Using Portfolio Loader for Bulk Updates

Owned by Nancy Burns
Last updated: Aug 14, 2024
3 min read

The Portfolio Loader is an efficient option for making a large number of portfolio changes at once. Official Ex Libris documentation is here.

NOTE: The Portfolio Loader can be tricky and may make unintended changes, especially if a collection already has local portfolios or local customizations on portfolios. For more complex updates, it may be best to test a small sample first, and save an untouched copy of the export file.


Portfolio Loader basic procedure

  1. Export the data.
    1. Search by Electronic Collection, Electronic Collection Name to locate the affected collection.
      For initial load of a new collection, skip steps 1b and 1c; just note the exact collection name.
    2. Click Edit Collection and select the View Full Text Portfolios link.
    3. Select the icon near upper right for Export List and choose Extended Export.
  2. Make the needed changes.
    1. Open the export file with Excel and click the button at top to Enable Editing.
      For a new collection, start a blank spreadsheet using whichever column headers are needed from the list below.
    2. Update the data as needed. (See details for specific scenarios below.)
    3. Save the spreadsheet and make a note of its location.
  3. Load the updates.
    1. Return to the Alma portfolio list screen for the relevant collection (as viewed in step 1b above), and select Load Portfolios.
    2. Select Loading Policy: Incremental 
      (In rare cases, use Complete – only for an initial load of a local collection, or a complete replacement of all data in a collection.)
    3. Select Action: [choose one]
      1. Add local portfolios - Adds all the portfolios in the spreadsheet to the selected collection.
      2. Update portfolios - Updates portfolios that already exist in the collection as specified in the spreadsheet columns.
      3. Delete portfolios - Deletes all the portfolios in the spreadsheet from the selected collection. 
        When deleting portfolios, also select Delete bibliographic records.
    4. Leave default Validation Policy: Validate online
    5. Select File: navigate to where it was saved.
      This must be done last, as it will clear out earlier selections.
    6. Click Next; review Activation Summary
    7. Click Load; this will start a job.
  4. Review the results.
    1. Go to Admin -- Monitor Jobs. In-process jobs will show as Running; completed ones will show in History.
    2. When the job is complete, review to make sure expected changes were made. Check for any error messages in the job report.


General notes about preparing spreadsheets for loading (Step 2b above)

An Extended Export of Alma portfolios will create a spreadsheet with dozens of columns. It isn't necessary to retain them all; just delete any that aren't needed for the task in hand. Do always retain at least one column for a specific identifier: either ISSN, ISBN, or PORTFOLIO_PID (called the "Resource ID" if you are exporting from the Community Zone Updates Task List). In some cases only that single column is needed. You might want to use the Title column as well, to confirm you are making edits to the the correct resource. Always delete the column labeled EBA (close to end) or validation will fail.

Rows of the spreadsheet that do not need updating may likewise be deleted whenever doing an Incremental load. When loading new additions, all of the pre-existing rows should be deleted, though it may be helpful first to check that the format of the new data matches the old. Likewise, for deletions, it's essential to delete rows for titles that will be kept.

The rows may be resorted in whatever way is helpful for the update work; they can be loaded back in any order.

If any column names are altered while working on the spreadsheet, make sure to change them back before loading. They must exactly match the column names from the exported spreadsheet. The order of the columns should not matter. These are some of the more commonly used ones:

  • ISSN
  • ISBN
  • PORTFOLIO_PID
  • MMS
  • TITLE
  • FROM_YEAR
  • TO_YEAR
  • FROM_VOLUME
  • TO_VOLUME
  • FROM_ISSUE
  • TO_ISSUE
  • AVAILABILITY
  • URL
  • PARSER_PARAMETERS
  • ELECTRONIC_MATERIAL_TYPE
  • PUBLIC_NOTES
  • INTERNAL_DESCRIPTION

Note: Use either URL or PARSER_PARAMETERS, never both. URL is for a simple static URL; PARSER_PARAMETERS may be used for certain providers to enable more complex linking (e.g. article-level links), following an established pattern.

Additions, deletions, and updates cannot be combined in one operation; each major type of update must be done separately. However, multiple changes within the "update" category (e.g. URL and coverage) can be combined.

The Portfolio Loader operates on one collection at a time; changes involving multiple collections must each be done separately.

NOTE: If you have a set of portfolios that are a combination of CZ and non-CZ records, you might need to extract only the non-CZ records from the Excel spreadsheet, perform the updates in the sheet, and then Save and Load Portfolios from that extracted spreadsheet; just be sure to also copy & paste the header from the original spreadsheet.


Details for Step 2B, various sample scenarios

Sample scenario: Add portfolios (matching by ISSN)

A provider has sent a spreadsheet of new ejournal titles to be added to an existing collection. It includes a column with an ISSN for each title. This is a selective CZ-linked collection so we expect all or most of the portfolios to already exist in the CZ; we just need them activated in the IZ.

  • Locate the collection in the CZ and export the portfolios.
  • Open the export file with Excel and click the button at top to Enable Editing.
  • Add a column next to the ISSN column and copy-paste the ISSN column from the provider spreadsheet.
  • From Home menu, select Conditional Formatting – Highlight Cells – Duplicate Values.
  • Check whether any of the new ISSN have no CZ match. If so, two separate loads will be needed.
  • Review the CZ coverage data to confirm that it matches our access.
  • Make a copy of the provider's spreadsheet; keep the original for reference and edit only the copy.
  • Move any rows without CZ matches into a separate file; copy the column names.
  • Delete unneeded columns:
    • ISSN alone may suffice, for titles with matching CZ portfolios.
    • TITLE may be useful to include, for reviewing any error reports.
    • If not anticipating problems with URLs or coverage, omit those columns. Including them may create unwanted local overrides of global data.
    • Titles without a CZ match (separate file) will require columns for URL or Parser Parameter (check the export file for correct form) and coverage data.
  • Verify that column names match those listed above, or update as needed.
  • In Step 3, use Incremental – Add New.

Note: The CZ comparison outlined above will only determine whether titles have a match in the specific collection. The non-matching titles may or may not have bibliographic records in the CZ (they may have portfolios in other collections). If they are not found in the CZ at all, they will be listed as errors in the load and local bibliographic records will be needed.

Sample scenario: Delete portfolios (using Conditional Formatting)

A collection is found to have a number of duplicate portfolios.

  • Select a column where the duplicates appear (e.g. URL)
  • From Home menu, select Conditional Formatting – Highlight Cells – Duplicate Values
  • Filter rows for the chosen highlight color
  • Mark only the unwanted portfolios in some way (e.g. change color in a different column for those rows)
  • Filter for the unwanted portfolios only
  • Copy-paste this subset into a fresh spreadsheet
  • Delete unneeded columns; in this case only the Portfolio_ID would be required
  • In Step 3, use Incremental – Delete portfolios, and Delete bibliographic records; and use the new spreadsheet in place of the original

Sample scenario: Broken links (using Concatenate)

A number of links in an electronic collection are found to be broken because the parser parameter format is wrong.
For this example, the problem is that the parser parameters on some portfolios are lacking the prefix "jkey=".

  • Sort by the parser parameter column to bring the problem portfolios together.
  • Not all fields on the spreadsheet work the same way. For parser parameter, any data present will be added into the portfolio's override field on re-import. Since this isn't wanted for portfolios that are correct as is, blank those cells out. Alternatively, delete the spreadsheet lines for titles that do not need anything changed (in this case, make sure to select Incremental when loading).
  • Copy the parser parameter column into a blank spreadsheet where changes can be made. Do not do any re-sorting in this sheet, as the data will need to be copy-pasted back into the original sheet in the original order.
  • To insert the prefix "jkey=" you can use the Excel formula Concatenate:
    • Insert a blank column before the existing one
    • Type in cell A1: jkey=
    • Fill down column A as far as entries go in column B
    • Click in cell C1
    • From Formulas menu, select Text -- CONCAT
    • Select relevant cells (A1:B1); click OK to view result
    • Fill down column C as far as entries go in columns A & B
    • Copy-paste VALUES ONLY into column D
  • Copy-paste updated parser parameters (column D) back into original spreadsheet and Save.
  • In Step 3, use Incremental – Update portfolios