Make it possible to add Vendor Interface fields and customize field value options for existing fields
In Alma, Vendor Interfaces in Vendor records are the place designed to hold e-resources administrative information, such as contact information, administrative details, and usage statistics details. However, the fields available to libraries were developed several years ago, are not customizable, and do not reflect the complexity of modern e-resources management. Different types of institutions have different needs and want to record different types of information, so adding a few new fields for all libraries isn't an ideal solution.
Instead, this request is for libraries to have the ability to add and manage Vendor Interface fields. Libraries should be able to create new fields to reflect their own local needs, and these new fields should all be viewable in analytics. For example, we'd like to store accessibility information and COUNTER version information for each vendor interface, but there is no fields dedicated to this type of information (other libraries might wish to store other types of information). Also, for both new and existing fields, libraries should be able to manage their own controlled field values lists. For example, for the field "Implemented Authorization Method," the select list of controlled values is currently not customizable does not include modern authentication methods such as Shibboleth, SSO, or OpenAthens. We would like to be able to add the field values we need for these and other fields.
This will make it possible to e-resources librarians to flexibly respond to new developments in the field and track the information they need in Alma (instead of relying on external shadow systems and spreadsheets). This functionality is already in place in Alma for licenses (see https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/020Acquisitions/040Configuring_Acquisitions/170Managing_License_Terms). Like License terms, we should be able to add new terms, choose the term type (including free text, yes/no, or controlled vocabulary, and then we can create the controlled vocabulary) and choose the Vendor Interface record section in which the term will appear. I will attach a mockup of what the Add Vendor Interface Term form should look like (based on the Add License Term form).
Elizabeth York
shared this idea
Hi Elizabeth, Katie, and everyone,
Thanks so much for sharing this idea!
From what I understand, it includes two main parts:
- Allowing institutions to edit the list of values in various fields, with a specific example being the “Implemented Authorization Method” field.
- Adding more fields and making them reportable in Analytics, along with a request for a flexible mechanism to support this.
Regarding the second point — adding a flexible mechanism is quite a complex change and could impact the timeline.
If you can point out around three specific fields that are most important to add first, it might be easier.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Thanks again,
Tamar
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Elizabeth York
commented
Hi Tamar,
Thank you for taking a look at this request! It sounds like part 1, making the select list values editable by libraries, might be possible, right? We certainly would be in support of this, and we hope it can be implemented!
As for part 2, adding more fields, I agree with Karen that we want any newly created fields to be available in Analytics. The reason I conceptualized this as a "create your own" way was I suspected each library would want to record different types of information and would have different fields they wanted. Personally, if I were to pick 3 fields to create (with the hopes that more could eventually be added in the future!), I would pick:
1. Accessibility note (in Access Information tab): a free-text field where we can record information about the interface's accessibility. Free text allows us to enter the varied information different providers may give us about accessibility.
2.Accessibility statement upload (in Access Information tab): a place to upload a files for VPATs or other accessibility statements provided by vendors. This should give us the ability to upload multiple files.
3. Usage Stats Type (in Statistics Information tab): I envision this as a select list (with values each library could edit) where we could select the type of usage stats we collect for each platform. I currently have a spreadsheet of all our platforms where I have a column with this information, and I filter on this column when I do usage stats gathering projects. I'd like to be able to have this information in Alma instead of on the spreadsheet. The values I have in my spreadsheet at present are COUNTER 4 Spreadsheet, COUNTER 4 SUSHI, COUNTER 5 Spreadsheet, COUNTER 5 SUSHI, COUNTER 5.1 Spreadsheet, COUNTER 5.1 SUSHI, Non-COUNTER, and NA. However, those are just the values that work for me--I wouldn't want other libraries to have to use my list. So, I really hope Ex Libris can also implement the "make select lists editable" feature (part 1) so each library can make their own list of values!
Karen suggested the use case of recording whether IP addresses can be updated via an admin account, must be updated by contacting the vendor, or are updated via the IP registry. I think these use cases could likely all be covered by the existing field, "Ip Address Registration Method," if you implemented Part 1, making select lists editable by libraries. Currently, this field has a select list where the values are "Online" and "Provider." If a library could choose its own select list values for the "Ip Address Registration Method" field, we could enter options like "Vendor Admin Account," "Contact Provider," or "IP Registry," which would allow us to more granularly record the different ways of updating our IP addresses.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
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Karen Spence commented
Making the fields reportable in Analytics would be a great help and my first priority. Making the list of values editable, such as for authorization method, would be my next priority. Regardless of what three fields may be added, if the information in the interface record isn't reportable, it is much less useful. Other information that we record in the interface record (in a free-text field) is whether the IP addresses can be updated ourselves via the admin account or whether we need to contact the vendor directly. Also we are starting to track which vendors use IP Registry. Adding accessibility information is an interesting idea, although I suspect it would be more useful to add that information in a record that could be made visible to our users in the catalog.
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Katie Brady
commented
agreed, high priority. Thank you for writing all that out; it's a much nicer description of what I was aiming at with this idea:
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Patricia Farnan
commented
Ooh I had a spare vote, so I added it here.
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Abigail Wickes
commented
I'll add that it would be nice if this was easily reportable!
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Katie Brady
commented
The default options in the Implemented Authorization Method do not encompass the categories we need and are not directly customizable by customer. Currently we must open a ticket with Ex Libris to do this. We would like to be able to control what shows in the dropdown and what order options appear.