Searching Without a Net: Revisiting Primo Normalization Rules
in the Context of Aleph to Alma Migration
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Primo at Minnesota 2007: Primo Development Partner and initial
rollout 2008-12: Discoverability projects 2013: Primo Central
implementation and migration to Alma
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Normalization Rules Refresher Normalization rules transform
MARC records (or records in other metadata formats) to Primo
Normalized XML records (PNX) They control searching, display,
facets, deduping, and FRBRization
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Revision: Now is the Time! Thorough revision of Primo MARC
normalization rules not done since initial implementation Upgrade
to Primo 4 Primo Central implementation and blended search Alma
implementation: complete re-normalization and reindexing; end of
Aleph OPAC RDA implementation and RDA enhancement of existing
records
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Understanding the Rules Presentation of normalization rules
within Primo Back Office is less than intuitive. Alternate view by
MARC tag very helpful, especially for catalogers.
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View by MARC Tag
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Process Review customizations made to Aleph MARC normalization
rules Address problems/concerns with current implementation of
Primo Review MNCAT Classic (Aleph OPAC) use cases and search
data
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Process Accommodate Alma data where it differs from Aleph
Review new RDA elements and determine where they might aid users in
search or identification Review Aleph OPAC search indexes and
limits
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Process Write rules, publish a set of relevant records from
Alma, and test changes. Make big changes cautiously; watch for
unintended consequences
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Tracking Changes with Trello
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Existing Customizations Which to carry forward? Were all still
needed? Examples: facet for geographic area; splitting Audiovisual
resource type into Audio and Video.
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Aleph/Primo Issues Failed searches or poor search results in
current Aleph/Primo implementation Sometimes normalization could
help, but not always Example: adding a government document resource
type to allow better filtering of result sets.
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Aleph/Primo Issues Causes of failed searches: Not always
normalization Flawed source data Ranking issues for individual
records Failed publication processes.
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Aleph/Primo Issues Ongoing effort to communicate to staff that
they should report failed Primo searches so problems could be
identified and fixed.
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Aleph OPAC review Use cases gathered via online form and staff
input Aleph OPAC search data reviewed from recent years Based on
that information, attempted to identify changes to norm rules or
indexes that might address needs
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Aleph OPAC use cases
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Warning to public users and FAQ on the retirement of MNCAT
Classic, and a link for users to provide comments and suggestions.
Known item searching specifically addressed.
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Aleph OPAC use cases Staff-facing form to collect specific
situations where the Aleph OPAC succeeded and Primo either failed,
or provided insufficient or irrelevant results.
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Aleph OPAC data
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Aleph OPAC review Review of search and display options
available in Aleph OPAC Goal: offer similar options in Primo where
possible and justified by past usage Examples: expanded Details
display, more index choices in Advanced search.
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Accommodating Alma Changes to local data on bibliographic
records made in preparation for Alma migration Especially important
for special collections: search and display of holdings-level
public notes.
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MARC Holdings Notes DisplaySearch 852 $$z and 866 $$z notes
display but cannot be made searchable!
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RDA University of Minnesota full RDA implementation Summer 2013
Backstage Library Works RDA enhancement of full database planned
for 2014
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RDA Examples Ensuring no rules relied on GMD (245 $h) Added 338
field and technical details fields (34X) to Details display.
Stripped relationship designators (1XX/7XX $e or $j) from creator;
displayed in custom field instead.
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Post Alma Go-Live To Do Browse indexes Dedup and FRBR (if
necessary) Minor tweaks to details display
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Browse Went live with OTB browse rules Intent to align browse
indexes with Aleph browse indexes where possible. Problems detected
with Author Browse and Call Number Browses
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Title Browse
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Author Browse
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Call Number Browse Form/size designators indexing as part of
call number browse string. Dewey browse not working well; needs
analysis.
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FRBR and Dedup Tweaks FRBR clustering of all formats
problematic for music materials Dedup failing for some maps These
problems existed in Primo/Aleph, but were not detected because
users fell back on Aleph OPAC.
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Dedup Failures: Maps
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Dedup Failures: Journals Cataloging differences between print
and e-journal records causing no dedup (and sometimes no
FRBRization) E-journal metadata from Alma Community Zone not
locally controlled, so source data tweaks are not possible.
Slide 34
bloodblood journal
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Resource Type Refinement Exclude state university press
publications from Government Document type Investigate adding
others: Thesis/Dissertation, Database Interaction with Primo
Central resource types