Importing Users from a Library System to Rapido
User can be managed in Rapido using the same tools that are used in Alma, i.e. by manually creating them in the Rapido UI, by importing from a student information system (SIS), or by using APIs.
Where the library’s ILS supports NCIP, we recommended against importing patron accounts using one of the aforementioned tools. Rather, using the NCIP integration between Rapido and the library system, Rapido can pull patron accounts from the ILS as needed, i.e. when the user needs to log in to the discovery or when the library staff want to create a request on behalf of the patron. The patron account is refreshed by the ILS every time the user re-logs in to the discovery.
The LOOK UP USER section (Configuration > General > External Systems > Integration Profiles) of the Rapido/ILS integration Profile can be configured to import users as shown below.
This option affects how users are managed when logging to the discovery interface, and in Rapido’s user management page.
The Discovery Interface
With every login of the patron to the discovery interface, Rapido trys to match the authenticated user with an existing user account. For example, if the user authenticated using Shibboleth, Rapido takes the user ID that has been communicated by Shibboleth following the successful login, and tries to match it to an existing account.
- If no existing account is found, then Rapido uses the NCIP LookupUser message to pull the account from the ILS.
- If an existing account is found, Rapido refreshes it. For example, if the patron’s email address has been updated on the ILS after the record was initially created in Rapido, the updated email address is refreshed in Rapido on the next login.
Rapido User Management
When the Import users checkbox is checked in the Rapido/ILS integration Profile, selecting Add User (Admin > User Management > Manage Users) enables the pulling the user record from the ILS by selecting Get user from library system, typing the user ID, and selecting Find User.
The result is that the user record is fetched from the ILS, and its attributes populate the Quick User Management form as per the configurations in the LOOK UP USER section of the Rapido/ILS integration Profile.
The user record is saved, and is ready to be used for processing new requests.