EndNote offers a "Find Full Text" feature that allows users to locate full text for citations. EndNote Find Full Text can now be configured to obtain PDFs from the Ex Libris Alma Link resolver.  To use Alma Link Resolver with EndNote, there are three key preference fields users need to modify, highlighted here in Yellow:  OpenURL:…

Bibliographic Data Services (BDS) is a vendor which provides Enriched Metadata services for institutions. In order to automate the metadata enrichment process, Alma institutions can now integrate with BDS and automatically receive enriched bibliographic MARC records using ordering (PO line) and invoicing information which are sent automatically from Alma to BDS and by that informing…

The GET /almaws/v1/conf/code-tables/{codeTableName} API gives the ability to retrieve a list of code table rows: for each row, the code value and its related description. The main usage of this API is for applications that use Alma APIs, and need to give the user a drop-down of valid values to choose from. A previous blog…

See also How to add a ‘Forgot My Password’ link to the login page in the new UI when using Alma for authentication   As of the March 2020 release, Alma’s SAML Integration supports creating and updating users on the fly, based on their information in the IdP. The workflow is as following: User is…

Alma supports login using OpenID Connect standard. Following are instructions for defining an Auth0 app to allow login to Alma using Auth0. For general information about OpenID Connect and Alma, see here. Connect to Auth0. On the dashboard, click “Applications” and then “Create Application”. Fill in the Name field. Choose "Regular Web Applications" as the…

Following is a high level workflow for using Alma API, and parsing the response in Python XML Element Tree: Create a report in Analytics Go into your institutional developer’s portal and set up an API Key for Analytics. See https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis/ Create a Python script that queries this report through the API.   The URL should be…

Purchase order lines might be manually created in Alma. It is also common that an order is initiated outside of Alma - in a vendor dedicated system or in a selection portal - and then loaded to Alma for processing and further management. Purchase order lines (PO lines) can be loaded to Alma in 2…

See also APIs - Using API Restriction Profiles.pptx   There are cases in which institutions give an API key to a third party, in order to allow them to submit APIs. For example, institutions that use Real Time Ordering integration give an API key to a vendor (e.g. ProQuest) in order to create PO-lines. In a…

The Alma acquisitions process includes ordering and receiving materials from vendors, which involves the handling of both orders and invoices by vendors. Invoices are handled outside of the library's scope, usually by the institution's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Invoices must therefore be exported from Alma to the institution's financial system. Institutions that want to…

The purpose of this blog is to describe in details the required steps for creating a new invoice in Alma using APIs. In general, creating an invoice using APIs is parallel to creating an invoice manually in the Alma UI. The following steps are required: Create an invoice Add invoice lines Process the invoice (in…

  Update (March 2021)- Alma letters configuration now includes an easy way to get XML samples from within Alma. For more information please refer to the OLH. Hence, this blog will no longer be updated. Sample XML files for Alma's letters can be used to test changes to the XSL files. For your convenience, we…

Alma supports login using social network details. See Social Login for more details. Following are instructions for defining a Facebook app to allow login to Alma using Facebook. Note that in order to define the Facebook app, you need an active Facebook account. This can be a personal account or a "general" account for the…

A Fulfillment Network defines a relationship between Alma institutions that provide out-of-scope services to each other. The purpose of this article is to describe how Fulfillment Network functionality is supported by Alma APIs. For more details regarding Fulfillment Networks see Alma OLH. Background Before providing services, a patron must be recognized in Alma. In a…

So, you have decided to use the Alma APIs. This is great! Alma API documentation contains 3 important areas that we strongly recommend you read: General information about generating API keys General description about our APIs style  API specific information, including details about the various parameters and payload structure This article includes some tips and…

The Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST) is a distributed retrospective print journal repository program. Participating libraries need to publish their holding records to WEST in a format that meets WEST's disclosure requirements. UW Libraries are using a script in order to publish holding records to WEST. You can find the relevant information here. Please note…

During 2017 we have done some work on the Alma cataloging APIs in order to enable more cataloging options such as validation, normalization etc. This article focuses on the new cataloging APIs features, including detailed explanation and samples. The following table summarize the new cataloging APIs features: API Description Notes POST /almaws/v1/bibs Create BIB record…

Alma allows authenticating using SAML based IDP. Following are instructions for configuring and using Microsoft Azure as an IDP with Alma: Create Microsoft account, and register to Azure. In the left hand navigation pane, click on Azure Active Directory. Click on the App registrations tab, and click Add. Follow the prompts and create a new web…

External users are stored and managed outside the library’s scope, usually in another system maintained by the institution (for example, in a Student Information System). These users' information is loaded into Alma and is synchronized on a regular basis. During SIS synchronization, the user data from the SIS overrides the user data in Alma: Core…

It is possible to submit jobs using the Alma APIs. It is also possible to retrieve the results of a specific job submission. As of the Alma December 2016 release, the job instance object for MD Import jobs will also include "action" fields. For example: <actions> <action link="/almaws/v1/sets?population=MATCHES_FOUND&instance_job_id=16048404370001021"> <type>CREATE_SET</type> <population>MATCHES_FOUND</population> <members>10</members> </action> <action link="/almaws/v1/sets?population=MULTI_MATCHES&instance_job_id=16048404370001021"> <type>CREATE_SET</type>…

The Guest Sandbox is our demo environment. Users who do not have an institutional account can sign up to the Developers Network portal as guests, test our APIs and retrieve results from our demo environment. Note that only the GET method is supported with the Guest sandbox, and not the POST and PUT methods. It…

Alma supports login using social network details. See Social Login for more details. Following are instructions for defining a Google app to allow login to Alma using Google . Connect to Google APIs Console with the library's google account. Create a project with any name. In the left pane, select "Credentials" > "Oath consent screen". Enter:…

The Alma scan-in API is useful in order to put items back in place by the end of the day. The following UNIX (C-shell) script can be used in order to perform a "bulk" scan-in on a list of barcodes in a single file. As you can see in the below script, the scan-in API…

A common cataloging workflow is exporting a set of bibliographic records from Alma, working on them (e.g. adding local fields) and importing them back to Alma. This blog post describes the steps for performing this workflow using Alma APIs. Define the set of bibliographic records to be exported See OLH for more details. This can…

It is possible to submit jobs and check the results using Alma APIs. The Jobs API supports 2 job types: Manual jobs Perform actions on a pre-defined set of records. Available in the "Run a job" list in the Alma UI. Scheduled jobs Jobs that might be running periodically. In the Alma UI, it is…

Alma gives staff users the ability to view lists of items that require action. Such lists are called task lists. For example, task list of borrowing requests includes list of requests that should be reviewed by a resource sharing staff. The staff will review each borrowing request in the list, and will decide whether to…

Alma supports data sharing and collaboration across institutions in a streamlined manner. Each institution may choose its collaborative partners and establish a collaborative network to jointly manage shared resources: For general information about networks in Alma, see Alma OLH This article focuses on API and integration workflows in a network topology. NZ API key vs.…

To maintain optimum performance and ensure that infrastructure resources are not disproportionately used in an inefficient manner, Alma has Governance Thresholds in place. Governance thresholds ensure that no single institution negatively impacts other Alma institutions, prevent performance degradation and can help reduce the risks of malicious attacks (See Alma Governance Thresholds for more details). If…

Talis Aspire is an electronic reading list management system. It can provide access to resources for students, embedding resources directly into the lists. Institutions that work with both Alma/Primo and Talis Aspire, should handle the following integration points between the systems: In Primo: send bookmarks to Aspire Aspire's bookmarklet tool allows you to 'bookmark' a…

Introduction: It often happens that a user makes changes to the xsl configuration of a letter and then needs to check how these changes actually appear in the letter. It is desired to see these changes, to know if they appear as desired, without actually sending the letter by email. For example if changing the…

Edited: Read about the fully automated solution for the integration with BrowZine here.  

Real Time Acquisition General Overview Instructions for Institutions Instructions for vendors General overview of ExLibris APIs methodology Common APIs for Acquisitions Vendor Integration Related blogs   This article contains the required steps for vendors, in order to set up a real-time acquisitions workflow with ExLibris Alma. For general description of the real-time acquisitions workflow, see…

Real Time Acquisition General Overview Instructions for Institutions Instructions for vendors General overview of ExLibris APIs methodology Related blogs This article contains the required steps for institutions, in order to set up a real-time acquisitions workflow with participating vendors. For general description of the real-time acquisitions workflow, see here. Note: This article is general, for…

General Overview Instructions for Institutions Instructions for vendors General overview of ExLibris APIs methodology Related blogs Real-time ordering is an integration between ExLibris Alma and Academic Library Service Providers, to streamline material ordering. It incorporates standard ordering and loading technologies with APIs to speed the availability of resources, increase the efficiency of integrating records, and…

The content of this article was contributed by Catherine Wilbur from the University of Windsor <cwilbur@UWINDSOR.CA>   In the University of Windsor We use ERP Enterprise One version 8.0 as our Finance system. This system expects invoices in CSV format. We use XSLT in order to convert the Alma exported invoices from XML format to the…

There are two basic types of user accounts in Alma: Internal users and External users. Internal users are users that exist only in Alma. They are created manually by library staff and are managed entirely within the library's scope: Authentication, updates, and user-related queries are performed using the Alma internal database. External users are users…

The content of this article was contributed by John Halvorson from the University of Minnesota <halvo043@umn.edu>   Demand Driven Acquisition is defined by the NISO DDA Working Group as "Acquisition of library materials based on patron use at the point of need" and Patron Driven Acquisition is "Commonly used synonymously with demand-driven acquisition, but also…

The content of this article was contributed by Kingsley Boulton from the University of York <kingsley.boulton@york.ac.uk> Scope of data published We report to SUNCAT our print and electronic journal holdings. The majority of our journals are now in electronic format. Note that in the University of York, print and electronic holdings are always attached to separate…

The content of this article was contributed by Kingsley Boulton from the University of York <kingsley.boulton@york.ac.uk> Scope of data published We report to Copac our print and electronic journal holdings. Note that in the University of York, print and electronic holdings are always attached to separate bibliographic records, though the publishing process can manage shared print/electronic…

EZproxy provides a simple system that allows libraries to create one set of web pages that can be used by both on-site and off-site users to gain access to licensed databases. Typically, there is no requirement to authenticate on-site users, but there is a requirement to authenticate remote users. EZproxy provides the ability to detect…

See also a real example at Example of new order from OASIS matching and using existing bibliographic record in Alma.   The Create New order API is mainly used for creating a PO line in Alma, representing an order that was done in a vendor system. As part of the PO line details, the relevant…

The GET /almaws/v1/conf/code-tables/{codeTableName} API enables retrieving all rows of a code table. Each row contains a code and its related description. The main usage of it is for applications that are based on Alma APIs, and would like to preset the user a drop-down of valid values to choose from. For example, let's assume I…

Routing list is an ordered list of interested readers that want to retrieve a specific library item, usually a serial. Library user can sign up to a specific routing list. He will be added to the end of the list. When the item is received, the routing list readers will retrieve the item, one after…

The following steps are required in order to configure a Z39.50 Refworks client to work with Alma: In the Refworks client administrative application, select Search > OnlineCatalog or Database. The Online Catalog or Database dialog box opens. Click the Request a Z39.50 Site link. The Request dialog box opens. In the Z39.50 Site Name box,…

Alma exports invoices in the following structure: One xml file includes multiple invoices An invoice can consist of multiple line items with different accounting information For more information regarding the Alma invoice export see Invoice Export. Institutions need to map the exported Alma information into their ERP system. In this article, we describe the way…

NOTE: Printing via emails is the no longer required. The recommended way to handle printing is to use the online printing functionality instead. For more details see the online help Contributed by: Gary Kosmopoulos <gary.kosmopoulos@monash.edu>   As a cloud solution, Alma cannot simply be connected directly to a local network/printers due to security concerns and technical limitations.…

NOTE: Printing via emails is the no longer required. The recommended way to handle printing is to use the online printing functionality instead. For more details see the online help As a cloud solution, Alma cannot simply be connected directly to a local printers due to security concerns and technical limitations. Printing from Alma, therefore, is…