Overview
There are a variety of issues remaining from the integration between Alma and the Books & Media catalog. As a result, people searching the catalog may encounter a number of issues, especially with electronic resources. These include:
Records that are failing to appear in the catalog when they should
Inactive records showing up in the catalog
E-resources appearing in the catalog but with no link
In general, your best bet is to use Summon as an alternative to the Books & Media Catalog.
Updates made to Alma are available in Summon within 24-48 hours, which makes Summon currently more accurate than the Books & Media Catalog. Note, however, that Summon does not integrate with our Catalog Request System and, thus, isn’t as useful for issues with print materials. Staff with direct access to Alma can also search in Alma to verify issues and explore alternatives.
The rest of this document lists specific issues staff and patrons may encounter when searching the Books & Media Catalog, including any available workarounds and reporting instructions. There are also details about how to perform additional searches in Alma and Summon.
Known Issues with Records in the Books & Media Catalog
Record not appearing in catalog
I searched the Books & Media catalog for a resource, and there was no record.
Explanation: The data in the Books & Media catalog is very stale and is several weeks behind. Records that have been created recently are not yet published to the catalog. In addition, while the vast majority of online resources migrated successfully to Alma and should appear in the catalog, we are still finding some resources that did not migrate successfully and need manual activation.
Workaround: Alma records are available in Summon within 24-48 hours. You can perform a general Summon search, or you can search specifically for eBooks, articles, or journal titles. You can also search Alma for the item. If the record is not appearing in Summon or Alma but you know we should have access to the item, this may be a migration issue. Please flag the example to AskTech, and they will investigate.
Note: if you are searching the catalog using an identifier, that identifier may have changed as we moved away from 360. You should also try searching by author, title and/or publisher. This is also a good reason to check any bookmarks or direct links to e-resource records in the catalog.
Reporting: Please do not report individual examples since this is a known issue that will be fixed systematically.
Example of missing record: Divergent/Convergent
Books & Media Catalog (as of 10/1/24):
https://find.library.duke.edu/?search_field=title&q=Divergent%2FConvergent
Online Journal Titles Search(as of 10/1/24):
OJT search for “divergent/convergent”
Inactive records displaying in Books & Media Catalog
I searched the Books & Media catalog, and I’m finding records that lead to an invalid URL or locked resource.
Explanation: Some older records for resources DUL no longer has access to are still showing up in the catalog due to stale data and unexpected outcomes from the migration process. This means we do not have EZproxy set up for the resource, since it is no longer in our collection. This title is not active in Alma (and does not display in Summon) but it is still displaying in the Books & Media catalog.
The record may look correct, but when a user clicks on “View Online”, they find they don’t really have access to the resource. (They may see an “invalid URL” error, or they may be taken to a resource page but not have privileges to view the resource.)
Once the catalog data are updated, these records will no longer display in the catalog.
Diagnosing this issue: You can search Alma or Summon separately for this item. If it doesn’t appear in Alma or Summon, this is an inactive record and will not be available to patrons.
Reporting: Please do not report individual examples from the catalog since this is a known issue that will be fixed systematically.
Please do report any “Invalid URL” errors you encounter in Summon to AskTech.
You also do not need to report this issue if you did not find the resource in Summon, though you may want to share the Request a Purchase form with patrons: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6xv4e8t3qPsTTEO
Example of an inactive record:
Books & Media Catalog (as of 10/1/24):
https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE009550137
The “View Online” link goes to a resource that can’t be viewed (10/2/24):
No “View Online” Button
I searched the Books & Media catalog for an e-resource, and the record does not have a link.
Explanation: the data in the Books & Media catalog needs to be republished for the links from Alma to connect to the records in the catalog. We expect the correct data will be in place sometime mid-October.
Workaround: The records in Summon have working links. You can perform a general Summon search, or you can search specifically for eBooks, articles, or journal titles.
Reporting: Please do not report individual examples since this is a known issue that will be fixed systematically
Example of missing “View Online” button:
https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE99119246625208501 (as of 9/25/24)
Example of missing “View Online” button: https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE99119302894008501 (as of 10/1/24)
Result from Summon: eBook search for “soranus’ gynecology” (as of 10/1/24)
E-journal record link isn’t as expected.
I searched the Online Journal Titles List for a known title, and I don’t see the link I’m used to seeing.
Explanation: The Alma configuration is interacting differently with the Summon configuration than the 360 configuration. This is under investigation.
Reporting/Workaround: Please report the issue to AskTech. We can provide a direct link to the journal from a specific provider if available.
Example of an unexpected record link: https://go.exlibris.link/nKm28qTf - The New Yorker no longer has OpinionArchives coverage listed
E-journal record links to old Online Journal Titles page
I searched the Books & Media catalog for an e-journal, and the record linked to the old Online Journal Titles Page.
Explanation: the data in the Books & Media catalog needs to be republished for the links from Alma to connect to the records in the catalog.
Workaround: search Summon generally or via the Online Journal Titles list instead. The records in the catalog are still very stale, and Summon has the most accurate, up-to-date information.
Reporting: Please do not report individual examples since this is a known issue that will be fixed systematically
Example of link to old Online Journal Titles page: https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE004355401 (as of 9/25/24)
Alternative Discovery Options
When searching the Books & Media Catalog isn’t working, you may be able to find what you’re looking for in another discovery system, like Summon or even Alma itself.
Searching Summon
Searching Alma
To search for titles in Alma to troubleshoot an issue with the catalog, you can log into Alma and perform a search for the item you’re seeing (or not seeing) in the catalog.
If you see something in the catalog but think it might be an inactive record, search under All Titles for the title by its MMS ID to make sure it shows up in Alma.
Don’t know the MMS ID? If you have the Aleph-born sysid, you can generate Alma’s MMS ID. Example:
Books & Media URL: https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE005080540
Aleph-born sysid – 005080540
99 + Aleph-born sysid + 010 + 8501
Alma MMS ID: 990050805400108501
Then search Alma under All Titles by MMS ID. If the search for this MMS ID has no results, it means the bib record no longer exists in Alma and the original record in the catalog was inactive.
Searching Summon
Option 1: Search Summon Directly
Direct link to Summon: https://duke.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/
Option 2: Search eBooks from the library home page
How to search Summon specifically for ebooks, starting from the library home page:
Start at the library home page: https://library.duke.edu/
Click on the gray eBooks tab underneath the search box. It'll bring up a new page with a search box specifically for eBooks.
Complete your search in the search box.
Option 3: Search articles from the library home page
How to search Summon specifically for articles, starting from the library home page:
Start at the library home page: https://library.duke.edu/
Click the “Articles” tab to the left of the search bar and complete your search.
Your results will display in Summon, limited to articles.
Option 4: Search journal titles from the library home page
How to search Summon specifically for journal titles, starting from the library home page:
Start at the library home page: https://library.duke.edu/
Click on the gray Online Journal Titles tab underneath the search box. It'll bring up a new page with a search box specifically for journal titles.
Complete your search in the search box.
Direct link to Online Journal Titles search: https://library.duke.edu/find/journal-titles
Searching from the OJT page will take you directly to the Summon search results for the title with “Full Text Online” and “Journal/eJournal” preselected:
Clicking “Full Text Online” will take you to a separate page where you can view links to access the e-journal from various providers.
Option 5: Search databases from Database A-Z List
Search in the Database A-Z List for the database. The Database A-Z List is manually maintained and does not have the same delays as the Books and Media catalog.
Or perform a general search in Summon for the database title.