This page is for known issues related to Primo VE and E-Resources. For known issues across Alma, please see the Known Issues page on the Alma/Primo VE Main Resource Guide.
For information about CDI-specific issues, please see the CDI LibGuide.
There is a widespread linking issue with some Gale collections in the Network Zone that rely on Link in Record or Hybrid linking. These include Gale in Context: Biography, Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints, and Gale Literature Resource Center. With this linking issue, those trying to access article-level records are taken to an authentication screen for the wrong institution despite the fact that the institution codes in each collection's configuration are correct. Per Ex Libris, this is a known issue. A fix is currently being tested by their quality assurance team, and if all goes well, they expect the fix to be released in June 2024.
In the meantime, we have added a public note to these three collections, which says, "There is a widespread issue with article linking in some Gale collections. If you are unable to access this article, please locate the database in your institution's A-Z Database List and search for the article directly on the platform."
We have also turned off CDI for these 3 collections in the NZ. Once the CDI has fully synced, we will remove the public note on the NZ collections so that you don't see the note for journal-level records.
One option for maintaining article-level discovery for these collections is to activate them in your Institution Zone. Ex Libris confirmed that this linking issue only affects Gale collections activated in the Network Zone, so activating in your IZ is a possible workaround until the fix is released.
Per Ex Libris, as of April 11, 2024, the impacted DOIs have been corrected with their providers, as well as with CrossRef and Unpaywall.
There have been some widespread linking issues with Unpaywall (both Quicklinks and the Community Zone collection) in which some journal links direct users to inappropriate websites. According to Ex Libris, this can happen when a journal ceases publication and its domain registration expires - malicious sites take over the expired domains.
Within the CZ collection, the issue has been temporarily addressed by blocking bad DOI links from the collection. Primo users will see the indication that they have full text access, but the link will not be accessible. This is a temporary solution while Ex Libris works to resolve the issue on a larger scale. During this time, you may notice some linking issues with Unpaywall CDI records. This should only affect the malicious links and not every link in the collection.
Unfortunately, while Ex Libris is able to block bad domains from the CZ collection, they are not able to do the same with Unpaywall Quicklinks, because these links are made available via an API. If you would like to disable Unpaywall Quicklinks while this issue is ongoing, you can do so by going to Configuration > Discovery > Configure Views, editing your production view, and unchecking the box in the General tab that says "Display Unpaywall Links":
There is a widespread issue with hybrid ProQuest collections (containing both abstract and full-text content). A configuration change caused some of these records to show as full text available when they do not provide full-text access, and to show as no full text available when they do have full-text access. The issue has now been resolved, but due to the sheer number of these records in the CDI, the records may not all be updated until the end of April.
There is an ongoing issue with the Wiley autoholdings collection in Alma in which titles listed multiple times in the file (usually titles with the same ISSN that have had title changes) have their coverage statements overridden with the most recent date ranges, meaning that some coverage is missing in Alma.
Example: An institution has access to Internal Medicine Journal 1996-present via Wiley. They set up Wiley Autoholdings, but Internal Medicine Journal is listed multiple times with the same ISSN in the autoholdings data because it went through multiple title changes. It was known as the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine from 1971-2001. This institution's coverage is listed in the Autoholdings file as Internal Medicine Journal 2001-present, and Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine 1996-2001.
Result: In the Wiley Autoholdings collection, the holdings statement for Internal Medicine Journal shows as 2001 - present instead of the correct range of 1996-present.
Here is a reply from Ex Libris about this ongoing issue (sent on November 15, 2023):
The issue of coverage statements is a long-standing issue; Ex Libris is working with Wiley to resolve the issue. Wiley has not been able to provide a timeline to when the issue may be resolved. In April of 2023, we received a message from Wiley,
"for journals originally published in print format only, and/or have had a title change, older versions are merged into the current publication. This leads to duplicate ISSNs or DOIs, and lack of segmentation in the KBART reports. Currently there is no straightforward solution and so we advise libraries not to raise additional tickets."
We do have a spreadsheet that tracks all ongoing content issues: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Cross-Product/Providers_Page/Content_in_Ex_Libris_Products/Ex_Libris_Content_Issues_In_Progress
There is also a related knowledge article: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Content_Corner/Knowledge_Articles/Wiley_Collections_in_Alma_Knowledgebase_(February_2023)
Unfortunately, as we do not have a target fix date, we are not able to keep support cases open. Progress can be tracked using the above resources.
It's unfortunate that there doesn't seem to be a fix on the immediate horizon. One option for managing this is to activate missing journal coverage in a separate collection not connected to your institution's Wiley Autoholdings (for example, Wiley Online Library All Journals). You will want to activate these titles in a separate collection because if you correct the statements in the Autoholdings collection, this information will be overridden in the next Autoholdings load.
To identify titles with duplicate ISSNs, you can download a KBART file from your Wiley admin site and use conditional formatting in Excel to identify duplicates. Highlight the column of ISSNs, then go to Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Duplicate Values. Then Sort that column by color. These will be the titles you'll want to double-check.
UPDATE: Beginning in February 2024, CDI Quicklinks and Link in Record links will be able to use Alma linking parameters. More information can be found in this article. The change will be gradual, with an initial focus on Gale and ProQuest. If you have Gale or ProQuest collections with CDI content activated in Alma, please be sure you have entered linking parameters for these collections.
In Link in Record collections, links are formatted with the OpenAthens redirector and do not include an institution's account ID. For some collections, Link in Record linking works as expected and leads correctly to the content. With ProQuest and some other vendors, links require an account ID embedded in the link.
Link in Record does not work properly for these collections as the links are typically designed to provide access through the institution's account ID in the URL. This is a common issue with ProQuest Congressional and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, but can affect other Link in Record collections as well.
For more information about CDI linking methods, see CDI and Linking to Electronic Full Text.
You can see the full text linking setup for a particular collection by clicking "Edit Collection," navigating to the CDI tab, and viewing the CDI Institution Settings:
What does "link in record" mean? In cases where the record is uniquely available from a single platform and/or the link is difficult or impossible to create using the link resolver, Primo will use the link stored in the record, which has been provided by the information provider, in CDI. This method is used for approximately 40 percent of collections. Collections that use this method include video collections such as Alexander Street Press, some reference collections, or collections that contain special and unique material.
From the CDI record itself, you can identify that it is a "link in record" two ways: 1) the "access content in..." verbiage in the "View Online" section and 2) the link itself - when you hover over the link to view the URL, you will see the actual URL with the OpenAthens redirector + the platform, and not the Primo-style redirect.
As of right now, the only configuration option for “link in record” collections is a blanket Proxy yes/no for CDI full text. These types of collections do not provide the ability to enter custom linking parameters such as an account ID.
Example: https://usf-flvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01FALSC_USF/un0hgn/cdi_proquest_journals_302190379
The only solution at this time for Link in Record issues like these is a URL override. Obviously, as in some cases this affects an entire collection, this is not an ideal or preferred solution. FLVC and several other institutions have made Ex Libris aware of these issues.