Keynote – Seamless Access: the successor to IP filtering, Rich Wenger (MIT, retired)
The effort to specify an access model for e-resources to replace IP filtering (RA21) has made great progress in the past year. This presentation will discuss the current state of the project and will include a live demonstration.
APIs for the Non-technical – Janetta Waterhouse (University at Albany)
Perhaps you have heard the hype of API, or Application Programmer Interface, and would like to understand what it means in order to determine if and how it might be useful to your work. This presentation will cover APIs from a conceptual point of view, delve into some specific Alma APIs, and give examples of how they can be used in your work environment. Non-technical people will be able to understand how all types of APIs, not just Alma, can be used to streamline work.
Basic Bursar Integration Setup – Chris Wieman (Community College of Philadelphia)
I will show how I configured Alma to export a fine for lost books, and discuss some of the other work that librarians, IT staff, and the bursar’s office did to complete our plan to automate library fines. This includes update/config. of email notices; producing a script (code) to get fines into our SIS (Banner); and using Analytics to produce reports and automate their delivery by email to the bursar’s office for data checking.
The Blockbuster Model in a Netflix World – Zack Lane (Columbia University)
“Solid evidence and creative thinking make a case for setting aside legacy policies and focus on adding value to transactions for every library user. Columbia University’s large-scale lending data led the Ivy Plus Confederation to re-think policies and overcome fears. There is a saying that “culture eats strategy for lunch” and librarians are not immune to the challenges of implementing change in environments with deeply ingrained culture. Zack Lane narrates a journey through data sets, policy semantics and workflow acrobatics. Data analysis predicted longer loan periods result in greater patron satisfaction and low risk. The analysis of Columbia University’s lending and borrowing led to many policy changes. Zack’s advocacy has in turn led to a widespread adoption of a 16-week loan period. Zack was able to demonstrate that invoicing for long-overdue materials, especially among consortial partners, was a mostly squandered effort requiring a significant expenditure of staff time for meager benefit for the mission of research, teaching and learning. As the status quo shifts the iterative process of operational improvement focuses on recalls.”
Crazy prepared: processing Reserve items at point of order – Jackie Saavedra (University of the District of Columbia)
Many academic libraries can expect an onslaught of new Reserve materials before the beginning of the Fall and Spring semesters. How does one make this overwhelming process easier for you, your staff, and your patrons? By getting the hard work over and done with before they even arrive. This presentation will review how to (almost) fully process Reserve items at point of order, reviewing helpful functions in the Acquisitions, Resources, and Fulfillment areas of Alma.
A Few Practical Considerations: License Data and Alma – Karin Wikoff (Ithaca College)
Long before you ever enter one single license term into Alma, there are a lot of decisions to be made, research and organization of documents, configuring the intake form, creating a workflow, and much more. We’ll go through all the considerations then open the floor to discussion as we seek best practices.
From Peer-to-Peer to the Automated Fulfillment Network: Migrating Libraries in a Network Zone – Parker Fruehan, Pam Williams, Patrick L. Carr (Connecticut State Colleges & Universities)
In the summer of 2019, the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities Library Consortium initiated a project to enhance resource sharing among its 18 member institutions (each of which has separate Alma/Primo instances integrated in a Network Zone). The project entailed migration from a manual Peer-to-Peer Fulfillment Network to the Automated Fulfillment Network. This presentation will discuss the project, including the reasons for pursuing migration, challenges faced, lessons learned, and current status.
Hacking Together a New Books Display for Primo – Joelle Thomas (Trinity College)
To promote print materials, I created a visual display of new books across our consortium to display as both a stand-alone webpage and as an embedded slider within Primo. I will cover the process of planning out this project and share the code I wrote that makes it work.
Impact of Alma-Primo Implementation on User Engagement with Library System in an Urban Public University: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis – Yueqing Chen (University of Massachusetts Boston)
In January 2018, University of Massachusetts Boston, a nationally recognized as a student-centered urban public research university, launched its first state-of-the-art comprehensive online resources and discovery Alma-Primo library system, locally branded as ‘UMBrella’. A study was conducted 2.5 years after the launch of Alma-Primo to evaluate the effect of Alma-Primo implementation on user utilization of the new library system. In this presentation, the presenter will share the methods and the results of the study.
Implementing Alma Digital – Liz Bodian, Andrew Parker, Brian Meuse (Brandeis University)
We are currently implementing Alma Digital and have run into some unexpected problems. We will discuss those and our solutions.
It’s automagic technically once the stars align – David Schuster, Marian Stern (Binghamton University)
Using Alma’s automation options Binghamton University has setup several integrations and publishing profiles to update and get updates from several sources. We will talk about the technical aspects of setting up several tools. Looking at integrations for OVID, and Springer with publishing profiles for OASIS, and IDS logic, along with loading profiles for MARCIVE, and others along with EDI invoice setup. We can also talk about our API integrations with Ares, OASIS, and GOBI.
Judging by the Cover: promoting discovery and usage through thumbnail configurations and browsable collections – Dom Bortruex (American University)
American University (AU) provides users with access to unique, entertaining collections, including board games, comics, cookbooks, and media. While metadata describes the materials, images grab users’ attention and provide a more accurate representation. Implementing automated processes and Alma features, including Alma’s thumbnail configuration and Primo’s Collection Lobby, the library created a “digital window shopping” experience for users. Users can now virtually browse through collections as if they were in person, having the chance to select comics based on illustration style or board games based on pieces. This project, developed as an automated workflow, resulted in increased discovery and interest of these collections. The presentation will showcase the browsable collections and share the automated workflow and procedures necessary for implementing this discovery enhancing project.
Managing Data Cleanup Projects – Janetta Waterhouse (University at Albany)
Whether you have multiple issues related to pre- or post-migration or just have many problems with your data in Alma, this presentation will help determine how to move forward while keeping up with operations. The discussion will include identifying, scoping, organizing, prioritizing, executing, and testing data cleanup projects from the perspective of taking the most advantage of a library services platform. General project management principles will be discussed, as well as tips on how to find the most efficient process for completing cleanup tasks, including some examples with Alma sets and jobs.
Printing in Alma: How We Got There from Here – Emily Kelly (Harvard University)
Alma’s email printing setup is a big change from previous systems and can present challenges and decision points to implement with libraries’ existing printer infrastructure. Harvard is using a combination of methods to facilitate printing from Alma, including email-enabled printers, email client rules, and routing printing through a third party email-to-print application. What works, and what can still be improved? Come take a tour.
Simplifying EDI Transfer in Voyager – Steelsen Smith (Yale University)
Library EDI makes ordering more efficient, but moving files with FTP isn’t fun. This presentation will walk through a self-service tool to automate EDI transfers so that there’s no new scripting work required when a new connection is established.
SUNY Network Zone Resource Sharing – Timothy Jackson (SUNY Library)
Shared Services I will give an overview of how SUNY implemented network zone resource sharing, discuss how things have gone to date, share lessons learned to date, and detail plans for the future.
The SUNY Primo VE experience: from standalone discovery to more tightly integrated systems – Heidi Webb (SUNY Upstate Medical University), Nancy Babb (University at Buffalo), Amanda Hollister (SUNY Broome Community College), Jill Locascio (SUNY College of Optometry)
Representatives from a large university center, a community college, a small specialized college, and a medical institution share their experiences migrating from Summon, EDS, Full Text Finder, and SerialSolutions to Primo VE in a consortial environment. Panelists will take your questions and talk about what they wished they’d known, migration gotcha’s, steps forward, exciting customizations, and any other areas of interest to attendees.
Usability Insights in Designing and Deploying the New Primo UI – Billy Cryer (University of Texas at El Paso/UMass Dartmouth)
This presentation will provide a summary of the experiences at UMass Dartmouth in rolling out the New Primo UI, which went live in January of 2019. The discussion will focus on how the Primo Task Force at the Claire T. Carney Library took advantage of surveys and other usability efforts in designing, configuring, and deploying the new library discovery platform. Included in the discussion is a review of unexpected outcomes and other takeaways from the usability efforts.
Using Alma APIs to Improved Resource Sharing Management – Eric Bivona (Dartmouth College Library)
The Dartmouth College Library recently migrated to Alma and PrimoVE. We utilize ILLiad and OCLC/Relais (BorrowDirect) for Resource Sharing. We had tracked all RS Lending in our previous ILS and wished to continue this practice in Alma. The default Alma NCIP implementation did not meet our needs as it did not record the information about the institution we were loaning the item to. We have deployed an NCIP proxy to implement the CheckOutItem request using Alma APIs that allows us to track all of our loans to specific institutions, and thus we can manage all of our lending activity in one place.
Using Argos for Loading Patrons – Michael Paulmeno (Skidmore College)
Argos, created by eVisions, is billed as an enterprise reporting tool which ‘delivers the insights that you need in order to make timely, better-informed decisions”. However it can also be used to prepare data for consumption by computer systems, including integrated library systems. This presentation will demonstrate how one can use Argos to extract patron data from a central database, format it, and send the resulting report to another system to be uploaded. It will use Voyager as an example, however the general principles are applicable to other Ex Libris systems such as Alma.
UX & Tweaks to the Primo Interface: Show & Tell Exchange – Angela Walker, Christina Dicarro, Sharon Clapp (Connecticut State Colleges & Universities)
Let’s share what we’ve learned from the usability tests conducted on our libraries’ respective Primo interfaces and talk about the “tweaks” that we’ve added to improve our systems. Connecticut State University librarians Angela Walker, Christina Dicarro, and Sharon Clapp will lead a robust “show and tell” exchange about Primo usability. This team organized and executed a consortium-wide usability testing project at multiple Connecticut State College & University locations and have presented about it in the past “sage on the stage” style (see: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1L5_PYMCsNG5i77k_PrYkjs2USIE1gQ9OMy0MUVNIgrc/edit?usp=sharing). They think that ENUG is the perfect place to tap into the wisdom of their colleagues from other Ex Libris libraries. They’ll lead the session with a summary of their experiences, then it’s your turn. Bring stories of your own library’s usability tests (website and/or discovery tool) and Primo tweaks. We can talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is the perfect time to get feedback on whatever Primo user experience ideas you have. Bring along your screenshots, prototypes, spreadsheets, github repos, questions for your colleagues or just war stories and crazy pie-in-the-sky if-only-Primo-could ideas… We will make our findings and solutions available on Github.
Where’s My Field? Customizing Primo Display Using MARC21 Normalization Rules – Colin Bitter, Yuji Tosaka (The College of New Jersey)
The College of New Jersey migrated to from Voyager to Alma/Primo VE in June 2019. One of the most important aspects of the migration process was configuring display and local fields for repository records using MARC21 normalization rules. While normalization rules can offer Primo libraries a great deal of flexibility in customizing local displays, they can be challenging to learn, especially since they do not use the same syntax as the Alma normalization rules available in the metadata editor. This presentation will provide a basic introduction to altering the normalization rules for the out-of-the-box display fields in Alma, adding local fields for MARC content not defined in the default Primo record display, and offer more complex instructions on how to customize Primo’s haphazard display of subject headings and subdivisions. Additionally, the presenters will demonstrate how to use Alma bibliographic normalize-on-save functions in tandem with local display fields.
Your Moment of Zen(desk): Tracking and Triaging Alma/Primo Issues – R.C. Miessler (Gettysburg College)
In 2019, Gettysburg College migrated to Alma/Primo VE after nearly 25 years on Innovative Interfaces platforms. Knowing something better than Excel worksheets would be required to track issues from users and triage requests from library staff, we configured a Zendesk account to serve as an internal ticketing system and implemented ways for users to report problems with records in Primo VE. Using Zendesk, our Alma administrators and our electronic resources librarian are able to manage requests, resolve issues, or make the determination if a Salesforce ticket should be created for Ex Libris’s review. This session will introduce the rationale for using an external ticketing system, review the technical setup, and discuss workflows for tracking and triaging questions.