Background
Individual e-books can be ordered using GOBI for several e-collections. Prior to Alma migration, for all but two e-book subaccounts, orders and e-book holdings were created manually to accommodate the single record approach and because e-book holdings could not be created using the order loader. While two e-book subaccounts had the order loader turned on to load orders and invoices, they required a lot of manual clean up for every title loaded.
Best practice in Alma - future
Contact the Dataloads Librarian to script Import Profiles to automatically load orders and invoices for individual e-books. This can automatically add the community zone portfolio to the activation queue, or create a local portfolio when the CZ portfolio does not (yet) exist.
Day one practice in Alma
Manually create order and activate e-book, as documented below.
PLEASE NOTE: Alma uses the multiple record approach for electronic and print versions of a title. This means One time eBook orders via GOBI will have a separate bibliographic record and order from the print version in Alma.
1. Place order in GOBI
The order is placed on GOBI by a selector or acquisitions staff-member. This order will contain information on supplier/collection, number of simultaneous users and fund/budget codes, which can be used to set up the order in Alma.
If this is not the first order for this ebook, see additional instructions at Creating an order for additional copy/copies of an e-book.
2. Search for the portfolio in Alma
Even if there is a Print/Physical bibliographic record for the title in the Institution Zone, you will need a separate record from the Community zone for the eBook.
Community Zone
Search the Community Zone by clicking on the Community tab or selecting the Community "Search Zone" from the pull down menu to the right of the search box.
Search by title or identifier. For best results, use the Electronic portfolios search rather than the All titles or Electronic titles search.
If you cannot locate the portfolio in Alma, forward the NOA to Lauren Syer and Todd Moody for further investigation.
3. Create order in Alma
Have in hand the name of the Electronic Collection from GOBI.
To start: click Order to the right of the portfolio in the correct Electronic Collection. Alma now walks you through the order.
1) On the PO Line Owner and Type screen, select the following from the drop down menus:
Purchase type: Electronic Book - One Time (this is for single order e-books)
PO line owner: Choose the ordering POL owner
Load from template: If a template is available for this workflow, select it here. This will create significant efficiencies and eliminates several of the steps below.
Public e-book order templates available in Alma (just have to add the price and the budget):
- eBook GOBI - YANKEE/eBook Central Perpetual and DDA Titles/7039
- eBook GOBI - YANKEE/EBSCOhost Ebooks/7039
- eBook GOBI - YANKEE/Wiley Online Library Online Books/7039
- eBook GOBI - YANKEE/University Press Scholarship Online Complete/Oxford/7039
- eBook GOBI - YANKEE/Cambridge University Press Online Books/7039
- eBook GOBI - YANKEE/Taylor & Francis eBooks Complete/7039
- eBook GOBI - YANKEE/JSTOR Books/7039
- eBook GOBI - YANKEE/deGruyter eBooks Complete/7039
Finally, click Create PO Line.
2) On the Purchase Order Line Details screen, if not using a template, fill in the relevant fields manually:
Vendor Information
- Material supplier – Search for and select the vendor you are ordering from.
Note that picking the correct sub-account in GOBI controls how you will be invoiced. Since these are not yet set up for automated record or invoice loads, matching shouldn’t be an issue, so it is fine to use the Yankee default account in Alma.
This will need to be reconsidered if this workflow is automated, and/or if you start bringing in account info with EDI invoicing.
- Access provider – This will be the vendor who provides the Interface for the electronic collection. While Alma does not require this field, it is helpful to include for this specific workflow. Consult the translation table below as needed.
- Activation dates – The title will appear in the Electronic Resource Activation Task List when the expected activation date arrives. The "e-activation due after ordering" date populates with 30 (a default specified in a configuration table). For now, leave the other dates blank.
Pricing – Enter the price.
Funding
- Click Add Fund to open the Fund selection window
- Search for and select the correct fund
- Click the Add Fund button to apply fund
PO Line Details
- Select Acquisition Method "Purchase at Vendor System"
- Material type is not editable; it is set by the order type
- Add Reporting Code for the type of material you are ordering (7039 for e-books)
- Add any additional notes according to best practices
3) If there is a patron request for the title, go to the Interested Users tab.
- Click "Add Interested User"
- Enter the patron info
- Check off "Notify user upon receiving/activation"Click "Add and close"
Note: if useful, you can record order-specific information (like number of users, ordering library) on the Notes tab by clicking "Add Notes".
4) Once all of the information is complete, click Order Now at the top of the screen.
- You will see a confirmation message. If there is any mandatory information missing from the POL this is where you will be notified.
- Click Confirm to place the order.
4. Activate E-book in Alma
Once the vendor has notified you that access is available, you can activate the title in Alma.
1) Find the title you ordered in the Electronic Resource Activation task list. From the menus, this is located under Resources > Manage Inventory > Manage Electronic Resource Activation, and may also be accessible on your Alma home page in the Task widget.
- Listed tasks are categorized as: assigned to you, unassigned, and assigned to others.
- Things go into unassigned at the point of order until someone touches the record (it then becomes assigned to them) or if someone goes in and assigns it.
2) Click the ellipsis to display available actions. Click Test access to see if the e-book is available. Verify that you can get through to full text at the vendor's site. If you can not access full text, ask your manager for help.
- If the page you are brought to, when you click Test Access is wrong/broken, try these steps for troubleshooting
3) Once you confirm access is available, click the ellipsis and select Activate. A Confirmation Message pops up; click Confirm.
4) An Activation Feedback message pops up asking if you want to edit; click Confirm.
After completing electronic resource activation and clicking Confirm, you will land on the Electronic Portfolio Editor screen. Here you can view the portfolio availability, linking information, coverage information (not usually necessary for e-books), acquisition information, notes, and history.
- In the Notes tab, enter the number of simultaneous users for this e-book in the Public note field, when available.
- If the number of simultaneous users is unlimited, leave the Public note BLANK.
- If the number of simultaneous users is limited, enter Simultaneous access limit: 3 users (adjust the number as needed)
- In the General tab, add the specific library which purchased the e-book.
- Save the portfolio. You will be returned to the Electronic Resource Activation task list.
- Click on the ellipsis and select Done from the drop down. The task is removed from your list.
- Note that if the title is brand new to Alma, there is an indexing delay, so it may not be immediately available to patrons.
- Note that if the title is brand new to Alma, there is an indexing delay, so it may not be immediately available to patrons.
Activation is complete.
5. Check your work in Alma
To check your work, you can search for the title in Alma.
From the results screen, you can see the order you created, and view or test the portfolio you activated.
Translation table: GOBI e-book supplier to Alma electronic collection
| GOBI e-book supplier | Alma electronic collection | POL: Access provider | Parser Parameter format | Parser Parameter creation instructions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomsbury | Bloomsbury Collections All Titles | VERDEBLOOM | bkey=DOI/E-ISBN | |
| Brill Online | Brill - All E-Book Titles | BRILLNV | bkey=https://brill.com/view/title/<titleID> | |
| Cambridge UP online (GOBI) CAMBRIDGE BOOKS ONLINE (NOA) | Cambridge University Press Online Books | CUP | jid=[ebook code] | Ebook code is the 32 symbol string in the ebook URL, for example: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/authoritarian-police-in-democracy/99C378132A59BAC9C0E2BE7AF693DCAF |
| de Gruyter | de Gruyter eBooks Complete | DEGRUYTJNL | bkey=e-ISBN | de Gruyter eBooks Complete - Electronic Collection Parser Parameter Creation Instructions |
| EBSCOhost | EBSCOhost Ebooks | EBSCOUS | ID=Accession # | EBSCOhost eBooks - Electronic Collection Parser Parameter Creation Instructions |
| Elsevier ScienceDirect | Elsevier ScienceDirect Books | ELSEVIER/ELSEVIER | bkey=ISBN | |
| Gale GVRL | Gale Cengage Virtual Reference Library | GALE | bkey=e-ISBN | |
IGI Global Online | IGI Global InfoSci-Books | IGIGL | bkey=ISBN13 | |
| JSTOR | JSTOR Books | JSTOR | ||
| Oxford UPSO Title-by-Title (GOBI) UPSO (NOA) | University Press Scholarship Online Complete | OUP | bkey=10.1093/oso/E-ISBN.001.0001/oso-E-ISBN | |
| Project MUSE | Project MUSE Single Title | JHUPMUSE | bkey=Accession # | |
| PROQUEST EBOOK CENTRAL | Ebook Central Perpetual, DDA and Subscription Titles (local name: ProQuest Ebook Central) | UMI | bkey=DOC ID | Ebook Central Perpetual, DDA and Subscription Titles - Electronic Collection Parser Parameter Creation Instructions |
Rittenhouse R2 Digital Library Avoid using this vendor if possible, due to strict simultaneous user limit | R2 Digital Library | RITTENHOUS | bkey=ISBN13 | |
| Sage Knowledge (GOBI) | Sage Knowledge | SAGEUS | ||
| Taylor & Francis eBooks (GOBI) TAYLOR AND FRANCIS (NOA) | Taylor & Francis eBooks Complete | TAYLORFR | bkey=e-ISBN | Taylor & Francis eBooks Complete - electronic collection parser parameter creation instructions |
| WILEY ONLINE LIBRARY | Wiley Online Library Online Books | WILEY |
Ordering and activation of One-Time eBooks via GOBI - Video
Relinking an order to a different portfolio
If, when it's time to activate the portfolio, staff discovers the order was created using the wrong portfolio:
- Activate the correct portfolio from the Community Zone
- Make a note of the POL number (e.g. in Notepad).
- Delete the incorrect portfolio from the institution zone; when prompted, also delete the bibliographic record with no inventory.
- Edit the correct portfolio. On the Acquisition tab, paste the POL number in the PO Line field.
Note: If the order has already been closed, it will not appear in the PO Line field. In that case, click the "Select from a list" button (three lines) next to the PO Line field, change Filter: Active to Filter: All, and search for the POL. Select the record from the search results. - Click Save.