Page History

A guide to configuring the SimplyE Circulation Manager to provide NoveList Select Title Recommendations to the SimplyE mobile clients. as well as the Metadata Wrangler Read-alikes 

Anchor
why_novelist why_novelist

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 recommendations are algorithmically determined based on an array of factorsread-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.

...

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). If you do not have currently have a 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, the information below will help you get started.

Starting a NoveList Subscription

Library staff must contact EBSCO at NoveListSelectSupport@ebsco.com to start a subscription.

Required Metadata

However, before NoveList Select can provide meaningful recommendations, the library must let NoveList know what books are in its collection. NoveList staff will need an export of metadata from your collection which contains:

• ISBN (in 13-digit form, if possible)
• Item ID (may also be referred to as barcode id or inventory id)
• Item CallNo (call number)
• BibRecord ID (may be referred to as control number or control identifier)
• Title

Primary Export Method

To get your information about your collection to NoveList, using a tab-delimited text file with the following specifications is recommended:

1. You will want your export to be in the order above and to include a header, using the values "isbn," "itemid," "bibrecordcallno," "bibrecordid," and "title" (do not include quotation marks). If you cannot export in the above order, the header will allow NoveList to process the file.
2. The file should be tab delimited (other characters could be in the title field and interfere with processing), with one record on each line.
3. Make sure you get a record for every ISBN in the Bib Record and all of the Item IDs that map to those ISBNs. For example, a book record with 2 distinct ISBNs for which there are 5 items (5 Item IDs), should result in 10 export records.ISBNs should be in 13-digit format. If this is not possible, NoveList can handle the conversion and remove the duplicates.
4. It is expected that certain fields, such as ISBN or Item ID, will be repeated in the exported file.
5. You can omit any Item ID that does not have an ISBN associated with it.
6. You may have records where Call Number is an empty field. You can leave this field empty or mark as "null."
7. Only include one ISBN/Item ID per line.
8. In your export, please include the data from both MARC fields 020$a and 020$z.
9. The BibRecord ID field allows patrons to place holds.
10. Once you have an export file, send the NoveList Support Team an email at NoveListSelectSupport@ebsco.com and NoveList will send you instructions on how to get the file to them for processing. Please include the library or organization name in the export file name.

Sample Export:

Image Removed

If you have questions about the export, please contact the NoveList Support Team. If you need assistance generating your export file, please contact your ILS provider. 

...

Alternatively, NoveList can work with a full MARC export manually sent via FTP, if you are unable to generate the above export from your catalog. With the MARC export you will need to include MARC fields that hold the following data:

• Item ID (may also be referred to as barcode id or inventory id)
• Item CallNo (call number)
• BibRecord ID (may be referred to as control number or control identifier)
• Please include the library or organization name in the MARC export file name.

...

novelist@ebsco.com or click the Request Info button on their website's NoveList Select page.

Anchor
obtain-credentials obtain-credentials

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.

Anchor
configure configure

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 open your circulation manager admin interface. This is your circulation manager URL with "/admin" navigate to your Circulation Manager admin interface (with /admin at the end, ; e.g., https://circulation.libraryname-state.org/admin)
Step 2Select . Click the System Configuration item on the top right menu bar to enter the Configuration Manager portion of the Admin interface.
Step 3Select Metadata from the menu on the left and select . 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 46. 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 Name your new integration, Enter your profile ID Enter your API password. * These will be provided by NoveList.Select your library under Add Library from the menu, and click Add. Click the Add button Click the Submit. Image Removed button to save the integration	Image Added
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