Aeon Alma Blacklight Catalog Addon
| Name | Alma Blacklight Catalog Addon |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.3.0 |
| Author | Atlas Systems, Inc. |
| Description | A catalog addon designed for libraries that utilize the Alma ILS and Blacklight as the discovery layer. |
| Custom Fields Support | No |
Developers
This addon is available for developers to modify and extend. Developers are encouraged to submit changes to this addon by forking the git repository from https://github.com/AtlasSystems/AlmaBlacklightCatalogAddon and creating a pull request.
Download
Configuration
Addon settings are configured in the Manage Addons form.
| Setting | Default | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalog URL | String | The base URL that the query strings are appended to. | |
| Home URL | String | Home page of the catalog | |
| Remove Trailing Special Characters | True | Boolean | Defines whether to remove trailing special characters on import or not. The included special characters are "\/+,.;:-=." |
| Search Priority List | Catalog Number, Title, Author, Call Number | String | The fields that should be searched on, in order of search priority. Each field in the string will be checked for a valid corresponding search value in the request, and the first search type with a valid corresponding value will be used. Each search type must be separated by a comma. |
| Auto Retrieve Items | True | Boolean | Defines whether or not the addon should automatically retrieve items related to a record being viewed. Disabling this setting can save the site on Alma API calls because it will only make a Retrieve Holdings List call when the button is pressed. |
| Alma API URL | String | The URL to the Alma API | |
| Alma API Key | String | API key used for interacting with the Alma API | |
| MMS_ID Prefix | String | The MMSID Prefix are any characters that precede the mms_id of a record in the URL. The addon gets the current record's MMS ID by looking at the URL of the record's page. A typical Blacklight record url is |
Data Mappings
Below are the default configurations for the catalog addon. The mappings within DataMappings.lua are settings that typically do not have to be modified from site to site. However, these data mappings can be changed to customize the fields, search queries, and xPath queries to the data.
Caution
Be sure to backup the DataMappings.lua file before making modifications Incorrectly configured mappings may cause the addon to stop functioning correctly.
Search Types
Default Configuration
| Search Type | Query String |
|---|---|
| DataMapping.SearchTypes["Title"] | ?search_field=title_search&q= |
| DataMapping.SearchTypes["Author"] | ?search_field=author_search&q= |
| DataMapping.SearchTypes["Call Number"] | ?search_field=call_number_xfacet&q= |
Note
The Catalog Number search type is not listed here because the Catalog Number button goes directly to item page instead of searching the catalog, therefore, the URL is constructed differently.
Source Fields
The field that the addon reads from to perform the search.
Aeon
Default Configuration
| Field | Source Table | Source Field |
|---|---|---|
| DataMapping.SourceFields["Aeon"]["Title"] | Transaction | ItemTitle |
| DataMapping.SourceFields["Aeon"]["Author"] | Transaction | ItemAuthor |
| DataMapping.SourceFields["Aeon"]["Call Number"] | Transaction | CallNumber |
| DataMapping.SourceFields["Aeon"]["Catalog Number"] | Transaction | ReferenceNumber |
| DataMapping.SourceFields["Aeon"]["TransactionNumber"] | Transaction | TransactionNumber |
Bibliographic Import
The information within this data mapping is used to perform the bibliographic api call. The Field is the product field that the data will be imported into, MaxSize is the maximum character size the data going into the product field can be, and Value is the xPath query to the information.
Note
One may specify multiple xPath queries for a single field by separating them with a comma. The addon will try each xPath query and returns the first successful one.
Example: An author can be inside of 100$a and 100$b or 110$a and 110$b. To accomplish this, provide an xPath query for the 100 datafields and an xPath query for the 110 datafields separated by a comma.
//datafield[@tag='100']/subfield[@code='a']|//datafield[@tag='100']/subfield[@code='b'],
//datafield[@tag='110']/subfield[@code='a']|//datafield[@tag='110']/subfield[@code='b']Holding Import
The information within this data mapping is used import the correct information from the items grid. The Field is the product field that the data will be imported into, MaxSize is the maximum character size the data going into the product field can be, and Value is the FieldName of the column within the item grid.
| Product Field | Value | Alma API XML Node | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ReferenceNumber | ReferenceNumber | mms_id | The catalog identifier for the record (MMS ID) |
| CallNumber | CallNumber | call_number | The item's call number |
| Location | Location | location (expanded) | The full location name of the item (Configured in CustomizedMapping.lua) |
| Sublocation | LocationCode | location | The location code returned by the Alma API |
| Library | Library | library | The library where the item is held |
Note
The Holding ID can also be imported by adding another table with a Value of HoldingId
Customized Mapping
The CustomizedMapping.lua file contains the mappings to variables that are more site specific.
Location Mapping
Maps an item's location code to a full name. If a location mapping isn't given, the addon will display the location code. The location code is taken from the location node returned by a Retrieve Holdings List API call.
Example
CustomizedMapping.Locations["{Location Code }"] = "{Full Location Name}"
FAQ
How to add or change what information is displayed in the item grid?
There's more holdings information gathered than what is displayed in the item grid. If you wish to display or hide additional columns on the item grid, find the comment -- Item Grid Column Settings within the BuildItemGrid()function in the Catalog.lua file and change the gridColumn.Visible variable of the column you wish to modify.
How to modify what bibliographic information is imported?
To import additional bibliographic fields, add another lua table to the DataMapping.ImportFields.Bibliographic[{Product Name}] mapping. To remove a record from the importing remove it from the lua table.
The table takes a Field which is the product's field name, a MaxSize which is the maximum characters to be imported into the product, and Value which is the xPath query to the data returned by the Retrieve Bibs Alma API call.
Addon Files
| Config.xml | The addon configuration file. |
| DataMapping.lua | The data mapping file contains mappings for the items that do not typically change from site to site. |
| CustomizedMapping.lua | The a data mapping file that contains settings that are more site specific and likely to change (e.g. location codes). |
| Catalog.lua | The Catalog.lua is the main file for the addon. It contains the main business logic for importing the data from the Alma API into the Atlas Product. |
| AlmaApi.lua | The AlmaApi file is used to make API calls against the Alma API |
| Utility.lua | The Utility file is used for common lua functions |