Letters demystified: two approaches to XSL customisations for your Alma and Esploro letters

Event Page | Check out the program in the Google Sheet [coming soon]

Our annual event is held in a hybrid format, with most sessions accessible both to on-site attendees and to those joining via Zoom.

Out of the box letters in Alma and Esploro are functional. Customisation of the letter XSL templates, however, is only limited by our creativity, technical skills, and time.

Aimed at those new to customising letters, this presentation will introduce some key concepts for editing XSL templates and provide two approaches to updating the letters.

The University of Western Australia will step through how they built some simple yet effective customisations for Alma’s “Interested In” letter to make the communication sharper and more responsive to the user’s context

Southern Cross University will cover how they overhauled the look and feel of Esploro’s “asset usage statistics” letter with AI assistance. From prompt design, to testing and troubleshooting steps, they’ll demonstrate how to dream big while staying within a letter’s limitations.

You will walk away with some practical examples for both approaches that you can take to your institution as well as the confidence to try them.

IGeLU 2026

October 19–22, 2026

Taipei

Letters demystified: two approaches to XSL customisations for your Alma and Esploro letters

Event part

Abstract

Track

Products or Areas of Focus

Presenters

Jonah Highman, University of Western Australia, Senior Project Coordinator

Maureen Bezanson, Southern Cross University, Team Leader, Library Systems

Sarah Ryu, Southern Cross University, Librarian, Library Systems