Creating PO Lines with Real-Time Ordering

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This page describes how to setup and work with real-time using APIs. For a list of links to pages with instructions for purchasing in Alma including renewals, working with vendors, etc., see Purchasing. For the overall purchasing workflow, including the steps required for creating orders (whether using EOD, creating them manually, etc.), see Purchasing Workflow. For an overview of working with acquisitions in Alma, including links to relevant sections such as Invoicing, Renewals, Configuration, etc., see Introduction to Acquisitions.

Alma supports real-time ordering by enabling vendors to integrate their ordering systems with Alma's repository and ordering features. This means that Alma operators can purchase items directly in the vendor's system, and the order data is sent automatically to Alma from the vendor's system using Alma's APIs. Alma then automatically creates a PO line for each item purchased.

Real-time ordering speeds up the availability of resources, increases the efficiency of integrating records, reduces the complications of manually overlaying or merging records, and enhances data enrichment in Alma.

The following diagram provides an overview of the real-time purchasing workflow:

A diagram for real time ordering.

Setting Up a Real-time Ordering Workflow with Participating Vendors

This section provides general information about setting up the real-time ordering workflow with vendors. Set-up must take place both in Alma and in the vendor's system.

For specific instructions for working with ProQuest Coutts OASIS, see Setting up a real-time acquisitions workflow with ProQuest Coutts OASIS. See also Manually Creating a PO Line.

Required Configurations in Alma

The simple setup includes the following steps:

  • Default Metadata template: Ensure that a default metadata template is configured. (Open the Metadata Editor>Template> choose the template you want to define as a default > right-click and select Properties> check as default).
  • New Order API integration profile: This API is used for creating a PO line in Alma for an order that was done in a vendor system. As part of the PO line details, the relevant metadata is sent to Alma. Alma will try to match it with existing bibliographic records. If a matching bibliographic record exists - the new PO line will be related to that record. If not – a new bibliographic record will be created with the supplied metadata. You need to decide on the matching rules that you want to apply (see How the bibliographic record is determined). Validations for fund-related issues can also be configured (as documented here(docx)).
    When a match is found, the New Order API integration profile does not make any changes to the management tags of existing records. When no match is found, the integration profile creates a new Bib with the management tags according to the defaults/profile settings.
  • Ex Libris recommends to define an API Restriction profile(see here).
  • Vendor-specific Alma configuration for GOBI: The vendor account representing GOBI should be defined with 0% discount.

Sending Setup Information to the Vendor

Setup for real-time ordering must happen on the vendor side as well. For information for vendors, see Setting up a real-time ordering workflow with ExLibris Alma.

  • Provide the vendor the necessary Alma information for setup, as detailed below:
Send to vendor Description
API key

Generate an API key and supply it to the vendor.

If several vendors are part of the real-time ordering, supply each vendor a unique separate API key. In this way, if and when the institution wants to discontinue working with a specific vendor, that specific API key can be disabled via the Developers Network. Other API keys will continue functioning as usual.

To generate your API key:

You can define the API within your Sandbox or within Production environments.

  1. Log in to the Developers Network using your institution account.
  2. Define an application with the name “Integration with vendor”.
  3. Add “Acquisition” API to the application, with read/write plan.
  4. Add “Configuration” API to the application, with read-only plan.
  5. Copy the API key of the application. This is the API key that will be used as part of the vendor API calls in order to identify your institution. Note that we recommend to define an API Restriction profile. See more details here.

For more details regarding API key generation and working with Alma APIs, see Alma APIs.
Vendor code and Vendor account code

Find the information regarding the vendor record in Alma under Acquisitions > Acquisitions Infrastructure > Vendors. The PO lines created as part of the real-time ordering will be related to that vendor and vendor account:

Make sure that this vendor in Alma is configured not to send outgoing EDI messages for POs. Other EDI messages (e.g. for invoices) can be sent, if it is part of your workflow.
Owning Library code(s)

The library to which the PO line created as part of Real-time ordering will be assigned to.

Supply a list of possible owning library codes to the vendor. The implementation on the vendor side might be to provide a dropdown on the ordering form, from which to choose the relevant owning library. Other implementation might be to associate an account to a single owning library. In this case, the Operator will have to be logged in with the relevant account.

Note that the vendor can use the Retrieve libraries API in order to get a full list of libraries, or use the Get library API to check a code of specific library.
Fund code(s) The fund from which the payment will be done. Note that the vendor can use the Retrieve funds API.

Access Model Considerations

When the New Order API runs, Alma uses the vendor identifier number, or the ISBN/ISSN, to match the incoming order to an existing portfolio in an electronic collection. This functionality is currently available for OASIS and GOBI.

  • If a match is found, the PO line is associated with the portfolio. The access model description, as defined in the Access Model table, is then added to the Public Access Model field (within the Acquisition tab of the Portfolio Editor) for display in Primo.
  • If a match is not found, the Community Zone is searched within the relevant Community Zone collection, using the access provider's collection code, which is transferred into Alma as part of the order information. Once a match is found in the Community Zone, the portfolio is activated in the institution linked to the Community Zone. The access model is stored in the Access Model field of the PO line for electronic orders, and within the portfolio's Public Access Model field for display in Primo.

Portfolios that are activated from the Community Zone as a result of orders coming into Alma from OASIS/GOBI via API enter Alma as not'Available'. For the portfolio to appear in the discovery system, the institution must make the portfolio available (once it was made available on the vendor side).

If your institution would like orders coming from OASIS/GOBI via API to create all resources that are matched to Alma Community Zone as 'Available', set the acq_activate_portfolio_from_API  parameter (Configuration menu > Acquisitions > Other settings) to 'true'. If the parameter was set to true and the resource did not have a Community Zone match, a local portfolio will be created. This local portfolio will not be set as "Available" (an Electronic Activation Task List will be created) because local, non CZ-linked portfolios, have no URL information. See more information in January release notes and Configuring Other Settings (Acquisitions) page.

Note that the portfolio's Public Access Model description will only be presented in the discovery system if the Enable Display of AccessModel checkbox is selected on the Other Settings page (Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Other Settings). See Configuring Other Settings.

In case a PO line of type 'License Upgrade' was added to the portfolio as an additional PO line, the Public Access Model field on the portfolio displays the access model associated with the license-upgrade order.

Additional Information

For additional information, see below:

Vendor Lists

For a list of participating vendors, see below.

  • If you would like a vendor to enable this feature, or if you are a vendor who would like to enable this feature, contact VendorIntegration@exlibrisgroup.com.

  • By default, CZ electronic collections are used as specified below. If you want to use a local electronic collection from the vendors below, or from other vendors, you can open a support case and specify the local collection ID that you would like to use.

OASIS Vendor List

The list of vendors currently supported for orders originating from OASIS is:

Provider name Collection name Collection ID
Bloomsbury Collection Bloomsbury Collections All Titles 614950000000000416
Brill Online Brill Online Books 613170000000000148
Cairn Ebooks CAIRN eBooks General 613170000000000198
Cambridge University Cambridge Core all books 613820000000000020
De Gruyter  De Gruyter eBooks Complete 611000000000002268
EBSCO EBSCOhost Ebooks 61111000211069000
Elsevier Elsevier ScienceDirect Books Complete 613840000000000009
Gale GVRL Gale eBooks 611000000000000731
IGI Global Online  IGI Global InfoSci-Books 611000000000002255
John Benjamins John Benjamins Books 613820000000000062
JSTOR JSTOR Books 613170000000000272
Karger Karger eBooks Collection 613810000000000333
Manchester University Press Manchester Hive 615490000000000250
Oxford Scholarly Editions Online Oxford Scholarly Editions Online 613840000000000106
Project MUSE Project MUSE - EBA All Single Title Collection 615410000000000517
ProQuest Ebook Central EBook Central Perpetual and DDATitles 614330000000000002
Rittenhouse R2 R2 Digital Library PDA Discoverable Titles 614900000000001202
SAGE SAGE Knowledge A-Z (All Titles) 613790000000000598
Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis eBooks Complete 611000000000000660
Wiley Online Library (eBooks) Wiley Online Library Online Books 611000000000000499
World Scientific Publishing World Scientific eBooks 612490000000000003

GOBI Vendor List

Electronic collections should be activated in the Institution Zone before the API can push and link portfolios to the CZ.

The list of vendors currently supported for orders originating from GOBI is:

GOBI Vendors List
Provider name Collection name Collection ID
Al Manhal Al Manhal eBook Collection 614910000000001498
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury Collections All Titles 614950000000000416
Brill Online Brill Online Books 613170000000000148
CAIRN CAIRN eBooks General 613170000000000198
Cambridge University Press Cambridge Core All Books 613820000000000020
De Gruyter de Gruyter eBooks Complete 611000000000002268
Digitalia Hispanica Digitalia Digitalia Hispanica 613840000000000287
Duke University Press e-Duke All Books 615410000000000518
EBSCOhost EBSCOhost Ebooks 61111000211069000
Edward Elgar Books Edward Elgar Books 613170000000000299
Elsevier ScienceDirect Elsevier ScienceDirect Books Complete 613840000000000009
Gale GVRL Gale eBooks 611000000000000731
IGI Global Online  IGI Global InfoSci-Books 611000000000002255
John Benjamins John Benjamins Books 613820000000000062
JSTOR JSTOR Books 613170000000000272
Karger Karger eBooks Collection 613810000000000333
Manchester University Press Manchester Hive 615490000000000250
Project MUSE Project MUSE - EBA All Single Title Collection 615410000000000517
Oxford Bibliographies Online Oxford University Press Oxford Bibliographies 613170000000000296
Oxford Clinical Psychology Online Oxford University Press Oxford Clinical Psychology 613790000000001102
Oxford Handbooks Online Oxford Handbooks Online Complete 611000000000002626
Oxford Medicine Online  Oxford Medicine Online 613410000000000010
Oxford Scholarly Editions Online Oxford Scholarly Editions Online 613840000000000106
Oxford Reference Online Oxford Reference Library 613170000000000188
ProQuest Ebook Central EBook Central Perpetual and DDATitles 614330000000000002
Rittenhouse R2 Digital Library Rittenhouse Book Distributors, Inc. R2 Digital Library PDA Discoverable Titles 614900000000001202
SAGE Online Content SAGE Knowledge A-Z (All Titles) 613790000000000598
SpringerLink SpringerLink Books Complete 611000000000001381
Taylor & Francis eBooks Taylor & Francis eBooks Complete 611000000000000660
University Press Scholarship University Press Scholarship Online Complete 613450000000000059
Wiley Online Library (eBooks) Wiley Online Library Online Books 611000000000000499
Wolters Kluwer Books@Ovid Purchase 612430000000000018
World Scientific World Scientific eBooks 612490000000000003

Real-Time Ordering for ATO, STL, and EBA Purchase Models

Purchase Model Description
Access to Own (ATO)

ATO is a unique usage-based acquisition model for eBooks, where all spending contributes towards ownership, thus allowing customers to control the budget while potentially providing access to a wider pool of titles.

This model is relevant for libraries that:

  • Want to use usage-based (evidence-based or DDA) purchasing
  • Desire front-list and back-list quality content in their library collections
  • Prefer to spend collection funds on ownership rather than access

This model is available via ProQuest's Ebook Central platform.
Short-Term Loan (STL)
  • STL allows Extended Access coverage
    • Librarians can enable Extended Access so that when books owned with the 1-user or 3-user access model are already fully in use, or a book owned with the NL (Non-linear Lending) access model has no more days-of-use available for the year, a patron's sufficient use of the book will initiate an STL, auto-upgrade, or auto-purchase of the book for the patron.
  • STL on a DDA-discoverable book
    • DDA-discoverable books are un-owned books that your librarians have made visible to patrons. When a patron uses a DDA-discoverable book sufficiently, it triggers an STL or auto-purchase of the book.

Evidence Based Acquisition (EBA)

How EBA works, in 4 steps

  1. The library deposits an EBA credit (for example $10,000) to be used on future eBook purchases.
  2. The library subscribes for one year - AT NO CHARGE - to the relevant vendor collection.
  3. At a mutually agreed-upon time before the subscription ends, the vendor provides the library with usage statistics for its institution for all titles in the collection, and a complete price list.
  4. The library then uses its EBA credit to purchase for perpetual access the most used eBooks from the collection.

STL/ATO and Alma

Alma receives the order via API and associates it with the relevant resource. If an additional order is sent to Alma via API as part of the STL/ATO, the new order is associated with the existing resource as the "main order," while the initial order becomes an "additional order." Both the main and the additional orders have the resource associated with them. The main PO line is the primary and active PO line, and all its relevant attributes are passed to the portfolio (Access model).

Example: This use case describes the chain of events when STL/ATO orders are sent to Alma:

  1. The library has a DDA program with ProQuest. As part of the DDA program, the electronic resource,AI-Powered IoT for COVID-19, is made available via ProQuest Ebook Central.
  2. ProQuest identifies the accessing of the resource, which triggers an STL real-time order.
  3. ProQuest identifies an additional, second accessing of the resource, which triggers an additional STL real-time order.
  4. Both PO lines that were created as part of the STL process are associated with the resource.
    STL_ATO_5.PNG
    Original (first) PO Line is associated with the portfolio as an Additional PO Line
    STL_ATO_6.PNG
    The second PO line is associated with the portfolio as well

EBA and Alma

EBA (Evidence Based Acquisition) is a purchasing model in which a onetime deposit is passed to the vendor at the beginning of the subscription period, but the actual payment takes place only at the end of the period. The following are the suggested steps for handling an EBA purchase in Alma:

  1. Create a dedicated EBA fund for the entire amount deposited by the library with the vendor (amount for the duration of the subscription).
  2. At the end of the period, when the library uses its EBA credit to purchase perpetual access for selected portfolios, create an order (PO line) associated with the collection that will have the owned portfolios.

    The PO line will not be associated with all the relevant owned portfolios - only the collection.

  3. Optional: Add an attachment to the POL with a list of portfolios that were purchased at the conclusion of this EBA's subscription period.
  4. For the next subscription period with the same vendor, either create a new fund or add an additional allocation to the existing fund (rollover is another option when applicable), and repeat the previous steps.

EBA can also be managed through Rialto. For additional information, see Working with Evidence Based Acquisition (EBA).