Organization Unit Name Change

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Status

Decided

Description

Remove the comma in Organization Unit Name from UCM, UCSB, and UCSC. In addition, request Ex Libris update the corresponding Network Zone configuration table.

Decision summary

 

Owning group

Operations Team (SILS-OT-L@listserv.ucop.edu)

Approver

OT

Consulted

SILS Operations Center, CDL Shared Collections, SILS E-Resources OST, SILS Acquisitions OST

Informed

SILS Cohort

Decision-making process

 

Priority

Normal

Ex Libris Tickets

Primary Ticket - 06620571

Request for additional information - 06870436

Target decision date

Jan 24, 2024

Date decided

Feb 7, 2024

Recommendation

In order to fix an order bug impacting campuses trying to order some Network Zone (NZ) electronic collections, we recommend that:

  • UCM, UCSB, and UCSC remove the comma from their Institutional Zone (IZ) Organization Unit Name.

  • SILS Operation Center work with Ex Libris to update the corresponding Network Zone configuration table to match the Organization Unit Name of all campuses.

Impact

Stakeholder group

Impact

Stakeholder group

Impact

SILS Acquisitions, SILS E-Resources, and CDL Shared Collections

This change will fix a bug that limits the options campuses have to link their orders to the Network Zone

Operations Team

Potential impact on Institutional Zones' health

SILS Operation Center

Potential impact on Network Zone’s health

Reasoning

  1. When testing this change in the sandbox, we did not find any negative impacts to making this change.

  2. Not addressing this bug limits the options campuses have to link their orders to the Network Zone.

  3. Given that Ex Libris did not account for our current setup, there may be additional scenarios we are currently unaware of that also are impacted by our current setup.

Background

Back in December 2022, UC Santa Barbara noticed they were occasionally unable to create orders off Network Zone (NZ) electronic collections for recharge purposes. A ticket was created with Ex Libris.

In August 2023, Ex Libris told us that the ordering problem was due to a comma in the Organization Unit Name in three campus institutional zones (IZ): UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz. In addition, they need to update a backend NZ table to match the IZ names (see screenshot below).

In November 2023 we tested this change our sandboxes and determined that this change does fix the order link issue. In addition, we did not discover any problems as a result of the change.

 

Options Considered

 

Make the Change

Don’t Make the Change

 

Make the Change

Don’t Make the Change

Description

 

 

Pros

  • This will allow campuses more flexibility in how orders off NZ resources are created.

  • This will bring our setup in line with Ex Libris expectations which may prevent future issues.

  • At this time, we are only aware of one problem with our current setup. Otherwise, our system is relatively stable.

Cons

  • We were unable to test the impact of this change in Analytics as the sandbox does not have an Analytics environment. Based on feedback from users and Ex Libris, some old data in the fulfillment and borrower request subjects will not update.

  • Potentially, this change will impact an area we did not think to test.

 

  • Campuses may not be able to create orders off NZ inventory even if this is the best option for a particular situation.

  • We may find problems in the future with our current setup.

Questions to consider

Why Do We Need to Do This?

Currently, campuses are unable to order off Network Zone (NZ) collections if there is no attached license and group settings are not empty (i.e. campuses have been specifically designated as having access).

 

There are other ways campuses could create orders, such as linking them to Network Zone bibs. However, not addressing this bug limits the options campuses have to link their orders to the Network Zone. In addition, there might be additional scenarios we are currently unaware of that also are impacted by our current setup.

What Are the Impacts?

Expected Changes

Based on our discussions with Ex Libris and our sandbox testing, we expect there to be minimal visible changes to our users.

Visible changes in the IZ:
  • Alma Configuration

  • Analytics folder for your Institution (NOTE: because the sandbox does not have analytics, we were unable to test this.)

  • How holdings for other campuses display in UC Library Search/Primo VE (that is, "University of California, Santa Barbara" will change to "University of California Santa Barbara")

  • The University name displayed on Alma Letters. However, at the moment it looks like that field may not be used in the Alma Letters.

 

 

Image says Other UC Libraries and then has a down arrow. Under nearth it shows University of Davis Availaibli in institution. Then, it shows University of California, Santa Barbara Available in Institution. The Santa Barbara campus currently includes a comma it its name.

 

Updating the Network Zone Configuration table (these should not be visible to patrons):

  • Search facets in NZ Alma

  • Held By information for individual records

 

Likely Analytics Changes:

Note: we have been unable to test Analytics changes because the sandbox does not offer an Analytics option. However, based on the feedback from Ex Libris and other Alma customers, below are changes we consider likely.

  • In the Fulfillment subject area, “Loan Details”.”Loans – Linked from Institution Name” and “Loan Details”.”Loaned at Institution Name” may contain both forms of the name, with the old form appearing on any loan transactions that existed prior to the name change. This will impact every campus borrowing from a campus with a comma currently in their organization unit name.

Table showing potential future values for the fields.
Example of how the new values may look.

 

  • Borrowing Requests subject area. “Requester”.”User – Linked from Institution Name” will contain both forms, with the old form appearing on any requests prior to the name change.

  • Requests subject area, “Requester”.”User – Linked from Institution Name. This will impact every campus borrowing from a campus with a comma currently in their organization unit name.

  • Changing the organization unit name will *not* lead to a change in the name of the institution’s folder under Shared Folders. However, this is something we can request that Ex Libris do for us.

Mitigation/Workaround

Analytics Workaround: Organization Unit Name Change

Unexpected Changes

If there are unexpected issues, they are most likely to be related to Alma Analytics due to our inability to test Analytics in the sandbox. We do not believe that custom Primo VE domains would be impacted but this is another area we could not test in the sandbox.

What is the Communication Plan?

  1. Post this doc to All-Chairs, OT, and CDL Shared Collections ERT Slack to provide feedback.

  2. Request SILS Acq/E-Res review this doc and provide feedback.

  3. Prior to the change post a message on UC Shared ILS #all-cohort Slack, UC SILS Community Slack #all-community, and send an email to SILS-Cohort informing everyone of the change.

  4. After the change post a message to the same channels as above and request people contact their OT if they encounter any potential problems with the change.

How is the Change Made?

For UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz OT

  1. In your production environment, go to Configuration Menu > General > Libraries > Add a Library or Edit Library Information

  2. Remove the comma from the Organization unit name and Save

Gem will then notify Ex Libris that the change has been made, Ex Libris will update the NZ Configuration Table. At this point, the change will be live in production.

What Testing Should be Done After the Change?

Testing Non-Order Functionality in the Sandbox

  1. Campus Reps: Does this change impact the campus Primo VE?

    1. Check how campus and UC-wide holdings display

    2. Confirm there are no changes to the UC Libraries search facet

    3. Verify custom domains are not impacted

  2. Campus Reps: Alma IZ Searching

    1. Search for Network Zone titles

    2. Search for Network Zone electronic collections and portfolios

    3. How do the search facets display?

    4. Does combined search work as expected?

  3. NZ testing

    1. Gem: Electronic Collection/Portfolio Group Settings (check the Inventory Management Group Details config table to see if the full name was updated)

    2. Gem: All Titles Held By 

    3. Gem: Pick a campus with access to a particular collection and open it in their Primo VE (to confirm that group settings/linkages weren’t broken in Primo after change - Inventory Management Group Details)

    4. Gem: Post to Discovery Slack so members can look over Primo VE pages. Pay particular attention to the campus facets.

    5. CDL Shared Collections: Negotiated License - member details

    6. Gem: Review how institution names appear in NZ Analytics.

  4. NZ Analytics testing (Gem)

    1. Test analytics report located in /Shared Folders/University of California System 01UCS_NETWORK/Reports/CDL IC/Organization Unit Change Test 1 and Organization Unit Change Test 2

    2. Also need to test “Requester”.”User – Linked from Institution Name” field in the Borrowing Requests subject but am having trouble getting any data to appear. - Need to look into this more.

    3. Note: we need to wait one day before this can be tested.

Testing Order Functionality

  1. Campus Reps: Using the collections identified for pre-testing which include:

    1. Collection doesn't have a license attached and has NO group settings (meaning the collection is available for everyone)

    2. Collection doesn't have a license attached AND HAS group settings including the campus trying to make the order

    3. Collection doesn't have a license attached AND HAS group settings excluding the campus trying to make the order

    4. Collection Has License attached to the collection and Has Group Settings that include the campus trying to make the order

  2. The selected campuses will test each of the scenarios and report back on whether or not they were able to order off NZ inventory.

Testing Analytics

Test reports have been created to compare before and after results. They are located in Shared Folders/University of California System 01UCS_NETWORK/Reports/CDL IC. They reports are called:

  • Organization Unit Change Test - Fulfillment

  • Organization Unit Change Test - Borrowing Request

  • Organization Unit Change Test - Requests

What Happens If Something Goes Wrong?

Prior to making the change we will verify that there is a direct Ex Libris contact we can work with. If, after implementing the change, we notice problems with the new configuration, we will work with Ex Libris to back out the changes.

When Should this Change be Made?

At our next Ex Libris Support meeting we will discuss what days will give us the best Ex Libris coverage. We will then discuss in OT what the best timing is for campuses.

Has Anyone Else Made This Change Before?

Ex Libris has stated that the Organization Unit Name has been changed by other customers in the past without negative impacts. However, we will also ask on both the Alma and Consortia Community of Practice listservs to gather any additional experiences, including their experiences with any impacts to Analytics.

Action Log

Action/Point Person

Expected Completion Date

Notes

Status

Action/Point Person

Expected Completion Date

Notes

Status

OT reviews updated decision page and determines whether or not to go forward

Feb 7, 2024

Approved with the provision that workaround be documented for the Analytics issues.

 

SILS Op Center: Inform stakeholders of the decision

Feb 13, 2024

 

 

SILS Op Center: Work out timeline with Ex Libris and Confirm with OT

Feb 16, 2024

 

 

Make the change in production

Mar 11, 2024

 

 

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