upload?

A collection is classified as type "aggregator" in the CZ if the vendor tells Ex Libris they sell it that way to institutions. But when you order and activate the collection, you can still choose to treat it as a selective collection if you really do pay for only some of the portfolios in that collection. Alma doesn't limit your selection of portfolios based on the type of collection.

 

Can you test your service at anytime?  Say you wanted to run a collection of portfolios through an access verification project for example to proactively check for access issues in an established package.

Sure! Search for the activated collection in your IZ, navigate within that collection to the list of portfolios, and one of the row-actions for each portfolio will be Test Access. (Also works on any search-result list of portfolios, but again, only works if they're already activated in your IZ ... you can't Test Access on a portfolio in the CZ.)

 

So you can assign different steps of this process from start to finish to different people?

Yes, the e-resource activation tasks can be assigned to different staff members: One to review orders, one to activate, one to test access, one to make available in discovery, one to renew. A staff member with the Repository Manager role has the ability to assign ERM tasks to different people.

 

Are there any extra steps for those that still use Back Office?

Yes, the legacy version of Primo (administered in Primo Back Office) does require other steps. See the documentation for details. 

 

In one of the weeks will you show activating selected electronic collections via the Excel file?

We may not have time to do that, so here are some reference documents: {LINK}

 

How to activate if we don't use the Acquisitions module?  Do we just find it in the CZ and click activate there?

Yes!

 

Is there any reason to create an order for an open access collection in the CZ? Or would you just activate the collection?

You certainly can just activate it. However, creating an order (and setting Cost to 0) does show up in analytics showing that 0 cost, rather than an empty field. The former may be useful. (Similar to creating an order for "acquisitions" of free physical resources, like gifts and depository items.)

 

In case of purchasing a EBSCO package which includes multiple portfolios, do I need to break down the cost and create multiple POLs to attach them to each portfolio in the package?

When you create a POL for the collection (package) and include the cost, Alma's analytics system automatically (and evenly) divides the total cost of the collection among the portfolios you order. If it's a selective package and you actually pay different amounts for each portfolio, then yes, separate POLs for each portfolio is the way to go.

 

This is very fast training for me.  Who do we reach out to in the future if we are stuck

You can watch the recordings of these sessions to catch anything you missed. You can view other training resources. You can read the documentation about ERM. And if you're still not getting the answers to your questions, then Submit a Case (see the top of this page) and our Support Team will help!

 

Last year, there was a comprehensive quiz that you could get a certificate for. Will that be offered at the end of these classes this year?

We're currently transitioning systems, so a certificate is not available yet, but as soon as we can create a certificate on the new system we'll get that posted.

 

---

April 2, 2025

 

Question from Attendee: Can you use the Alma renewal reminders even if you're not ordering through Alma?

Answer from Clarivate / Ex Libris Staff: No, those renewal reminders are dependent upon the PO Line in Alma.

 

We did not migrate order records. I would like to add a Technical PO to 72,500+ portfolios in a CZ electronic collection of 77,000+ portfolios. I do not want an electronic collection level PO. Is there a way to globally add the Technical PO to the 72,500+ portfolios?

I'd encourage you to open a case with Support to look at the specific scenario and best advise on your possible options.

 

Once you activate, is it necessary to click "done" other than to remove the resource from your task list?

"Done" on the Electronic Resource Activation Task List is just necessary to remove the task from the task list. It doesn't change anything about the resource itself.

 

Is there a way to turn off Electronic Resource Activation Task List?  We do not use this method.

The tasks that appear in your task list depend on whether a task exists. If there are no relevant activation tasks, you shouldn't see it in the task list. And there is no requirement to use the task list; if you have a separate workflow to ensure that e-resources get activated, you can ignore the task list. 

You can submit a Support Case and ask if activation tasks can be turned off in your environment. If not, you could submit a suggestion to the Idea Exchange and request the ability to turn them off.

 

How do you add other task widgets?  I haven't been able to accomplish that.  

The tasks that appear within the task list are dependent on available tasks as well as your relevant roles. Other widgets can be added using the plus icon in the upper right of the Alma homepage.

 

We already have a bib record and order for a collection but need the portfolios. Can you briefly explain what i need to do?

We walked through creating a local portfolio today. Last week we talked about activating portfolios in CZ collections. We'll also cover some other options next week when we discuss Maintaining E-Resources.

 

I missed how this list of collections containing the portfolio was pulled up - what did he click to bring up these results?

From the bib record in the title search > Electronic Portfolios > View Full Portfolio List

 

We've experience problems off and on with portfolios in ebook collections providing broken links to resources -- it'll take the patron to the resources, but it will show it as not available (even though we've purchased access). Any suggestions on how to resolve this?

One thing to be careful of is to make sure the portfolio you activated matches the exact resource you've purchased. The best way to do so is by comparing URLs. We'll also talk about more troubleshooting tips in a couple weeks. For specific issues, I also encourage you to open Support cases and share the specific resources that are having access issues.

 

Are you limited to just 3 reporting codes?

You can configure up to 5 reporting codes.

 

Interested users: is that just informational, or does it send something to the person?

You can select different options for whether the interested user is notified at various steps in the order process.

 

DARA recs. I have gone through over 41+ DARA recs and have done the best I can to work through them. The ones I am hesitating on are the "Configure Integration Profile" ones. Can you send me documentation on what that means and your guidance if this is actually a good thing to do across the board? LOL.  Thank you profusely. 

Configuring integration profiles for automatic upload of holdings is going to be our topic in the final week of this course (Bonus 2), so we'll talk a lot more about the options for doing so and why you may or may not do so!

 

Do we need to add proxy information at the collection level or portfolio level?

If you configure the proxy for the electronic service, any related portfolios will also be proxied. If you add proxy information at the collection level but not the service, then the related portfolios will not be proxied. This second case is common for a collection with no full-text service -- in other words, a database-type collection with no portfolios but only citation records, such as an abstracting and indexing (A&I) collection.

 

When/where did you invoke proxy?

The proxy can be configured either in the electronic service editor or electronic portfolio editor. If you configure it in the service, you do not need to also add it to the portfolio(s).

 

Are there facets to filter out CZ records that aren't activated?

Depending on your exact goal, you should be able to do this via an advanced search.

 

What happens if you fill out subscriptions from/to dates in the order? Does it cancel the order after the to-date has passed?

Subscription to dates can have an effect on the renewal process. 

• If no date is entered, the renewal continues in perpetuity.
• When the PO line renews automatically, the PO line is closed when the renewal job detects that the Subscription to date has passed.
• When the PO line renews manually, the PO line’s status becomes Waiting for manual renewal when the renewal job detects that the Subscription to date has passed.

See the documentation here.

 

When it says the POL has been packaged and sent - it's not actually sent to the vendor though because we chose "purchase at vendor system' correct? It's just sent in that it's part of the workflow - do I have that right?

Correct. If you have selected “purchase at vendor system,” Alma will not attempt to send the PO/PO Lines to the vendor. "Sent" is just the status of the PO line. 

 

If I chose "perpetual" what happens with the renewal  dates in the order related to this portfolio?

That depends on if the PO line is set to manual or automatic renewal:

• Manual renewal – When the date earmarked by the Renewal reminder period (days) arrives, the PO Line renewal job changes the Workflow Step of the PO line from Recurring Renewal to Waiting for Manual Renewal. To renew the subscription, the operator must manually edit the PO line to change the renewal date to a future date.
• Automatic renewal – When the renewal date arrives, the PO Line renewal job automatically changes the renewal date to the previous renewal date plus the period of time specified under Renewal cycle. The status of the PO Line remains Recurring Renewal.

(Follow-up question) Ok. But if I have a perpetual access then I don't need to renew it anymore and therefore I don't need a reminder.

If this is a one-time purchase, not continuous, then there are no renewal dates. 

 

One time purchase with perpetual access may have annual hosting fee.  Do we have to create a separate POL?

Yes. A separate PO line would be needed to track that annual payment. 

 

If a local electronic collection is linked to a CZ collection, can the collection then be activated for CDI (assuming the CZ collection you're linking it to has records in CDI)?

Yes.

 

 

---

April 9, 2025

 

Question from Attendee: Is Change Electronic Portfolio Info an "out of box" run a job?

Answer from Clarivate / Ex Libris Staff: That is a standard job available in all Alma environments. 

 

When manually deleting a portfolio like an e-book, Alma presents three options for "Handling bibliographic records without inventory."  They are 1) Do nothing, 2) Delete bibliographic record(s), or 3) Suppress bibliographic record(s).  Can you please explain these differences and when you would choose one option over another?

1. The Do nothing option will leave the bibliographic record in place and in its current unsuppressed state. That means that bib will continue to show up in discovery even though the portfolio is no longer in the repository. 
2. The Delete bibliographic records option deletes associated bibs (if there is no other inventory -- portfolios -- associated with the bib). The bibliographic record will no longer be in your Alma repository, so it will not show in Discovery. Choose this if you’re no longer going to have access to the title and would prefer to remove it from the repository. 
3. The Suppress bibliographic record(s) option leaves the bib in place but it does mark the bib as suppressed. The bib will remain in your Alma repository but will not be visible in Discovery. You might choose this option if you’re going to look for a different portfolio for this title. 

 

Why do we want to remove the proxy prefix and then add it back?

That might be a situation where a proxy is changing from one service to another. Or you are removing it from each portfolio's URL and adding it to the collection's service, so it is easier to change proxy later if necessary.

 

Can we limit to the titles which are not in the IZ?

When looking at a selective package in the CZ, there is not a way to limit the list of portfolios to those that are in or not in the IZ. You could add that as a suggestion in the Ex Libris Idea Exchange. 

 

For selective package, it may be easier to export selected titles out to a spreadsheet.  We can review it off line.  Would it be possible?

Yes, you can export the data into a worksheet to review offline. See information about the Portfolio Loader in the documentation. 

 

What is the difference between delete and deactivate? Which would you recommend?

Deleting will remove the records from your Institution Zone; deactivating will remove the resources from display in your discovery interface but retain the records in Alma. You might choose to deactivate a resource to maintain an audit trail or if the resource will be reactivated in the future. 

 

When adding portfolios with Portfolio Loader, will the bib records for the portfolios becoming from the Community Zone? Can you make it match the portfolio with a local bib record in your Institution Zone, when there is one?

The portfolio loader looks in the Community Zone and creates local records if none are found in the CZ. If you link a local portfolio to the CZ, you can choose to retain a local bib record instead of using the CZ bibliographic record. If you prefer a local record, you might use an import profile instead.

 

Can you use the portfolio loader to attach POL numbers to a selective number of portfolios within an active collection?

No. You might see the PO Line column in a portfolio export, but that column is ignored in the Portfolio Loader.

 

When using Import Profiles for "orders," do we have to preserve the fields even when they will go away once the orders, invoices are created once they are loaded?

Preserving the fields is a choice that you can make. The data does not take up much space, but you may choose to remove it from your bib records in the future using normalization rules. 

 

Does any metadata inherit down to portfolios from the collection level?  So for example if a collection is activated and associated to a license, do all of the active portfolios that are related to that collection also inherit that license association?

Some metadata at the collection level does inherit down to portfolios (such as licenses, orders, etc.), but some metadata -- like proxy setting -- do not inherit down from collection to portfolio. However, proxy setting does inherit down to portfolios when it is set at the service level of the collection. The example Rachel showed was removing proxy prefix from a Set of portfolios, and those portfolios may not have been in the same Collection. But if they were, it might be better to remove the proxy prefix from the portfolios and then add the proxy to the Service of that Collection.

 

When you go to "Add Portfolios from Community" does it also show the portfolios you already have activated, or does it just list those that are not activated?

It shows the same view as in the CZ, including portfolios that are already localized with the house icon.

 

If you update portfolios in a CZ collection with portfolio loader, does it turn them local?

Update existing local portfolios with the information listed in the Excel or KBART file for the matching portfolios when this option is selected. For portfolios linked to the Community Zone, only parser parameters and coverage information is updated when this option is selected. So basically, there won't be any updates except for fields that can have a local override.

 

When Rachel said that it's important to test the Portfolio Loader before actually running it, was she referring to what she just showed us -- reviewing the "Download Excel file to view information and warnings" document before actually clicking Load?

One test is to strip out all but one or two rows (portfolios) from the file, load the file, and see what happens. Another test is to select "Verify Offline," which pauses the process after Alma runs the verification but before it actually tries to load the portfolios.

 

I find the "localized" column heading name so confusing. I think it means CZ-linked and it is "localized" into the IZ, not a local record. Is that correct? So Localized: N means a local record (house icon), and Localized: Y means a CZ-linked record (people icon)? Or is that backwards? thanks!

When you are looking at the CZ collection, you're right that Localized = Y is when a CZ record has been copied into your IZ and maintains its link to the CZ record.

 

If you have orders associated with the portfolios, what happens to those records if you delete the collection?

When you delete a collection, orders, usage, analytics, etc. do stay in Alma. You don't lose those.

 

Deactivating a service does not remove it from the results in Primo though, correct?

Deactivating a service does remove it from the full-text links in the results in discovery (like Primo and Summon). But it can take a day or two for that to have full (removed) effect in discovery, due to the CDI. Also, even if you deactivate portfolios in Alma, the associated bibliographic record is not automatically suppressed (see above). This means the bibliographic record may still appear in discovery, but no full-text link will appear to patrons.

 

[Comment, not a question]: Warning that if you bring in an import profile or publishing profile from the CZ, it can also bring in normalization rules and processes. Those processes could be available in the MDE and to run as a normalization job, so make sure you check for these new normalization rules and/or processes and know what they do.

Very good point ... thank you!

 

---

April 16, 2025

 

Question from Attendee: Would this be the same route for updating citation material? (say the coverage is wrong)

Answer from Clarivate / Ex Libris Staff: No, if there's an issue with existing citations, you'll want to open a Support case for it. We'll talk a bit more about opening cases for linking issues later in this session.

 

(When determining whether you actually paid an access provider for their resources): Wouldn't it be wise to click on the order and see what it says?

Yes, you might want to look at the order in your environment as a way of checking on the status. Because we're in our training environment, of course that isn't a "real" order.

 

Is it possible to create a report to identify which resource from the CZ you have linked in your IZ but not turned on?

Yes, you can identify resources that are linked to the CZ but are not active using an Alma advanced search.

 

Hello, I don't know if this is the question of the day, but we have the following situation: we have a collection where we have 3000 portfolios, after renewing the subscription in that collection, the portfolios have decreased and now we only have 1000 subscribed portfolios out of the 3000 portfolios, can you advise me on how to do a portfolio renewal in this situation? I tried to use the portfolio loader, but it didn't quite work, maybe I did something wrong.

Also, could you please clarify and advise on the best way to deactivate and remove a collection with portfolio from IZ? Thank you in advance.

The portfolio loader is your most straightforward way to update. One option if you're having trouble is to try deleting all the portfolios and reactivating just the ones you should have access to. IMPORTANT NOTE: this option is mostly relevant if you do not have order information you want to retain.

To your second question, if you don't need to retain it for any reason, you can delete the collection along with all associated portfolios.

(Follow-up) Thank you, but what if there is order information?

The portfolio loader should still be usable, more likely in complete mode. If you're having specific issues, please open a Support case.

 

Would a database activated from CZ becoming not discoverable be expected after replacing the bib record with a local one?

For a database itself to be discoverable (not just the enclosed articles, etc.), it needs to have both an unsuppressed bibliographic record and a Level URL for the collection, whether from the CZ or not.

(Follow-up) The database had a URL and the local bib was not suppressed.

Please open a Support case so our team can look at your particular example.

Where in the Knowledge Base are the instructions for activating our Alma holdings in Google Scholar? 

Right here: Publishing Electronic Holdings to Google Scholar 

 

Is the URL "&debug=true" something you can do with any link, or just those ExLibris links?

You can do this with any link that is using the Alma LinkResolver.

 

Are there best practices surrounding when to enable the proxy at the collection level vs. the service level? I'm sorry if this was covered in earlier sessions. Thanks.

You basically always want to enable proxy at the service level. The collection proxy is only if you want patrons to be able to access the collection record itself (much less frequently; usually for database-type collections, like A&I resources).

 

An article appears in the Beyond the Library CDI search as full text not available, but when you click on the link to the record, that full text is available. Why?

You'll need do some troubleshooting of your CDI activations to see why the CDI may not be showing that full text indication in the brief results.

 

Does the Research Assistant search "Results beyond my collection" automatically?

Primo Research Assistant uses your expanded search and does not filter by availability, so that it can provide a comprehensive initial overview. See this documentation.

 

I had a broken link issue for an article citation where the journal name was incorrect so it couldn't find the article when it went to the platform. How would we report that issue?

That is a problem within the CDI. Please open a case with the Support team, and select CDI.

This question is more appropriate for earlier sessions.  So, if you don't want to address it, no worries!  I have a collection (Kanopy PDA) that appears in CZ.  However, the portfolios have very limited bib record info.  The vendor gave me detailed MARC records for our selective portfolios.  Can you share in a general sense, what the steps would be to activate these?

See last week's session on Maintaining E-Resources, or check out the documentation about Import Profiles.

 

If a linkresolver link on a CDI article record fails (it goes to the platform but doesn't find the article), which support team should this be reported to? CDI?

Yes, the CDI Support team is a good place to start.

 

Does the Expand search in Primo VE  work the same way as in Alma?

No. Expand search in Primo VE searches the entire Central Discovery Index (CDI), not just the content associated with resources found in your IZ. The CDI is not searched in Alma. 

 

How do we know it's not in CDI?  

If you are using the Easy Active model in your Alma installation, the expanded search searches everything that we can enable by default in the CDI. If an article does not show in the expanded search, it’s either not in the CDI or might require a subscription to search. 

 

So the problem with the first one was that the collection was not indexed in CDI? How did you tell that it was not indexed?

There are a couple of clues that we demonstrated: 1.) The article was not found in the expanded search of the CDI. 2.) The article could be found with a browser search (meaning that the article did exist and wasn't mis-spelled or something).

 

How do you do an expanded search again?

In Summon, the selection is "Add results beyond your library's collection." In Primo VE, the switch is labeled, “Results beyond my collection.”  However, an institution can change these labels, so it might be called something else in their discovery service.

 

[Regarding journal coverage statements] When "Only local" and "Only global" available, what does "Global or local" mean?

"Global" refers to the coverage information that is provided to Ex Libris by the vendor and found the Community Zone (CZ). "Local" refers to coverage information that has been negotiated by your institution with the vendor that is different from the global coverage. Local coverage may be in addition to global coverage or instead of global coverage; if local coverage is added to global coverage, select the "Global or Local" choice. 

 

Some modifications (activate a portfolio) are immediately visible in Primo, some others you have to wait 24/48h. How can we know  if we have to wait or if it still doesn't work ?

When you activate a portfolio or collection in Alma, the titles appear in Alma and in your discovery service right away (within a few minutes). You should be able to get the titles as search results in discovery quickly. What takes 24-48 hours is the CDI activation, which displays article-level results in discovery. 

 

---

April 23, 2025

 

Question from Attendee: Does the comparison take into consideration embargo and coverage of the portfolios?

Answer from Clarivate / Ex Libris Staff:  Yes, the system can take these factors into account when conducting an overlap analysis; it is an option on the report settings.

 

Does everyone in your institution see these [reports]?

Everyone who has one of the following user roles (which are required to run an Overlap and Collection Analysis) can also see analyses run by other staff:

• Purchasing Operator
• Purchasing Manager
• Repository Manager
• Electronic Inventory Operator

 

Would you run two overlap analysis if there are ISSNs (periodicals) and ISBNs (books) in the collections?

Your suggestion takes more work but might be more accurate. The alternative is to use a different match method (035, title, etc.) that all the resources have. 

 

We want to compare our local Kanopy collection to the new Kanopy USA BASE collection for the purpose of deactivating all of the local portfolios that exist in the new Kanopy USA BASE collection.

That's a great use-case for this tool!

 

Is there a way to do editions? Say,  you're looking for 4th edition but not 1st edition. Is there a way to do that?

That would require using the particular identifiers to distinguish between editions. There isn't a built in option, but if those editions have different identifiers, they can be differentiated. This is one of those scenarios where choosing the match type makes a big difference - and why you might even run the same analysis in multiple ways to see the difference in calculated overlap!

 

Does it show up as overlap if it's only a physical overlap? 
[Separate question] If including coverage in the comparison, does it take into account the physical holding coverage data of the equivalent physical title?

The report will indicate physical items (if you chose that setting), but it won't count them among the overlaps. The tool is really meant for calculating overlap among electronic resources.

 

Is it normal to have different columns from what the presenter sees?

The columns may differ depending on the type of analysis and particular result set you are downloading.

 

Can you compare a set of standalone portfolios against a collection?

This is not currently built-in functionality; this might make for a great post on the Idea Exchange. That said, you could export those portfolios and use them as a title list (which was shown as Use Case 3). Otherwise, this might be a job for Analytics instead.

 

Note that many of the titles in the No Overlap report did not have ISSNs, so they could not have matched.

This is another reason why you might run the same overlap analysis multiple times using different match points so you have a full picture of the overlap.

 

Will the "One excel line per match/identifier" be an option in the future for Use cases 1 and 2 analyses ?

I'm not aware of the development plans for this tool, but I encourage you to keep an eye on the release notes for any updates!

 

Why do the reports have quotation marks in so many cells?

This helps ensure the data displays correctly in Excel.

 

We are in a consortium, and if I want to compare with what we have in BOTH the IZ and NZ, will i have to run two separate analysis?

If you choose the "Entire Institution Zone" option, you also have the option to "Include the electronic collections available for my institution in the Network Zone"

 

What might "# (#%) Portfolios failed Portfolios failed during the analysis" mean?

We'd have to look at the specific examples. We encourage you to open a Support ticket if you can't figure out why there was an error.

 

 

---

April 30, 2025

 

Question from Attendee: What's the difference between total item requests and unique item requests?

Answer from Clarivate / Ex Libris Staff: The unique item requests value deduplicates requests that might be counted multiple times in total -- for example, chapter by chapter in a book. Please see COUNTER Metric's webpage for more information on the nuance of different metrics.

 

How do links from the discovery layer show up in COUNTER reports?

The links from discovery do not display in COUNTER reports. COUNTER reports come from the vendor, so they show just the access to the vendor's site by your patrons ... whether that was from a discovery link or from accessing the platform directly.

 

How to I get the COUNTER reports out of Alma from the SUSHI harvesting I have set up in Alma?

You'll review the data from SUSHI harvesting using Alma Analytics, which we'll discuss next week. You can also download the usage-report files directly from the vendor page in Alma, although that comes out as a JSON file and is harder to read (see the question about that below).

 

What is the purpose of the Report Success Rate column? Sometimes it shows a percentage, sometimes it does not, and it seems to be unconnected with whether a report uploaded or harvested successfully.

That column provides an indication of the global success rate across institutions for a particular SUSHI account. For more information on that field, please see this documentation.

 

We are concerned that Analytics reports on general CPU and overall analytics will be misleading unless you have nearly 100% SUSHI and or uploaded counter reports. Some vendors lack counter reports, so it's doubtful we could reach 100%.  Can you at Ex Libris tell what percentage of Alma libraries are using SUSHI and or uploading counter reports?

We do not have that information, so we encourage you to reach out on the Alma mailing list to hear of other institution's experiences and workflows. In general, yes, your analysis is only as good as your particular data, but it can at least be used as general guidelines, at which point you might use other tools to investigate further when making collection decisions.

 

So, the credential are the ones we use to log in to each vendor? Maybe that's why we get so many error messages in our reports?

These credentials will be provided to you by the vendor specifically for SUSHI purposes. They're typically different than the credentials you use to log into the admin system for the vendor.

 

If you had 5 and 5.1 available, would they add together, conflating results in analytics?

You have the ability to separate these usage statistics in Analytics, but you may also consider curating your data for particular vendors to avoid having both 5 and 5.1 data at once. This will help ensure you don't unintentionally count both numbers in Analytics.

 

I have three vendors where the test connection works, the account information appears to be correct, but when I go to harvest data I receive errors. Is there something I might be missing or should I contact Ex Libris?

Along with the current demonstration, we have a troubleshooting page with some tips for testing SUSHI connections. It also includes what information will be helpful to share if you do need to open a case.

 

If a vendor only requires Requester ID and Customer ID, can we use the Username and password fields to store our admin credentials, or is this likely to hinder harvesting?

While there is no technical issue with that, the password field is hidden, so it might not be the best choice for storing those credentials. They might also be lost if you delete or change SUSHI accounts. Instead I might suggest storing those in a note on the vendor account, or even in the Web Addresses section on the Contact Information tab.

 

As I have been setting up my SUSHI accounts, rather than doing the individual reports I am doing the master reports.  Will this impact the type of things I can do in analytics?

The different report types include different metrics, so it depends on what type of data you want to analyze. The primary benefit of the master reports is that they're customizable when you're downloading data directly from a vendor. You don't get that benefit when using SUSHI, so this still contains useful information, but may not be everything you need. I'd recommend looking at the COUNTER Metrics site for more information on the different reports and the metrics they include:

 

[Regarding how often SUSHI runs in Alma] Are there more job configurations besides monthly?  For instance, quarterly or yearly?

At present, that job configuration is not customizable in that way. You would have to run the job manually in your chosen time period: On the SUSHI scheduling configuration page (Configuration > Acquisitions > Acquisitions Jobs Configuration), you would set the Job to Inactive, and then -- on your desired date -- click Run Now, which would run the SUSHI job for all your active SUSHI accounts.  

 

Is there a way to have the load usage data as a widget on the home page?

This isn't possible right now to my knowledge, but it's a great idea!

 

How can you download the document as a correctly formatted excel document? When I go directly to the vendor sites I can download an excel file that is formatted as a table but when I download from the SUSHI report, it's not formatted and it's all text on one line. Did I not set something up properly?

SUSHI downloads reports as a JSON file, which is great for computers to read but not so much for humans. That's why we use Analytics to review that data. If you want COUNTER data in Excel format, you'll need to download it manually from the vendor, or use a JSON-file viewer.

 

Is there a way to associate cost with vendors that doesn't involve creating a POL if we don't track that spending in Alma?

There is not. This relies on the expenditure transaction using Alma's acquisitions infrastructure.

 

What about fiscal year reports that cover part of 2024 and part of 2025? Would you use COUNTER 5 for some months and 5_1 for others?

That's another consideration: You might have 5 and 5.1 both within the FY. Or you might stick with COUNTER 5 until the end of the fiscal year if the vendor continues to support it.

 

We put all our stats (TR_J1, TR_J2, etc.) for a given year on one spreadsheet for each resource. If we upload them, do we need to separate all of those out for them to be uploaded.

The spreadsheet needs to be in the format of the COUNTER report, so a compiled report would likely not be able to load. However, if you upload the files before you compile them, they should work.

 

We have this set up for SUSHI v5. What exactly do we need to do now when vs 5.1 is available?

You can create a R5.1 SUSHI account from the existing R5 account in the More Actions menu for the SUSHI account. There is additional information in the documentation here.

 

We already have Counter 5 SUSHI accounts in Alma for our vendors. When we add Counter 5.1 for compliant vendors, should we leave the Counter 5 accounts and so have two active accounts (Counter 5 and Counter 5.1), or inactivate (or delete??) the Counter 5 account and only have one active account (Counter 5.1)? Or it doesn’t matter?

Currently I would recommend leaving them both active, because vendors are primarily using R5.1 going forward, which means it's only for 2025 on. If you're still loading any 2024 data you would need to do so in R5. After all the 2024 R5 usage data is in Alma, deactivate that account, and then go through the usage-data reports and remove duplicated data (if any).

 

What would be the correct set-up for harvesting usage data and obtaining Cost Per Use when the vendor and access provider are different? Should the SUSHI Vendor be the Material Provider (who we pay) or the Access Provider?

The SUSHI vendor needs to be whichever vendor you get your COUNTER reports from, which is usually the Access Provider. The Cost Per Use information is able to still match the data as long as the COUNTER platform is in the collection or portfolio and there is a link to a PO Line among other configurations. (Remember that the PO Line does have the field for Access Provider, separate from Material Provider.)

 

Can we have it just run once a year? say in early January to download for example, all 2024 stats?

Yes, you should be able to do it this way, manually (see above), but it will likely be a very large job. Because vendors usually release their data monthly, we recommend running it monthly, in order to reduce processing issues.

 

For some vendors we download on the journal, book and database reports. That would create a long list of reports. Therefore is there a limit to the number of reports you can have in a given account in Alma?

As long as the report type is available from the vendor, you can select it in your SUSHI account.

 

---

May 7, 2025

 

Question from Attendee: Would the E-Inventory subject area be the place to start for pulling total number of unique electronic journal titles?

Answer from Clarivate / Ex Libris Staff: Yes. That is where you would look for that information.

 

Does the data in that "No. of Portfolio (In Repository)" column contain duplicates?  If a title is a portfolio in more than 1 collection?

Because this element is counting portfolios, not titles, there could be more than one portfolio for the same title.

 

Can you filter "Resource by Type" by a Library?  My institution has 10 libraries.  If so, can you share the steps?

Are your libraries in a single IZ or in a NZ? Do you purchase electronic resources for all of them or are subscriptions done at the library (not the institution or network) level?

Single IZ.  We haven't integrated acquisitions in Alma yet.  We are interested in pulling number of titles (for resource types = electronic journals AND ebooks).  I'm just not sure how to get that data for each 10 library.

The only way electronic-resource costs can be filtered by library is if they were "acquired" (as part of the PO Line) by different acquisitions teams in each library. And the only way electronic-resource usage can be filtered by library is if the access provider (vendor) has a way to track when your patron is associated with a particular library just by virtue of which IP address the patron is accessing from.

 

Is there a report for e-resources that have been deleted or deactivated from the institution?

There is an element named Lifecycle, where you can choose to exclude or include deleted records in your analysis.

 

How are different currencies in orders dealt with when forming the report?

See this article, or contact the Ex Libris Support Team.

 

Can you get multiple years for this Usage report

As time goes on, you will have multiple years of usage data on which analyses can be built. But some reports are not built with filters or prompts for specific years; you may need to copy and edit the out-of-the-box report, or create your own.

 

Can you replace Dewey with medical headings?

That's not an option in the current Analytics tool. Could be a good idea to suggest!

 

Can you elaborate on what needs to be done in terms of going from Counter 5 to 5.1? He mentioned something about deleting counter 5.0 files if there is 5.1 versions available, can you elaborate?

More details about this are found in last-week’s session, ERM-301. Alma is ready for when vendors update the format of their data. See this document.

[Follow-up comment from another attendee] 5.1 wasn't required until February 2025, so maybe that is why there appears to be duplicates.

 

We are certain the publishers listed under Link Resolver requests without service is an error. We have every confidence that these publisher links are working correctly in Alma and PrimoVE. Yet somehow, Alma Analytics is counting them as "without service."

Please open a case with Support to look at this situation. We can’t see your information during the session.

 

If we wanted to further explore those "electronic resources" that are listed as book - physical, how would we do so?

The first thing I would do is to look at the bibliographic records in the IZ. Are they cataloged correctly in the fixed fields (LDR and 008)?

 

Can you create a local dashboard with custom reports?

Yes. You can use your own reports and create a dashboard.

 

We don't see 5.1 reports in Analytics--are we missing them? Or might they be coming soon?

Alma is ready for 5.1. Not all vendors may have moved to the new standard. As we discussed in ERM-301, you have to set up each vendor (in Alma) for 5.1.

 

Why don't ALMA Counter reports match Counter reports pulled from the publishers? We see differences in totals and month to month comparisons.

Alma COUNTER reports are pulled from the publishers (via SUSHI or you do it manually). But the Analytics tool aggregates usage from multiple providers for the same title. And there could be a number of other reasons for this. Please open a case with Support to review your specific situation.

 

When we manual upload, do we have to match the name of the report?

No. Alma reads the metadata at the top of the COUNTER file to determine what type of usage data is contained in the report.

 

Should we turn off harvesting for problematic (incorrect) Counter reports?

Turning off the harvesting is a good first step. Reach out to the vendor supplying the usage reports and/or Ex Libris Support to resolve the issue.

 

What about non-Counter usage Analytics (non ISSN, ISBN), such as item reports for videos and other such database elements

Currently, usage statistics files must be COUNTER-compliant to be loaded into Alma.

 

Would it be possible to request more background for the data reported in Analytics?

All the data in Analytics comes from data in Alma. In addition to the Analytics documentation, you could ask for additional information in a Support case.

 

How is the usage determined? I'm seeing 0 usage for all of our electronic collections and that's extremely hard to believe because I know at least one person who uses our ebooks!

Are you getting and uploading usage stats from the vendor(s) in question into Alma?

 

Does "Usage via COUNTER Release 5" include 5.1?

If you’re referring to the out-of-the-box dashboards and folders in the Analytics Catalog, then yes.

 

If you put the cost on the collection, it automatically splits it down the portfolios?

Yes. The cost information comes from a PO line in Alma. If an individual portfolio doesn’t have a PO line with a cost but the entire collection that contains that portfolio does have costs in a PO Line, then the collection cost is split among all the portfolios within it.

 

Do you have any recommendations on how to load individual prices onto portfolios?

That information comes from Acquisitions. You would need to “order” each portfolio.

 

If you copy a report/dashboard from the Alma folder and paste it into your personal folder, does it get updated when Ex Libris updates their copy of it? For example: ACRL and IPEDS dashboards or reports. If I've copied it 5 years ago and the metrics changed, my dashboard won't be reflecting any adjustments ExL did to the dashbaord?

That is correct. Ex Libris updates the dashboards (and reports) in the shared Alma folder, not the copies in your institution’s shared folder. You will need to copy them again.