ERM LibGuide

Once a new resource has been ordered and the vendor sends notification that access is available, it's time to activate the resource in Alma to make it discoverable and accessible in Primo. The Implementation workflow is made up of three basic steps:

1. Search for and select the resource in the Electronic Resource Activation Task List or Community Zone to activate. 
   • If your library is using the acquisitions functionality in Alma, the resource was likely already selected from the CZ when an order record was created. If that's the case, the electronic collection or portfolio can be found in the Electronic Resource Activation Task List which can be found in the Resource menu, Manage Inventory section, and Manage Electronic Resource Activation.
   • If your library is not using the acquisitions functionality in Alma, you will need to search for and activate the electronic collection or portfolio from the CZ.
2. Activate the collection and be sure to enable the proxy for the service.
3. Verify access is working properly in Primo.

 

1. Search "Electronic Collections" for the title of the collection and when you find the correct collection , click on the "Activate" button off to the right 

 

2. On the next page of the set up wizard, don't change anything on this screen (question about the Proxy) and choose "Next." 

3. On the 3rd page of set up, you will choose how to activate electronic portfolios in the collection.  After making selection choose "Next." 

 

4. On the 4th page of the Activation Wizard, choose how the portfolios will be activated, then click "Next"

 

5. On the final page, review your submission and click "Activate." 

 

6. A job will begin to activate the portfolios.  You can monitor the job by going to Admin>Manage Jobs and view progress on the page.  

7. When the job is finished search using the facet "Electronic Collections" for the collection title and click on "Edit Collection" to go to the Additional tab. Scroll down to the bottom of the "Additional" tab and click on the hyperlink "Full Text" to enter the service portal.  

8. Enter the "Linking" tab to ensure the proxy settings are set accordingly (turned on for paid content, turned off for OA resources.) 

 

9. View the portfolio list by entering the "Portfolio" tab and can test access for each portfolio to make sure all was set up as desired.  

10. Click on "Save" in the upper right hand corner when finished.   

11. You will be returned to the Electronic Collection Editor page, click "save" again in the upper right hand corner and you will be taken back to the main page with a list of collections.   

If the library acquired a single ebook, ejournal, or streaming film from a vendor, the single portfolio will have to be activated in Alma from the appropriate vendor and interface. 

1. Search the Community Zone by Electronic Portfolio to locate the portfolio and the collection to which the portfolio belongs. Be sure to select the correct vendor and interface that matches the vendor and interface from which you have full text access.
2. Search the Community Zone for the Electronic Collection and activate the collection as a selective package
3. Select Manual Activation as the Activation Type in the Activation Wizard
4. Follow the steps above to create a selective package and only activate the single portfolio acquired from the vendor using the Manual Activation process described in the box above.

Local Content

If an electronic collection or portfolio is unavailable in the CZ, or is unavailable from the desired vendor and/or interface, it's necessary to create a local collection or portfolio.

Local Electronic Collections are created by clicking on the Add Local Electronic Collection button in the Resources menu. Portfolios are added to the collection as individual portfolios or uploaded using the Portfolio Loader as a batch. It's also possible to populate a local electronic collection with MARC records provided by the vendor using an import profile. 

Standalone Portfolios (or portfolios not attached to an electronic collection) can be added to an existing electronic collection in the CZ, linked to the CZ, or added to a local electronic collection for easier tracking and management.

Please note that creating a local portfolio, even if linking to the CZ, will still remain a local portfolio.  It will not be updated automatically fro the vendor. There will be times when it will be necessary to wait for the vendor to add the portfolio to their collection and reattach the Bib if there is a PO attached.  

 

 

Manually Create a Local Electronic Collection

1. Create an electronic collection by navigating to Resources menu, Create Inventory section, and click on Add Local Electronic Collection.
2. In the Electronic Collection Editor, enter a name and description for the collection. Select the Collection Type (Selective Package), Service Type (Full Text), and select the Library. When complete, click Save and Continue.
3. In the Electronic Service Editor, select Available for the Service Activation Status.
4. Verify the Service is correct (Full Text) and enter an optional description in the Service Description tab.
5. In the Linking tab, enter the URL provided by the vendor and enable the proxy.
6. Add Portfolios to the collection in the Portfolios tab. Portfolios can be added in one of two ways:
   • Load Portfolios as an Excel file using the Load Portfolios option (See the Using the Portfolio Loader Function box located below.)
   • Create and add a single electronic portfolio by following these steps:
     • Navigate to the Portfolios tab, click Add Portfolio, and select Add Local Portfolio
     • Enter the following information:
       • Creation Type: Create New Title
       • Record Type: One Time or Continuing
       • Placement of New Record: Institution
       • Title, Author, ISSN or ISBN
       • Enter coverage information for journal portfolios
       • Enter the URL provided by the vendor, select the material type, and enable the default proxy
7. As always, click Save when complete.

 

 

Using the Portfolio Loader Function

Upload an Excel file of portfolio information to upload an entirely new batch of portfolios, delete an entire batch of portfolios, or make changes to select portfolios.

1. In the Electronic Services Editor, navigate to the Portfolios tab and click on Load Portfolios.

 

2. To batch upload an entirely new set of portfolios, select Complete for the Loading Policy Type and Add Local Portfolios for the Select Action. Make sure that Institution is selected for Select Catalog, upload the file, select Validate Online, and click Next.

3. To batch delete an entire set of portfolios, select Complete for the Loading Policy Type and Delete Portfolios for the Select Action. Make sure to also select Delete Bibliographic Record(s) in the Handling Bibliographic Records Without Inventory field. Upload the file and click Next.

4. To make changes to some of the portfolios in the collection, select Incremental as the Loading Policy Type. A drop down menu will appear in the Select Action section. Select the desired action: update some of the portfolios, delete some of the portfolios, or add new portfolios to the collection. Upload the file and click Next.

 

5. Alma will validate the file and make available an Excel file with all the portfolios that did not validate properly on the next screen.

 

6. Download the file as these portfolios will have to be handled manually.

7. Click the button to Activate the job which will add, delete, or update the portfolios.

 

 

Create a Local Portfolio Linked to a Community Zone Bib

1. Click Resources >> Create Inventory >> Add Local Portfolio.

2. This will open New Portfolio page.

• Descriptive Information

1. Creation type: Select the Use Existing Title radio button.
2. Choose title: 
   • Select title from list (the "bulleted list" icon)
   • This will open up a repository search so that you can search for the electronic title in the Community Zone. We know the CZ bib record exists from our original search.
   • Search the Community Zone by ISBN or title
   • Select the title (this will bring the bibliographic info into the New Portfolio screen

 

 

 

• General Information 

This is where you attach the local portfolio to an existing electronic collection.

1. Portfolio type: Select the Part of an Electronic Collection radio button (*this is a very important part)
2. Electronic Collection: Choose the electronic collection your eBook is a part of.
3. Service: Is populated automatically by the collection
4. Library: You can select the purchasing Library at this point (or leave it until activation)

 

Coverage Information

Not relevant to eBooks usually.

 

Inventory and Linking Information

We want to use Parser Parameters instead of static URLs.

1. Parser Parameters: This will need to be created; every collection has a different structure (you can consult existing portfolios in the collection to see how they are structured); if unknown this can be left blank and the parser parameters can be added at the point of activation. 
2. Availability status: Select Inactive radio button (since we are creating this at the point of ordering the resource is not active yet, we will follow the usual activation process for eBooks)
3. Electronic material type: Choose Book
4. Click Save and Done

 

 

You now have a Local portfolio linked to an electronic collection that you can place your order on in Alma.

Place order from this portfolio as usual.

 

Testing access to a newly activated electronic resource in both Alma and Primo is a good practice. As described in the activation workflow, one can test access to electronic portfolios in Alma using the Test Access functionality. By testing access in Alma immediately after activating a resource, you can identify issues with access before the electronic resource is discoverable in Primo.

After activating and testing access in Alma, it's worthwhile to go a step further and test access in Primo as Primo is the interface with which users will be interacting. By testing access in Primo, you'll be checking the following items:

• Portfolio bibliographic record
  • Does access work properly on and off-campus?
  • Is the View Online section of the detailed record properly displaying collections?
• Article or chapter-level searching and indexing
  • Can a user discover an article or chapter within the portfolio?
  • Does access to the article or chapter work properly both on and off-campus?