Partnering with providers for metadata excellence (Slides)
Presenter: Tamar Ganor (Ex Libris) / Room: Dumke 

Description: This session will present the latest projects Ex Libris has launched to increase cooperation with content providers.

Topic: ERM / Resource management

Get to Know Rapido (Slides)
Presenter: Meghann Weldon (Ex Libris) / Room:  Anacapa  

Description: With the challenges of today’s higher education landscape, library resource sharing has become a critical component of institutional success. Rapido provides libraries with tools to enhance their end user and staff experiences, while giving control and a variety of options to resource sharing professionals.  This presentation will show how Rapido can be used to strengthen resource sharing service, while providing bold new ways to develop new connections, all from one centralized and dynamic hub.

Topic: Resource sharing / Rapido

Harmful Language in Primo VE: The Report, Review, and Rectification Process in California’s Community Colleges (Slides)
Presenters: Stephanie M. Roach, Trevor Passage (California Community Colleges) / Room: Wallace 

Description: In September 2024 the California Community Colleges launched a systemwide harmful language reporting process. Our goal with this project is to empower our stakeholders to help us eliminate harmful language found in library catalog records and replace it with more inclusive terms. It is a five-step process from harmful language reporting, review, feedback, approval, and action managed by the Harmful Language Review Subgroup of the Library Services Platform Program’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, and Accessibility Work Group. The reporting form link was rolled out from the Network Zone to all Primo VE environments as a general electronic services link. The presentation will review the history of the project, implementation details, and what’s coming next.

Topic: Discovery

Alma Letters Workshop (Slides)
Presenter: Christopher Lee (CSU)  / Room: Anacapa

Description: Come with Letters you want help tweaking, and get them fixed up in real time. Christopher Lee created the Letters used by Rapido in the CSU, and his code has been copied at various institutions outside of the CSU. After this experience, Chris is comfortable editing most Letters. Other Letters experts are also encouraged to help improve Letters in this interactive session. 

Topic: Resource Sharing / Administration / Fulfillment

Managing a Special Collections Reading Room with Alma's Booking and Reading Room Circulation Desk Features (Slides)
Presenters: Evan Dresman (Getty) / Room: Dumke

Description: The Getty Research Institute was an early adopter of Alma/Primo and we’ve long used Alma to manage the circulation of special collections items to our reading room, where we serve over 2000 researchers and Getty staff members each year, and to internal users and departments throughout the GRI. In 2023 we undertook a major project to reconfigure Alma fulfillment for both our general and special collections holdings to address long standing issues in our circulation and physical collections workflows, do away with old workarounds, and take advantage of features introduced in the years since our initial deployment. 

As part of this project, we transformed our approach to special collections reading room circulation by utilizing Alma’s Booking configuration, by which users select date ranges for use when requesting items, and Alma’s Reading Room circulation desk feature, which allows us to more accurately track the status and usage of collection items as they move from the reading room hold shelf to in-room use and  back again, over the course of the request period. This new configuration has allowed us to streamline our reading room circulation, cut back on the amount of manual request management that staff must do, and may help enable future integrations between our circulation systems and appointment managers, but it hasn’t been without difficulties. I will provide an overview of the expected and unexpected pros and cons of using these features to manage reading room circulation.

Topic: Fulfillment / Alma Booking

You Can't Scare Me, Rialto!(Slides)
Facilitators: Michelle Navarro, Brinna Pam Anan, Catrina Mancha (CSU) /  Room: Wallace

Description: Campuses have been using or testing Rialto based on its promise of streamlining acquisitions workflows within Alma. However, the shift to Rialto raises concerns about migration support, workflow adaptations, and potential disruptions to established processes. This Roundtable Discussion will bring together participants who have tested or currently use Rialto to share their experiences, focusing on its benefits and drawbacks. Discussion leaders will have prompt questions based on Rialto's functionalities, such as handling vendor contracts, invoicing, bibliographic records, selection of resources, Ex Libris support, and any other current or future gray areas. Particular attention will be given to exploring why some campuses may be hesitant to fully adopt Rialto and what support may be needed. If your campus were to switch to Rialto today, what specific changes could negatively or positively impact your team’s workflow? By the end of the discussion, the discussion leaders will compile a list of pros, cons, experiences, and feedback for all campuses interested in Rialto to review for implementation or build a network of colleagues with Rialto experience.

Topic: Rialto / Acquisitions

Let Data Guide Us into the Next Discovery Experience (Slides)
Presenters: Can Li, Heather L. Cribbs, Christian Ward, Gabriel Gardner (CSU) / Room: Dumke

Description: Our presentation explores a collaborative effort among CSU campuses, led by members of the Data Issues Task Force, to optimize Primo VE search configurations with the goal of enhancing search results and user satisfaction across the system. Each campus employs unique settings for search and relevancy ranking, resulting in varied user experiences. Through a comprehensive analysis of these configurations using a shared spreadsheet, we identified patterns and inconsistencies that impact search outcomes. Our aim is to determine the optimal configurations and establish baseline analytics, ensuring that end users can efficiently complete their top tasks, especially with the new discovery UI set to launch in 2025.

A key component of our analysis is the use of the Primo Search API, which enabled us to automate the collection and comparison of data on search queries, results, and relevancy rankings across campuses. The API provided valuable insights into common search challenges and effective configurations, supporting our data-driven approach to optimizing search functionality.

As we refine these settings in preparation for the upcoming Next Discovery Experience, we invite further collaboration from other CSU campuses. By broadening our efforts under the guidance of the Data Issues Task Force, we can develop a unified approach that ensures consistent, high-quality user experiences across the CSU system.

Topic: Discovery

Create and Import BIBFRAME Data to Alma (Slides)

Presenters: Greta Heng, Allison Bailund (San Diego State) / Room: Anacapa  

Description: This session consists of two parts: creating BIBFRAME records and importing them into Alma. We'll guide you through step-by-step resource description in BIBFRAME, Alma's BIBFRAME data import configuration, and BIBFRAME data import using the Alma API. Attendees will need to request a Sinopia stage account, email sinopia_admin@stanford.edu for editing permission, and have access to an Alma API with ""Bibs - Production Read/write"" permission.  Join us to explore Linked Data in Alma together! 

Topic: Resource management / Linked data

Connecting Resource Sharing Partners on Different Systems (Slides)

Presenters: Christopher Lee (CSU Chancellor's Office) / Room: Wallace

Description: A short presentation/overview of the connection options (Rapido to Alma Peer-to-peer and ISO connections to ILLiad) followed by open discussion to ask questions, discuss options, and form partnerships to connect our institutions through Resource Sharing. 

Topic: Resource sharing / Rapido

SUSHI Date(a), or How Did you Stop Worrying and Learn to Collect Reliable E-Resource Usage Statistics? (Slides)

Facilitators: Connor Franklin Rey (San Diego State) / Room: Anacapa

Description: The Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) protocol is an automated model for the collection of electronic resource usage data between Alma users and e-resource vendors. It is intended to replace the time-consuming user-mediated collection of usage data reports from individual vendors. As e-resource portfolios evolve, libraries must adapt SUSHI configurations. New vendors, changes in access rights, and updates to the protocol itself require ongoing maintenance. While SUSHI enhances the efficiency of e-resource usage data collection, understanding its nuances and following best practices is a  time-consuming, user-mediated process. 

Join us as we discuss best practices for collecting SUSHI data, as well as exploring alternative strategies for gathering meaningful e-resource usage data to inform strategic decision making.

Topic: ERM / Analytics

What are we doing about Gov Docs? (Slides)

Facilitator: Jill Strykowski (San Jose State) / Room:  Dumke

Description: With the recent announcement that both MARCIVE and CRDP are dissolving next year, a lot of us are looking for alternative solutions. Maintaining e-resource records for U.S. Federal Government Documents has never been easy, and maintaining e-resource records for California Government Documents has proven impossible. In this roundtable, I'm looking to brainstorm ways we can use the Ex Libris community and network zone management capabilities, together with OCLC metadata management tools, to help each other provide reliable discovery of Federal and State electronic Government Documents.  

Topic: Government documents / ERM / Resource management

Transitioning from ILLiad to Worldshare ILL in the Rapido Environment (Slides)

Presenter: Stacy Caron (CSU Fullerton) / Room: Wallace

Description: In June 2024, CSU Fullerton discontinued its use of ILLiad, which it had been using for over 20 years, and began using WorldShare ILL in conjunction with Rapido.  This session will look at some of the reasons why we decided to make this change and how this change has shaped our current workflows.  Some of the paths and steps we took along the way to make the switch to WorldShare ILL a relatively smooth transition will also be highlighted.

Topic: Resource sharing

Troubleshooting Office Hour
Room: Anacapa+Wallace 

Description: Troubleshooting office hour sessions are meant to allow attendees to get real time, hands on help from ExLibris representatives, fellow colleagues with expertise in various fields, or even through conversations with other eCaug attendees. Please come prepared with your questions! .

Experts include: 

• Chris Acosta (San Jose State) / Topics: Leganto 

• Greta Heng (San Diego State) / Topics: Wikidata, Linked Data features, Alma Digital

• Christina Hennessey (CSU Chancellor's Office) / Topics: Analytics, Fulfillment, Administration

• Kirstie Genzel (CSU Chancellor's Office) / Topics: Acquisitions, Rialto, ERM

Lightning Talks
Room: Dumke  

• Cut out the Copy/Paste: Introducing the Excel Alma Lookup Tool (Slides)
  Evelyn Goessling 

• Getting Started with Resource Recommender (Slides)
  Selena Chau, Jess Spencer Waggoner

• Going all in? Testing the Activation of Open Access Collections in the Community Zone  (Slides)
  Kevin Balster, Erica Zhang

• Our Workday Finance 'integration' - how we intermediate our payments process in order to pay our invoices and update Alma)  (Slides)

Joshua Hutchinson

Don't Panic! Document it! Tips for Documentation and Succession Planning (Slides)
Presenter: Evelyn Goessling (UC Irvine) / Room: Anacapa

Description: If you won the lottery and moved to Fiji tomorrow, how long would it take for panic to set in at the office? If you and your colleagues document workflows, decisions, and discussions, there should be no reason to panic. A healthy documentation habit encourages communication and continuity as staff and service needs change. In this presentation we will discuss our team’s approach to documentation and succession planning. We will talk about best practices, challenges, successes, and problems not yet solved. We will address how documentation fits into succession planning and reflect on how it has worked—and not worked—in our library. With creative thinking and open-mindedness, you, too, can set your team up for success when you hit the jackpot. 

Topic: Project management

API Key Management (Slides)
Presenter: Kun Lin (USC) / Room: Wallace

Description: Alma and Primo API is a powerful tool for many different areas of library automation. Increasingly many department may have needs to access APIs, from acquisition workflow, cataloging to public services. API key is help different functional areas increase their efficiency. The question for systems folks is: how can we manage API keys in a way the ensure safety of our system and data but also enable innovation. This is a round table discussion where participants are encouraged to share their success and lessens in managing API keys for their institution. 

Topic: API / Systems

Metadata enrichment with AI in Alma Community Zone (Slides)
Presenter: Tamar Ganor (Ex Libris) / Room: Dumke

Description: Presenting a new method of enriching Bibliographic records in Alma Community Zone, generated by AI.

Topic: AI / Content management / Resource management

The evolution of ERM training in an Alma/Primo environment: lessons learned
Presenter:  Kirstie Genzel, Austin Lenzen, Caitlin Wilhelm (CSU) / Room: Wallace

Description: This roundtable discussion will focus on exploring the evolution of training (or in some cases, lack thereof) in electronic resource management (particularly in Alma/Primo) from the perspective of trainers as well as trainees.  Reflecting on our personal experiences in both of these capacities at CSU, Long Beach and Cal State LA, we will share what worked, what didn't, and what we wish we could have done differently. We will also touch on the added complexities of learning ERM in a shared NZ environment.  Please join us and share your thoughts on ERM training! Whether it's tips for improving documentation, a cautionary tale, or your thoughts for the future, we'd love to hear it!

Topic: ERM

MarcGenie to the Rescue: Automating Post-Migration Cleanup of Serial Holdings
Presenter: Minyoung Chung, Rika Rudra (USC) / Room: Anacapa

Description: The Technical Services department at the University of Southern California (USC) undertook  post-migration cleanup of irregular serials holdings data, specifically focusing on MARC tags 853, 863, and 866. This presentation details the methodologies employed to enhance these records using Pymarc, regular expressions, and the Alma API within MarcEdit. In the initial phase, we utilized Pymarc and regular expressions to parse and identify patterns within the existing holdings data. The process generated new 853 fields for captions and patterns, along with multiple 863 fields for coded enumeration and chronology data, all derived from the data present in the 866 fields. By integrating the Alma API with MarcEdit, we efficiently restructured and updated approximately 5,000 serials holding records. However, we encountered a challenge: Alma did not automatically generate the 866 fields through any holding-related job unless the record was manually saved in the Metadata Editor. This issue necessitated a second phase of cleanup. The project also introduces MarcGenie, a Python-based tool that automates the creation of the crucial 866 fields, further streamlining the processa and improving data quality. This tool significantly reduces manual labor, allowing librarians to focus on higher-level tasks and enhancing the overall discoverability of library resources.

Topic: Resource management

Title: Navigating AI Tide: A Collaborative Conversation (Slides)
Facilitator(s): Win Shih, Kun Lin (USC) / Room: Dumke

Description: In a recent Clarivate survey, over 60% of respondents indicated that they are currently evaluating or planning for AI integration, with AI-powered tools being a top priority in the next 12 months. However, respondents also recognized both promise and pitfalls, including skill gap and tight budget, of adopting AI technology. For instance, the earlier-than-expected release of Primo Research Assistant, powered by ChatGPT’s retrieval-augmented generation technology in mid-September, has pushed libraries into navigating this AI rush. Other examples include EBSCO’s AI Insights, JStor interactive research tool, Ex Libris’ AI Metadata Assistant, and Scopus AI. In the coming months, we can expect more vendors to launch their own AI service aimed at enhancing patron’s research and learning experience, as well as automate library operation. This roundtable session provides an opportunity for an open discussion on strategies and processes related to evaluating, selecting, implementing, and supporting AI adoption, as well as training and operational considerations within libraries. We will also explore best practices for ethical integration and responsible use of AI technology, while addressing potential risks such as data privacy, security, misinformation, academic integrity, intellectual property abuse, and issues related to DEI. By sharing knowledge on these topics, we can gain a deeper understanding of how different institutions are leveraging AI tools, explore common issues and identify effective solutions. Furthermore, this session offers a platform to strengthen collaborative efforts and partnerships across libraries as we navigate the evolving landscape of AI in our workflow. 

Topic: AI

Troubleshooting Office Hour
Room: Anacapa + Wallace

Description: Troubleshooting office hour sessions are meant to allow attendees to get real time, hands on help from ExLibris representatives, fellow colleagues with expertise in various fields, or even through conversations with other eCaug attendees. Please come prepared with your questions!

Experts include: 

• Tamar Ganor (Ex Libris) / Topics: CDI

• Meghann Weldon (Ex Libris) / Topics: Rapido

• Christian Ward (Sacramento State) / Topics: Primo VE, Norm rules

• Can Li  (San Francisco State) / Topics: Discovery, Primo VE

• Rachel Safa (CSU Monterey Bay) / Topics: ERM, Administration

Lightning Talks
Room: Dumke 

• Excel Tips for Overlap Analyses (Slides)
  Ellen Augustiniak 

• Crucial Conversations: Communication Strategies Employed during an Alma-KFS Payment Feed Project (Slides)
  Ashley Newton

• Leganto implementation (Slides)
  Chris Acosta

• Access broker browser extensions: A comparative analysis?
  Win Shih