Alma and interoperability: Maximizing Alma’s role in the institutional landscape Kevin Lin, Sue Harmer
Abstract “Alma is a core library system but does not stand alone. This paper will examine the ease of making Alma interoperate with other systems to provide services for users. It will discuss interoperability with Primo and the Alma Premium Sandbox, the Relais ILL system using NCIP, self-check machines using SIP2, the Monitor Business Machine online payment of fines using SIP2, EDI ordering with vendors, and authentication for library users using Active Directory. Ease of set-up and maintenance, as well as issues and advantages will be discussed.”
FAST FACTS 8 FACULTIES Arts & Social Sciences Australian School of Business Built Environment UNSW Art & Design Engineering Law Medicine Science
The Library 5 libraries, 155 library staff 241,000 e-books, 1.2 million print books, 81,000 online journals, < 600 active print journals Primo since February Main user interface since July ,508,395 Primo searches in 2013 Alma live on 4 November 2013 Other key library systems: –Research Data Management ( –Institutional Repository ( –Faculty-based Research Repositories ( –Research Outputs System (
Aleph Aleph and Voyager … past … Faculty-based Research repositories (Fedora) Institutional Repository (UNSWorks, Fedora) Research Data (Fedora and in- house deposit) UNSW publications management (Symplectic) Resource vendors orders MetaLib/SFX Group Study Room booking Online fine payments Self-check machines Staff and Student systems Finance Primo: 2 institutions, 7 views Vendor online resources PCI Voyager InterLibrary loans Ezproxy Active Directory
Alma … current … Faculty-based Research repositories (Fedora) Institutional Repository (UNSWorks, Fedora) Research Data (Fedora and in- house deposit) UNSW publications management (Symplectic) Resource vendors orders MetaLib/SFX Group Study Room booking Online fine payments Self-check machines Staff and Student systems Finance Primo: 2 institutions, 7 views Vendor online resources PCI InterLibrary loans (Relais ILL) Ezproxy Active Directory Alma Stunnel
Ease of set-up and maintenance Centralised location Literally labelled Consistency
Integration Profiles and S/FTP Connections AD authentication Self Check / Online payment EDI orders Primo publishing
External Systems (Alma)
External Systems (S/FTP)
What works well Authentication No more GUI Primo publishing OvP (OPAC via Primo) NCIP Premium sandbox interoperability
Interlibrary loan with Relais ILL
NCIP interoperability – Primo, Relais ILL, Alma UNSW community uses Primo to search and submit ILL requests –NCIP LookupUser service o checks eligiblity before allowing the user to proceed o retrieves user details, e.g. address UNSW staff process ILL requests in Relais ILL –Relais: initiator role –Alma: responder role o CheckOutItem, CheckInItem, AcceptItem
How it works – NCIP Lookup User
Borrowing workflow
Lending workflow
Challenges Working across time zones –Toronto / Jerusalem / Sydney Speaking a common language Different priorities Release upgrades
Lessons learned Resourcing Focus shift to coordination The Cloud and its implications Utilizing the Premium Sandbox
Going forward SIP2 –Selective payment of fines / fees SMS Holdings exports/updates –RapidILL –Libraries Australia Continuous improvements to NCIP interoperability More connections, e.g. Finance
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