IGeLU 2025

Conference

Strategy

Conference

Strategy

General / Other

Conference

Conference

Meeting (SC, WG, NUG...)

Specto

Conference

General / Other

Conference

Update on the activities of the Alma WG. This is an open meeting, and all are welcome to attend and ask questions.

Alma

Conference

Update on the activities of the Consortia CoP. This is an open meeting, and all are welcome to attend and ask questions.

Consortia

Conference

Since 2018, the Swiss Library Network Renouvaud has developed tools to integrate over 50 libraries into its network, enabling the import of diverse data types, including bibliographic metadata as well as holdings and item records, related to commercial print and multimedia documents, student theses, grey literature, and periodical articles. A major challenge has been importing metadata into Alma in MARC21 format and in accordance with Renouvaud cataloguing rules, from various ILS or in-house systems—often limited to CSV exports—as well as managing deduplication during the import process.

In this presentation, we will showcase the solutions created, including software specifically designed for importing metadata of commercial documents, and custom Python scripts that work with Alma's REST APIs. These scripts can be reused even by non-developers, offering practical, scalable solutions to simplify your library’s data imports and integration workflows.

Alma

Conference

The University of Manitoba Libraries (UML) embarked on an evaluation and implementation journey with Primo Research Assistant. This presentation shares the process of assessing the tool's usability, accuracy, and alignment with user needs, along with its subsequent rollout. A multidisciplinary working group conducted hands-on testing, posing diverse research questions to evaluate its strengths and limitations. Key findings highlighted its utility as a starting point for research while identifying challenges such as limited local relevance and overly confident responses. Implementation efforts focused on clear positioning of the tool as a supplementary resource, robust training for library staff, and transparent communication of its capabilities and constraints to users. Lessons learned include managing expectations around AI tools, emphasizing academic integrity, and integrating traditional library resources as complementary supports.

Primo / Primo VE

Conference

The University of Toronto Libraries' Indigenous Metadata Working Group is dedicated to improving access to materials related to Indigenous Peoples and knowledges in our collections. Our current project addresses a critical gap: the lack of MARC language codes for all Indigenous languages spoken in Canada. While the MARC code list for languages groups many Indigenous languages by continent, we are implementing the PCC-approved ISO 639-3 codes to enhance our bibliographic description. This initiative not only improves the granularity of our metadata but also facilitates users' ability to search for materials in Indigenous languages with greater precision. Hear how we're making use of Alma Analytics (including using local parameters to identify languages), using normalization rules to update the records and how Alma and Primo VE are both helpful and an obstacle to improving access to Indigenous knowledge resources.

User Experience / Discovery

Conference

In the State of Israel, it is customary to allow researchers and research students to open library cards at other university libraries for the purpose of directly borrowing books from other universities. The process requires the end user to submit a request at their home institution, which must then be approved by the library staff.

Until recently, this process was inefficient and not service oriented. We identified a need to improve this service using more advanced tools. In this lecture, we will show how we took the inefficient process and, through the integration of Microsoft 365 technologies and the Alma system, created an automatic, efficient process that saves a lot of time for both the end user, the library staff, and the staff of the other university libraries. The customer experience has significantly improved as a result of the new system, and the cooperation between the institutions has become more efficient and stronger.

Conference

Demonstration of the impact of research is a reporting requirement for many higher education institutions. At University of the Sunshine Coast we chose Esploro to record impact records. Our project involved configuring Esploro to capture impact evidence, integrating data from various source systems, and addressing challenges in maintaining data accuracy. The outcome is a robust system that links assets, grants, activities, and media mentions, providing a holistic view of research impact. With robust analytics, open integrations, and compliance with open access requirements, Esploro provides a holistic solution for demonstrating research impact and elevating institutional visibility within the academic community. Despite some limitations, Esploro's unified approach offers significant advantages for researchers and institutions alike. I look forward to sharing our journey and insights with you.

Zoom presenter session (available to physical and virtual attendees)

Esploro / Converis

Conference

Roadmap / Update

Alma

Conference

Conference

Alma

Conference

A meeting to discuss Analytics CoP issues

Private meeting. By invitation only

Meeting (SC, WG, NUG...)

Analytics / Mixpanel

Conference

Migration of library data is a critical but challenging task that libraries face when moving to new systems, especially when it comes to a consortium. This presentation will explore the intricacies of data migration and provide a comprehensive guide to ensuring a smooth and successful transition. The focus will be on bibliographic data migrations that may occur from one Institutional Zone (IZ) to another or from external systems such as Aleph to Alma. In addition, the presentation will cover the migration of other types of data, including acquisitions, loans and requests.

Key topics include planning and preparation, technical considerations and testing for critical steps and validation. Different data endpoints such as import profiles and API will be compared. Attendees will gain valuable insight and practical knowledge on how to organise a migration without directly involving Clarivate. It will highlight where compromise is required and where it is perfectly fine.

Migration / Implementation

Conference

This presentation reflects on a pilot project with the Primo Research Assistant within KU Leuven Association, a higher education network including both a university and several professionally-oriented university colleges. Its diverse user base offers a rich ground to explore effective strategies to help end users get the most out of this new tool. Based on feedback gathered through workshops, expert discussions and a survey, we first share our findings on perceived strengths and weaknesses, as well as practical uses of the tool in diverse contexts. Further, we reflect on documentation needs as they appeared from users’ comments, questions and even misconceptions about the tool’s functionalities. Finally, we share our strategies to develop effective support tools to help users from varied backgrounds get a clear view of the Primo AI Assistant’s capabilities and correctly interpret its output.

User Experience / Discovery

Primo / Primo VE

Conference

This presentation explores the integration of dissertation management in Alma and Primo VE, which we implemented in 2024 at the University of Milan, by comparing different institutional approaches and evaluating the benefits of a unified system for physical and digital dissertations.

We will discuss the impact on services (both physical and digital), catalogue usability (including ranking challenges), and the workflows involved in digital collection management—covering aspects such as import procedures, embargo handling, and AWS S3 storage solutions. 

Furthermore, we will address challenges encountered, including the inability to update dissertation representation files.

Finally, we will explore how Analytics can support informed decision-making and service improvements. This session aims to offer valuable takeaways for libraries considering their integration strategies, and to introduce the new working group on Alma Digital within ITALE, Italian association of Ex-Libris users.

Migration / Implementation

Alma Digital

Conference

The University of Leeds migrated to Alma in July 2019. The migration created over 10,000 host bibliographic records, related records such as linked journal titles, that are not intended to be the final record structure and can be difficult for users to interpret when searching these titles in Primo. Since 2019 we have been manually tidying the data for each of these host bibliographic records individually; a time-consuming process with over 6,000 host bibliographic records remaining in our system to date. This year, I have developed a quicker batch process to add the correct 773 fields to the individual related titles using several tools including: Analytics, Excel, MarcEdit, Alma Merge Rules, Alma Import Profiles, and tips from AI. This process reduces the time required to fix these host bibliographic records and lowers the risk of human error when creating the 773 field data. I outline the different steps in this batch process and how this could be applied to your own institution.

Conference

Research data storage and management is a growing concern for university libraries and other research institutions. This presentation will provide an overview of the approach taken by Southern Cross University's inter-departmental team, with a focus on: 

• Economical storage solutions for short and long-term research data storage needs.
• Identifying sensitive or private research data to ensure security and privacy concerns are mitigated.
• Compliance with federal and state legislation, regulations and best practices.
• Recognising when research data includes Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) and considerations are needed for sharing and storage.
• Planning for long-term data ownership, storage and access.
• Using Esploro for publishing and integrations to improve discoverability of research data.

Practical Applications

Conference

This session will highlight the benefits of synthesizing dispersed information across various Ex Libris & community platforms. Unifying data across channels, such as product documentation, Ideas Exchange, and publicly available presentations/articles, can create a more transparent, inclusive, and informed engagement opportunity for librarians.

We will illustrate these ideas using an AI-powered tool—currently a prototype in development—that queries public knowledge using Retrieval-Augmented Generation and OpenAI API to consolidate valuable product and community knowledge with library workflows, while maintaining strict privacy and allowing flexibility and creativity in our everyday tasks.

Join us for an open dialogue on actionable strategies to enhance knowledge sharing, identify priorities, and create a more interconnected and efficient environment for our collective expertise.

General / Other

Conference

General / Other

Conference

Acquiring and delivering accessible versions of high-demand taught course content texts for students with print disabilities is often a time consuming and manual process, usually extraneous to standard book acquisitions for other students in the cohort.

Integrating in-house digitised content with user management and access rights, has facilitated the construction of a repository of accessible texts, which unlocks only for specific users immediately at the point of need.

This session will walk through how LSE has changed its internal workflows and divisions of responsibility, around the delivery of these texts. Benefits, drawbacks, and continued pain points in the supply chain will be examined, particularly with developments still required from ExLibris (with Leganto and Primo) to integrate representation discovery limited to specific user groups and permissions; and initiatives around licensing for the Library sector to consider and agitate for in their jurisdictions will be proposed.

Conference

In 2015, Seoul National University Library introduced Alma and Primo to Korea for the first time. This year, we have joined the IGeLU community as Korea’s first and only member. As a minority user group within IGeLU, we aim to bring our perspectives and insights into discussions.

The initial adoption and implementation of Ex Libris solutions in Korea posed significant challenges due to cultural and linguistic differences from the majority of Ex Libris users. However, through close collaboration with Ex Libris Korea and the adaptive development of customizations for Korean users, we have made meaningful progress.

We would like to share some of our Primo customizations designed to enhance the user experience and satisfaction of Korean users, including call number SMS notifications, a Bento-style preliminary search results page using the Primo API, and a few refinements.

Conference

Academic libraries must embrace innovative technologies to remain relevant and efficient. RFID technology—combining radio frequency and microchips—enhances circulation, inventory, and self-service, boosting user satisfaction. At the UFS Library, implementing an RFID chute has expanded RFID capabilities by enabling 24/7 returns and streamlining workflows. This paper shares practical insights from the chute's implementation, covering pre-installation, configuration, benefits, and challenges. It offers empirical evidence of its integration into the Library Management System and proposes a practical model for similar institutions. The study contributes to the digital transformation of libraries and aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 4, 9, and 11.

Migration / Implementation

Alma

Conference

Esploro / Converis

Conference

As part of the celebration of 20 years of the library community, this presentation will explore the central role of collaboration in the development and evolution of libraries.The experience of SBS (Sienese Library System) and SBART (University Library System of the Tuscany Region) represents an innovative model in the international library landscape, created to overcome the autonomy of individual systems and promote synergies between libraries. We will analyze the structure of Alma and Primo, highlighting the challenges faced and the solutions implemented to adapt these systems to a complex and diverse reality. Through this case, we will demonstrate how the sharing of resources and expertise has fostered greater accessibility, efficiency and interoperability among the institutions in the Tuscany Region, confirming that the community is the true engine of library innovation.

Conference theme: Celebrating 20 years of community

Conference

Can research assistants, like Primo Research Assistant, change the way of searching? Retrieve reliable effective results with less hallucinations. AI tools are transforming academic research by offering new search capabilities. This study examines the quality of sources retrieved by research assistants, Primo and others,  and how it compatible with the query.

Although AI integration has more challenges than opportunities the benefits are overcome either in technical services, e.g. cataloging, or in reference services. Approximately 25% of libraries utilize AI for tasks such as information restoration and data processing (Ali et al., 2024).

While AI chatbots can improve student engagement and accessibility, there are still concerns regarding the quality, bias, and potential for plagiarism of educational content. The findings indicate that research assistants, like Primo RA, operate in more controlled environments that enable them to provide more reliable, fulltext (if available) results than chatbots.

User Experience / Discovery

Primo / Primo VE

Conference

Roadmap / Update

Rialto

Conference

The Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) hosted a local instance of the VDX interlibrary loan management system on our own consortial infrastructure for 20 years, before migrating to a Network Zone implementation of Alma and using Alma Resource Sharing and an Automated Fulfillment Network for ILL. In both cases, the technical development rests with the vendor, but most support, configuration, and creation of documentation occur at the consortium. With Alma, OCUL has less control over the technology and no access to members' Institution Zones, so we rely on each institution to manage their own configurations.

This session discusses the transition from a consortially-hosted software solution to a vendor cloud-hosted software solution that is managed consortially. This transition had many, sometimes surprising, implications for consortial staffing, local technological development, and the relationship between consortium, vendors, and member libraries.

Conference theme: Celebrating 20 years of community

Conference

Private meeting. By invitation only

Meeting (SC, WG, NUG...)

Alma

Conference

Generative AI is rapidly reshaping academic research. A 2025 survey of 1,000+ students and 300 librarians found over half of students use AI tools like ChatGPT, yet only 8% received librarian support (Librarian Futures Report Part IV). Still, over 50% said they'd feel more confident using AI if recommended by a librarian—highlighting a clear opportunity for librarians to lead in responsible AI use and embed the library into evolving research workflows.

In this session, we'll explore the key findings from the report and share insights on student AI use, skills librarians need to lead the AI frontier, and strategies to position the library as an essential guide in an AI-driven environment. The session will also address how librarians can influence AI policy and procurement to ensure equitable access and support student success.

User Experience / Discovery

General / Other

Conference

Conference

Conference

When attempting to harvest and display LibGuides in Primo VE, we required a new approach beyond using OAI-PMH. By using SpringShare APIs as the harvesting method and FTP as the import profile protocol, we gained more control over the LibGuide content we wanted to display and a more seamless way to load and update guides. This presentation will outline why we needed a different approach and what we did to satisfy that need.

Conference

This year marks the 14th Rosetta Working Group Annual Meeting, held around the globe and persevering through a pandemic. The group has evolved from an independent network of users into an IGeLU/ELUNA-aligned product group. Over the years, it has coordinated the knowledge and skills of a small but dedicated Rosetta user community. 

This presentation will focus on the development of the Rosetta community and how the Working Group has organized to support its members within an evolving commercial product landscape.

The Rosetta user community aims to bring the ethos of digital preservation—collaboration, resource sharing, and knowledge exchange—into a commercial setting. Drawing on the strengths of diverse institutions, from small organizations to national libraries, the group has built shared resources and contributed to a unified vision for the product’s future.

Conference theme: Celebrating 20 years of community

Rosetta

Conference

The method used in the underlying master's thesis was a focus group survey of reference librarians to determine the information needs of university library users.
It is precisely these information needs that form the basis for categorising the extent to which the Primo Research Assistant fulfils them - based on the results of a second focus group.
This presentation not only provides an overview of the results, but also of the challenges, surprises and limitations of the survey.

User Experience / Discovery

Primo / Primo VE

Conference

Join us for an in-depth exploration of the latest advancements in Aha Ideas CERV. This session will equip you with the knowledge to maximize the potential of this powerful innovation management platform. During this session, learn how Aha is used within the IGeLU (and ELUNA) context: how to effectively submit an idea, why Aha was selected as a platform, lessons learned, how CERV supports our community processes, what could be improved, and which new functionalities are expected to be implemented in the short term.

Conference

The Consortium of Icelandic Libraries (CIL) operates a nationwide network zone with nine IZs. Four serve universities, two support governmental institutions, and the remaining three serve primary and secondary schools, and public libraries. These three account for 98% of patron activity, highlighting their critical importance.

Adopting Alma within these high-traffic institutions has been challenging. Public library staff face workflow inefficiencies and slowness at service and circulation desks, while school library personnel struggle with Alma's complexity. Additionally, Alma's fulfillment, hold requests, and user role design have led to service disruptions and patron frustration.

This session will present our implementation experiences and operational hurdles and share our solutions. We'll focus on practical approaches that may benefit other consortia with similar setups.

For those interested in technical details, we offer an additional session during a developer's day event.

Conference

Roadmap / Update

General / Other

Conference

This presentation focuses on the integration of InCites Benchmarking & Analytics (B&A) with Scholarship@Miami (Esploro) at the University of Miami Libraries. Scholarship@Miami helps to showcase research outputs, while its integration with InCites (B&A), a citation-based evaluation tool, enhances these outputs with impact metrics and indicators, increasing their visibility and illustrating their influence on global research. In this presentation, we will cover the integration process and share insights from displaying metrics such as citations, journal indicators, and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Scholarship@Miami Research Portal. Furthermore, we will highlight how we have grown a trusted relationship with the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship (OVPRS) and the ongoing collaboration that has emerged from the role libraries play in supporting research and enhancing research visibility at the university.

Conference

Universidad Panamericana has driven the transformation of its Digital Library through a strategic integration of INVENTIO (Primo) and its AI-based Research Assistant. This innovation strengthens user experience and information discovery and is built upon three core pillars:

• Process optimization: The Research Assistant enhances retrieval, organization, and personalization of information, aligning library services with the evolving capacities of artificial intelligence.
• Outreach and training: To promote user adoption, the library has developed specialized LibGuides on AI in Primo and ProQuest One Academic, providing practical and contextual resources.
• Institutional impact: This project positions Universidad Panamericana as a leader in Latin America in the development of AI-enhanced digital libraries, offering innovative services that support teaching, research, and academic outreach.

The presentation will include a brief demonstration, key implementation materials, and an overview of the challenges and solutions encountered during AI integration.

User Experience / Discovery

Primo / Primo VE

Conference

Alma and Primo are often considered suited to research libraries. How can they be adapted to cater for the needs of public and school libraries? Renouvaud is a network of over 150 libraries of widely varying types and sizes, ranging from academic and research to specialised, public and school libraries. This diversity is reflected in its user base. With imagination, adaptations and dedicated tools, it is possible to open up the Alma/Primo horizons. For example, how do you manage each year a moving target of some 90,000 under-age school library users? What methods can you put in place to allow librarians to promote time-limited Easter related material, or teachers to suggest readings to their pupils? Find out how the collection lobby is used to promote topical items and how to be efficient in numerous calendar or location changes. Learn about the highs and lows of managing over 60 Primo views and how those were enriched with ratings and reviews for the French speaking public. And more!

Conference

You are not really satisfied with the outcome of the existing enhancement processes “Idea Exchange” and “CERV”? This presentation will use a few selected examples to provide some important tips that you should take to heart as the submitter of an Idea or CERV request in order to increase your chances of receiving a significant number of votes and reduce the workload for the reviewers in the IGeLU Working Groups. We will also look at what else Clarivate could and should do to improve its products as effectively and sustainably as possible using the existing enhancement processes.

Conference theme: Celebrating 20 years of community

General / Other

Conference

Norwegian university libraries hold vast collections of print books and journals in foreign languages, but shrinking storage and changing library spaces require new approaches. The BOTT libraries (Bergen, Oslo, Tromsø, Trondheim) launched the project Collection Management in Transition to explore sustainable strategies for managing legacy print holdings. The project, supported by the National Library, addresses how shared responsibility, interlibrary loans, and improved metadata can enhance access, reduce redundancy, and support national coordination without compromising institutional autonomy. It also explores how library systems can be improved to support tagging of unique items and provide better collection overviews. Can AI and machine learning help identify what to preserve? How can systems support new cross-institutional services? The project provides new tools and a scalable model for regional and national collaboration. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3184509  

Conference

Generative AI (Gen AI) has the potential to offer a more intuitive, meaningful discovery experience. However, it also has the potential to obfuscate and distort information. Given the growing number of AI tools emerging, libraries must balance the need to make discovery both as easy and as accurate as possible. In this presentation, we describe how we developed an approach to assessing user-focused AI tools and our assessment of the Primo Research Assistant. We will discuss common issues with AI, testing and assessment strategies, and what we found in our evaluation of the Research Assistant. 

Zoom presenter session (available to physical and virtual attendees)

User Experience / Discovery

Primo / Primo VE

Conference

Update on the activities of the Esploro WG. This is an open meeting, and all are welcome to attend and ask questions.

Esploro / Converis

Conference

After moving from Voyager/SFX to Alma, we started noticing that the Community Zone Updates Task List had a much bigger impact on access than we expected. Some portfolios didn’t link properly, records pointed to the wrong place, and in a lot of cases, we weren’t even sure if we were supposed to do anything with the reports. At first, we handled updates as best we could, but it wasn’t very efficient. Over time, we came up with a way to figure out which reports needed action right away, and which ones we could set aside. We wrote things down, made a checklist, and split the work between us. In this session, I’ll talk about how we approached it, what changed over time, and the things that made a difference. If you're feeling buried by CZ reports, you might find something here that makes it a bit easier.

Zoom presenter session (available to physical and virtual attendees)

Conference

Update on the activities of the Rosetta WG and on the Rosetta roadmap. This is an open meeting, and all are welcome to attend and ask questions.

Rosetta