Primo
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672 results found
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Increase the maximum number of viewable records
Currently the max number of viewable records is 2000. If the number of search results exceeds 2000, paging beyond the first 2000 records is prevented.
If the limit is increased, users can continue to view search results beyond the first 2000 records without having to try and refine their search which may be difficult to do.
1 vote -
Ability to Configure Multiple Journal Searches
Currently, Primo VE supports only one Journal Search configuration for an institution. While this works well for many institutions, some institutions oversee multiple libraries or campuses with distinct journal holdings (e.g., different licensing agreements, consortia memberships, or campus-specific subscriptions).
We would like to request the ability to configure and offer multiple, separate Journal Searches within Primo VE.
Each Journal Search should:
Be scoped independently (e.g., by IZ, NZ, or a specific library/campus)
Have customizable display labels and help text to clearly indicate which journal collection the search covers
Support direct linking to each Journal Search from library platforms
Use Case:
At multi-campus institutions, users often need to know which journals are available specifically through their home campus. Currently, this is difficult to implement since only one centralized Journal Search can be offered.Multiple Journal Searches would:
Reduce user confusion when different campuses/libraries have different subscriptions
Support institutions that are part of consortia but also maintain unique, local journal collections
Improve the patron experience by allowing clear pathways to the correct set of journals
Impact:
We believe this enhancement would significantly improve discoverability, align search results with basic Primo searches, reduce access confusion, and allow libraries to better serve diverse user groups with distinct e-resource entitlements.
Currently, Primo VE supports only one Journal Search configuration for an institution. While this works well for many institutions, some institutions oversee multiple libraries or campuses with distinct journal holdings (e.g., different licensing agreements, consortia memberships, or campus-specific subscriptions).
We would like to request the ability to configure and offer multiple, separate Journal Searches within Primo VE.
Each Journal Search should:
Be scoped independently (e.g., by IZ, NZ, or a specific library/campus)
Have customizable display labels and help text to clearly indicate which journal collection the search covers
Support direct linking to each Journal Search from library platforms
Use Case: …
29 votes -
Allow Print option in Primo VE to print Quick Access representation along with metadata
When using the "Print" command in a Primo full view record, the print screen shows a record's metadata. However, if the record has a digital representation in the "Quick Access" section (as might be the case in a record managed by Alma-D), the image is not included in the print page. Having the option to include the representation would be helpful in cases where a printed image is needed alongside its metadata.
2 votes -
Improve advanced searching in non-Roman languages so a "Title" + "Starts with" search parameter queries the MARC 880 field
When combined, the “Title” + “Starts with” advanced search parameters do not query the linked MARC 880 field. This prevents users from successfully using this index for non-Roman language search queries.
When the ExLibiris Development Team reviewed this issue previously, they found that Primo VE's design excludes the 880 field from Title Starts With indexing due to index size limitations.
We’ve been advised that “Title Contains” and “Title is Exact” do index the 880 field, and can serve as a workaround. However, users expect consistent search behavior across all indexes, regardless of language used in the search query.
A few examples:
1. Title: Война и мир (catalog record)
Search term (first title word): ВойнаTitle: רחוב העצב החד־סיטרי (catalog record)
Search term (first title word): רחובTitle: گلستان سعدى : مع فرهنگ (catalog record)
Search term (first title word): گلستان
When combined, the “Title” + “Starts with” advanced search parameters do not query the linked MARC 880 field. This prevents users from successfully using this index for non-Roman language search queries.
When the ExLibiris Development Team reviewed this issue previously, they found that Primo VE's design excludes the 880 field from Title Starts With indexing due to index size limitations.
We’ve been advised that “Title Contains” and “Title is Exact” do index the 880 field, and can serve as a workaround. However, users expect consistent search behavior across all indexes, regardless of language used in the search query.
A few…
60 votes -
CSL Data (Citation Style Language) in Primo Search API
Primo uses Citation Style Language to generate citations for bib records. Presumably the bibliographic metadata is at some point converted to a csl-data object. https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/blob/master/schemas/input/csl-data.json
It would be helpful if that csl-data JSON object was available through the Primo Search API. This could be a additional information one could request from the API. https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/primo/apis/docs/primoSearch/R0VUIC9wcmltby92MS9zZWFyY2g=/
2 votes -
Research Assistant Usage Statistics
Having activated the Proquest/Ebook Research Assistant capabilities it is good practice for institutions to be able to report on impact - has the functionality aided user access to material - increased length of time on site - increased usage of holdings. The FAQ state https://support.proquest.com/s/article/ProQuest-Research-Assistant-FAQs?language=en_US
Q: Are there usage report that I can download to view usage of the Research Assistant at my institution?A: Currently we do not provide a report that libraries can download to assess usage of the Research Assistant at their institution. We are looking at the possibility of adding such reports to the ProQuest Administrator Module in the future but we do not have a timeframe for the availability of these reports yet. We will update this FAQ document as soon as we have a release date for the reports.
Clarity on the timeframe?
Having activated the Proquest/Ebook Research Assistant capabilities it is good practice for institutions to be able to report on impact - has the functionality aided user access to material - increased length of time on site - increased usage of holdings. The FAQ state https://support.proquest.com/s/article/ProQuest-Research-Assistant-FAQs?language=en_US
Q: Are there usage report that I can download to view usage of the Research Assistant at my institution?A: Currently we do not provide a report that libraries can download to assess usage of the Research Assistant at their institution. We are looking at the possibility of adding such reports to the ProQuest Administrator…
13 votes -
Users should be able to request individual volumes from multi-volume record
We have a record that has multiple volumes of the same manga in it.
The individual volumes are impossible to request for the user. This has to be done on the Alma side by a staff person. We would like records like this that have multiple volumes to have requestable individual volumes.
6 votes -
Improve Primo VE drool editor messaging to display an error if the rules fail
Currently the Primo VE drool editor will not display error messages in some situations where the rules crash and fail.
Instead the Discovery Administrator flows through the process of updates believing that their changes to the rules are correct and have taken effect, only to find perhaps much later after reindexing request that they have not.
Actually what happens is that if the rules fail, there is no error shown, and the entire ruleset fails back to the out-of-the-box rules.
This is a considerable hindrance given the situation of no option to test display rules.Ex Libris advised in a case: “When there is any error during building the customized display of Primo VE record, the system fallbacks to OTB rules. It may also depend on the context of specific error, but usually all custom Primo VE fields are then not being displayed. The Rules editor has built-in validations, also Apply rules can report additional detected issues in Normalization rules, but it is not bulletproof. Most such issues are caused by incorrect regular expressions applied on specific data, but here it seems to be caused by specific syntax of the drool.”
The decision was to document the particular scenario of what will cause the OR operator to fail, rather than fixing the situation overall: Configuring Normalization Rules for Display and Local Fields - Ex Libris Knowledge Center
Ex Libris deems this to be an enhancement request otherwise, to improve the messaging to show a user when their rules have failed and reverted.
Currently the Primo VE drool editor will not display error messages in some situations where the rules crash and fail.
Instead the Discovery Administrator flows through the process of updates believing that their changes to the rules are correct and have taken effect, only to find perhaps much later after reindexing request that they have not.
Actually what happens is that if the rules fail, there is no error shown, and the entire ruleset fails back to the out-of-the-box rules.
This is a considerable hindrance given the situation of no option to test display rules.Ex Libris advised in a…
3 votes -
AI based tool for suggesting alternative search queries to users with saved searches and email alerts
I was wondering if there could be an AI based tool for suggesting alternative search queries to users who have saved searches and have set email alerts. When they receive an email alert they could be suggested an AI generated search query (similar to what the AI Research Assistant could elaborate, with synonyms and boolean operators) to be checked for more results.
1 vote -
Limit Research Assistant results to resources patrons can access
It would be nice at a configuration level to be able to limit the Research Assistant results to those within an institution's collection and OA as the default setting, rather than the entire CDI as it is currently.
Users could then select to expand their search to the CDI, like they currently do when searching Primo.56 votes -
Apply Display Logic Rules to CDI direct linking records
Currently, records that provide full text solely via a CDI link-in-record URL are not subject to Display Logic Rules (see documentation note below). This leads to inconsistent behavior and display compared to other CDI records.
For example, our article ILL General Electronic Service is configured not to display when there is full-text available on a record. This works as expected for records that have full-text provided via the link resolver, but for CDI direct linking records, the ILL GES displays alongside the full-text link. This confuses our patrons, who think that the presence of the ILL link means the full-text link isn't working.
We request the capability to apply display logic rules to CDI direct linking (link-in-record) records as we can do for CDI records with link resolver full-text.
Documentation note, added due to case #06712066: "Display logic rules are only applied when the Alma link resolver provides the links. CDI direct linking records are not generated by the Alma link resolver mechanism; therefore, Display logic rules are not applied for them."
https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/080Configuring_Delivery_Services_for_Primo_VE/Configuring_Discovery_Interface_Display_Logic_for_Primo_VECurrently, records that provide full text solely via a CDI link-in-record URL are not subject to Display Logic Rules (see documentation note below). This leads to inconsistent behavior and display compared to other CDI records.
For example, our article ILL General Electronic Service is configured not to display when there is full-text available on a record. This works as expected for records that have full-text provided via the link resolver, but for CDI direct linking records, the ILL GES displays alongside the full-text link. This confuses our patrons, who think that the presence of the ILL link means the full-text…
115 votes -
Fix Export and Print Problems with My Library Card in Primo VE and NDE
Background:
When a user goes to their My Library Card in Primo VE they can see all the items that they have checked out. However, if the user tries to print or export this list, it excludes any suppressed bib records. Interlibrary loan records are usually suppressed because we don't want our search results to return titles we don't own. As a result, the user can see the interlibrary loan titles they have checked out, but they cannot print or export them.We reported this problem to Ex Libris, after a graduate student noticed the discrepancy and reported it to us. We escalated our ticket several times. However, Ex Libris is choosing not to fix this issue. They expect this will also be a problem in the NDE.
Impact:
Users cannot effectively track what they've borrowed and are also unable to export their list to citation management software for their research work. Heavy ILL users are most impacted by this design defect.Request:
When a user exports and prints the My Library Card list, it should include all items they have checked out, even if the bib is suppressed.Additional Information:
Ticket numbers: 07738988 and 07805073Ex Libris Documentation: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/150End_User_Help/12Exporting_Records_from_Primo_VE#Exporting_Records
Background:
When a user goes to their My Library Card in Primo VE they can see all the items that they have checked out. However, if the user tries to print or export this list, it excludes any suppressed bib records. Interlibrary loan records are usually suppressed because we don't want our search results to return titles we don't own. As a result, the user can see the interlibrary loan titles they have checked out, but they cannot print or export them.We reported this problem to Ex Libris, after a graduate student noticed the discrepancy and reported it to…
35 votes -
Add a language limiter to the Journal Search
Adding a language limiter to the Journal Search in Primo (VE or NDE) would be immensely helpful to students who need to find journals in specific subject areas.
1 vote -
Consistent display of the "Search Inside" feature for Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper records
Primo VE was developed in 2017 with a "Search Inside" feature, originally appearing only on Journal type records. In 2019 when CDI was developed Newspaper and Magazine types were added to the discovery environment.
Unfortunately It appears that Ex Libris forgot to consider local records holistically, despite that Newspaper is an out-of-the-box configured type for Alma in Primo VE and many of their customers offer a blended search experience for their patrons.
This is evidenced in an inconsistency that Search Inside displays on Newspaper records from CDI and fails to display on Newspaper records for local records. It will also not display on Magazine type local records, if a site chose to configure this.Ex Libris initially advised that they would consider correcting this, as part of a SalesForce case seeking to have the current functionality explained and documented. Finally after 10 months it was explained why the feature appearance was found to be inconsistent:
“Local records—If the record has an ISSN (contains an addata/issn or addata/eissn field) and is a journal. To identify a journal, the display/type field must start with the word journal, or the record must contain an addata/jtitle field (not an addata/btitle or addata/atitle field).
CDI records—If the record has an ISSN (contains an addata/issn or addata/eissn field) and is a periodical. To identify a periodical, the display/type field must start with the word journal, or the record must contain an addata/jtitle field (not an addata/btitle or addata/atitle field), or the addata/format and addata/genre fields must be set to journal. If the above criteria are met for CDI records, this section may also appear for magazines and newspapers.”These varying conditions mean that the feature does not display in Alma Newspapers, because the addata/jtitle field is not currently populated, as there is only as stitle not only for Newspaper type content, and there is no addata/format and addata/genre populated.
Primo VE customers have no configuration options to fix this, with no access to addata PNX rules.
And to add insult to injury, this inconsistent Search Inside feature also cannot be disabled by configuration, only by custom code application, for which Ex Libris explicitly does not provide support.Unfortunately Ex Libris ultimately advised after a year of the case being open that they would not fix this situation, documented the current inconsistency for Search Inside, and refused to engage further.
This enhancement request is for the Search Inside development to be addressed holistically and simply, to display Search Inside consistently by the display type of Magazine, Newspaper or Journal regardless of data source, when the record contains an ISSN/EISSN.
Primo VE was developed in 2017 with a "Search Inside" feature, originally appearing only on Journal type records. In 2019 when CDI was developed Newspaper and Magazine types were added to the discovery environment.
Unfortunately It appears that Ex Libris forgot to consider local records holistically, despite that Newspaper is an out-of-the-box configured type for Alma in Primo VE and many of their customers offer a blended search experience for their patrons.
This is evidenced in an inconsistency that Search Inside displays on Newspaper records from CDI and fails to display on Newspaper records for local records. It will also…1 vote -
Add a uniqueness comparison check for local fields in a dedup record, and only display one instance of a non-unique field
It became possible in November 2024 to display instances of a local field from all records in a Dedup record in Primo VE (Configuration > Discovery > Other > Local fields to display from all dedup members).
The feature displays up to 10 instances of a field from records in the dedup group.
This is a useful and welcome development to ensure patrons have access to all the metadata of the work.
However, there is an issue that the data displays regardless if it is exactly the same in multiple records, despite that there is no usefulness for a patron to display the exact same data more than once, and it looks like an error to do so.
Unfortunately Ex Libris has advised this is “expected” from the perspective that they have not developed this feature to do a comparison check to prevent multiple instances of display when the data in a field is exactly the same in multiple records dedup’d.
Note: This is not an issue in Primo BO, where only one field displays when the content is not unique.
This submission is for Primo VE to perform a uniqueness comparison check and only display one instance of the local field in a dedup record if the metadata is exactly the same.It became possible in November 2024 to display instances of a local field from all records in a Dedup record in Primo VE (Configuration > Discovery > Other > Local fields to display from all dedup members).
The feature displays up to 10 instances of a field from records in the dedup group.
This is a useful and welcome development to ensure patrons have access to all the metadata of the work.
However, there is an issue that the data displays regardless if it is exactly the same in multiple records, despite that there is no usefulness for a patron…1 vote -
Add a Collection title field for Collection Discovery, for full record display and search
Adding records to a collection in Collection Discovery automatically adds them to the out-of-the-box Digital Collections facet in main Primo by the Collections title value.
It would be a significant boost to discovery of these resources both individually and collectively in the main Primo environment if there was also a Collection title field available to be added to the full record display, which could be configured as a lateral hypertext link, and searchable by the collection title as keywords.
This would marry together the main Primo environment with the Collection Discovery environment, with the ability to travel between each to find the related content, and taking advantage of options in main Primo such as saving the collection title query as a saved search alert, navigating by the next and previous result arrows through the collection content, filtering by facets such as author or subject, and exporting all the records.Use case: I am an academic looking to add works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors to my teaching materials for my courses. I’d like to be able to search Primo by keywords for my course content as well as the terms like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, find a record and open it to review the details, and click on the lateral hypertext link for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors collection to find all the content available for review.
Another use case is the same scenario but for academics looking for Open Educational Resources to add to their course content, for many libraries who use Collection Discovery to bring together OER content in their collections.Note: This is not currently possible to do by a local field as the Collection ID is not available as a bibliographic record data reference to map in the Collection Title to each record PNX. A local field can be used in a very manual way by adding rules for mapping the harvest point for a record and then adding the collection title, but this limits collection content to bibliographic data and does not leverage the ability to manage collections by logical sets using physical titles in location codes and all works with specific Authority IDs.
Adding records to a collection in Collection Discovery automatically adds them to the out-of-the-box Digital Collections facet in main Primo by the Collections title value.
It would be a significant boost to discovery of these resources both individually and collectively in the main Primo environment if there was also a Collection title field available to be added to the full record display, which could be configured as a lateral hypertext link, and searchable by the collection title as keywords.
This would marry together the main Primo environment with the Collection Discovery environment, with the ability to travel between each to…1 vote -
Converting Greek letters in queries for local materials
When queries include Greek letters with diacritics, the retrieval omits many local records, as there is no conversion in Primo VE between letters with or without diacritics, or with different diacritics.
Example:
Searching ἄγω or αγω gives different results. CDI records are retrieved regardless, while local records can only be retrieved in the exact manner they were cataloged.Using a blended search (local+CDI) can confuse patrons, as it may lead them to believe the library does not have certain materials. Using a local search scope, patrons sometimes receive zero results, so many records are hidden from them.
Greek is not only a modern language. It is a fundamental ancient language used in classical studies in many academic institutions. Therefore, the omission of the libraries' collections/items must be corrected.
We request the addition of a conversion between characters for Greek, so that results can be retrieved regardless of whether you search with or without diacritics, and whether a record came from a local catalog or CDI.
The attached file is an offered conversion table. Each color represents one letter, so all characters in that color should retrieve the same results.
When queries include Greek letters with diacritics, the retrieval omits many local records, as there is no conversion in Primo VE between letters with or without diacritics, or with different diacritics.
Example:
Searching ἄγω or αγω gives different results. CDI records are retrieved regardless, while local records can only be retrieved in the exact manner they were cataloged.Using a blended search (local+CDI) can confuse patrons, as it may lead them to believe the library does not have certain materials. Using a local search scope, patrons sometimes receive zero results, so many records are hidden from them.
Greek is not…
38 votes -
Fix Core Flaw: (VE / NDE) Holdings Configurations Must Apply to All Locations, including Temporary Locations
Description:
This request is being submitted at the direction of the support team, although it addresses a critical flaw in core functionality, not a new enhancement or feature.The flaw exists in Primo VE and Support will not confirm that the flaw will not be carried over into the Next Discovery Experience (NDE).
Problem:
Primo VE effectively ignores the configurations for holdings field display when an item is moved to a temporary location. Only the default holdings statement automatically generated from the item records is displayed. Due to other known issues, this auto-generated statement presents potentially inaccurate information to library patrons.Expected Outcome:
The core function of a discovery system is to accurately reflect the library's holdings. We expect configurations for metadata display to apply to all items, regardless of whether they are in a temporary or permanent location. The launch of the NDE presents the ideal opportunity to correct this long-standing flaw, ensuring the new product is built correctly from the start and can offer a more reliable user experience than competing discovery platforms.References:
Support Ticket: 07849390 (original) / 07956870 (cloned) - Inconsistent Holdings Display Configuration in Primo VE - Permanent vs. Temporary Locations
Configuration Documentation: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/080Configuring_Delivery_Services_for_Primo_VE/Configuring_Holdings_Display_Fields_for_Primo_VE
Description:
This request is being submitted at the direction of the support team, although it addresses a critical flaw in core functionality, not a new enhancement or feature.The flaw exists in Primo VE and Support will not confirm that the flaw will not be carried over into the Next Discovery Experience (NDE).
Problem:
Primo VE effectively ignores the configurations for holdings field display when an item is moved to a temporary location. Only the default holdings statement automatically generated from the item records is displayed. Due to other known issues, this auto-generated statement presents potentially inaccurate information to library…15 votes -
Recommendation system for learning and research resources
Academic libraries increasingly act as an ecosystem for learning and research resources. Therefore, they need a platform that can serve as an ecosystem to guide academic users.
Target: Incorporate into Primo VE a recommendation system that, based on users' searches, gives recommendations at the resource level (e.g., article, book, book chapter, case study, image, thesis, etc.).
Output: After the user searches, Primo VE provides a list of prioritized learning or research resources, sorted by their thematic relevance or visualisation-based popularity.
Parameters: The recommendation system should match the query with the users' profile (e.g., career, under|postgraduate level, etc.) after they log into the system.
Academic libraries increasingly act as an ecosystem for learning and research resources. Therefore, they need a platform that can serve as an ecosystem to guide academic users.
Target: Incorporate into Primo VE a recommendation system that, based on users' searches, gives recommendations at the resource level (e.g., article, book, book chapter, case study, image, thesis, etc.).
Output: After the user searches, Primo VE provides a list of prioritized learning or research resources, sorted by their thematic relevance or visualisation-based popularity.
Parameters: The recommendation system should match the query with the users' profile (e.g., career, under|postgraduate level, etc.) after they log…
1 vote -
Add Shibboleth/SSO functionality to CDI "Link in Record" links
Statista recently announced that they are ending IP authentication on Dec. 31, 2025. https://www.statista.com/site/IP-Access
All of the CDI records for Statista are "Link in Record" links that rely on a proxy prefix. There is currently no way to configure settings for Shibboleth (or any other SSO client like OpenAthens) to make these types of links work. Please add this functionality, so we are all prepared if more vendors start moving in this direction. As it stands, we will have to deactivate the Statista collection at the end of the year if no new functionality is released. Thanks!
56 votes
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