Trip Report: 5th IGeLU Conference, Ghent, 30th August-1st September 2010

The 5th annual meeting of the "International Group of Ex Libris users" (IGeLU) took place in Ghent, Belgium from 30th August to 1st September 2010. The meeting has been attended by Inga and Irina as well as by Regina Bost and Genet Idossa Kitata from the GWDG. This page summarizes our experiences and findings. Further information can be found via the conference program and the #IGeLU10 twitter stream (archived with twatter).

Summary:

The 5. IGeLU conference has been a enjoyable combination of user presentations and official product updates by the vendor once again. The generic 'next generation' framework (URM/URD2) is still in focus and continues to take shape by first impressions of testers and development partners. Many Primo installations switched to production within the last year. The difficulties and efforts of bringing Primo to life and running the system had been the topic of several presentations. In addition, Ex Libris announced that MetaLib customers will be granted with an hosted Primo instance for free. This will enable customers with an integrated access to Primo Central and the local meta search backend.

Presentations: http://igelu.org/conferences/ghent-2010/2010-presentations

Monday, 30th August 2010[edit]

Ex Libris Report – Matti Shem Tov[edit]

Ex Libris 2010

4700 customers
77 countries
41 national libraries
475 employees

Ex Libris Customers

Aleph -> 2301
SFX -> 1885
Promo -> 728
Verde -> 216
Voyager -> 1368
MetaLib -> 1547
Roseatta-> 7
Digitool-> 177

New Releases

Primo Central Index Service -> June 2010
URM general release -> 2012
URM development is on track: general release planned for 2012, another partner release in 2010
Aleph 20.1 -> Oct. 2009, in pipeline V20.2, 21, 22
ML V4.4 -> Sept. 2010
Primo V3.0 June 2010

Primo Central Index

centralized Primo index, including nearing 250 million records (65% journal articles; ebooks - amazon; large number of open access repositories)
recent agreements signed: Wiley, Springer, Thomson Reuters, Lexis Nexis, AAS (science)
pilot with Elsevier to start soon

Videos

You Tube: Yonsei University Library + Ex Libris
You Tube: bX article

Announcements

IGeLU 2011: 14.- 16.09.2011, Haifa
Ex Libris System Seminar: 10.-13.09.2011, Haifa

Keynote address - "It's About Time..." – Herbert van de Somple[edit]

Trends

Authors became a second class citizen and "journals rules" for citation/impact analyses
Assumption: this will change: authors will get identities, all data will be linked to corresponding contributor -> more author based metrics
What kind of environment will be successful? Centralized services (like youtube, slideshare) or distributed services like the existing digital repositories? Will the latter be interoperable/capable enough to encompass the shift from journal->author metrics?
Augmentation of publications with a "machine-actionable substrates" = publishing in a semantic kind of way by embedding machine-readable information in the article (expressed in RDF statements). Advantage: Information/data is no longer flatten out only but prepared for computers appropriately. The Concept Web Alliance is a strong indication that both the information industry and the research community are taking this seriously.
Scholarly communication: data becomes infrastructure
Data has always been important to scholarship, but until recently data was not treated as as first-class scholarly object. Report "Riding the Wave" will be published in October 2010 and talk about:
- need for global infrastructure perspective, policies, interoperability
- need for incentives for those who contribute
- need for data scientist; data librarian training
Dataset identification is a challenging problem (e.g. need to identify a specific slice/version of a data) -> DOIs may be part of the answer

Ex Libris Strategy and Product Update Summary – Oren Beit-Arie, Nancy Dashkin[edit]

Oren Beit-Arie

Ex Libris deploys agile development methodologies: iterative sprints enable reaction to changes in requirements during the project lifecycle
Oren once again introduces the building blocks of the next-generation library services framework:
- URD² - decoupled front end
- URM - decoupled backend, including patron access rights, acquisition fulfillment, activation workflows
- Data Services - knowledge bases, metadata management, usage data, tags & reviews
URM in six bullet points: service on the net (cloud), all materials in once, workflow focused (-> optimization), open (modular, extensible), collaborations, new types of services (beyond the traditional, e.g. preservation)
Areas of focus, the three T's: traditional (doing same things differently), transitional (doing new things in support of traditional functions), transformational (doing entirely new and different things)

Nancy Dashkin

Primo V 3 available now
ML 4.4 released in Oct., will include wizard fpr Primo Central index
Subscription to Primo access Primo Central as part of Metalib maintenance
Aleph and Voyager will be enhanced

Primo and Primo Central Product Update, Roadmap and Q&A - Tamar Sadeh & Jorgen Madsen[edit]

J. Madsen

Primo V 3.0 -> April, 30th
Primo Central -> June 24th

OPAC via Primo

bX embedded: recommendations based on SFX logfiles
find database (ML functionality, ML-API)
tested for i-phone
new back office rates

- first page boosting

web harvesting, splitters

Roadmap

Primo as front end to URAM
personalized ranking
processing of raw research data
location based series
incorporability to back office
optimized consortia workflows

Tamar Sadeh:

Platform = Primo
Content = Primo institutional index + Primo Central + other repositories
Primo Central Index = hosted index in an amazon environment

Aleph Product Update, Roadmap and Q&A – Carmit Marcus[edit]

Aleph Update:

Highlights of Version
- 20.1 and 20.2

Aleph today:

2301 Institutions
Aleph Life Cycle mature, stable product
Current: V20

V20.0, Major Release

March 2009 and August 2010

IGELU/ELUNA enhancement (highlights)

Batch service privileges: sub-library sensitive, in the Staff privilege, in the Administrator Privilege
SIP2 enhancements
Massage for ILL item on hold self-display information
Overdue and Lost Billing
Email Errors Management-Handling: e.g. @ sign missing ==> Address is wrong

Cancel hold request: hold request using web OPAC and continue, new delete button is available in the OPAC

Display of Item change: before and after the change
Information on request forms: display of item, the tab_hold_request, tab_photo, possible to make a global change of the ‘Item Temprory Location’

Other highlight development

Enhanced Unicode support in Aleph GUI
Interface Languages
Ad hoc printing of Hold Request Slip at any time
Loading identical items to the same Patron

Integration

Aleph RESTful API: based on Digital Library Federation ILS Discovery and Tools

Rosetta: Aleph can be used as a collection Management System, linkage between collection record in Aleph and objects in Rosetta

HK System: automated retrieval System - ARS (Warehouse management system), HK-Software

ARC

New Fields, MS Office 2007 Support, Cognos 8.4, RH 5, oracle 11

Minor Release and GUI Change

From release 20.2 no need to reinstall GUI
Version check Mechanism is used to distribute client

Aleph Release Plan

V20.3 March 2011
V20.4 July 2011
V21.0 Q3/Q4 2012

V20.3/V20.4 Key Focus Areas:

MAB -> MARC
SRU Update
Automatic reflection of change: Linking
periodical catalog
simplified selection workflow
Support photocopy
Protocols Update: NCIP, EDI, ILL
Support batch server topology

V21.0 Major Release planned Q3/Q4 2012

Item for Consideration
- Extending for Support
- DB-changes: Patron record, increase Key
Technical
- Oracle 11g R2 , IPv6, Sun Cluster, Sun Solaris 5.10 x86

SFX Product Update, Roadmap and Q&A – Christine Stohn[edit]

Knowledge base (KB) and usage data

KB enrichment with ISSN.org data - recent project by SFX KB team
UStat = uploading/reporting on COUNTER statistics; provides Cross-platform reports
- orginally launched as the Verde usage statistics service, released to SFX customers April 2010
- centrally hosted
- 24 publishers integrated via SUSHI, COUNTER data from other providers can be uploaded manually

SFX version 4

overall goals: create an environment to allow long term enhancements; streamline processes and reduce TCO for customers and ExL; increase efficiency of KB configurations
slimmer & faster update processes -> more frequent regular KB updates
quick "injections" for immediate changes
simpler, more workflow-oriented navigation in SFXadmin interface
sfxglb4 = global KB fields and data
sfxlcl4 = inventory (activations), local overwrites and information
"site down" function from Verde integrated
autoactive is set to "yes" if target is of type "aggregator"
release schedule:
- SFX 4.1 in Q4 2010 - includes verde publishing platform for the link with Verde & further enhancements to SFXadmin and KBTools
- SFX 4.2 in Q2 2011 - further ebook enhancements such as a search interface for ebooks & further enhancements to SFXadmin (e.g. Object matching)

Primo PWG (Product Working Group) Business Meeting[edit]

first PWG, that has been working with NERS
planned Enhancement Management:

collection of enhancement request via NERS throughout testing
voting via NERS 1x/year
implementation of top voted (e.g. top 10) enhancements at regular intervals (not finally agreed with Ex Libris)

Primo at the Österreichische Bibliothekenverbund und Service GmbH (OBVSG)

Consortium matters (Austria)

not every Primo functionality is available on a institutional / view level, which causes setup problems, e.g.:

search labels
selection of fields for hyperlinking
help files
"home" should be the views' homepage and not a general one
statistical reports lack statistics per view (reports per institution available)

General problems

in V.2 there is a max of 99 Aleph-items per record in Primo, in V.3 1000 items (Answer ExL: the limit is caused by Aleph)
requests were deleted automatically after 24 hours, if no request-end-date was given (Answer ExL: bug, fix will be distributed within next SP)
only LoC Subjects implemented, DDC urgently needed (Answer ExL: DDC is planned, could not give a specific date)
FRBR: Primo does not distinguish between "expression" and "manifestation"
Pricing: the price should be calculated based on FTEs and not on catalog size (number of items)

Primo at the FU Berlin

V.3 beta test by librarians
Metalib quicksets had beed implemented smoothly
unfortunately serveral search options Metalib provided are missing in Primo
just one personal search set can be saved
Primo ignores licensing information available via SFX (IP? Login?)

Primo at the UB Mannheim

ILL1 cannot be implemented into Primo
Update V.2 -> V.3 meant more work than expected: many small bugs

Customizing Primo ( Aalborg University )

Public Beta of Primo V.2 was launched 2 weeks ago
several useful customizations via JQuery, e.g.:

Button "clear" for search field
Tooltips: Datails about a Database, Help for a field etc.
Dynamic display of messages on several pages
Not posted in El Commons yet, because of beta status; might be added later to ElC

Why JQuery? Easy to use, much faster than Ex Libris Support

Tuesday, 31st August 2010[edit]

URM Update – John Larson, Omri Gerson, Susan Stearns[edit]

collaboration

partnerships: customer collaboration, development partners, focus groups, small library advisory groups, regional collaboration, vendors, Library of Congress, British Library
results from first partner release had been pretty detailed (e.g. migration issues with metadata records and "it should be possible to delete a vendor from the edit interface")
main goal for second partner release: focus on electronic resources (acquisition, activation, link resolution, fulfillment plan workflow) + extension of existing records

development methodology

conceptual design: high level solutions, major workflows, conceptual data models, special architecture components and related diagrams
4 tracks: cataloging, selection & acquisition, fulfillment, digital content

Modules of the URM

Selection
Acquisition
Submission
Resource Management
Fulfillment
Presentation

Principal points

completely web-based backend interface
complete workflow for all kinds of publications will be integrated (print, electronic ([licensed remote resources], digital [e.g. locally digitized material])
metadata from many sources (format? availability? priority?) should be available even before the acquisition workflow starts, additional material (e.g. reviews) can be displayed on extra tabs- to support the subject librarian
shared acquisition functionalities: e.g. a proposal for a new electronic resource can be added and interested institutions post the price percentage they are willing to pay for the resource; notes on the resource/messages to other institutions can be added directly to the item
a focus in the development of URM lies on the homogenization of workflows for the handling of different material (print, electronic, digital); the workflows of the development partners have been examined closely, synergies were detected and all essential functionalities are integrated into the URM workflow
another focus is on automization: human interaction is reduced, wherever possible (e.g. an order can be sent directly after an items' status changed to "improval" [dependent on setup]- no participation of an acquisitions librarian is required)
a workflow for digitization-on-demand is fully integrated (almost similar to the photocopy-workflow in Aleph), the digitized item can be displayed directly as a Primo item, if wanted only visible to the (logged in) user, who posted the request

Consortia SIWG (Special Interest Working Group) Meeting[edit]

contacts for consortia will be posted on the IGeLu website
any documentation on consortia will be posted in El Commons as well

Consortia Focus Group URM

since June 2009
focus on consortial needs ("Mandantenfähigkeit")
still some unresolved configuration problems in the URM- due to consortia structure: consortium, institution, library, library unit
URM is SaaS-based

Thoughts on SaaS (Peter Klien)

customers do not need access to the server in any way in order to customize the application
all configuration is stored in the database, accessed via the administrative module (absolutely no server access by customers)
even css, graphics, i18n are in the db
all configuration is saas enabled (each institution can 100% define and manage its own configuration)
interesting issues are customer written adapters and plug-ins

Needs of the URM-Early Adopter / Product Tester KUB Leuwen

localized metadata (local subject headings)
individual user rights
publication schedules (serials): migration of data reasonable? Still needed in two years (almost every journal will be e-only)
producing local statistics (no direct database access in saas environment)
Leuwens' Digitool will be replaced completely by the URM
1. test migration in a few days: bib, items, patrons, budgets etc. (all types of data)

Primo Consortium Finland (Ari Rouvari)

strength of Primo: unlimited number of views (approximately 400 views in the end)
Pilot start August 2010 (Nat.lib. of Finland, Turku City Library, Helsinki City Library, some museums, one archive)
team: 3 full time members of staff (2 technicians + project manager), 10 - 12 FETs are planned
50 pipes had been configured by the team
normalization is a challenge
Primo Central will be subscribed- for the (hopefully easy) integration of metadata of licensed databases

MetaLib Product Update, Q&A – Gilad Gal[edit]

Core elements in discovery

high quality relevance ranking
wide coverage
fast response time

Resume: federated search technology is means to an end, but Ex Libris want to achieve the best electronic discovery service by ensuring the elements listed above.

Primo Central for MetaLib customers

Primo Central is a central index for scholarly materials, hosted by Ex Libris. The index uses a central instance of Primo and is available to all MetaLib customers from version 4.4 onwards
Possible ways of integration:
1. as MetaLib search resource, result is ranked by relevance -> included in the ML KB fee
2. use Primo central UI to access central index and metasearch -> included in ML maintenance fee
Further performance improvements in ML 4.4: by reducing the refresh period

Partners: University of Auckland, Florida Center of Library Automation (FCLA)

Roadmap: ML 4.4. -> Oct 2010 => registration to Primo Central

Metalib next generation

Advisory group activity aims to include customer's perspective
Advisory group met three times: kickoff; Primo central and how to integrate; focus on UI
Results/general requirements:
- support of most functionalities in current MetaLib is required
- different types of customers (ML alone, Primo+, URM)
- SaaS (Software as a Service) or non SaaS or both?
- MetaLib for resource discovery
KB: support old and new CKB, keep basic structure, customers should be able to share configurations
Admin interface as core functionality of MetaLib: resource cataloging and activation, assignment of categories, definition of quick sets
Using Primo infrastructure for next generation front end (all required functionalities are there already)
Primo UI as a service: branded view, included in ML maintenance feeds, covers all materials, etc.
Metasearch is still required because central index won't include all resources and MetaLib functions as "database of databases" (-> find database module)

Questions and Answers

Will HTTP connectors been taken over? - yes, but no details defined
until now there is no decision on integration of XML search interfaces (SRU, OpenSearch)
Will integration/configuration of standardized interfaces be facilitated? - undecided
Scope definition will be by institution (not several "subject" scopes defined somehow)

Primo in Austria – Wolfgang Hamedinger, Viktor Babitchev (OBVSG)[edit]

V.2: 4 views in production (u.a. UB Wien, UB Innsbruck, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien)
additional sources (apart from Aleph data): two repositories, data from eLearning system Blackboard
implementation period: one year (originally Ex Libris estimated three months); some reasons for the delay: project management and communication had to be improved, Steering Committee had been installed (too) late, unsatisfactory responses of Ex Libris on bug reports
Challenges:

Sysadmin:

analysis of errors and log files was difficult due to the lack of proper training or documentation
data transfer from test to production had been difficult
tough negotiation with Ex Libris to certify a technical environment based on virtualization (KVM)- runs smoothly now...

Sysbib:

parameters for deduplication couldn't be set for a single view/source

Authentication (PDS / Shibboleth):

no expertise from Ex Libris
documentation incomplete

Full text index:

bugs, undocumented implementation specialties
only direct contact to the Ex Libris Development Team could solve several problems

=>more time, higher costs

Special Development OBVSG:

normally Aleph-data is processed from the APM (Aleph Publishing Mechanism) directly to Primo
due to the data structure in the OBVSG consortium (and the demand of full-text-indexing of the material in the repositories) an additional application layer between APM and Primo was developed by OBVSG: PPS. PPS enriches and changes the data in z00p before passing it on to the Primo pipe. PPS might not be needed by most other Primo customers, because its generic aspects had been integrated by Ex Libris in V.3

Open issues:

unsolved problems with Oracle RAC (which was certified by Ex Libris...)

Staff for ongoing maintenance:

2 Sysbibs
2 Admins (1 database specialist)
1 part-time developer
during the project period more staff is needed (initial setup, implementing standard procedures for the integration of new institutions etc.)

Outlook:

migration to V.3
New Libraries with Primo V.3 (Wien 3.Q. 2010, Graz 4.Q. 2010, Austrian National Library 1.Q. 2011 etc.)
Replace Web-OPAC
Integration of all consortium member libraries

Article of OBVSG-Sysbib Markus Knitel about the OBVSG Primo Installation: http://www.obvsg.at/fileadmin/files/obvsg/publ/knitel_vm_63_1.pdf

The Early Adopter: Primo Version 3 and Primo Central – Habib Tabatabai[edit]

University of Central Oklahoma, Chambers Library: http://library.uco.edu/centralsearch

Lessons learned from the Primo project:

have a timetable
document everything you do yourself in Primo
have always a backup of your data / setup
be proactive: talk to the audience you are doing this for, talk to Ex Libris
do not rush to deliver a half baked product
make sure, that Ex Libris remains involved- all different support-teams of Ex Libris (processing of an SI, which covers several products (e.g. Primo / Aleph) can be very time-consuming)
communities' mailing list primo_discuss_l had been very helpful

Primo Central hasn't been mentioned at all... (!?!)

Some notes on an informal talk with Mr. Tabatabai:

Three reasons for a try with Primo Central
- did not mean any extra costs
- Ex Libris returned a coverage of 83% for their journals (ExL refused to provide a list title by title- didn't matter that much to the library...)
- matched the idea of a one-stop-shop / a first entry for the unexperienced user/student
as far as Primo is not productive yet, no statistics on the usage of Primo Central / the improved visibility of the licensed resources are available

General thoughts on a product like Primo in a scientific environment:
- results probably not relevant enough
- missing features of specialized databases
- subject index too small

further questions welcome: htabatabai@uco.edu

Primo V.2 and V.3 Experience at Yonsei University – Won Sang Lee[edit]

http://library.yonsei.ac.kr/main/main.do
seven libraries
V.3 in production since June 2010 (started with V.2)

General statements:

change from V.2 to V.3 had been "three days of hard work"
Primo central covers just two Korean databases - means just a marginal enhancement for Yonsei

Open issues:

PDS (Patron Directory Service) has to bee enhanced
view based statistics not satisfactory
DDC enrichment is missing
FRBR not completely implemented (result: some items cannot be displayed properly)
need to improve "enhanced search" precision
need to improve "did you mean"
user interface: less clicks
quality of Ex Libris Support hast to be improved (region based support team is missing)

bX Product Update - Nettie Lagace[edit]

numbers

22 million article references in total
220 million user requests logged
834 bX customers all around the world, but only few contributing institutions (because it's a all-day project, rather than urgent task?)

usage scenarios

HTML box returned by bX API includes an thumbs up/thumbs down which are not completely operational now
Further usages: in xerxes, firefox plugin for bX, serials solution
Future applications:
- identification of interdisciplinary connections
- collections - development and management
- scholarly impact
- trends

Customising Ex Libris Products Using Open Standards and Tools Part II: The Sequel – Mark Dehmlow[edit]

Notre Dame University, Hesburgh Library: http://www.library.nd.edu/

Where libraries can focus their energy

Bringing tools in line with user expectations created by the internet
Stop making them go to a specific place – integrate services where the user is
- Facebook, course management systems and etc.
Users want to be able to do it themselves, but they also have a low tolerance for something that is difficult to do

What it brings together

Programmers to lead development and extend systems
Web developer with basic understanding of script
Time and Support

Learning Technologies

Learning by doing
- The practical goal to learning
- Requires programming knowledge
Choose "gateway" technology: PHP, Perl, etc.

Basic technology

Web page: XHTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), JavaScript, AJAX (Asyncronous Javascript and XML), JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), Jquery http://jquery.com/
Scripting Language: PERL, PHP, Ruby, Python
Web-Services
- HTTP (Data transfer)
- XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language)
- XSLT (XML Style Language Transformation, Data Manipulation)
- J2EE (Programming Tools): Java (Software Development Kit - SDK, Applications), JSP (JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library JSTL, embedded Java)
Relational Database: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle
Programming Language: Java, C++
Analyze first and determine feasibility
- The system that accomplish your goal
- The dependencies
- Make cost and benefit balance
  - The person involved on it
  - The time it takes
  - Its cost and benefit

Wednesday, 1st September 2010[edit]

URM Presentation – Susan Stearns[edit]

nothing new compared to URM Update

Ex Libris General Q&A[edit]

How about integrating the Documentation Center into El Commons?

the prototype of a new customer portal will be released in two months
portal will connect Pivotal, El Commons, Documentation Center und eLearning solutions
search will cover all components

Shouldn't lessons in the eLearning Center be for free?

only upgrade training will be for free
please note that online training is offered for reduced costs in comparison to onsite training

How could SIs, which are related to more than one product, be handled efficiently?

SIs are always signed to one person; this person is responsible of forwarding the SI to other teams
Ex Libris will not change its general policy in handling SIs

Primo SIs with high priority had not been solved rapidly - why?

members of the Primo Support-Team hab been involved in the release of V.3- this caused some delays in answering V.2 incidents
normally the priority is taken into account

How about the support escalation process? Does it work?

1 - 2 escalations per month
in Ex Libris' opinion, the escalation process is a success
any suggestion for improvement welcome

When will all SIs be opened for all users?

yes, they will be opened (no specific date announced)
a kind of agreement functionality will be implemented: e.g. a checkbox "open for all users"- which could be activated in the SI form

How about the data quality in Primo Central?

Ex Libris is happy to get any data, low barriers for participation
a lot of effort is made to normalize the data
reaction of data providers is usually positive, but they are very slow in execution
when meeting the vendor, the customer (library) should stress the importance of providing data

Is it intended to load Scopus data into Primo Central?

no agreement with Elsevier about Scopus so far
World of Science is part of Primo Central (as well as it is of EBSCO Discovery Service and Serials Solutions Summon)
Ex Libris is currently working with Elsevier: Pilot with Science Direct
it would be helpful, if the customers (the libraries) would talk to Elsevier as well

Why hasn't Ex Libris published a coverage list for Primo Central so far?

a montly updated list will be published soon.
list will include everything that is covered; another list with everything, what will be covered (already signed)
provided for primo and primo central customers- as well as for Metalib customers
a title by title list, on a journal level (percentage level is possible as well)
no extra charge for Primo Central, if one is a subscriber to metalib

How does the pricing structure of the URM look like?

is currently discussed
amount of data will reflect in cost structure

Will there still be an ILL module in URM?

yes, URM will support ILL-workflows (which vary in different countries)
but no specific version number can be announced

When will Aleph become unsupported?

not in the next 15 - 20 years
bugs will always be fixed and there will still be further development

How about statistics in the URM?

URM will provide comprehensive statistic tools, no additional module (like ARC) will be needed

Will Ex Libris strengthen its role as a hosting partner?

yes, hosting facilities and hosting teams will be growing
currently Ex Libris is hosting several products (SFX, Metalib, Primo, Aleph, Voyager, Digitool, BX) for 400 customers

Will lending activities of ebooks and ebook readers (kindle etc.) reflect in the URM?

Information about the libraries' ebook-workflows are greatly appreciated
Ex Libris contact: Oren

Customising the Primo Experience for your Users – Mark Dehmlow[edit]

Notre Dame University, Hesburgh Library: http://www.library.nd.edu/#tab_primo
currently in the process of updating to V.3
comprehensive, entertaining and a load of concrete examples
I am very keen to link the complete presentation here- one or another "best practice strategy" might be valid for any next generation catalog, not only Primo...

Some general remarks:

you can almost manipulate everything in Primo very easily
Primo is structured for customization
but: a million classes and ids in the css files
once set up, normalization rules will not be affected by version updates
the cusomization of the user interface has to be repeated in each version

Metalib & Primo: working side by side: first experiences – Stefan Lohrum[edit]

comparison between MetaLib, Primo Central and Primo: http://twitpic.com/2k8le1

ML-Linking

OPAC of library -> metalib (kobv) -> ILL-system to other libraries

Primo+ML Strength and Weakness

Strength

perfomance

ease of use

ranking

data coverage

data actuality

resource information (missing in Primo Central)

weakness

single-sign-on is possible, but search scopes from Primo to ML do not work easy because of different search methodologies

ML performance enhancements (AJAX in the interface) will force response of fast targets

setup takes a long time ( > 1 year)

Large, medium, small: How much information do our patrons need in Primo? – Christian Hänger[edit]

did not match the expectations: no information about user feedback, interview results etc. regarding search results with Primo

UB Mannheim, Primo 3 since August 2010: http://vs30.kobv.de/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?&vid=MAN_UB
Primo Mannheim hosted by KOBV consortium
loaded 22 million items into Primo (library catalog, online contents [daily update], national licenses, Dawson eBooks, Safari eBooks, article metadata from ZBW Kiel)
formats: MAB2, MARC 21
Primo ranking seemed unsatisfying
Implemented Google Scholar ranking via API (???) -> better results
testing of Primo Central together with KOBV

Trip Report: 11th BSZ-Kolloquium, Karlsruhe, 28th-29th September 2010