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From the Alma homescreen, navigate to the Help icon located at the top menu. Scroll down and select Standard Sandbox.
If you are presented with an error indicating no sandbox has been found, please refer to our "How to access your Alma sandbox" quick tip or this video demonstrating the process for updating your sandbox URL.
Consortium members have access to one of ten standard Alma or Primo VE sandboxes. Additionally one Network Alma sandbox is available. Consortium members who participated as migration team members can access their Sandbox Assignments, and the associated URL and account information for Alma and Primo VE Sandboxes in the CCC Alma-Primo Implementation Canvas Course. If you do not have access to Canvas course, please contact the Network Zone administrator for passwords for your sandbox.
Refer to the following documentation to learn more about standard sandbox environments: Differences Between Standard and Premium Sandboxes.
Please refer to the comparison grid in the following documentation from Ex Libris: Differences Between the Alma Sandbox and Production Environment
Cloud Apps are add-ons written by ExLibris customers and shared with the community. Cloud Apps may add new functionality, create workflow shortcuts and/or integrate with external systems. Cloud Apps run inside the ExLibris platform.
Cloud Apps work within the context of the logged-in user. If a Cloud App tries to access data but the user does not have the appropriate role, the app will display an unauthorized error
If you have the General System Administrator role, you can control which Cloud Apps can be installed by users at your institution. In Alma, go to the Configuration Menu > General > General Configuration > Cloud Apps Configuration. In the Allow or Hide Cloud Apps section, you can choose All, Allow Selected or Hide Selected.
Details about common errors can be found in the document Using Cloud Apps- Alma CSV User Load. Come to a Systems Work Group Office Hour, or fill the support form.
There are two parts of the process when you only need a local field to display in Primo VE, without any other advanced functionality such as indexing or linking—Manage display and local fields, and Configure views.
Follow these how-to instructions for details on adding a local field and configuring it in your view. Ex Libris documentation on Managing Display and Local Fields and SUNY Libraries Local Notes/Fields (Extensions) are good resources.
Citation styles automatically update in Primo VE soon after a new version or edition is published. Depending on how you configure your citation style labels, you may need to update the label when a new citation version or edition is published. Here are a few tutorials to walk you through steps in the process.
Go to Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Online Services Order and add services to the top or bottom groups as desired. By default the display is alphabetical--adding services to the groups overrides the default display.
Source credit: Harvard's Wiki post titled "Configuring the Order of Electronic Resources", which includes an example of their priority list.
It is a two step process to customize when prioritizing certain libraries over other libraries within your institution, and must be configured first in Fulfillment "Locations Ordering Profile" and then in each Primo view that needs to override the default order set in "Locations Ordering Profile." See the how-to videos below.
Step 1: Set your Locations Ordering Profile to "Use Custom Sorting"
Step 2: Configure the Primo VE View Get It section to override the default library order
Useful documentation: Configuring the Order of Locations in Primo Search Results; Configuring the Get It Service; GetIt Libraries - Customized Display Order (December 2021 Enhancement; NERS ID #6676); & Primo VE December 2021 Release Notes - Configuration Options
To identify the source of a record (Library Catalog, CDI, etc.) in Primo VE, you typically have to examine each individual record by clicking through and scrolling to the bottom of the record where the source is identified in the "Details" section, and look further to identify the record id. However, by using a bookmarklet with a bit of javascript shared by SUNY Libraries Consortium's article "How can I troubleshoot Primo VE search results and links using Record Id, Display CTO and Show PNX?" you can view the information from the list of search results.
How it works: Create a bookmark in your browser, but instead of adding a URL, add the javascript instead. See full instructions, and grab the javascript for your bookmarklet on the SUNY Libraries Consortium article in the "Show record id" section.
Submit a case to Ex Libris support, and request that they reindex the library location. See Suppressing Alma Records from Primo VE for more details.
Integrating your EZProxy with Alma requires communication with your database vendors, EZProxy administrator, and the Network Zone Administrator if you take advantage of shared electronic resource collections in the Network Zone. Configuration work may be required in Alma (IZ and NZ), your database administrator portals, and EZProxy. Configure stanzas as needed in EZProxy, update your authentication method and settings with your vendors. You will need your EZProxy prepended URL and EZProxy IP address to complete configurations with database vendors and in Alma. Request this information from your EZProxy Administrator or OCLC as needed.
Alma EZProxy integration profile tutorials:
Once you've integrated your EZProxy in Alma, check your electronic collections activations to be sure they have the correct EZProxy selected. Contact the Network Zone Administrator for support making updates to any electronic collections managed at the NZ level. Reach out to the ERM Work Group with additional questions or for support with electronic resources management.
Yes. There are 10 Alma notification letters that may be enabled and sent to users via text message (SMS). An integration with a third party SMS service is required, as Alma itself does not send the text messages directly to the user—Alma sends the message via SFTP to the third party SMS service, which sends the message to the user. Additionally, text notifications are only sent when specific criteria are met.
Conditions:
Users with a preferred text number set in their contact details will receive the text notification in addition to the email notification. For example: When an allowed notification is triggered, such as the Overdue Notice Letter (SmsFulUserOverdueNoticeLetter / FulUserOverdueNoticeLetter) it will send it to the user according to the following workflow.
Basic background information
Examples of SMS Service Providers used by other Alma institutions (Info from ALMA-L listserv posts November 2021-July 2022)
The Purge User Records job (Admin > User Management > Purge User Records) can purge records in bulk when the purge date has passed, and allows you to apply according to the record type (public or staff), user group, and fine/fee threshold. The purge date must be used consistently in order for this method to work. Additionally, the job won't purge users with no purge date. Users with active loans or with fines/fees above the set threshold will not be purged. It is recommended you evaluate your records and the application of purge date prior to running the job (use Analytics and batch updates using the Update/Notify Users job as needed to update expiry and purge dates as needed). Purge date is usually set to a date sometime after the expiry date, according to local policy.
It is recommended you are familiar with your local configuration for user deletion policy and anonymization.
Some libraries opt to control the purge of users more closely, and instead create a special user group for accounts to be purged. In this way they can create a set of users and review and adjust as needed. This is not required, but for more information see Alma User Purge (CARLI) and Patron Purge in Alma (Tech Blog, Ex Libris Developers Network).
Generate a Performance Tracking File and submit to ProQuest Support for Ex Libris.
The Open CCC branding indicates the error is related to your Ex Libris single sign on integration with the CCC Technology Center. We recommend you partner with your local IT services department as needed and submit a case to the CCC Technology Center support team via email or their online support center for California community colleges staff members.
No. If you haven't made AngularJS customizations to your Primo VE view in the "custom.js" file, you are not impacted by the Angular version update, and do not have to take any action. This screenshot shows an out of the box custom.js file that has not been customized.
Scenario 1 - I use Primo Studio to update my Primo VE view
Navigate to Primo Studio > Editor > js\.to view and access your custom.js file. Any edits should be made and applied within the custom.js file viewer. Please contact the systems work group for additional support.
Scenario 2 - I use "Download Package" to update my Primo VE view
Yes. Your third party vendor may not be aware of Primo's update to using AngularJS 1.8. It is highly recommended you contact the third party vendor who is the source of your code so they can make updates on their end as needed, and/or support you as you modify your code.
Known examples: BrowZine & LibKey by Third Iron. Third Iron has developed a fix for most users. For more information contact Third Iron support. See additional information and examples.