2020 Developers Day+

Stop by to confirm your wi-fi and Alma connections and get a special reward!

Alma

Thanks to Alma’s API’s, we can create custom applications, automate workflows, and perform batch operations not possible with Jobs and Sets. However, using the API’s on large amounts of data can be slow. In this workshop, we will explore tools and strategies available in Python that can make these tasks and applications more efficient. 

Through demonstration and hands-on practice, this workshop presents a workflow for retrieving and processing a large data set via the Alma API’s. After a brief review of working with REST-ful API’s in Python, we’ll see how asynchronous programming can improve performance when making hundreds or thousands of requests. And time permitting, we’ll look briefly at pandas, a highly performant library for working with data, which can streamline our data analysis and cleanup.

Pre-requisites:

• Basic Python programming, including familiarity with the following:
  • Loops and iterables
  • Native data types, including integers, strings, dictionaries, and lists
  • User-defined functions
  • Error handling
• Some familiarity with the Alma API’s
• Basic understanding of HTTP requests

More info, including technology requirements, learning outcomes, and preparatory materials can be viewed at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JFs1u68kgXJznNIfqtWQJipzqvsoKaV2MAKgPgMS2R4/edit

This workshop will focus on customizing the notifications sent to patrons via the ALMA Letters system. In this workshop, we'll start with an overview of the system, leading into a "hands on" demonstration of the various aspects and features of the tool. We'll provide real-life examples of customizations, ranging from simple (adding/removing fields) to complex (conditional cancellation and logic formulation), and give attendees the chance to suggest modifications/workflows that will be addressed in the group setting. This workshop is geared towards those who have recently migrated to ALMA, or for anyone ready to go in-depth with ALMA Letters. Attendees will leave the workshop with a suite of tailored and well-structured letters that can be used or adapted for their individual library, and the confidence to explore the possibilities provided by this tool.

Pre-requisites:

• Basic HTML knowledge
• Basic understanding of XML/XSLT

More info, including technology requirements, learning outcomes, and preparatory materials can be viewed at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kDVSG0VzMBXF1MLsgbEr6F3aQp4kyUrxxa3SO3OMvGs/edit

Alma

Alma webhooks are a powerful tool that can help you develop applications and patch workflows while saving on API calls. This workshop will cover the set-up of webhooks in Alma, and the creation of a Node.js server to catch incoming data. Using Alma APIs, we will then respond to the data and create an application to provide patrons with more information about the status of their account. In the process, we’ll cover Javascript in a server-side environment, look at the data returned by all seven Alma webhooks, and talk about how other institutions are using webhooks.

Pre-requisites:

• Basic Javascript programming, including a functional understanding of the following:
  • Conditionals, loops, and iterables
  • Native data types, including integers, strings, arrays, and objects
  • Variable declaration
  • User-defined functions
• Basic understanding of HTTP requests
• Basic understanding of JSON

More info, including technology requirements, learning outcomes, and preparatory materials can be viewed at:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/12JJ6Lp_niob3afBHqSBHR5Axx_uArq8j2roCvU9iEAY/edit

Alma

Introduction to the new method for building apps which run inside of Alma. CloudApps allow you to extend and add functionality to Alma to the benefit of your users and the community in general. In this workshop we’ll walk through building a CloudApp together- a great way to get a head-start on this important new way to develop on the Ex Libris platform!

Pre-requisites:

• Experience with basic Javascript programming is helpful

More info, including technology requirements, learning outcomes, and preparatory materials can be viewed at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fWhEsRXVCAo1rDXOCYkTlsUfcw9nv0jSgHgEcyhnGz8/edit

Primo

Leverage OpenURL to quickly determine if you own a title and provide relevant GES with good metadata  if you do not.

Pre-requisites:

• Familiarity with javascript,  openURL and Alma’s General Electronic Services.

More info, including technology requirements, learning outcomes, and preparatory materials can be viewed at:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h9wg-D6yYyJENRR0wP-zMcETow7gAL2t3CVKrGUunRQ/edit

Work in small groups on all the steps you need to get started with Primo development, starting with installing a Primo development environment, and using community-contributed code to add additional features to Primo.

Pre-requisites:

• Familiarity with file systems and some basic command line skills

More info, including technology requirements, learning outcomes, and preparatory materials can be viewed at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jiWxoAafrHVOvn6AaJfUBXoRBSHLYqtyetaFGEpCEAM/edit

General development, coding, & APIs

After many years of a locally-created Active Server Pages (ASP) solution to authenticate and create new ILLiad users from our Alma user database, we needed to upgrade our server and ILLiad version and therefore needed to create new code to pull Alma user data and authenticate users. This presentation will cover the format of the Alma user data, how to work with it through the Alma User API and PHP, how we authenticated users through EZProxy, how we parsed the user data to fill a new user registration form for ILLiad, and how we added checks against the current Alma user account status before creating a new ILLiad account.

General development, coding, & APIs

Prior to making a request in Illiad, a patron must be added as an Illiad user.
One way to do this is via Illiad's Web Platform API.

All users in ALMA IZ can be added to Illiad on initial pass.
A scheduled job will add subsequent new users.

Alma
General development, coding, & APIs

The Dartmouth College Library migrated to Alma and PrimoVE in 2019. We utilize ILLiad and OCLC/Relais (BorrowDirect) for Resource Sharing. We had tracked all RS Lending in our previous ILS and wished to continue this practice in Alma. The default Alma NCIP implementation did not meet our needs as it did not record the information about the institution we were loaning the item to. We have deployed an NCIP proxy to implement or augmment various requests including CheckOutItem using Alma APIs that allows us to track all of our loans to specific institutions, and thus we can manage all of our lending activity in one place.

This would be an adaptation and update of my ENUG 2019 presentation.

Primo

Due to a university staff buyout, the Hesburgh Libraries lost almost all of our ILL borrowing unit, and have been looking for ways to streamline ILL borrowing and make requests easier to process. This presentation will discuss the changes we've made in Primo to improve request data in ILLiad.

Primo

Meet Cloud Apps, the new way to extend the functionality of Alma and other products by writing apps which run on Ex Libris platform. In this session we’ll provide a brief overview of the technology and point you in the right direction to get started with your own great idea.

General development, coding, & APIs

The Library at California State University San Marcos has implemented several online services that utilize the Alma API. These include real-time fee payments, a personalized dashboard, and a circulation app for providing access to distributed collections. This session will focus on the development of a Drupal 8 module that integrates the Alma API. This module provides our users with their library account information, a customized list of course reading lists, recommendations, and a Cashnet payment form within a Drupal website. Presenters will provide highlights of the development process, the front end interface, and possible new features.

Analytics (all products)
General development, coding, & APIs

This presentation will explore the use of Alma APIs and so-called "serverless" cloud solutions to support library admistrative processes and information discoverability.  Service offerings by Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech vendors can be used with Alma data to create efficient, scalable tools capable of driving library businesss functions and processes.  By using serverless cloud solutions IT staff can spend less time on system administration while delivering to library staff digital tools they can use to increase the automation, accuracy, and interoperability of the services they provide. 

Alma
General development, coding, & APIs

I will describe a virtual browse system being developed at Northeastern University. Data is pulled from our Alma catalog via OAI-PMH and indexed in Solr. Users will be able to browse LC call number ranges, or choose any call number to use as a starting point.

Primo

Learn about the steps and best practices we applied to make Primo search engine-friendly for Google crawlers.

Primo

Primo Analytics cover many of the questions I have about how features are used, but I always have more questions. This presentation will cover how we've used Google Analytics Tag Manager to gather specific data not included in Primo Analytics.

Primo
General development, coding, & APIs

In order to collect information about user perceptions regarding Primo load time, I developed a javascript widget to embed into the Primo interface that allows users to report whether or not they felt the Primo results page loaded fast enough. This presentation will discuss how I developed the widget using the custom.js and custom1.css files that are loaded into the Manage Customization Package in Alma, and will share the various reports and features that are a part of the data collection website I developed to collect user reported information using URL parameters. This presentation will also show how I identified specific Primo time variables to collect, and demonstrate to the audience how they can select their own variables to collect for their own reporting purposes.

Alma
Primo

Troubleshooting Primo issues is tricky because a problem can rise from several sources such as Alma, Primo configurations, or the web browser itself. And even if the source of the problem has been isolated, sometimes the problem is too complicate that you will need help from colleagues or a good tool. Either you are new to Primo troubleshooting or want to learn a few tips on CSS and web development, then this session might be especially helpful for you.

This presentation describes a case study of Primo troubleshooting for fixing errors of a resource request from in the GetIt tab due to a bug introduced with late version of Google Chrome browser. In particular, the presentation will cover these topics:

• How to identify source of the problem with Chrome Developer Tool
• How to define and customize the look-and-feel of Primo GetIt and ViewIt tabs in Alma
• The CSS code for discovery tabs customization
• How to describe the problem and ask for advices from colleagues in large

At the end of this session, participants will be able to track down the source of the problem using Chrome Developer Tool, customize Primo discovery tabs in Alma with CSS, and learn the procedure of Web troubleshooting.

Alma
Primo

Learn how to enhance and enrich Primo, using the Search Webhook, to offer patrons the ability to search external search indexes and retrieve results from within the library's Primo user interface. 

Alma

With the new sandbox refresh policy Ex Libris refreshes our premium sandboxes twice a year with prod data, whether we want it or not!   Getting configurations out of the sandbox is a challenge, because they’re all in different places and can’t be retrieved all at once in batch.

This presentation will introduce various methods we used at Tufts to get these configurations out, including scripting against the API using several Python libraries to make this job easier. 

Unfortunately you can’t ingest these configurations back into the sandbox.  While these methods capture the existing configuration with various degrees of manual interaction, I’ll promote the idea of Ex Libris making exporting and importing configurations in batch more seamless.

Alma
General development, coding, & APIs

There are some tables in Alma and other applications where you need to retrieve or post data on a website that isn’t easily accessed except through the web interface.  I.e. there’s no API and the form isn’t nicely presented in a table you can pull  with web scraping tools.  

This session will talk about how to use the Python implementation of Selenium for this purpose, and several different applications where this could be useful.