Getting Alma Data
- Peter Green
- Minjie Chen
- Cathy Weng
Owned by Peter Green
Aside from Analytics, there are several methods and utilities for extracting or reporting on Alma data.
Please feel free to direct any questions to the Alma Tech Team.
External Utilities
| Utility | Notes | Technical Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Connexion | Has an integration with Alma's Z39.50 interface | Configuration |
| ExcelAlmaLookup | Developed in-house. Most accessible method for quick reporting. Popular with selectors. Uses SRU. | Download and install |
| MarcEdit | Has integrations for Alma Metadata API and Z39.50 | Credentials, configuration |
Primary Methods
| Method | Notes | Technical Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Most comprehensive system data (circulation, item statuses, etc.). Limited MaRC fields. Complex data structures and behaviors. | Designs Analytics role | |
| Limited to 300,000 calls per day (institutionally). | Credentials and scripting or MarcEdit | |
| Export List | Export data from Alma search results or from sets | N/A |
General Publishing (a.k.a. "dumps") | Full dump of bib records is published every Friday to an SFTP server. Requires over 63GB of disk space as of 2023. Reporting is generally done using scripts (Ruby preferred). | Credentials, scripting |
| Standard search protocol used for search and retrieval of bibliographic records from the catalog. | Scripting or ExcelAlmaLookup (see above) | |
| Standard search protocol mainly used for searching for bibliographic information. | Scripting or MarcEdit (see above) |
See Also
Alma Training > Special Topics > Get Bibliographical Data Out of Alma Using a Set of MMSIDs