Tech Blog

A webpage to retrieve new acquisitions using Alma Analytics API

After reading the post of Laura Guy and the ELUNA 2017 presentation of Margaret Briand Wolfe, I put everything together to do a dynamic web page to show the new acquisitions in the library.

See the demo.

Four steps:
1) An Alma Analytics report to retrieve books (and other material types) arrived in our libraries in the last 30 days at status On Shelf or Loan, or Hold Shelf (that is cataloging already done). The Report retrieves some bibliographic details (MMSid, title, author etc.). In a column there is the Primo baseurl + MMSid to do a Link to the record in Primo.

This is the report:
Filter

Bibliographic details

Please note this column: Link to record

Holding information

2) A new  application to use Analytics API

3) A Php script calls the Analytics report and read the xml.
To prevent multiple API calls I use a cache system.
Example: What day is today? Is there  in dir cache a report with this date? If yes, I use this report, if not I call my Analytic Report with API and put the xml response in my dir cache. So I am sure that only a call is done in the current day.
I read the API xml response and put the result in some HTML element. Now it’s all ready to put the result in webpage

4) A  webpage has some javascript (to search, filter, customize etc.). This page include php script. This page can be included in Primo or in the library’s web site.

See the script (ver 1. In production now have ver. 2, see the demo).

6 Replies to “A webpage to retrieve new acquisitions using Alma Analytics API”

  1. Dear Luisella,

    the link to your example script seems to be down. Is the new acquisitions api still working at Firenze?

    All the best
    Matthias

  2. Hi Luisella,

    When I visit the page, I see “Le ultime acquisizioni delle biblioteche dell’Università e delle biblioteche ospitate nel catalogo UNIFI”. Is there a new page?

    Thank you!
    Jen

Leave a Reply