• Created by Unknown User (robertwilliams), last modified on Feb 25, 2019

A guide to configuring the SimplyE Circulation Manager to provide NoveList Select Title Recommendations to the SimplyE mobile clients.

Why NoveList Select

NoveList Select is a popular service from EBSCO that libraries use to augment their collection discovery by providing recommendations to users. These read-alike recommendations are curated by librarians and book experts at NoveList. SimplyE already provides lists of other titles in a library's collection that are in the same series, or by the same author or authors, but NoveList provides linkages to titles and works by others authors and similar items in a library's collection that are less obvious.

How does NoveList work with SimplyE?

SimplyE piggybacks off your current NoveList Select for Catalog subscription similar title recommendations. The Circulation Manager queries the NoveList API for information about items in your collection using API account credentials NoveList will supply to you (see below). This integration with NoveList Select is only available to libraries which have a currently active NoveList Select for Catalog subscription. If your library currently does not have an active NoveList Select subscription, contact EBSCO at novelist@ebsco.com or click the Request Info button on their website's NoveList Select page.

Obtaining NoveList Select API Credentials

The NoveList integration with SimplyE requires that your library have an active NoveList Select for Catalog subscription and that you submit a request to NoveList for unique profile credentials related to SimplyE. To get started, contact NoveList Support at NoveListSelectSupport@ebsco.com, using the following subject line and email body. Substitute your library’s name and NoveList Select for Catalog subscription customer ID (if you know it) for the <CustID> placeholder text. (Your customer ID will have the form snnnnnnn.main.novsel).

 

To: NoveListSelectSupport@ebsco.com

Subject: Request for NoveList Select for SimplyE Credentials

We are requesting NoveList Select for SimplyE credentials for <Library Name>. Our EBSCO CustID is: <CustID>. We currently have an active subscription to NoveList Select for Catalog.


Within five business days, the NoveList support team will provide you with your unique profile credentials for NoveList Select for SimplyE. When these credentials have been configured in the SimplyE Circulation Manager (as shown below), your collections data will be sent to NoveList automatically at a weekly cadence (Saturday night/Sunday morning). Once the collections data has been received and processed by EBSCO (usually on Monday), you will begin to see collection-specific recommendations in your SimplyE app.

Configuring SimplyE Circulation Manager with NoveList Select.

Once you have SimplyE Circulation Manager installed and you have received API credentials from NoveList, you can use the SimplyE Admin Interface to configure NoveList Select recommendations for your library.

Step 1. Open a web browser and navigate to your Circulation Manager admin interface (with /admin at the end; e.g., https://circulation.libraryname-state.org/admin)

Step 2. Click the System Configuration item on the top menu bar to enter the Admin interface

Step 3. Click the Metadata tab in the left sidebar menu
Step 4. Click the Create a new metadata service option

Step 5. From the Protocol drop-down field select NoveList API

Step 6.

  • Enter a name that identifies the library for this integration: e.g., NoveList -- ABC Public Library
  • Enter the profile ID from the data you received from NoveList support as noted in the previous section
  • Enter the API password provided for your NoveList integration
  • Select the library under Add Library from the menu
  • Click the Add button
  • Click the Submit button to save the integration

Step 7.

Once you have submitted the integration configuration, the library's collection will be scheduled to be uploaded to ESBCO/NoveList. You should send an email to NoveListSelectSupport@ebsco.com (with a subject line similar to SimplyE Integration Added) to create a case with their support team indicating the integration has been created. This notification prompts their staff to review the logs after the update for any problems.

 

For Admins

Once the NoveList integration configuration is complete, a cron task will run the  novelist_update script, scheduled for midnight (local time to the circ-scripts container) over Saturday/Sunday, which will upload ISBN/title information from the library's collection to EBSCO. Do be aware that the script only runs once a week. (You can change that in the /etc/cron.d/circulation cron file; if so, schedule the upload during off-peak hours to minimize service impact. Checking first with EBSCO support staff is a good idea.)

 

The NoveList integration with SimplyE requires that you submit a request to NoveList for unique profile credentials related to SimplyE

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