January - February 2024 ULMS Update

Created by Christina Hennessey
Last updated: Apr 04, 2024
10 min read

Chancellor’s Office

  • The SDLS/CO department is reviewing the ULMS listserv memberships to make sure we are reaching all the appropriate staff and faculty and that our communications can be more targeted to areas of the system, without too many duplicate messages.

  • SCELCapalooza is coming up at the end of February 2024 on the Los Angeles campus of Loyola Marymount University. Folks from the CO that will attend some of the days: SDLC (Kirstie Genzel, Ann Roll) and SDLS (Christina Hennessey, Christopher Lee). If you are at the event, please say hi, especially if we have never met you in person! We also can be available for short, individual meetings if you want to discuss anything with the CO, let us know!

  • We continue to host the Technical Services Open Forum, a monthly presentation, training, and sharing meeting for CSU Technical Services staff. Attendance and participation has been high with 75-100 for each meeting;

  • CO staff has been working with campuses to grant more SalesForce account and case access in order to have Ex Libris cases solved more efficiently. We are working on training for campuses on workflows and writing better cases;

  • Monthly meetings with Ex Libris continue for our support cases across the CSU;

  • We also had a meeting with Ex Libris on February 12 in relation to our use of “Collaborative Networks” features in the CSU. Ex Libris has formed a new department to focus on consortial needs and they looked closely at our use of consortial features and where it could be improved, and we will be working with this new knowledge over the next few months. A new consortial-focused dashboard is being developed for use by all consortia, of which some of us saw a demo on February 20.

ELUNA/eCAUG/IGeLU

 

  • Many CSU staff and faculty have had presentations accepted for the ELUNA Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May 2024! There was a preview webinar about the conference on February 12, 2024, which included information on cost and extra sessions outside of the main conference.

Registration for the hotel and conference will be available in early March, and the conference program will be available in late February. Remember that you can register at the ELUNA member price as a member of the CSU consortium. We are getting clarification on how many discounts you can combine (speaker, ELUNA member, chair of committees) and will communicate this information when we have it. 

Those that missed the February 12 webinar can get access the recording by registering and will immediately get a copy of the recording in email.

Christina also covered the conference plans and cost in detail in this section of the February 15, 2024 Technical Services Open Forum recording.

  • Please consider applying for the Sherrie Kristin Memorial Scholarship, deadline March 1, 2024. This scholarship provides free registration and hotel accommodation for the ELUNA 2024 conference.

  • ELUNA is looking for nominations for their Steering Committee. Please apply by March 4, 2024.

  • Planning is underway for the in-person regional ELUNA California User Group, or eCAUG. Please fill out the survey from the eCAUG planning committee by March 1, 2024. Instead of having our own ULMS/CSU-specific conference, we hope to have a shared conference with our ELUNA California colleagues again this year, likely in late summer or early fall.

  • The call for proposals for the IGeLU conference at DGI Byen in Copenhagen, Denmark (September 9-12, 2024) has started and will close April 21, 2024. The theme of the conference is: “Beyond Limits and Differences: Data, Hidden Treasures and Mermaids”. Unlike the ELUNA conference, IGeLU will be a hybrid conference so you can attend and present from California.

 Cross-functional section

·         The annual Ex Libris support satisfaction survey was shared on February 7, 2024 on the ulms-announce listserv. The survey is for all library administrators, faculty, and staff: technical services, public services, and anyone who uses Alma, Primo, and Rapido. There is only one survey this year and multiple answers per campus are encouraged. Once the survey is closed, the ULMS functional committees will work with your feedback to inform the report we share with Ex Libris each year so they can improve our services. The deadline for the survey is Monday, February 26, 2024. Thank you to those that have already filled out the survey!

·         The data issues task force group has been formed, with Jill Strykowski/SJSU as Chair of the group. Look for work from this group in the coming weeks.

·         The acquisitions task force group has also been formed and will start meeting in late February 2024.

·         A call to refresh the members of the normalization rules task force was sent to ulms-techservices on February 20, 2024. For more information about this group and the tasks ahead, refer to that email or this part of the February 15, 2024 Technical Services Open Forum recording.

·         Out of the data issue task force open forums and other discussions has come a working document to compare discovery configurations for the CSU Primos;

·         Chris Lee has been demoing a new CSU-wide Canvas course to train our CSU staff on resource sharing, expanding on training offered by Ex Libris on Rapido to make it CSU-specific, and to connect certification and badging to this course in order to give resource sharing staff more permissions in the ULMS;

·         The Steering Committee has been discussing better ways to handle working documents throughout the academic year in functional committees and how to move them from committees from year to year without losing knowledge;

·         The Resource Management and Discovery groups have been working on the implementation of a pilot of genre and audience facets in CSU Primos in Spring 2024;

·         The MARCIVE DWS→ CRDP transition was completed in January 2024;

·         The 2024 enhancement process for ELUNA and Ex Libris products will be starting soon. Enhancement submission for Alma and Primo products closed on January 13, 2024. Voting for the new cycle will start in March 2024. More information available at this thread on ALMA-L

Webinar recordings of interest

CSU webinars:

Rapido Refreshers: Enrich from Global Index Refresher from January 17, 2024. (36 min)

Technical Services Open Forum from January 18, 2024 (70 min.) Topics included: Ex Libris system down - where to check status? | Guest speakers on cataloging time tracking and statistics at the University of California.

Discovery Open Forum from January 18, 2024 (38 min.) Topics included: VETT Report.

Analytics Open Forum from February 8, 2024 (52 min.) Topics included: available resources for completing the ACRL and IPEDS surveys.

Consortia Manager Tips, Tricks, and Q&A from February 13, 2024 (55 min.) (recording available only to Consortia Manager users when logged in)

Technical Services Open Forum from February 15, 2024 (59 min.) Topics included: Task force announcements | ULMS-related conferences - eCAUG & ELUNA | Recent Primo updates on roadmap | Proposal to create a Network Zone-based California GovPubs collection.

I-SPIE TV from February 15, 2024 (42 min.) Topics: demo of new I-SPIE website, demo of Chris’ Rapido training Canvas site, ACRL resource sharing stats, Rapido updates from Jan/Feb 2024.

Previous recordings and documents for: TS Open Forum | I-SPIE TV | Rapido Refreshers

Ex Libris webinars:

January 11, 2024: Primo VE: Become an Expert - How Primo Works: (52 min); slides

January 17, 2024: ELUNA learns 2024 – AI (159 min.) Topics: Using AI to format Alma item descriptions; Talk with Primo – a generative AI chat tool for finding books; Practical Applications of Generative AI: Using the GPT API for Text Analysis in Library Work. Not a direct link but if you click on ‘register now’ at the link, you can watch for free.

January 18, 2024: Primo VE: Become an Expert - Search Configuration (58 min); slides

January 24, 2024: What’s New with Primo Q1 2024 (44 min.)

January 24, 2024: Rapido Monthly Update (29 min.)

January 24, 2024: ELUNA Learns 2024 – Current Trends (153 min.) Topics: Discovering and Delivering Discovery Data; Bridging Alma and Esploro: Digitizing University of Miami Music Theses; Using chatGPT to Create Norm Rules for Alma. Not a direct link but if you click on ‘register now’ at the link, you can watch for free.

January 25, 2024: Primo VE: Become an Expert - Search Interfaces. (55 min.) slides

February 2024 Alma feature release videos: Filter a holding set by indication rule, Performance tracking file, and Physical item conditions.

February 1, 2024: Primo VE: Become an Expert - Display Configuration (56 min.) slides

February 8, 2024: Primo VE: Become an Expert - Delivery (54 min.) slides

February 12, 2024: 2024 Ex Libris Knowledge Days and ELUNA 2024 Annual Meeting, Developers Day+, & Analytics Afternoon Preview (62 min.) Not a direct link but if you click on ‘register’ at the link, you can watch for free.

February 13, 2024: Bibliographic record and physical inventory retention in Alma (52 min.)

February 14, 2024: Primo 2024 Roadmap Highlights. (58 min.)

February 15, 2024: Primo VE: Become an Expert - Local Data. (54 min.) slides

February 22, 2024: Primo VE: Become an Expert - Deduplication and FRBR. (47 min.) slides

Other webinars of interest (non-Ex Libris):

January 22, 2024: BIBFRAME Update Forum from Library of Congress. (58 min.)

February 2, 2024: SUNYLA Midwinter 2024 Conference – Library Data II: Too Good, Too Bad and Too Ugly (all day conference, 9 sessions)

Assessment & Analytics

·         Has continued CSU monthly open forums with a combination of planned presentations and time for open questions about Analytics;

·         February 8, 2024: Introduction to filling out each field for the ACRL survey for 2022-2023, discussions on particular fields and how the CSU should measure them in similar ways for valid comparisons;

·         An open forum is planned for March 7, 2024 at 2pm with topics to come.

·         Continue to clean and reorganize Analytics folders in the Network Zone and ‘CalState’ areas to make it easier for library staff to find the reports they need, including formalizing an Analytics management policy across the CSU;

·         Restored the Network Analytics folder that was accidentally removed in January 2024, recreated the lost work, and working on procedures to protect us from this in the future;

·         Continued support in updating the ULMS ACRL/IPEDS Analytics due to changes in ACRL reporting for 2022-2023.

Discovery

·         VETT report released Jan 16, 2024 by the Primo VE Testing Team (VETT); was presented at Discovery Open Forum Jan 18 2pm-3pm [recording];

·         Continued testing on February 2024 Primo release by VETT;

·         Held a Discovery Open Forum January 18, 2024 [recording];

·         Discussed the proposal of genre, audience, and accessibility changes from the Resource Management and Data Issues Task Force groups;

·         Review of current CSU-wide configuration of Discovery;

·         Discussion of recent Primo webinars on upcoming roadmap and development, particularly in relation to AI;

·         Discussion of changes from Primo Back Office to Primo VE to help with the ELUNA/IGeLU Primo BO to VE Feature Alignment Project

ERM (Electronic Resource Management)

·         The group has drafted and is reviewing a new ERM problem reporting workflow document, outlining the best ways to tackle problem reports, particularly for E-Resources that are licensed through SDLC/CO. This new process will likely be presented at the March 21 Technical Services Open Forum;

·         Kirstie Genzel (Chair/CO) presented on Consortia Manager Tips & Tricks on February 13, this training was well-attended;

·         Wiki cleanup - The task force finished reorganizing most of the documentation into 3 main topics (CDI, ERM, Acq), now working on updating old documentation and/or archiving pages that are no longer relevant;

·         The ERM group was very helpful in input for the new acquisitions task force. They are ready to support this group and be able to pass along wiki page cleanup, documentation, and acquisitions-related questions to that group;

·         The group continues monthly office hours.

Resource Management

·         Resource Management held their own monthly office hours in January and February 2024;

·         Presented the proposal of genre, audience, and accessibility changes to Discovery;

·         Reviewing the Data Issues Task Force working spreadsheet and what should be added/updated;

·         Wiki documentation cleanup continues;

·         The group has discussed what we can try in relation to CSU-wide cataloging statistics, especially in relation to time measurement;

·         After a CSU-wide survey, the cataloging contacts page has been updated to make it easier to find others in the CSU to assist with cataloging work;

·         Linked Data Task Force (LDTF)

o   Discussion of URIs in bibliographic records and implementation by the NZ Mgt Group;

o   Discussion of Sinopia and Alma plans;

o   The Wikidata Building Project continues. The group tried to work centrally through the CO for this project but it needs to be a campus-by-campus project due to differing use and access of FacilitiesLink at each campus. A study group for this project started in January 2024;

o   Group is still recruiting for more members;

o   Along with the Digital Archives Working Group (DAWG), The LDTF created a very brief survey to learn about CSU-wide interest in linked data applications for digital discovery. Responses were accepted until December 20;

·         Inclusive Description Task Force (IDTF)

o   Creating documentation on how to use the Homosaurus so that other catalogers in the CSU can apply terms and adapt their workflows;

o   Working on a job description for a LAEP student;

o   Finalizing the "sexual minorities" mapping for all the NZ records;

o   Group is recruiting for more members;

o   Waiting for new normalization rules task force to be populated in order to continue requested changes;

Resource Sharing

·         The discussion and vote to renew Rapido was held at the COLD meeting on February 22, 2024 and passed. Look for an official announcement from the CO and your campuses shortly;

·         The new I-SPIE website has been moved into production, thanks to all the work by the web committee and CO ATS support. This moves the important work and communication of this group to an official-looking website without ads;

·         As mentioned in the cross-functional area above, Chris Lee has been developing a CSU-wide Canvas course on resource sharing to help with training and Rapido access, the RSFC has been reviewing the content;

·         Rapido Refreshers continue to remind staff of best practices and workflows with Rapido and to help new ILL staff:

o   January 17, Rapido Refreshers: Enrich From Global Index Refresher: [recording] (36 minutes)

·         Chris Lee continues to host regular office hours on resource sharing support on Tuesdays from 11am-noon;

·         I-SPIE TV continues to meet monthly:

·         Feb 15: demo of new I-SPIE website, demo of Chris’ Rapido training Canvas site, ACRL resource sharing stats, Rapido updates from Jan/Feb 2024 [recording, 42 minutes];

·         Wiki documentation reorganization and improvements continue;

·         The possibility of a new courier and West Coast Pod plans and development continue

Fulfillment

·         Gabriel Castaneda (Chair, CSUN) presented at the January 2024 ULMS Steering Committee on a “Big Idea” on implementing CSU-wide customer service best practices; great conversation and cross-campus ideas ensued;

·         Oscar Rodriguez (CSULB) is the new Vice-Chair of the group;

·         Discussion on moving shared documents for the committee out of Google Drive into a more permanent place;

·         Campus interviews for the General Fulfillment survey will start in Spring 2024