Ongoing SILS dispatches 2022-

UC Library Search news:

• New Zero results page in UC Library Search. The Discovery Working Group reviewed the statistics related to Zero Results Searches in UC Library Search last fall and made a data-driven decision to improve the user experience of the page with input from Instruction Services Division and APriCoT:

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• The Library’s access to RefWorks is ending in June 2024. In response to this change, the option to export full bibliographic records to RefWorks from UC Library Search will be removed before July 1:
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• The Issues + Ideas Tracker empowers staff to share non-urgent issues and ideas for UC Library Search — such as enhancement suggestions, frustrations, comments, or questions —  in a low barrier format. This tool is designed for you to capture issues and ideas that impact the user experience. APriCoT reviews submissions regularly and communicates updates in SILS dispatches.
  • ISSUE: In our catalog records, listed subject headings include foreign language subject headings (many of which duplicate the listed English-language subject headings). This is confusing, especially for undergraduates. Is there a way to limit the subject headings to English only (to match the English format of our records)?
    • In response to this issue, members from APriCoT representing Resource Management, Discovery, and Public Services began to discuss possible pathways to understand and discuss possible measures to modify display. Stay tuned!

Alma news:

• Changes to Alma Analytics! Based on the results from the Local Parameter Usage in Alma Analytics survey that was conducted from February 8-23, 2024, APriCoT approved the following changes in Alma Analytics:
  • Remove bibliographic local parameters:
    • 930 - Local Param 01
    • 590 - Local Param 04
    • 090 - Local Param 07
    • 043 - Local Param 09
  • For justifications and possible alternatives, please see the complete Local Parameter Usage in Alma Analytics-Recommendations.
  • Removing local parameters that are no longer used or for which there are viable alternatives will allow us to add other fields to Alma Analytics as needed.
• This spring, several Alma letters were updated to include hyperlinked titles. In these updated letters, the titles of resources now point to their bibliographic records in UC Library Search. This enhancement was driven by a desire to improve the user experience of Alma letters such as courtesy notices and hold shelf reminders.
• Tipasa update: the UCs will not go-live with Tipasa in summer 2024. A small group will continue testing this summer after a few more deliverables are in place for Alma-Tipasa integration. The UC-wide Resource Sharing team will re-evaluate in fall 2024 for a possible summer 2025 implementation. 
• 1,041,810 NRLF monographs were committed for retention through 2042 as backup physical copies for titles held in the HathiTrust digital library. The circulation behavior of these titles to UC users remains unchanged by this commitment.
• The SILS Documentation Site contains the canonical versions of local training, policies, workflows, processes, practices, and configurations for the Berkeley instance of Alma and UC Library Search (powered by Primo VE) to create a SILS knowledge base for all staff. SILS documentation, and the site itself, will continue to grow and change as we gain experience in Alma and UC Library Search, and as new features, processes, and policies are introduced. If you notice anything that needs to be fixed or added to the site, please let us know using the feedback form.
• Do you feel like the monthly Alma/Primo VE releases sneak up on you? Feel free to add the Alma/Primo VE release calendar to your bCal for 2024!

UC-wide SILS news:

• The SILS Membership Transition is in full swing! With the upcoming new fiscal year, all SILS teams are voting for new Vice Chairs and preparing the rising chairs for their new duties outlined in the UCLAS informed SILS Structure.
  • The Membership Transition subgroup is collaborating with the All Chairs group to support the transition of Vice Chairs to Chairs as well as the election of new Vice Chairs.
  • The entire transition process should conclude by June 30, and the onboarding process including team “reboot” meetings will start in July.
• The Resource Management Operations Subteam hosted several information sharing sessions open to all UC staff this spring. May’s session, Keeping local data local: NZ editing restrictions/changes (see recording), where they discussed a configuration change (restricting editing or deleting the OCLC number in NZ-linked records) and reviewing some common procedures including:
  • How to switch your holdings to a different record
  • How to report NZ records for deletion
  • How to add local extensions
• The UC-wide Data Privacy and Security Project Team (DSPT) released the SILS Patron Data Stewardship and Privacy Guidelines for UC Libraries Staff. One of the recommendations from DSPT was the creation of a standing, expertise based project team to continue this work. In response, the Leadership Group is working on the development of a team to monitor the changing patron privacy and security landscape in light of the UC Office of the President and other State of California privacy and security policies and guidelines relevant to the management of patron data in SILS.

UC Library Search news:

• Under review:
  • Filtering CDI ebooks
  • Duplicate records in UC Library Search Survey
  • Zero results page in UC Library Search
• Why do some Open Access records in UC Library Search lack URLs?
  • We have identified this as a known issue in UC Library Search. Many of the Open Access records in UC Library Search are a part of the Central Discovery Index (CDI), which means that content providers outside of ExLibris provide access and metadata for these records.
  • A bit more information is provided by way of ExLibris as it relates to how resources in the CDI might be flagged as OA. Content in the Central Index is considered Open Access if it meets the following general criteria:
    • An item is freely available and openly accessible without requiring authentication by the user.
    • An item is identified by the provider/publisher as Open Access.
    • An item resides in a known Open Access repository, database, or journal collection that we determine to be Open Access.
• The 🌈Issues + Ideas Tracker 🌈 empowers staff to share non-urgent issues and ideas for UC Library Search — such as enhancement suggestions, frustrations, comments, or questions —  in a low barrier format. This tool is designed for you to capture issues and ideas that impact the user experience. APriCoT reviews submissions regularly and communicates updates in SILS dispatches.
  • Are you curious about the lifecycle of enhancement requests for UC Library Search? Please check out the slide deck created for a conversation with the Collection Services Council in December. 
  • In response to several idea requests which came in from the Issues + Ideas Tracker, and following consultation from APriCoT, Discovery Working Group, Resource Management Group, and development and testing in Systems & Discovery Services, I'm delighted to inform you that the following updates have been made to the advanced search in UC Library Search:
    • OCLC number
    • Place of publication
    • Publisher
    • series (*we have an open ExL case regarding the label for this index which is not capitalized which should be fixed in February 2024)
  • 
  • Additional updates to MARC display fields in UC Library Search are in the works! Stay tuned for changes in 2024!

Alma news:

• The SILS Documentation Site contains the canonical versions of local training, policies, workflows, processes, practices, and configurations for the Berkeley instance of Alma and UC Library Search (powered by Primo VE) to create a SILS knowledge base for all staff. SILS documentation, and the site itself, will continue to grow and change as we gain experience in Alma and UC Library Search, and as new features, processes, and policies are introduced. 
  • Newly approved documentation:
    • ExLibris Support Cases
    • Ongoing SILS Dispatches 2022-
    • Items - editing, required fields info
    • Item record basic info for tech processing and cataloging staff
    • Monographs: additional copies added at shelving locations
    • If you notice anything that needs to be fixed or added to the site, please let us know using the feedback form.
• WEST unarchived holdings submission for Cycles 14 & 15 is complete! Metadata Services, with assistance from Systems and Discovery, submitted files of our unarchived serial holdings (campus and NRLF) to be considered for archiving in Cycles 14 & 15.
• Members of the Alma Analytics Expertise Group shared a newly developed dashboard called “Circulation stats by fund dashboard” at a drop-in session on December 13, 3-4pm. This dashboard displays circulation data for physical collections that can be filtered and/or sorted by fund information.  Our Library selectors have requested for a while now the information that this report presents. The report will help Selectors review and monitor the usage/circulation of recently purchased print materials over time, compare the usage across different subject areas, and evaluate the cost per use for the print collections based on the fund code and selector name. 
  • In case you missed the drop-in, check out the SILS Documentation Site for the slide deck and recording.
  • You can also use the Library Assessment staff site to explore past and current Library Assessment Program initiatives and access our Tableau Library data dashboard.
• As of December, the UC Berkeley Library is in compliance with the UC Office of the President Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN) policy in UC Library Search, Alma, and Aeon. Now, whenever a user has a preferred name, the preferred name will be used as the name value in Alma and a legal name is only shown if a preferred name is not defined.
  • Importantly, the other UC campuses are also in alignment with GRLN compliance. This process was addressed through SILS since there are some implications related to Alma notices
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) has been cleaning-up local notes in MARC 590 fields in Alma bibliographic records that were not coded as local extensions. A systemwide configuration was updated in November that prevents 590 fields from being manually added to records linked to the Network Zone (NZ) when not coded as a local extension. RMG is also reviewing best practices for coding holdings records in Alma.

UC-wide SILS news

• In case you missed it, an all-UC sharing session hosted by the Resource Management Operations Subteam on Database Maintenance Strategies was held on Monday, January 22, 2024. Check out the slide deck and recording (expires after 120 days). The session focused on using Analytics dashboards and automated reports for database cleanup, including issues like:
  • Records with language of cataloging other than English
  • Incorrect holdings indicators
  • Records without OCLC numbers
  • Unicode coding errors
• Also, please take a look at the recording and slide deck from the State of the SILS Town Hall organized by the Operations Team on behalf of the Leadership Group on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. The Town Hall covered operational updates from the following SILS groups:
  • All UC-wide Operations Subteams
  • Operations Team
  • Ethical and Inclusive Metadata Practices Project Team
  • Open Access Resource Management Project Team
     

UC Library Search news

• Processes under review:
  • Evaluating how WorldCat can best be linked in UC Library Search
  • Developing a workplan for FY23-24
  • Reviewing the use of terms like item and record for the user experience
  • CDI Limit by Availability configuration review
• A new facet landed in UC Library Search! Following a request by APriCoT members to improve findability of new records for selectors and users alike, the Newly added records facet was tested by the Discovery Working Group and implemented in early September. As with all user experience (UX) improvements, the Discovery Working Group plans to evaluate ongoing use.
• New “Check Availability” labels encourage users to click on records from the brief results. After testing and consultation with APriCoT, the Discovery Working Group recommended updating the “calculated availability” labels in UC Library Search. Previously, when all items on a record were unavailable (e.g. checked out), the user would see "not available" in the brief results. However, depending on the user’s affiliation, they might be able to recall or request the item, so “Check Availability” is more accurate. Similarly, the label “no online access” was updated to “Check Availability” to reflect real-time availability calculations for online resources.
• The 🌈Issues + Ideas Tracker 🌈 empowers staff to share non-urgent issues and ideas for UC Library Search — such as enhancement suggestions, frustrations, comments, or questions —  in a low barrier format. This tool is designed for you to capture issues and ideas that impact the user experience. APriCoT reviews submissions regularly and communicates updates in SILS dispatches.
  • ISSUE: Duplicate records are confusing, especially when how to gain access to the resource is unclear
    • APriCoT and the Discovery Working Group are interested in learning more about the user experience and pitfalls of duplicate records in UC Library Search, especially for duplicate records from the Central Discovery Index (CDI). More information to come!

Alma news

• Processes under review:
  • Items - Editing, Required Fields info
  • Material type and item policy recommendations
  • Exact match monograph replacement
  • Move Item Procedures - Monographs
  • Quick Cataloging Item Creation
  • Main exhibits process
  • Batch withdrawal procedures
  • Item Record Basic Info for Tech Processing Staff
• The new SILS documentation site launched on September 19th! The SILS Documentation Site contains the canonical versions of local training, policies, workflows, processes, practices, and configurations for the Berkeley instance of Alma and UC Library Search (powered by Primo VE) to create a SILS knowledge base for all staff. The site houses SILS related documents from all functional areas: Resource Management, Analytics, Acquisitions, Fulfillment, Discovery, Resource Sharing, and general system information. Content on the site is intended for use by new and existing UC Berkeley Library staff as well as student employees. SILS documentation, and the site itself, will continue to grow and change as we gain experience in Alma and UC Library Search, and as new features, processes, and policies are introduced. This is expected! If you notice anything that needs to be updated or fixed on this site, please let us know using the feedback form.
  • Newly approved documentation:
    • Creating Host Bibliographic Records for Bound-withs in Alma
    • Withdrawal policy & procedures: withdrawing related records
    • Updated APriCoT charge
• In case you missed it, the SILS Leadership Group hosted a UC-wide SILS Town Hall on Thursday, August 17, 2023. The town hall reviewed the SILS governance structure and expectations. The recording and slide deck are now available to view.
• FY 22-23 UCL/UCOP annual stats: Berkeley submitted FY 22-23 UCL/UCOP annual stats to CDL along with other UC campuses. The stats includes the library’s holding count (both print and electronic), circulation data, instruction and reference sessions, digitized collections count and others. A summary table of all UC campuses data will be published by the end of this year by CDL. Schedule C related to Resource Sharing statistics, has an extension through 12/1 to accommodate for more time to work on the anonymization-related problems in the analytics reports.
  • Related, the SILS Alma Annual Statistics Analytics Project Team (AASAPT) held a webinar on Monday, August 7th on Standardizing, harmonizing and centralizing the UC Libraries / UC Office of the President Annual Statistics. Check out the recording and slides.
• The UC-wide Network Zone reindexing project was a success! In order to provide improved Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) searching of records in Alma, the UCs chose to reindex our Alma records and switch from a basic English setting to the 'HK' (Hong Kong TSVCC) setting in the search configuration. Each campus needed to complete an individual Institution Zone (IZ) reindex as well as our shared Network Zone. Berkeley’s reindexing ran over the weekend of August 18th with minimal disruption. Several librarians at East Asian Library tested and found vastly improved results in Alma searching as a result of the reindex.
• Alma Analytics training:  A subteam of the UCB Analytics Expertise group hosted an Alma Analytics training for library staff in September 2023. The team presented the new user interface, new releases and new features, provided a refresher on how to modify and to create a new report, and introduced the new record facet on UC library search. The slides and recordings are on the SILS documentation site.
   

UC Library Search news

• Processes under review:
  • WorldCat options in UC Library Search
  • Non-Roman language searching issues in UC Library Search
  • Screen readers in UC Library Search
• Advanced search improvements are here! After consulting with the Discovery Working Group and APriCoT, two new features were implemented in UC Library Search following testing and discussion:
  • Barcode search:
    • 
  • Call number starts with search:
    • 
• An update to the Library Account labels: as part of the initiative to update verbiage on the Library website and within UC Library Search to reference “fees” instead of “fines + fees,” references in the Library Account were updated in consultation with Access Services, the Discovery Working Group, and APriCoT.
• The 🌈Issues + Ideas Tracker 🌈 empowers staff to share non-urgent issues and ideas for UC Library Search — such as enhancement suggestions, frustrations, comments, or questions —  in a low barrier format. This tool is designed for you to capture issues and ideas that impact the user experience. APriCoT reviews submissions regularly and communicates updates in SILS dispatches.
  • IDEA: include DOI search function for journal articles in UC Library Search
    • You can search DOIs directly in UC Library Search by using a simple keyword search in “Articles, books, and more”

Alma news

• Approved documentation
  • Revisions to the Withdrawal Policy & Procedure
• Processes under review:
  • Item Record Basic Info for Tech Processing Staff
  • Items - Editing, Required Fields info
  • Material type and item policy recommendations
  • Exact match monograph replacement
  • Move Item Procedures - Monographs
  • Quick Cataloging Item Creation 
  • Creating Host Bibliographic Records for Bound-withs in Alma
• Annual stats group – 2023 update. A subgroup of Alma Analytics Expertise Group is preparing for the 2023 UCOP annual stats submission. There are a few major changes this year due to the Alma implementation to standardize, harmonize and centralize annual statistics. 
• The Holdings Record Subgroup began meeting in June and is charged with recommending best practices for holdings record use. It reports to the Resource Management Group, and is currently drafting documentation detailing proper use of MARC fields; use of holdings templates; and when to create, edit, or utilize holdings records.
• UC-wide coordination to improve CJK searching in Alma is ongoing. In order to provide improved Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) searching of records in Alma, the UCs chose to reindex our Alma records and switch from a basic English setting to the 'HK' (Hong Kong TSVCC) setting in the search configuration. Our initial sandbox testing started in September of 2022 and we have been planning a production change since spring of 2023. Berkeley is scheduled to reindex in over the weekend of August 18, and the Network Zone will reindex after. We expect only minimal disruption to staff, and no disruption to UC Library Search during the reindex.
• WEST Cycle 12 Disclosure is complete! NRLF together with Systems and Discovery, submitted our most recent WEST cycle 12 disclosure to CDL for NRLF shared print serials holdings. As part of this process, we also submitted an LHR (local holdings record) file to OCLC to register commitments using the OCLC Shared Print Registration Service.
• Alma is now pushing daily metadata updates to Caiasoft, the RLFs’ inventory management system, for all records in Alma that have been recently updated. These updates keep bibliographic, holdings, and item metadata associated with NRLF barcodes in sync between the two systems, and enable more accurate and efficient request processing at the RLFs.
• Another successful fiscal close! The Acquisitions team reported a smooth fiscal close this year. In early July, Metadata Services and Acquisitions resumed record loading from multiple vendors, and the ongoing ordering, receiving, and invoicing processes are also back in place.

SILS news

• The SILS Membership Transition Subgroup has been laying the groundwork for the current SILS transition into the current fiscal year, and developing a process for future years so it may be more seamless going forward. The group is considering processes for new SILS members, members rotating off SILS groups, preparing new vice chairs for their roles, and creating a process for ongoing support for suboperations team chairs.
• Please mark your calendars and join us for a UC Libraries SILS Town Hall hosted by the SILS Leadership Group on Thursday, August 17 from 11:00am-12 noon. The webinar Zoom link is https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/92552167850. The session will include:
  • SILS Governance Assessment Recommendations
  • SILS Governance Structure
  • Welcome New Chairs
  • Reminder of Leadership Group Members
  • Review SILS Principles
  • Questions & Answers
     

UC Library Search news

• Processes under review:
  • WorldCat options in UC Library Search
  • Advanced Search enhancements in UC Library Search
• The ✨Issues + Ideas Tracker ✨ empowers staff to share non-urgent issues and ideas for UC Library Search — such as enhancement suggestions, frustrations, comments, or questions —  in a low barrier format. This tool is designed for you to capture issues and ideas that impact the user experience. APriCoT reviews submissions regularly and communicates updates in SILS dispatches.
• Support Exact Phrase Only Searches in Advanced Searches (NERS #6693) added to UC Library Search during the May 2023 Primo VE feature release. Previously, the Is (Exact) Advanced Search option for Author, Title, and Subject field searches returned results that included the exact phrase, but it could also contain other words. Users can now specify the new Equals exact phrase Advanced Search option that returns results in which the data in the specified Author, Title, or Subject field contains only the exact phrase. 

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in April/May:
  • APriCoT approved training documentation
• Processes under review:
  • Item Record Basic Info for Tech Processing Staff
  • Items - Editing, Required Fields info
  • Material type and item policy recommendations
  • Exact match monograph replacement
  • Move Item Procedures - Monographs
  • Quick Cataloging Item Creation
  • Creating Host Bibliographic Records for Bound-withs in Alma
• What about offline circulation? After discussion at APriCoT and with the Access Services Advisory Group, a consensus was reached to not use the Alma Offline Circulation client. Using the client would be too complicated for Berkeley’s many service points to coordinate, presents logistical issues for data submission, and may cause issues for items requested through the automated fulfillment network. Instead of using this software solution, different divisions will harmonize practices for handling fulfillment transactions during Alma outages and/or downtime events.
• A new SILS representative for Berkeley. We are thrilled to welcome Kristen Van Vliet as the new UC Berkeley representative to the Resource Sharing Operations Subteam in the UC-wide SILS project and as the newest member of APriCoT!
• More membership updates! Starting in July 2023, Jackie Gosselar will transition from the UC-wide SILS Operations Team vice chair to chair. The SILS Operations Team (OT) leads and coordinates the systemwide operational use of the SILS, including the Network Zone. This team works in partnership with the SILS Operations Center at CDL to carry out the vision, strategies, priorities and policies established by the SILS Leadership Group. Provides oversight and direction to the SILS Operations Subteams, particularly to empower the subteams to develop and maintain standard, UC-wide policies and practices. The team utilizes data to inform decision-making and advance operational planning in regards to harmonization, achieving operational efficiencies and meeting end-user needs.
• Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN) Policy and SILS. In order for the Library to be in compliance with GRLN by December 2023, Library IT together with Access Services, Privileges, and Bancroft will determine steps to ensure that lived name is used in all cases in our SILS and SILS related applications, including Aeon and others. UC Library Search and Alma use already lived name in all user-facing aspects of the system, for instance the name you see when you log in to UC Library Search and any letters from Alma.
• APriCoT is hosting a training series related to item records this summer!
  • Deleting (Withdrawing) item records (created in error) in Alma session held on Friday, April 21. In case you missed it, we recorded the session and prepared the Q&A document for all staff to view.
  • Withdrawal Policy & Procedures session held on Tuesday, May 30. That session was also recorded, and the slide deck and Q&A document are ready for staff, too.
  • Two more training sessions are planned for later this summer, with details TBA:
    • Withdrawing related records and analytics
    • Batch item withdrawal
• The Shared Print Strategy Team (SPST) has endorsed a proposal to harmonize use of Alma’s item-level retention functionality for managing materials retained for shared print in SILS. This will allow the Shared Print Project Team to centrally prepare the shared print annual statistics, relieving campuses of this task. In addition to supporting statistics preparation, this project is anticipated to bring other benefits to UC Libraries, including facilitating identification of shared print materials for other use cases and positioning UC to take advantage of any future enhancements in Alma that build on this feature. Locally, the retention note and retention reason have been applied to all relevant records at NRLF.
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) has finished reviewing the interim procedure Creating Host Bibliographic Records for Bound-withs in Alma. This procedure largely replicates the process from migration to allow us additional time to fully investigate and test how bound-withs should be best handled in the future. A cross-functional Holdings Records Subgroup has been charged to develop best practices for holdings records in Alma.

UC Library Search news

• The ✨Issues + Ideas Tracker ✨ empowers staff to share non-urgent issues and ideas for UC Library Search — such as enhancement suggestions, frustrations, comments, or questions —  in a low barrier format. This tool is designed for you to capture issues and ideas that impact the user experience. APriCoT reviews submissions regularly and communicates updates in SILS dispatches.
• Did you know you can now change the number of results per page displayed in UC Library Search? In the February Primo VE release, ExLibris included an update which allows users to select 10, 25, or 50 results in the brief results:

                         Click on the down arrow next to the number of results:

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in February/March:
  • Cataloging Equipment and Electronic Devices
  • Local Fields and Extensions for UC Berkeley
  • APriCoT approved training documentation
• Processes under review:
  • Material type and item policy recommendations
  • Copy-Specific Information in Alma
  • Item Records: When and How To Create or Modify Them 
  • Item “technical-migration” status cleanup
  • Policy for offline circulation
• The Tipasa project now has a new timeline. The Resource Sharing Operations SubTeam recommends the basic shape of project plan for the Replace VDX with Tipasa project, without dates for summer 2023, but with an anticipated go-live date no later than summer 2024.
• Usage Statistics Dashboard: Acquisitions and E-Resources worked to set up SUSHI  (Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative) harvesting to automate the gathering of usage statistics for our electronic resources, as well as an eUsage Dashboard in Analytics, to enable users to look at usage for ebooks, journals and databases to assist with collection decisions. The team worked off an initial list of high priority vendors, and will continue to add vendors over time as part of ongoing work in this area.
• ExLibris shed some light on the Alma/UC Library Search outages experienced by Berkeley, the UC consortia, and other institutions on the NA07 server at the beginning of March in their root cause analysis. According to their reports, the downtimes on March 1 and 5 were the result of separate issues.
• A UC-wide Gobi Information Sharing Session was hosted by the Resource Management Operations Subteam on Monday, March 27. In case you missed it, the slides and recording are now available on the RM Google Site under RM Operations Subteam > Presentations.
• For the first time in our Alma environment, Berkeley successfully submitted the HathiTrust print holdings submission for UCB, NRLF, and Berkeley Law! In collaboration with Berkeley Law, CDL, UC campus partners, and the Systems and Discovery Services Department, the Library has implemented (and documented) a new process for gathering and extracting data from Alma to submit to HathiTrust. HathiTrust requires print holdings information from partner institutions in order to:
  • Support analysis of the overlap of institutions' print holdings with digital holdings in HathiTrust. These calculations are used to generate annual member fees.
  • Facilitate collaborative collection development and management operations.
  • Support the HathiTrust Shared Print Program.
  • Enable access via the Emergency Temporary Access Service.
• The SILS Operations Center and the SILS Operations Team would like to announce the “UC SILS Community Slack” workspace. The UC SILS Community Slack workspace is a space for any UC Libraries staff with expertise or interest in SILS to participate in discussions. Any UC Libraries staff with a UC email address can register themselves as a participant; any participant can create or join channels.
  • Join using this link: https://uc-sils-comm.slack.com/signup 
  • All members of the community site may create and join channels of interest as needed. Members of the UC SILS slack workspace should also sign up for this new community space! 
  • Please read and abide by our Slack Best Practices, which apply to both sites.
• Several members of the Item Records Task Force (IRTF) are preparing a training for all library staff on item withdrawal (deletion) procedures for items recently created in error, based on the APriCoT approved documentation for Deleting (Withdrawing) item records in Alma. All Library staff are welcome to join this session on Friday, April 21 at 11am. The training will take place via Zoom, and the link will be shared closer to the event. During this session, two staff trainers will demonstrate item deletion procedures by walking through different use cases, with a Q&A to follow. This session will not cover how to delete items as part of a maintenance project. The demonstration section of the training will be recorded and shared following the event. The Q&A will not be recorded.
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) is working on a project to merge records and combine inventory when multiple Institution Zone (IZ) records link to the same Network Zone (NZ) record because they have the same OCLC number. For more information, see the discussion paper and proposal Multiple IZ bibs linked to the same NZ bib.

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in December/January:
  • NRLF recall and deaccession form
  • NRLF deaccession procedures
  • NRLF deposit prep work order
  • APriCoT approved training documentation
• The newly formed UC-wide Alma Annual Statistics Analytics Project Team (AASA-PT) is gathering and analyzing information on how campuses used Alma Analytics to retrieve annual library statistics. The information collected will be used to identify differences in stats gathering practices and to explore opportunities for data harmonization and centralized reporting for annual stats collection.
• APriCoT approved the creation and use of a new work order (NRLF Deposit Prep) which enables tracking of materials pulled from library shelves for deposit to NRLF, and conveys their temporary unavailability to users in UC Library Search.
• The Resource Sharing OST continues to explore the possibility of integrating Alma with the OCLC Tipasa platform as UC ILL units prepare to migrate away from the legacy VDX system. The testing of Tipasa has surfaced the need for additional development by OCLC in order to ensure that essential request information may be passed between the two platforms. OCLC has given assurances that some of the more significant gaps will be resolved by Tipasa updates in February and April.
• RSOST members are seeking ways to extract accurate AFN Resource Sharing statistics from Alma. The swift anonymization of filled requests by most campuses complicates the capturing of data for statistical purposes. The RSOST is working with ExLibris representatives to develop Alma's Statistical User Category feature to retain data that may identify only the patron's home campus.
• The UC-wide SILS Data Privacy & Security Project Team hosted two training and informational Zoom sessions on managing and handling patron data privacy and security issues in the context of SILS (Alma, Alma Analytics, and Primo VE) in January. The recording and slide deck are available for all staff to view.

UC Library Search news

• UC Library Search home page text reboot! After consulting with APriCoT and the Library Communications Office, the Discovery Working Group developed new text for the UC Library Search home page in an effort to make the information more concise and user centered:

• Copy numbers are now part of the item display in UC Library Search. This staff suggestion, which is of particular significance to special collections items, was implemented after discussion and solicitation of feedback from the Item Records Task Force, APriCoT, Discovery Working Group, and Resource Management Functional Group. APriCoT plans to discuss any related item record copy ID cleanup efforts to further improve the user experience.

  

• Issues + Ideas Tracker update: APriCoT received 15 ideas since the Issues + Ideas Tracker launched in May. Below are some examples of suggestions from the form and how we addressed them:
  • IDEA: Highlight and clarify help options, especially for requests.
    • Update: We have made significant updates to the "Access Items" section of the UC Library Search libguide, along with a few other minor tweaks.  Please take a look.  Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
  • IDEA: Add option to export to Zotero from UC Library Search list of export options
    • Although we are not able to add Zotero as an export option at this time, if you have the Zotero Connector installed in your browser, you can right click to add either the list of brief results or a full bib record to your library. You can also manually add citations to Zotero with the ISBN — see details on the Zotero LibGuide.

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in November:
  • APriCoT approved training documentation
• Documentation currently under review in the Fulfillment Working Group and Item Records Task Force:
  • Quick cataloging (to send to Metadata Services)
  • Quick cataloging record creation (for checkout)
  • Sending Monographic Materials to Cataloging & Metadata Services for cataloging 
  • Item Records: When and How To Create or Modify Them
• ZAPSP is no more! After many months of planning and coordination, OCLC completed the work to map all ZAPSP holdings to ZAP. Several members of the SILS OCLC sending/LHRs task force have been coordinating with OCLC to accomplish this following the migration to Alma and after the decision was made to retire this holdings symbol. ZAPSP was previously used for shared print holdings at NRLF.
• Shipments for the Google Books Project resumed for NRLF and UCB! For the the first time in the Alma environment, staff from NRLF and InterLibrary Loan, together with the Systems and Discovery Services Team, co-created a new workflow for metadata outputs for the Google Books Project shipments. This new more democratized workflow marks the beginning of the new phase of this project.
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) finished discussing which Material types should be used in item records and how they should be defined and has forwarded their recommendations to APriCoT. RMG has also been reviewing UC Berkeley MARC organization codes used in subfield $5 as part of a systemwide effort to remove fields with institution specific information that is not relevant to any UC campus. RMG will hold a training session for catalogers for Importing Records using Search External Resources on Wednesday, December 14 at 10:00 AM via Zoom.
• The Tipasa project continues. After several more meetings between UC Berkeley staff, CDL, and OCLC representatives, OCLC proposed a deeper Alma/Tipasa system integration which would not require custom API programming by the UCs. Local testing is still ongoing with local InterLibrary Loan staff in concert with the Resource Sharing Operations Subteam.
• The UC-wide SILS Alma Annual Statistics Analytics Project Team formed and will start to meet weekly. The goal of this project team is to explore ways to streamline library annual stats collection, focusing on producing UCOP statistics for next year 

UC Library Search news

• The UC Library Search Deep Dive, hosted by the SILS Communications Task Force on Wednesday, November 16 at 11am was a success! The slide deck  is available for all staff to view, and the recording of the presentation (excluding the Q&A session) is also available until December 17. See you at the next Deep Dive in 2023!
• The Discovery Working Group continues to address UI changes in UC Library Search including:
  • The UC Library Search home page
  • The UC Library Search sign-in banner
  • Adding item copy numbers to the item display
• At both Berkeley and system-wide, investigation continues on the issues related to searching in CJK languages for Alma and Primo VE. The Alma reindexing aims to alleviate identified issues with searching, but results of testing in the sandbox Alma environment are still ongoing. The consortia will not re-index Alma until 2023, and so far no updates were provided by ExLibris on the Primo VE reindexing.
• UC Library Search advanced search known issue arises. Through the Discovery Working Group’s investigation in concert with subject librarians, ExL shared that the “title starts with” search in UC Library Search may not work for all non-roman scripts because it does not query the MARC 880 fields. An update was added to the UC Library Search Staff FAQ.

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in October:
  • APriCoT approved training documentation
• Documentation currently under review in the Fulfillment Working Group and Item Records Task Force:
  • Quick cataloging (to send to Metadata Services)
  • Quick cataloging record creation (for checkout)
  • Sending Monographic Materials to Cataloging & Metadata Services for cataloging 
  • Item Records: When and How To Create or Modify Them 
• The Alma Analytics Annual Stats group developed a proposed process for reporting FY 2021-2022 Berkeley annual stats and also listed a few recommendations on the future practices. 
• FY 2021-2022 UCOP annual statistics were submitted in October. The search queries for holdings information and circulation data are saved in Alma Analytics shared folder. Resource Sharing statistics will be submitted in December.
• A new and temporary holdings symbol. As part of the pilot to test Tipasa, some records in OCLC may have a temporary holdings symbol added if they were included in the Tipasa test environment, SBCUY. This symbol is for testing purposes only and can largely be ignored when it is encountered.
• More news on the Tipasa project. Staff from UC and California Digital Library (CDL) are in discussions with OCLC representatives regarding the upcoming transition to this new software for managing ILL transactions. Since the UC campuses will not implement all of Tipasa's standard integrations, discussions will continue regarding the need for  additional API development.
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) has finalized the procedure Importing Records using Search External Resources and is planning for an upcoming training session. A subgroup has been formed to begin exploring practices for handling boundwiths and other related records. On October 19, the systemwide Resource Management: Cataloging and Metadata Operations Subteam hosted an information session on WorldCat updates in the UC Network Zone - the slides and recording are available on the RM Google Site.

UC Library Search news

• The UC-wide SILS Discovery Operations Subteam launched a User Experience (UX) subgroup plans to conduct usability testing and analysis for the trickiest Primo pain points suffered by the UC SILS community. Our UC Berkeley representative on this group has begun to share findings between the subteam and the Discovery Working Group.
• The Discovery Working Group is reviewing a number of UC Library Search features for future testing and configuration updates:
  • CDI limit by availability
  • Options for the sign-in banner/pop-up in UC Library Search
  • Non-Roman language searching issues
• APriCoT received 13 ideas since the Issues + Ideas Tracker launched in May. We’re excited to share details about another issue:
  • ISSUE: Discrepancies in number of results when using different WorldCat tools.
    • There are indeed multiple WorldCat tools, with advantages and disadvantages for each.  
    • WorldCat via UC Library Search Advanced Search is “Basic” WorldCat Discovery (BWCD). It replaced WorldCat Discovery “Premium” (i.e., Melvyl) after UC moved to Alma/Primo VE. BWCD is tied to UC’s FirstSearch subscription and will persist as long as UC subscribes to FirstSearch. 
    • 
    • In UC Library Search, the WorldCat facet in Advanced Search is populated by an API and is most useful for facilitating InterLibrary Loan requests.
    • 
    • Worldcat.org remains an excellent option for finding which libraries own items.
    • The Discovery Working Group plans to explore the user experience around the various WorldCat tools. 
    • The Library subscribes to WorldCat on First Search and has a WorldCat Discovery @ UC Berkeley instance. This FAQ from OCLC offers a distinction between the two tools. Additional information can also be found in the UC Library Search Staff FAQ.
    • 
• A reminder: the Issues + Ideas Tracker empowers staff to share non-urgent issues and suggestions for UC Library Search — such as enhancements, frustrations, comments, or questions —  in a low barrier format. This tool is designed for you to capture issues and ideas that impact the user experience. APriCoT reviews submissions regularly and uses them to identify systemic issues and pain points and advocate for solutions.

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in September:
  • APriCoT approved training documentation 
• Documentation currently under review in the Fulfillment Working Group and Item Records Task Force:
  • Quick cataloging (to send to Metadata Services)
  • Quick cataloging record creation (for checkout)
  • Sending Monographic Materials to Cataloging & Metadata Services for cataloging 
  • Item Records: When and How To Create or Modify Them 
• In coordination with other campuses in the SILS Resource Sharing Operations Subteam, Berkeley will be participating in a Tipasa pilot project this fall. Tipasa is slated to replace VDX in 2023. This fall, we will be testing in a Tipasa sandbox environment, which will be populated with 10% of our campus holdings, and connect it to our Alma Premium Sandbox environment.
• Locally, we are reviewing and testing our Alma Anonymization Rules for requests and resource sharing requests.
• The Item Records Task Force, in collaboration with the Serials group and Systems & Discovery, worked together to change approximately two million items with the item material type “issue” to “bound issue.” Previously, items with Material Type = Issue were requestable by users, which was not desirable for newly received (but unbound/uncataloged) serial items or legacy Count Use items. The terms of use have been updated for items with the “issue” material type to make them non-requestable in UC Library Search.
• The Fulfillment/Resource Sharing Working Group (FRSWG) completed the following workflows and procedure documents are completed and ready for use: 
  • Simple Checkout and Proxy Checkouts, AFN Patron Physical Item Request Workflow. 
  • The following workflows and procedure documents were sent to Circulation Services Group (CSG) for review and comments: Scan In Items, How To Return Items, Quick Cataloging - Item Creation last month. Comments have been received from CSG. 
  • FRSWG will work on revising the documents based on the comments received.
  • The next set of workflows and procedures to be reviewed by the working group are Workflow for Generating Paging/Pull Slips, Viewing and Adding Patron Fines in Alma, Moving Items Procedures - Monograph, Item Records: When and How to Create or Modify Them.
• UC SILS Fulfillment group is testing consortial blocks. The purpose of the tests is to determine how and when to manually block users system-wide from being able to request, borrow or renew AFN material.
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) has made the following decisions:
• Approved changes to the Acquisitions Technical Services work order, including no longer displaying dates for “In process” and “In transit” items in UC LIbrary Search – these dates were misleading to users because they did not accurately reflect when the items would be available.
• Decided that the Cataloger Extended role would be very limited because it includes the ability to delete bibliographic records. Requests for updating shared templates, merging bibliographic records, or other tasks that require this role should be submitted to csdhelp@berkeley.edu. This decision may be re-evaluated in the future based on the number of requests submitted.
• Systemwide, the Language of Cataloging in the UC NZ policy was developed. The policy encourages catalogers, whenever possible, to use records with English as the language of cataloging (040 $b eng) when adding new records to the Network Zone (NZ).

UC Library Search news

• Please save-the-date for the next UC Library Search Deep Dive! The SILS Communications Task Force is planning to host the next Deep Dive on Wednesday, November 16 at 11am and we plan to focus on some of the questions and concerns surfaced in the survey sent to staff in August.
• After a systematic review, equipment records in UC Library Search (i.e. laptops, keys, etc.) are now suppressed from InterLibrary Loan requests for all users and are categorized as the resource type “realia” rather than "book."
• Several subject librarians have identified issues related to searching non-Roman scripts in UC Library Search. The Discovery Working Group has been working closely with those librarians to create an inventory of the issues and communicate them to Ex Libris with the goal of seeking a better search experience.
• The Discovery Working Group recommended several updates to the facets in UC Library Search! The three updates are:
  • Updated “Held by library” to “Held by UC”
  • Moved the heavily used “Resource” facet closer to the top of the page
  • Updated the name of the “Collection” facet to “Database” for clarity
  • 

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in August:
  • Internal Note 1 Guidelines 
    • Please note that Internal Note 1 is the only field that should be used for non-public, non-fulfillment notes at this time. The Item Records Task Force plans to continue work on guidelines for Internal Notes 2 and 3.
  • APriCoT approved training documentation 
• Documentation currently under review in the Fulfillment Working Group and Item Records Task Force:
  • Quick cataloging (to send to Metadata Services)
  • Item Records: When and How To Create or Modify Them 
• The user loading group in Library IT is continuing to optimize the automated user loading process. The group is planning to test using a new matchpoint to overlay and update records which should prevent the erroneous creation of duplicate records.
• RES_SHARE records are created as part of the ILL workflow and exist for active patron borrowing requests and borrowed material we have created temporary item records for. They are temporary records which are suppressed from discovery and are deleted from Alma once the request and loan have closed. They should be ignored for cataloging and acquisitions purposes, including attaching additional items or POLs.
  • 
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) continued discussing which Material types should be used in item records and how they should be defined. Systemwide, it was decided that all records included in the Network Zone (NZ) are subject to WorldCat Updates.
• Annual stats update: while the group continues exploring Alma Analytics for the FY 21-22 annual statistics (UCOP/ARL/ACRL) holding data, the call for collecting the self-reported numbers and the non-Alma data is out to all the libraries ( including affiliated and law libraries). The due date is September 19, 2022.
• Several local fields were added to Alma Analytics to allow staff with design analytics to query directly on these MARC fields which were not included in the out-of-the-box settings:
  • MARC holdings field: 866, 867, 868, and 952
  • MARC bibliographic field: 590

UC Library Search news

• Issues + Ideas Tracker update APriCoT received 9 ideas since the Issues + Ideas Tracker launched in May. We’re excited to share details about several of the ideas!
  • IDEA: Extend the time before automatic logout from 15 minutes. 
    • Good news! The timeout in UC Library Search is 30 minutes. APriCoT and Discovery Working Group discussed this setting, and it was determined that 30 minutes is an appropriate length for timeout, especially given privacy concerns with public computers.
  • IDEA: Sort checkouts in “My Library Account” by date
    •  More great news! You can sort checkouts in My Library Account by date. Just select the sort-by criteria: 
  • IDEA: How do I know what is included/indexed in UC Library Search?
    • Think about UC Library Search as an index with delivery options rather than a traditional catalog. What’s included in the Central Discovery Index (CDI) changes (and is also VERY long). We have activated collections in the EasyActive list. In the future, we could import records directly into UC Library Search WorldCat facet. More information can be found in the CDI presentation shared at the Collection Services Division drop-in earlier in August.   
• The ILL form received a makeover! The Discovery Working Group and the InterLibrary Loan Team collaborated on improvements for the ILL form. This form can be found both in eligible individual records via the “Request through InterLibrary Loan” link or in the top menu under “ILL request.” Improvements include more intuitive verbiage and re-ordering of fields to improve the user experience.
• Another UC Library Search Deep Dive session is coming to you this fall. Thank you to all staff who completed the survey. A save-the-date with information will be sent out in the coming weeks. We look forward to seeing you there!

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in July:
  • Requesting and updating Alma roles
  • Accepting replacement copies
  • Alma/UC Library Search Problem Reporting Pathways for Library Staff
  • Folder containing all APriCoT approved documentation
• Documentation currently under review in the Fulfillment Working Group and Item Records Task Force:
  • Exact match monograph replacement
  • On the fly bib creation
  • Internal note format guidelines for item records
• The UC-wide Resource Sharing Operations Subteam (RSOST) met with OCLC representatives to begin the discussion around next year’s move from VDX to Tipasa. OCLC suggested a months-long trial period, to begin in the winter, which would allow the UC ILL units to gain familiarity with Tipasa functionality.
• The RSOST group has also begun assessing the functionality of the AFN to determine what (if any) changes should be tested or proposed. One possibility is a blended model that would introduce elements associated with peer-to-peer requesting. The UC ILL campuses may develop a testing program.  We are at the early stages of this conversation.  
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) finalized a process for gathering cataloging statistics from Alma. The group also reviewed and updated its training documentation to ensure it continues to remain current and relevant. RMG continues to discuss which Material types should be used in item records and how they should be defined.
• If you use the Browse Shelf Listing feature in Alma, please note that a configuration was recently updated to ignore call number prefixes. When using Browse Shelf Listing, enter the call number without the prefix. For example, enter "PS1322" instead of "p PS1322". This change was overwhelmingly supported by Resource Management Group (RMG) because it allows catalogers to easily assign call numbers and shelf list materials without having to search under various prefixes. This change should not impact other types of call number searching in Alma or UC Library Search.

UC Library Search news

• More HathiTrust content is available! The new HathiTrust enhancement inserts a clickable link to a freely-available, full-text HathiTrust electronic version of an applicable and available resource which displays in results lists and on full record pages:

• The reference to permalink was updated to “direct link” in the full bib display in the send to section. This clarifying measure reminds users that the URLs we provide from UC Library Search should not be expected to function as permalinks, and aligns with the verbiage we used in OskiCat:

• The NRLF digitization form just got easier to use. In an effort to streamline the requesting process for digital NRLF articles and chapters (“Request NRLF Article/Chapter Scan”), the copyright declaration form was tweaked to make the form more clear for users. This change should also prevent erroneous full issue/volume requests:

 More news…

• Go-live was one year ago! In case you missed it (ICYMI), we sent out a missive outlining just a few of the many accomplishments by Library staff as part of the SILS project since July 21. You can catch the libstaff email, along with all the 2022 SILS dispatches in our Ongoing SILS Dispatch page.
• A reminder (and update) on reporting issues. You can use the newly updated Alma/UC Library Search Problem Reporting Pathways for Library Staff (formerly known as the Escalation Paths for Alma and UC Library Search) for the best course of action for reporting an issue or question you encounter with either UC Library Search or Alma. When reporting to CSD help, Helpbox, or BadCat, please remember the following best practices:
  • Include a descriptive subject line
  • Add screenshots whenever possible
  • Include the process for how you identified the issue
  • Link to any resources referenced while troubleshooting

All,

I’m writing to celebrate the one year anniversary of our Alma/UC Library Search go-live!

Now is a moment to reflect and recognize that it has been an astonishing year of discovery, learning, and ingenuity in the midst of incredibly (and increasingly) difficult circumstances. 

In this spirit, let’s honor the accomplishments since July 27, 2021. Just a few of the many highlights this year from folx across the Library working on SILS related projects (in no particular order) include:

The Alma Analytics Expertise Group created a process for dynamic book lists 

Weekly UCPath, Student Information Systems (SIS) and LBNL user loads were fully automated 

Acquisitions performed their first fiscal close in Alma

Automated Alma import profiles, which allow for batch loading of records of GOBI and other foreign vendor approvals, are now loading hundreds of full-level/shelf-ready records daily

Digital bookplates now display in UC Library Search

The Issues + Ideas Tracker launched to create a streamlined process for staff feedback on UC Library Search

Both NRLF and UCB holdings submitted to California Digital Library for a refresh of data for  the Google Books project

InterLibrary Loan staff naviated the new opportunities and pitfalls of the Automated Fulfillment Network

UC BEARS, the new Controlled Digital Lending (CoDiLe) platform, went live in UC Library Search with a new temporary location

Google Scholar now includes Get it at UC links

Selector reports are now generated through Alma Analytics

WorldCat daily updates now allow the Library to automatically receive the latest WorldCat record for all resources when we have holdings in OCLC

Created temporary locations to support special deposits and JACS sent to NRLF

  Added new pickup location to improve the Alt Media request process 

Improvements were made to UC Library Search based on input from Public Services Council, APriCoT, and the Discovery Working Group including the addition of HathiTrust Public Domain links and open access content, changes to the advanced search form, UC Berkeley local request verbiage, and more

Created work orders to handle processes for preservation, item on search, technical services, digitization, Bancroft stacks management, and others

All functional areas created local documentation and training, including Analytics, Fulfillment, Selector training, Acquisitions, Resource Sharing (ILL), and Resource Management

Acquisitions and Library Business Services worked with Library IT for an automated invoice payment process

Several UC Library Search and SILS open forums

Worked with CDL/SILS to create an updated submission process to HathiTrust for digitized items

A new UC Library Search libguide

Electronic Resources Unit staff navigated new processes for activations 

A huge thank you, congratulations, and debt of gratitude to everyone here at the Library. All staff have been touched by the SILS project and we are building this new environment together.

Looking forward,

Jackie

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in June:
  • Alma and UC Library Search (Primo VE) Staff Page (linked from the Library Staff Web)
• Folder containing all APriCoT approved documentation
• Documentation currently under review in the Fulfillment Working Group and Item Records Task Force:
  • Exact match monograph replacement
  • Accepting replacement copies
  • On the fly bib creation
• The Alma Analytics Expertise Group is working on integrating newly acquired ebooks into the print book lists for selectors to promote the library's newly acquired books to users. Stay tuned for more updates. In addition, a sub-working group is formed to work on collecting FY 2021-2022 library annual statistics from Alma Analytics.
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) has been preparing for the systemwide expansion of WorldCat Updates to serials on July 1. This change will ensure we automatically receive the latest WorldCat record for all resources when we have holdings in OCLC. RMG has also been discussing which Material types should be used in item records and how they should be defined.
• The Acquisitions team together with Library Business Services (LBS) performed their first fiscal rollover in Alma with success. Coordination across departments was required to ensure that scheduled loaders were paused and there were no edits made to invoices, POs, or PO Lines.

UC Library Search news

• The Advanced Search form now collapses following a search, which will allow for an improved user experience on mobile devices. This change was tested and approved by the Discovery Working Group (DWG), APriCoT, and Public Services Council. Information on this change was provided in a June 21 email to libstaff. 
• We updated the UC Berkeley local request button! The link to place a hold on a UC Berkeley item is now “Request from UC Berkeley” rather than “Request.”
  • The new display:
  • 
  • Previous display:

• The Graphic Arts Loan Collection (GALC) in the Morrison Library now has a separate location in Alma, which allows these materials to have the appropriate terms of use and prevent them from being requested via ILL.

UC-wide SILS news

• The first SILS Leadership Group Town Hall took place on June 23, 2022. The recording (streaming or download) is available for any who might have missed it but still wanted to enjoy an hour of all things SILS.
• The SILS project was selected to receive a 2022 Silver Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology! The awards presentation will take place on August 16 at the UC Tech Conference.
• The SILS RLF Configuration Project Team (RCPT) is currently reviewing the responses from the RLF survey which was shared with all 10 UC campuses.

APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in April:

Alma news

• APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in May:
  • Alma sets and best practices
  • Folder containing all APriCoT approved documentation
• Documentation currently under review in the Fulfillment Working Group and Item Records Task Force:
  • Exact match monograph replacement
  • Accepting replacement copies
• Acquisitions is preparing for their first fiscal close in Alma! Library staff are determining the new ways to handle fiscal close in this new system.
• Several local fields were added to Alma Analytics to allow staff with design analytics to query directly on these MARC fields which were not included in the out-of-the-box settings:
  • MARC holdings field: 583 for WEST disclosures
  • MARC bibliographic fields: 930, 955, 973 per Metadata Services requests
• Members of the Resource Sharing Operations Subteam are working on several projects, including the following:
  • Gleaning system-wide Resource Sharing statistics in the Alma environment, replicating the statistics that used to come from VDX Reports.
  • Exploring the possibility of creating consortial blocking of patrons, so that patrons who are blocked are unable to submit Automated Fulfillment Network (AFN) requests.
  • Meeting with OCLC representatives to begin mapping out a path for the UC ILL units to move away from the VDX system in preparation for the Tipasa migration forecasted for 2023.
• The Resource Management Group (RMG) finished discussing adding additional MARC fields and subfields to display in UC Library Search; the proposal is being finalized and will be shared with Discovery very soon. RMG is currently working on guidelines for recording holdings statements in Alma holdings records and definitions for Material types in item records.

UC Library Search news

• An update has been made to UC Library Search. The item material type is now suppressed from UC Library Search full bibliographic display due to some incorrect values as a result of migration. This change was tested and approved by the Discovery Working Group (DWG), APriCoT, and Public Services Council. 
• The new display:
  • 
• Previous display:
  •  

• Many Tier 1 and 2 resources are missing from UC Library Search:
  • CDL has not been able to activate many Tier 1 and 2 ebooks and electronic resources; this is listed as a known issue on the UC Library Search Staff FAQ
  • A project team has been tasked to address this issue, composed of staff members from California Digital Library and UC campuses
  • SILS is aware this is a high-impact, widespread issue experienced by all ten UCs and your patience as these records are activated is appreciated
• The new Issues + Ideas Tracker empowers staff to share non-urgent issues and suggestions for UC Library Search — such as enhancements, frustrations, comments, or questions —  in a low barrier format. This tool is designed for you to capture issues and ideas that impact the user experience. APriCoT will review submissions regularly and use them to identify systemic issues and pain points and advocate for solutions. 

Note: Please refer to the regularly updated Escalation Path for the most up-to-date information.

Best,

SILS Communication Task Force (Corliss Lee, Chan Li, and Jackie Gosselar)

APriCoT approved documentation for use by staff in April:

• Withdrawal policy & procedures
• Reinstating withdrawn items 
• OCLC holdings maintenance
• Statistics note action proposals 

HathiTrust content now in UC Library Search! Systems and Discovery Services in partnership with the Electronic Resources Unit activated the HathiTrust Digital Library Full View collection (for the United States) which provides link-in-record full text access for over one million applicable resources.

A Deep Dive into UC Library Search, 5/12  2-3pm). All library staff are invited to explore the mysteries of UC Library Search together. Many staff submitted questions through the survey sent at the end of March; Jackie and Corliss will try to answer as many of them as possible, either in our improved documentation or live during the Deep Dive.  The session will be recorded and the recording will be available for one month.

Automated user loading is here! Developers in Library IT have been working on the process for automated loading of UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff to Alma. This optimized workflow is live with new and changed user records loaded weekly. LBNL automated user loading process is still in the works and should be live this summer.

Resource Management Group (RMG) update. Last month, RMG released the Procedure for Multivolume Monograph (MVM) Cataloging in Alma, allowing many catalogers to begin cataloging multi volume monographs for the first time in Alma. Based on feedback from colleagues, RMG is developing a proposal to amend the MARC fields and subfields to display in UC Library Search; the final display decisions will be made in close collaboration with Discovery.

Fulfillment/Resource Sharing has proposed a working group to assist with developing workflows, procedures and documentation, recommending procedural or policy changes affecting fulfillment/resource sharing, testing configurations for fulfillment/resource sharing workflows in Alma and UC Library Search. Membership will include a representative from each of the following areas: Access Services, ILL, the subject divisions, including EAL and Bancroft, NRLF, and the affiliate libraries. For this year the group will be committed to June 30 2023.

Co-chairs: Mark Marrow and Patrick Shannon

Members: Nancy Lewis (Access Services), Albert Chung (EAL), Peter Basmarjian (Social Sciences), Agustin Ramirez (Affiliated Libraries), Francis Francisco (Life & Health Sciences), Ellen Dario (NRLF), Fedora Gertzman (Bancroft), Kristen Van Vliet (ILL), Engineering & Physical Sciences and Art & Humanities representatives will be forthcoming.

Discovery has proposed a working group, too! With members from public services, instruction, reference, and Library IT, this group aims to test and prioritize changes to the user experience in UC Library Search foregrounding user-centered design. Suggestions for enhancements from Library staff, UC-wide reported issues, and new features in Primo VE will be evaluated and tested by this group. Members were selected based on expertise and recommended by supervisors from across the Library. Similar to the Fulfillment Working Group, the group will be committed to June 30 2023.

Facilitator: Jackie Gosselar, co-facilitator: Vaughn Egge

Members: Vaughn Egge (ISD), Glenn Gillespie (SSD), Sine Hwang Jensen (TBD), Sophie Rainer (Privileges), Lisa Weber (Library IT), Naomi Shiraishi (EAL)

A subgroup of Alma Analytics Expertise group (Peter Soriano, Becky Miller and Chan Li) hosted two Alma Analytics trainings for Berkeley staff on April 13 and 26. Alma Analytics is Alma’s data analysis and reporting tool and can be accessed directly via Alma for both Alma and Primo VE. Contact libraryassessment@berkeley.edu if you have questions related to Alma Analytics training. The training covered the following topics: 

• Overview
• Running/modifying existing reports
• Creating new analysis
• Best practices on sharing reports and use of shared folders
• User privacy best practices

Best,

SILS Communication Task Force (Corliss Lee, Chan Li, and Jackie Gosselar)

All,

With the ongoing SILS structure now in motion both on the systemwide level and locally since early 2022, we would like to share an update on our progress so far.

The Alma/Primo VE Coordination Team (APriCoT) team is leading our local SILS (Systemwide Integrated Library System) initiatives and we want to ensure that UC Berkeley staff know how to contact us and stay apprised on our work.

How to:

• Find information on our charge, purpose, and task forces?  APriCoT About Page 
• Know more about our meetings? APriCoT running agenda/minutes and meeting recordings
• View the decisions made by the APriCoT group? APriCoT decision log
• Raise an issue or question? Escalation path

SILS Updates

Workflow improvements implemented for acquisitions. Locally, the newly automated Alma import profiles, which allow for batch loading of records of GOBI and other foreign vendor approvals, are now loading hundreds of full-level/shelf-ready records daily. Import profiles for EOCR/brief records and their subsequent overlay/update with Full-level records for firm orders from Gobi and three major European vendors are also in place. EDI invoicing setup for Gobi, Harrassowitz, and Casalini has been completed and Amalivre is in the process of revising their EDIfact coding to match our requirements.

New acquisitions lists are in the works! The local Alma Expertise group is working on a method for generating dynamic books lists using Alma Analytics and Tableau. Stay tuned for more information on this project.

NRLF requests are working as expected again. Beginning February 17, Alma was unable to export requests for NRLF materials. This software error caused a disruption in NRLF’s ability to process requests, which resulted in a substantial backlog which affected the entire UC consortium. In working with ExLibris, the NRLF/Berkeley team were able to create a reasonable temporary work-around which was implemented on March 1 and as a result NRLF is now able to process requests normally. Library IT and the Systems and Discovery team continue to be in close communication with Ex Libris as they still work on the root cause which triggered this issue.

Fewer item mismatches in ILL requests. The UC-wide Resource Sharing Operations Sub-team approved the implementation of a configuration proposed by ExLibris as a possible solution for the problem of title mismatches in AFN (automated fulfillment network) requests. The change was implemented on February 14 and the results are still being evaluated by all campuses, but most campuses report seeing fewer mismatches so far. 

Digital bookplates are now in UC Library Search. The Library IT Systems and Discovery Services Team has implemented a new process for adding bookplates to UC Library Search, and has applied this to all records which had digital bookplates in OskiCat. The new process leverages the MARC 599 field to display the digital bookplate images. We will be creating instructions on the process for adding bookplates to records and will share that once they are available. 

Automated user loading is on the horizon! Developers in Library IT have been working on the process for automated loading of UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff to Alma. In Millennium, this was largely a manual process and these workflow improvements represent a great improvement in how the UC Berkeley Library is able to leverage APIs for ongoing automated workflows in Alma. We plan to switch to automated loading in April. 

Working with LBNL. Library IT is also working with LBNL developers to produce a their patron file in the new Alma format with the goal of automating the loading of LBNL patrons. We hope to have this workflow automated by Summer. 

The Library Staff site is still the home of the Alma/Primo VE (UC Library Search) 

UC-wide and UCB fact sheet which contains links and additional information related to SILS. To suggest content for the fact sheet, contact helpbox-library@berkeley.edu.

Looking forward,

Jackie, on behalf of APriCoT