Step-by-step configuration tutorials for ExLibris Alma and Primo, covering administration, analytics, and discovery setup for library system administrators.
| Lesson | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| Introduction to Alma Administration | Covers administrator roles, the configuration interface, and key online resources for Alma admins. |
| Integration Profiles | Configure connections to external systems — SIS, ERP, and vendors — using Integration Profiles. |
| Job Scheduling and Monitoring | Schedule and monitor automated Alma jobs for fulfillment, acquisitions, and other processes. |
| Letters Configuration | Enable, disable, and customize patron and staff letter templates using XSL and label editing. |
| Lesson | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| Acquisition Methods | Configure which acquisition methods (Purchase, Gift, Exchange, etc.) appear on PO Lines and set the default. |
| Fiscal Period Rollover | Run the three sequential rollover jobs to carry ledgers, PO Lines, and resource sharing into a new fiscal period. |
| License Terms | Control which license term sections and individual terms appear on the License Terms tab, including patron-visible terms. |
| Purchasing and Invoice Rules | Automate the Review and Approval steps of purchasing and invoicing workflows using configurable rules. |
| Reporting Codes | Configure five custom PO Line attributes for Analytics reporting and apply them to orders and invoice lines. |
| Lesson | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| Calendar Management | Manage institution and library open/closed calendars, add closure exceptions, and correct due dates after changes. |
| Display Logic Rules | Control which patron-facing services (Get It, View It, How to Get) appear in Discovery using conditional rules. |
| Fines and Fees | Understand where fine and fee parameters live within Terms of Use, policies, and rules, and how to update them. |
| Fulfillment Configuration Utility | Use the Fulfillment Configuration Utility to look up the loan terms, due dates, and fines that apply to any patron/item combination without creating a transaction. |
| Fulfillment Policies and Terms of Use | Build the layered fulfillment model by configuring individual policies and combining them into Terms of Use. |
| Locations and Transit Time Rules | Create and configure physical locations, attach circulation desks, and set transit time rules between libraries. |
| Overdue and Lost Loan Profiles | Set up profiles that send patron notices, apply fines, add blocks, and convert overdue loans to lost at configurable intervals. |
| Patron and Loan Limits | Define thresholds that block patron accounts and restrict simultaneous checkouts by user group, material type, and location. |
| User Blocks | Create block descriptions and definitions that restrict patron services when fine, overdue, or account conditions are met. |
| Work Orders | Track items moving through internal processes (preservation, digitization, cataloging) using work order types, statuses, and departments. |
| Lesson | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| Brief Level Rules | Configure rules that assign completeness scores to bibliographic records to protect full records from overlay and enable targeted batch updates. |
| Call Number Mapping | Customize the table that auto-populates call numbers from bibliographic to holdings records, and create holdings templates. |
| Import Profiles | Set up multi-stage import profiles covering data source, normalization, match/merge, tagging, and inventory creation. |
| Item Description Templates | Configure template rules to auto-generate serial item descriptions and sort physical items using sort routines. |
| Metadata Profiles | Edit MARC 21 field/subfield definitions, configure normalization processes, and set up validation rules and exception profiles. |
| Publishing Profiles | Send bibliographic or authority records from Alma to external systems such as OCLC, Primo, and Google Scholar. |
| Search Index Configuration | Control which search indexes appear in simple and advanced searches, disable unused indexes, and rename local field labels. |
| Lesson | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| Analytics Introduction — Running and Creating Reports | Navigate the Analytics interface, customize existing reports, and build new reports from scratch using Design Analytics. |
| Analytics Objects | Expose Analytics reports to library staff by creating Analytics Objects tied to user roles, dashboards, and scheduled emails. |
| User Statistics Configuration | Configure five custom Statistical Category slots, assign them to user records, and include them in Analytics reports. |
| Lesson | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| Running and Creating Reports | Use Design Analytics (Oracle Analytics Server) to find overdue items with an existing report and build a new vendor expenditure report. |
| Analytics Objects | Connect Analytics reports to Alma menus, dashboards, email subscriptions, and homepage widgets via Analytics Objects. |
| User Statistics | Set up configurable Statistical Category slots, assign values to patrons, and report on custom user data in Analytics. |
| Lesson | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| Views | Create and manage Primo VE views that define the patron-facing search interface, results display, and available services. |
| UI Customization | Brand the Primo VE interface using the Customization Package (CSS/HTML/JS) or Primo Studio visual editor. |
| Search Configuration | Configure scopes, search profiles, and slots to control what content is searched and how results are filtered and sorted. |
| Local Fields and Resource Types | Map additional bibliographic metadata for search, faceting, and display, and define custom local resource type categories. |
| Labels and My Library Card | Customize patron-facing UI text labels and configure what patrons see on their My Library Card page. |
| Discovery Import Profiles | Import external records (XML, Dublin Core, MARC 21) into Primo VE using normalization rules, process tasks, and import profiles. |
| Delivery Services | Configure Get It request forms, item location display, electronic service links, and How to Get It options for patron access. |
| Lesson | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| Views (v2) | Create and manage Primo VE views in an NDE environment, controlling catalog access and patron-facing configuration. |
| UI Customization (v2) | Apply institutional branding — logo, favicon, colors, banner, and HTML content — via the Customization Package in an NDE deployment. |
| Search Configuration (v2) | Set up scopes, search profiles, slots, resource type filters, and quick filters for patron search in Primo NDE. |
| Local Fields (v2) | Extend search, faceting, and display in Primo NDE by mapping bibliographic metadata to local fields and creating local resource types. |
| Labels and My Library Activity (v2) | Customize UI label text and configure the patron-facing My Library Activity page in Primo NDE. |
| Discovery Import Profiles (v2) | Bring external records into Primo NDE discovery using normalization rules, process tasks, and discovery import profile configuration. |
| Delivery Services (v2) | Configure request forms, location information display, and electronic service links for patron delivery in Primo NDE. |
These tuts cover the same seven topics as the VE tuts. But here's what's meaningfully different or expanded in each:
1. Views (v2) — Adds detail on the Brief Record Display tab (drag-and-drop reordering, delimiter configuration, summary/snippet checkboxes, action groups) and the Full Record Services tab (expand-by-default checkboxes, row-level Configure option).
2. Labels and My Library Activity (v2) — Introduces the ?debugLabels=true URL parameter method for finding label codes directly in the browser, plus the multi-language label filter workflow. My Library Activity section adds concrete examples (Loan Date, Loan Status, Year, Main Location Name) and covers the patron self-service preferences (search history, UI language, credentials).
3. Search Configuration (v2) — Adds detail on Quick Filters (drag-and-drop ordering above results), the Search Profile Slots column in advanced search (for showing index options conditionally based on the selected slot), and Resource Type Filters in the Brief Results tab.
4. Local Fields (v2) — Includes a regex example with explanation ({32}[AOC]) for local resource type mapping, and clarifies the secondary table requirement for enabling search/facet on normalization-rule fields.
5. Delivery Services (v2) — Restructured around the three explicit delivery sections (Request Forms, Location Information, Links). Adds the step-by-step service availability rule configuration with a concrete ISBN example.
6. UI Customization (v2) — The most significantly different tutorial: a practical step-by-step package workflow including folder renaming (colon → hyphen), the Assets subfolder structure, homepage HTML editing, multi-language homepage files, color theme selection, logo URL, and view-specific banner text via label code.
7. Discovery Import Profiles (v2) — Largely parallel to v1 but with cleaner stage labeling and a clarifying note that normalization rules must be added to a process before creating the import profile.