Resources

Specto Starter and Specto are closely related products designed to help libraries manage digital collections in Alma. They share a common foundation, but they offer different levels of functionality.

Specto Starter

Specto Starter is a simplified solution focused on the core tasks required to manage and view digital resources in Alma. It is designed for libraries that need reliable digital inventory management without advanced AI-driven services. Specto Starter enables you to:

• Create and manage digital inventory

• Configure digital storage and add representations

• Ingest digital content, including in bulk

• View and interact with digital files (images, PDFs, and other formats)

• View, edit, and manage descriptive and administrative metadata

• Access digital resources through an integrated viewer

Specto Starter does not analyze or enrich content automatically. All metadata creation and enhancement is handled manually by staff using standard workflows.Its primary role is to provide a solid entry point for managing and accessing digital collections within Alma, and it is available at no additional cost to Alma Digital customers.

Specto

Specto is a subscription-based solution that builds on the same core concepts as Specto Starter but adds advanced, AI-driven services to help libraries scale, enrich, and showcase their digital collections.

In addition to core digital management capabilities from Specto Starter, Specto provides:

• AI-based entity extraction from images and text

  • Automatically identifies people, places, organizations, landmarks, and other entities

• AI-powered metadata enrichment

  • Generates and enhances descriptive metadata at scale

  • Supports grouping, tagging, and approval workflows

• Exhibition Builder

  • Enables libraries to curate and publish online exhibitions and narratives

  • Designed to improve public engagement and discovery

• Enhanced discovery and storytelling capabilities driven by Academic AI

These services significantly reduce manual effort, improve metadata quality, and allow users to actively present their collections to broader audiences.

Area	Specto Starter	Specto
Availability	Subscription based	Additional subscription
Core digital inventory and storage	✔	✔
Digital resource viewer	✔	✔
Manual metadata management	✔	✔
AI entity extraction	✖	✔
AI metadata enrichment	✖	✔
Automated grouping and tagging	✖	✔
Exhibition Builder	✖	✔
Advanced discovery and storytelling	✖	✔

Specto Preservation

Specto Preservation is a specialized, subscription-based solution focused on ensuring the long-term safety, integrity, and accessibility of digital collections. While Specto Starter and Specto focus on managing, enriching, and showcasing digital resources,Specto Preservation adds a dedicated layer for ongoing preservation and risk management.

With Specto Preservation, you can:

• Preserve digital files over time: Protect against data corruption, format obsolescence, and missing dependencies

• Run automated preservation services: Includes virus checks, fixity checks, format identification, and format validation

• Monitor and resolve technical issues: Identify file-level errors during submissions, data management, or format migration workflows

• Manage preservation workflows: Support ingestion (submissions), file management, and controlled format migration

• Analyze collection health: Use analytics to track risks, trends, and the overall state of preserved assets

• Remove risks of asset deterioration during long-term preservation

Specto Preservation operates continuously in the background to validate files and detect issues early, ensuring that digital resources remain usable and trustworthy over time.

Learn more about Specto.