Alma Training

What are Alma and Primo VE?
An all-in-one system offered by Ex Libris that covers all library operations: selection, acquisition, metadata management, digitization, and fulfillment. Alma is a cloud-based (SaaS) unified library services platform that helps manage the Library’s print, electronic, and digital materials into a single interface. Primo VE is a new deployment model that combines the backend processes of both Alma and Primo VE into one integrated platform.

The Primo Central Discovery Index (CDI) is a mega-aggregation of hundreds of millions of scholarly e-resources. Primo VE integrates with the Primo Central Index in the same way as other Primo deployment models. The Library can activate the collections we wish to expose for searching, and the results can be displayed as blended or separate from the locally managed records. The Library manages our electronic resources in Alma, which then publishes the holdings information to Primo VE, indicating which resources should be displayed as full text available. Primo VE also has a feature that enables the Library to match physical and electronic holdings. In addition to showing the electronic services available, Primo VE also checks to see if there are any relevant physical holdings and shows users that the library also holds a physical copy for that resource.