Fulfillment services
Alma offers the ability to “get” printed material or “view” electronic and digital material. The workflow described in this article refers to material that was initiated in Alma and harvested in the discovery system. The workflow for other material is described in OpenURL Resolving.
The publishing from Alma to the discovery system contains inventory information. Based on this information, the discovery system can give an indication (in the results page) whether the title is available in print (i.e. it is possible to ‘get it’) or electronic (it is possible to ‘view’ it) version.
There are two options for implementing fulfillment services once the user clicks on one of the viewit/getit options:
- Services page (eligible for customers with a subscription to an Ex Libris discovery product), or
- API based
The focus of this article is on implementing fulfillment services using the services page. For more information on implementing fulfillment services using APIs, see the “Request Options API” documentation and blog.
Implementing fulfillment services using services page
The services page is a dedicated page that displays a record’s services (such as access to full text). For example:
This page is invoked using an OpenURL request in the following format:
https://<Alma_domain>/openurl/<Alma_institution_code>/<view_code>?
Where the base URL includes the following elements:
- Alma_domain – Specify the domain for your Alma’s server
- Alma_institution_code – Specify the institution code defined in Alma
- view_code – Specify the code that is defined for your view. The default view is <institution code>:AlmaGeneralView
For example: https://na01.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/openurl/01MY_INST/01MY_INST:Services
The services page can be invoked based on title’s mms id, ie id or a specific portfolio id. These information pieces are available as part of the published data. Following is a list of the supported parameters:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| rft.mms_id | The specific MMS ID |
| portfolio_pid | The specific portfolio PID (relevant only for viewit, and can be used only when rft.mms_id is not included). When using this parameter, test_access=true should be sent as well. |
| rft_dat | private data area of the OpenURL which includes the following: ie=[ie id],language=[language_code] example: rft_dat=ie=2151085540004141,language=EN |
| u.ignore_date_coverage | true This parameter is required in order to get all services that are related to the specific mms_id or portfolio_id, regardless their coverage. |
| Force_direct | To force a redirect to an electronic journal’s full text include following parameter: Force_direct=true |
For more information on services page configuration, see Alma OLH:
Note:
- If you configured all relevant parameters and still don’t see the Services page please contact Ex Libris support
- If you do not have the “Discovery” menu in Alma, use the default view: <institution code>:AlmaGeneralView
Customization of this view can be done in Configuration > General > User Interface Settings > Alma Viewer and Deposit Customization.
Links to E-resources in the results list
- Electronic inventory should be published from Alma to the discovery system, including portfolio pid
- In the results page, the discovery system should display a list of the electronic resources, according to the published data. Each electronic resource should link to the services page, with the portfolio_pid parameter, test_access=true and Force_direct=true.
Authentication
Fulfillment services might be allowed for logged-in users only. The login options in services page are the various authentication methods supported in Alma.
In order to have login options in the services page, the following is needed:
Important Note: The OpenURL integration is intended for integrating Alma with third party discovery systems. Using it for other workflows is not supported.