FAQs

There are two ways to create custom article level linking for non-CZ-managed resources like the New York Times Academic Pass: 

• General Electronic Service
• Local Collection with Dynamic Linking

Custom Linking:

• Can help resolve situations where out of the box database linking fails because Primo includes search records for content outside of the scope of your database indexing, such as Late Edition New York Times articles, or other content like blogs, etc.
• Allows you to pull metadata out of an Alma bib record or CDI search record and send it somewhere else, either to fill out a form, or do a search on another platform
• Is built with two pieces of information: a search URL (could be internal in Primo or external like Google) and a Primo data field to use in the search
  • To find the format of the search URL, perform a search in the platform where you want to send users and copy the search data. For example, a New York Times search url looks like https://www.google.com/search?q=trees. You would need to capture this part of the search URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=
  • To find the data field that you want to pull out of the Primo record to use in your search, add &DisplayCTO=true to the end of any full record URL and review the underlying metadata. For example, if you want to search by article title, you'd want to use the rft.atitle field. You can use as many or as few fields as you'd like, but keep in mind that the more fields you use, the better chance that you might exclude relevant search results.
  • For example, if you wanted to create a link that searches the New York Times website by article title, the link would look like: https://www.nytimes.com/search?query={rft.atitle}
     

General Electronic Service

• Set up in Configuration>Fulfillment>Discovery Interface Display Logic
• Applied by genre, ISSN, title or other field in metadata - need to add one service availability rule at a time
• Could display in View It, Get It, or How to Get It
• Can choose to only display it if the item is not owned by the campus 
• Easy to control whether patron needs to login to see link, can affiliate by user group
• Can add public note
• Can be used with display order to hide or display based on criteria
• Ex Libris Documentation on General Electronic Services
   

New York Times Example:

• Link URL would be: https://www.nytimes.com/search?query={rft.atitle}, or you could try a more complex URL like https://www.nytimes.com/search?query="{rft.atitle}"%20{rft.year}%20{rft.au}&sort=best which would search the title in quotes, add the year, and sort by best result. Thanks to Justin Dise at University at Buffalo for this advanced URL.
• Service availability rule could be based on ISSN, as in only show this GES when the Primo article result includes rft.issn = 0362-4331

Local Collection with Dynamic Linking

• Link appears in Get It with other full-text links
• Tied to portfolio bib record, which can allow greater control over where it appears
• If you’d like to apply link to a large number of portfolios, can use portfolio loader to add them in bulk
• Can add public note
• Can use display order to put at top of list of full-text links or hide or display based on criteria

Workflow:

• Create Local Collection: go to Resources>Add Inventory>Create Local Collection
• Go to Edit Service, linking tab and add dynamic URL
• Add specific titles on Portfolios tab:
  • Add individual titles through Add Local Portfolio (best practice is to reuse CZ bib record)
  • Add titles in bulk with portfolio loader
• Add Public Note if it’s a subscription-based collection or has other access requirements
   

New York Times Example:

• Create a local collection and name it New York Times Academic Pass or whatever you call it in your A-Z list
• In Edit Service, Linking Tab:
  • Choose URL type = Dynamic URL
  • Add IF{} https://www.nytimes.com/search?query={rft.atitle} as your dynamic URL
  • Do not proxy or use parser parameters
• In Edit Service, Portfolios Tab:
  • Choose Add->Add Local Portfolio
  • Creation Type = Use Existing Title
  • Click in the Choose Title box to look up the bib record that you want to use (search by New York Times ISSN 0362-4331). If you already have this electronic title active in another collection, you can search in the IZ and select that record. If not, search the CZ.
  • Add your coverage dates. In the case of the New York Times site license, the dates are 1851 to the present.
  • Choose Newspaper as Material Type and save the portfolio.
• On the notes page, add any relevant login information, such as a redirect to your local information about setting up an account for the site license.
• Save the collection/service edits
• To make this collection show at the top of your search results:
  • Go to Configuration->Fulfillment->Discovery Interface Display Logic->Online Services Order
  • In Top Services, choose Add to Top
  • Service Type = Full Text
  • Service Name = Electronic Collection
  • Scroll down the list until you find the new collection and select it and hit Add to Top