DRAFT: How to Find the Source of a Primo VE Record

Table of Contents

Background

CDL regularly receives tickets from the campuses inquiring why an electronic resource isn't displaying properly in their Primo VE instance. Records can appear in a campus' Primo VE for a variety of reasons including:

1. Alma Records

   1. The record is stored in the campus' Alma instance (for example, UCSD's Alma).

   2. The record is stored in the Alma Network Zone (NZ) instance. In this case, it could be a CDL managed record but it also could be a record shared with the NZ by a campus.

   3. The record is in another campus' Alma instance and is being shared via the Discovery Network. This is how a local UCSC video game record, not shared with the Network Zone, could be appearing in UCSD's Primo VE's search results.

2. Central Discovery Index (CDI) Records

   1. UC was setup to use the "EasyActive" version which means we can see CDI records regardless of whether or not anyone within UC has access.

3. OpenURL Records (such as from Google Scholar)

   1. This is a slightly different situation because ideally the OpenURL will link with a real record in Primo VE. However, under certain circumstances it may show incorrect information.

There's a lot we don't understand about how the NZ and IZs interact with each other as well as how CDI works.  As a result, the information below is often "best guess" on how things work.

Identifying the Type of Record

One of the easiest way to determine what type of record is being displayed is by looking at the record’s permalink. The permalink is located in the “Send to” section of the full record display. Note: this option may also be called a “Direct Link”.

Open

After clicking the permalink button, Primo will display a URL.

Open

Alma Record

Alma records start with “alma” after the last slash in the URL. Here is the permalink for an example record that comes from Alma:

https://search.library.ucdavis.edu/permalink/01UCD_INST/9fle3i/alma9913455968206531

CDI Record

CDI records start with “cdi” after the last slash in the URL: https://search.library.ucdavis.edu/permalink/01UCD_INST/1hjlc2p/cdi_cambridge_cbo_9781108663649_CN_bp_3

OpenURL Record

OpenURL records start with “openurl” after the last slash in the URL: https://ucmerced.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/openurl?institution=01UCS_UCM&vid=01UCS_UCM:UCM&volume=651&date=2024&aulast=Conte&issn=0009-2541&spage=122000&id=doi:10.1016%2Fj.chemgeo.2024.122000&auinit=GL&title=Chemical geology. Isotope geoscience section&atitle=SPORA, a new silver phosphate precipitation protocol for oxygen isotope analysis of small, organic-rich bioapatite samples&sid=google

Whose Record Is It?

Alma Record

All Alma records end in a four digit suffix which may give you a hint regarding which campus is responsible for the record. SILS Cohort members can view each campus' suffix here. Records ending in 6531 are records from the Network Zone. There are two types of records in the NZ:

• Records that were contributed to the NZ by campuses.

  • All records for print resources are contributed by campuses. The easiest way to guess which campus submitted the record is to look at the holdings.

  • If there is a problem with the record, it needs to be fixed by a campus.

• Electronic Collections or Portfolio records that were purchased by CDL for the campuses.

  • These are created and activated by CDL Acquisitions and are often cataloged by SCP. These are what CDL refer to as "CDL Managed NZ Records".

  • Requests to fix CDL Managed NZ Records can be made by contacting the CDL Helpline.

CDI Record

Because we have the EasyActive version of CDI, CDI records will appear even if we haven’t activated the associated electronic collections. Another tricky scenario is when there are multiple electronic collections and it’s unclear which collections is responsible for the CDI record.

Using the CDI Activation Bookmark

1. Follow the steps here to create a CDI Activation Bookmark: https://cdi-rights-analysis.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/client/help

2. Within Primo VE, pull up the CDI record you want to find the collection for.

3. Click on the CDI Activation Bookmark you entered in step one.

4. Click on the CDI Activation Analysis link that appears in the Primo VE record.

5. The Library ID and Record ID should automatically be filled in. Click Start Analysis and then wait. This can take a while.

Among other things, the page will return the DB ID(s) and Collection Name(s) associated with the CDI record. This can be used in NZ Analytics to see which campuses subscribe to the associated electronic collection. NOTE: Sometimes this tool will return a blank result.

OpenURL Records

The &sid parameter at the end of the URL refers to where the URL originally came from. For example, &sid=Google means it came from Google Scholar whereas &sid=Entrez:PubMed means it came from PubMed.

The OpenURL attempts to find a matching record within Primo VE. However, in some cases it can make Primo VE display incorrect information. When this happens there's likely nothing we can do to fix it. Google Scholar no longer has a form to report exceptions (as of the last time we looked).

The Dedup Complication

Every campus except for UCD has Dedup enabled which merges similar records together within Primo VE. When it works correctly, this makes it easy for users to see all the options available for a specific title. However, it does make troubleshooting record issues more complicated as the MMS ID we see in the permalink or 001 field may not be the one we care about.

For example, take a look at this record:

Here is the permalink: https://search.library.berkeley.edu/permalink/01UCS_BER/1thfj9n/alma991056177779706532

6532 means it's UC Berkeley's record, not an NZ record. However, if you click on Display MARC Record (under Links) you'll see the 001 is an NZ record: 9913455968206531. To make things more complicated, 9913455968206531 is not a CDL Managed NZ record. That said, the MIT Press Direct 2021 Collection is a collection managed by CDL and its version of The Promise of Access (MMS ID 9917000461806531) is getting merged with these other records.