Enrichment
About the Alma Community Zone
The Alma Community Zone consists of a Central Knowledgebase (CKB), enriched by bibliographic records from various monograph and serial sources, Contributions from Alma users, and multiple Authority vocabularies.
At a minimal level, each electronic title in the CKB contains bibliographic record information sourced from provider KBART and/or other title lists. Please see this article for more information on submitting KBART data to the Central Knowledgebase.
Community Zone Enrichment - For optimal content discoverability
The entire Community Zone works best when minimal quality Bibliographic records are enriched with higher quality bibliographic records. The overall aim of enrichment is to reduce the need of each library to invest in improving bibliographic records by cataloging, or load additional descriptive records when acquiring electronic resources based on the CKB. Enriched records will improve the chances of students and researches to locate the content in our discovery systems.
In order to reduce duplication, the same electronic title provided by different content platforms will usually have one record in the Community Catalog. Therefore, enriched records also potentially contain data from several sources, and aim to add only provider and institution neutral bibliographic fields.
Value to content providers
Full, descriptive electronic records in the Alma Community Zone allow librarians to more easily manage their electronic resources. In turn, this creates an integrated experience between their library catalog and purchased titles, enabling easier access to full text on your content platform.
For the non-enriched records, missing data elements (authors, identifiers, subject/name headings, etc.) can be commonly reported by our mutual customers.
And finally: by increasing the number of identifiers and other access points, enrichment can also improve link resolution to your site, as well as increase access via search and Discovery platforms.
Requirements for content providers
Metadata format
o MARC21 records: binary (.mrc) or MARC xml
o Metadata should describe online/electronic versions only
o RDA records are highly preferred; for records created pre-2013, AACR2 format may also be used
Identifiers
o For eBook and eJournal content: ISBN and ISSN identifiers are required
CONSER records are the main source for CZ eJournals enrichment (supplemented by EZB records); other serial record sources will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
o For other content types (video, audio, etc.): Ex Libris will evaluate, and determine if an alternate identifier can be used for enrichment.
Ongoing updates of bibliographic records
In order to make sure that MARC records shared with Ex Libris are updated regularly, there is a need to load the updated MARC file to the agreed location (Ex Libris server, Provider server/webpage). Delivery should be provided as soon as records are added or changed (weekly or monthly delivery preferred)
Initially, the enrichment process requires aA full file of all MARC records, with subsequent delta (new/updated) record updates as described above. Ex Libris may also request re-delivery of full files if needed.
MARC21 required fields
Each record provided in the data feed must include (but not be limited to) elements from the following fields:
Key to requirements: M (Mandatory); A (Mandatory if applicable); O (Optional)
| Field number | Field name | Requirements | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
LDR
|
Leader
|
M
|
RDA records should be coded as ‘i’ and AACR2 as ‘a’ in Position 18. |
|
001 |
Control Number |
M
|
Creates source identifying 035 field in CZ. |
|
003 |
Control Number Identifier |
M
|
Creates source identifying 035 field in CZ. |
|
005
|
Date/Time
|
M |
|
|
007
|
Physical Description Fixed Field |
M |
|
|
008
|
Fixed-Length Data
|
M
|
|
|
020$a
|
Electronic ISBN
|
A |
Required for eBooks. Use 776 for Print identifiers. |
|
022$a
|
Electronic ISSN |
A
|
Required for serials. Use 776 for Print identifiers. |
|
035
|
System Control no. |
A |
Include OCLC numbers if available. For A/V materials, additional identifiers may be required. |
|
040
|
Cataloging source |
M |
|
|
041
|
Language code |
A |
Necessary when field 008/35-37 is insufficient to convey full information. |
|
050/082
|
Call numbers |
O |
Classification is strongly recommended. |
|
100/110/111 |
Authors
|
A
|
|
|
130/240 |
Uniform title
|
O
|
130 or 240 tags should be used for collocation i.e. bringing together the records for works that have been published under a variety of titles. |
|
245
|
Title Statement
|
M
|
|
|
246
|
Varying form of title
|
A
|
|
|
250
|
Edition
|
A
|
|
|
264
|
Publication info
|
M
|
Field 260 for AACR2 records
|
|
300
|
Physical description
|
M
|
300$a should contain “1 online resource” (add pages etc. in parentheses if applicable) |
|
306
|
Playing Time
|
O
|
Recommended for A/V materials |
|
336/7/8
|
Content/Media/Carrier Types
|
O
|
|
|
49X/80X-83X
|
Series Fields
|
O
|
|
|
6XX
|
Subject Access Fields
|
A
|
|
|
700/710/711
|
Additional authors
|
A
|
|
|
776$z |
Print ISBN |
O |
|
|
776$x |
Print ISSN |
O
|
|
- Article last edited: 01-NOV-2020