Primo VE 2025 Release Notes
Release: Additional Information:
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Click here to view the CDI-related updates at the bottom of this page.
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Click here to view the monthly release and maintenance schedules.
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To view known issues related to new features and enhancements, see Primo VE 2025 Known Issues.
Features
Support AZ List in Database and Journal Searches
May 2025 URM-227917
You can now configure an AZ List for the Database and Journal Search pages. This enables users to search for journal or database titles by a specific leading character or a group of numbers (0 to 9), excluding non-filing characters (such as articles A and The).
Configuration Options
This functionality is disabled by default and requires configuration in the new AZ DB and Journal Search Configuration page (Configuration > Discovery > Other > AZ DB and Journal Search Configuration). Refer to the following table for more configuration details:
| Configuration Option | Description |
|---|---|
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AZ DB and Journal Search Configuration page (Configuration > Discovery > Other > AZ DB and Journal Search Configuration) |
This page defines the letters and digits in the AZ list for Journal Search and Database Search. You can configure these characters for each active language defined with the Institution Languages page in Alma (Configuration > General > General Configuration > Institution Languages). For more details, see Configuring the AZ List for Database and Journal Searches. |
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Aria Labels code table (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Labels) |
The following codes were added to support accessibility for this functionality:
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Analytics for AZ List
To support this functionality, the following action has been added to the Action Usage subject area:
| Group | Subgroup | Action | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
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Search |
Search |
AZ list |
The user performed a Journal or Database search using the page's AZ List. |
Support for Dublin Core Application Profiles (DCAP) in Discovery
May 2025 (Updated May 4, 2025) URM-217369
Previously, DCAP dcterms or local fields could not be indexed or displayed in Primo VE. On the Manage Display and Local Fields page (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Manage Display and Local Fields), you can now define local display, facet, and search fields for Dublin Core Application Profiles 1/2 (DCAP). The DCAP metadata is indexed as is and cannot be customized with normalization rules.
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You can configure 50 DCAP local fields in total.
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When defining local fields for DCAP fields, use separate local fields for each application profile (1/2) to prevent indexing errors. For example, if defining a local field 25 for DCAP 1 and local field 25 for DCAP 2, only the first field is used, and the following error is returned: Local field <xx> is taken.
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To enable this functionality, DCAP 1 or 2 or ETD must be activated in the registry by Support.
For more details on creating local fields, see Managing Display and Local Fields for Primo VE.
Research Assistant Improvements for May
May 2025 (Updated April 23, 2025) URM-241679
This release includes the following improvements:
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URM-241557 Refined Search - Filter by Online Availability – Users can now refine their search queries by online availability. In addition, selecting the View more results link will add the following parameter to the search query: &facet=tlevel,include,online_resources. This functionality will not be fully supported until the CDI release on May 7.
Refined Search - Online AvailabilityTo support the customization and translation of the new refinement option, the following code has been added to the Research Assistant Search Screen Labels code table (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Labels):
Code Description select.search.online
Available online
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URM-237925 Remove Beta Indicator – The Beta indicator next to the Research Assistant icon and widget has been removed since Primo Research Assistant is no longer in the Beta phase.
Beta Indicator in Icon and Widget -
Institutional and User Option to Save RA Search History – Previously, RA search history was retained between sessions for signed-in users. With this enhancement, institutions can enable/disable the ability to save RA search history between sessions with the new save_users_RA_search_history parameter on the Discovery Customer Settings page (Configuration > Discovery > Other > Customer Settings):
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When set to true (default), RA search history is saved between sessions for signed-in users. Users can choose whether to enable (default)/disable this functionality with the new Allow saving Research Assistant search history option in My Account > Personal Settings. If users decide to disable it, their old RA search history is retained and displayed.
Personal Settings - RA Search History Enabled (default) -
When set to false, the new RA search history is not retained between sessions, and users cannot enable this functionality in My Account > Personal Settings.
This functionality is enabled by default but will not be fully supported until the CDI release on May 7. The following table lists the configuration settings associated with this functionality:
Element Description Discovery Customer Settings (Configuration > Discovery > Other > Customer Settings)
The new save_users_RA_search_history parameter indicates whether RA search history can be saved between sessions for signed-in users. The valid values are true (default) or false.
When this parameter and the display_user_setting parameters are set to true, users can enable/disable the ability to save their RA search history between sessions.
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If disabled at the institutional or user level, the old RA search history is still displayed, but no new history will be recorded.
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If disabled at the institutional level, users' settings for the Allow saving Research Assistant search history option in My Account > Personal Settings are retained if re-enabled.
My preferences Tile code table (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Labels)
nui.mypref.label.save_RA_history—Allow saving Research Assistant search history
Error messages code table (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Labels)
nui.mypref.label.errorSavingRASettings—Settings were not saved due to an internal server error, Please try again later.
aria Labels code table (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Labels)
nui.aria.allowSavingRAHistory—Allow saving Research Assistant search history
Primo VE Analytics
Added the following actions to the Primo Research Assistant Usage subject area:
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When a user turns off RA search history, the following action is tracked:
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Group - ResearchAssistant
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Sub-group - Search
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Action - Disable saving RA search history
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When a user turns on RA search history, the following action is tracked:
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Group - ResearchAssistant
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Sub-group - Search
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Action - Enable saving RA search history
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Research Assistant Accessibility Improvements for May
May 2025 URM-242851
The following table highlights the accessibility changes made for May.
| Issue | Resolution |
|---|---|
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Focus was lost when using the trash icon beside the conversation thread in the sidebar. |
When a trash icon is selected, the focus moves to the previous item in the conversation list. The focus moves to the research history text heading if there are no previous items. |
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When "enter" is pressed while the focus is placed on the Type and Date filter menus, the focus is lost, or if there is text in the input box, a request is submitted. |
Pressing enter should open the menu and should not submit a query. |
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When a question was submitted, the focus did not move to the question's response area. When sending a question from the home screen, the focus moves to the entire app frame. When sending a question from the conversation thread, the focus remained in the question input area. |
When a question is submitted, the focus is moved to the response area, with a focus on the user question at the top of the latest response. |
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Paragraphs are not enclosed in <p> tags within the overview, making it hard for SR users to read. |
Enclosed each paragraph in the overview in a <p> tag. |
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When the sources and overview were displayed, the screen reader was silent. |
The screen reader should announce "Response displayed below" when the response is loaded. |
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The send/search button did not have a clear focus indicator, while the PDF, Full-text link, and more details buttons had a low-contrast focus indicator. |
Outline solid 3px #1e67a0; is now used on the button elements for the focus state. |
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When the logo is pressed while in a conversation or when a conversation thread is pressed from the sidebar, the focus moves to the type menu in the filters area. |
The focus should move to the input box instead. When clicking the logo, the filters should be closed. |
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Focus was not shown when minimizing the details view with the "x" button. |
The focus style (outline) should be shown for the related source when pressing X. |
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The focus order of header elements in mobile view should go up to down, left to right. |
The header order should now be: 1) skip link, 2) the expand sidebar button, 3) the logo, and 4) the new topic button. |
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A skip link to the "Jump to question area" should appear at the end of every response. |
This has been added. |
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A border around the expanded details area is missing, and the upward-facing triangle should point to the source. A 1px border with #1e67a0 should be sufficient. |
This has been added. |
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No skip link was provided to skip the Primo header area. |
Provides a skip link as the first element on the page for SR users so they can skip repetitive content. |
Patron Default Sort
February 2025 URM-227918
Previously, the default sort for advanced and simple searches was Relevance. With this enhancement, users' default sort is based on their last selected type. For signed-in users, this setting is retained between sessions.
This functionality does not apply to other types of Primo searches (such as Browse Search and Journal Search).
Support Genre Field in Multilingual Configuration for Bib Sources
February 2025
Previously, we separated the Genre values (MARC field 655; UNIMARC field 608) from the Subject and added a separate configuration for Genre from Authority sources only. With this enhancement, we now support Genre from Bib sources as well.
Changes to this configuration require you to recalculate the records.
For more details, see Multi-Lingual Configuration in Primo VE.
Linked Open Data - Additional Authority Types using VIAF
February 2025 URM-221503
Patrons will now get enhanced linkage between bibliographic records and Person entities for vocabularies other than the Library of Congress (LC), using auto-complete from the search box, Person Info Cards on the Full Display page, and Person pages. The following vocabularies are supported using Virtual International Authority File (VIAF): GND, BARE, NLI, LCNAMES, NTA, TWNAF, EMBNE, IDREF, CANTIC, FRBNF, FAST, CZENAS, and NUKAT. For additional information, see Searching Linked Open Data - Person Entity.
This functionality requires no configuration in Primo VE but requires re-indexing.
For related configuration information in Alma, see Linked Data Enrichment Configuration.
Research Assistant - Refined Search
February 2025 - Primo Research Assistant
Users can now refine their searches by resource type (Books, Journal articles, and Peer-reviewed) and date (Last 12 months, Last 5 years, Last 10 years, or a Custom date) by selecting the Refinement icon next to the Search Box to open the refinement options. The default settings are all types and dates.
The drop-down menu items are configurable with the Research Assistant Search Screen Labels code table (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Labels). In addition, the display text for the following fields was updated, but your customizations will be retained: landing.research.question1, landing.research.question3, landing.skiplink, searchbox.placeholder.askresearchquestion, and searchbox.placeholder.askresearchquestionnext.
In addition, users can include these refinements automatically by adding a phrase that includes the resource type and date range after the question in the search box:
In the following example, the question is refined with the resource type (Journal article) and one of the pre-defined date ranges (Last 5 years). These refinements are automatically populated in the search box to use these refinements for follow-up questions:
Research Assistant - How to Cite Link
February 2025 - Primo Research Assistant (Updated January 21, 2025)
Customers can now add a link to a page to provide information regarding Research Assistant—for example, a How to Cite AI-generated Content link.
You can configure the link's display text and the link to the page containing the information in the Research Assistant Search Screen Labels code table (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Labels) with the following codes, respectively:
| Code | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| action.customlink | How to cite AI-generated content | |
| action.customlinkuri | NOT_DEFINED |
Requires a full URL to prevent a broken link. Example: https://www.google.fr |
Primo Research Assistant - Reposition Overview and Sources
February 2025 URM-232813
In the Response, the Source section has moved above the Overview section, enabling users to find materials quickly.
Relevance Sort for Authority Search
February 2025 URM-232927
Previously, results in Authority Search were sorted alphabetically in ascending order by term heading. With this enhancement, users can choose Relevance (new) or Title (sorted alphabetically by title).
To support this functionality, the Sort section was added to the Authority Search configuration on the Links Menu tab of the View Configuration page (Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Configure Views). For more information, see Configuring Discovery Views for Primo VE.
Hide Configuration Links for Code and Mapping Tables in the Alma Configuration Menu at Network Zone Level
February 2025 - Collaborative Networks 
(Added January 22, 2025)URM-231809
Six months after the General Availability (GA) of the new Consortia Central Configuration Dashboard in Alma, all Code and Mapping table configurations have been removed from the 'old' Alma and Primo VE configuration menus of the Network Zone. While operating at the Network zone institution, Network Zone administrators now access those configurations directly through the Central Configuration Dashboard.
The removed configurations from the Alma and Primo VE (Discovery) configuration menus at Network Zone Level are only:
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Code Tables
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Mapping Tables
For more information on related configurations, see Sections and Configurations Options.
Additional Enhancements
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April 2025 (Updated April 1, 2025) URM-227912
Consortia Dashboard - Labels Distribution by Row – Discovery labels can now be distributed to IZ members from the NZ institution using the Distribute Selected option. Currently, we support the following code tables: Full Display labels, Error Messages Labels, Request Labels, Resource Sharing Labels, and the Item Display Full Display Labels.
Distribute Selected Option in Discovery Code Table - April 2025 URM-231038 SF: 07262999
Email Security Vulnerability – Previously, the Email export action was vulnerable to phishing attacks. When the new customer parameter enable_email_client is set to true (Configuration > Discovery > Other > Discovery Customer Settings), Primo VE will use the device's default email client (such as Outlook, Gmail, and so forth). If there is no default email client, a blank window will open, and nothing will be executed.When enabled, the Export to Email action is limited to single records only, but records can still be exported in bulk with the Export to Excel action and the Export All option.
- April 2025 URM-241097
New Secondary Resource Type from CDI – Currently, this is unavailable and is designated for a future enhancement. The following changes were made to support different resource types based on their type (regular/warning) and appearance order from CDI:Code Table New Code/Description Facet Resource Type Labels facets.facet.facet_rtype.online_first / Online First Articles Results Tile Labels - attribute.online_first / Online First Article
- attribute.online_first_tooltip / An "Online first" article is a very recent publication that has been accepted by the publisher but is not yet assigned to a specific journal issue. It typically does not have volume, issue, or page numbers and is available only at the primary publisher website, not yet in aggregator databases.
Resolved Issues
CDI-Related Updates
This section lists the fixes and enhancements associated with CDI by their release date to ensure that Primo/VE customers are aware of the availability of these updates during and between releases of Primo/VE. When available, CDI updates are released on the first Wednesday of the month.
Unless otherwise specified, these updates apply to both Primo and Primo VE environments.