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Introduction to Primo VE Norm Rules

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…or how to turn

This:

Into this:

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Some Terms

IZ - Institution Zone: @ the Institution Level

NZ - Network Zone: @ the Alliance Level

PNX: Primo Normalized XML

MARC: Machine Readable Cataloging (what metadata folks speak)

OTB: Out-of-the-Box - The default rules/settings/configurations provided by ExLibris

Drools: The "language" used to write Norm Rules for Primo VE.

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Creating and Editing Rules

First the official documentation:�https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/050Display_Configuration/040Configuring_Local_Display_and_Search_Fields_for_Primo_VE

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Creating and Editing Rules

Next, the step by step:

Open up and log into Alma (use the NZ URL and login info that Lesley sent you)
Configuration>Discovery>Display Configuration>Manage Display and Local Fields

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Creating and Editing Rules

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Creating and Editing Rules

Adding a new Field

Add Display Field - Edit Out-of-the-Box (OTB) Fields
Add Local Field - These are fields that we can use to add custom display, facet and search rules to our system.

For this walk-thru, we're going to add a brand new display field and corresponding rule. So, we'll click on the Add Field link near the top. You can see we have a couple of options.

- Add Display Field - Edit Out-of-the-Box (OTB) Fields. These are existing display rules that ExLibris provides with the system. The "Default" rules. We do have the option to customize these rules if we wish.

- Add Local Field - These are fields that we can use to add custom display, facet and search rules to our system. Some of these rules are reserved for local use by the institutions, some are controlled and distributed at the NZ level. These NZ level rules are the ones we will be working with primarily.

We'll be working on a display rule for this demonstration. Facet and Search rules are very similar in format but we'll look at those in a future walk-thru.

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Creating and Editing Rules

Adding a Local Field

Choose Add Local Field and pick one of the unused local fields. We're using the local range (1-49) for our demo but much of the NRSG work will be in the network (NZ) range (50-100) and OTB rules. The local range is used by institutions for their own display, facet and search rules. There may be instances where the NRSG will provide guidance and examples for IZ level rules.

Specifically we're going to create a rule using a MARC notes field which under the 5XX group of fields. Don't worry if you don't have the MARC fields and subfields memorized. There are many resources available and we have a number of metadata experts in our group that can help. You'll catch on quickly as you look at MARC records and work with Norm Rules.

Give the rule a Display Label. This is the label that will show up when you add this field to your view. For this example, we're going to use "Participant or Performer Note". As you can see, we have a number of options and checkboxes for things like making this rule a facet or a search field. Those will be covered in future walk-thrus so we'll leave everything as-is for now.

There is also a section for MARC 21 Fields. We will not be using that either.

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Creating and Editing Rules

Editing the Display Rule

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Creating and Editing Rules

Rule Structure

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Creating and Editing Rules

Rule Structure

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Creating and Editing Rules

Rule Structure

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Creating and Editing Rules

Rule Structure

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Creating and Editing Rules

Editing the Display Rule - Conditions (“when”)

So, now that we have an overview of what each of the sections in a rule does, let's tackle our "Participant or Performer Note". I've already gone ahead and looked up the MARC field associated with this, which is 511 and I know that the data we are looking for will be in subfield "a". There are other options in this field which depend on the indicators but we'll skip those for now and just concentrate on getting the date in subfield "a"

So, we need to set our condition to only look at records that have a 511 MARC tag with data in subfield "a". We'll edit our "when" section by changing the XXX to 511. The skeleton rule already has a period and "a" in double quotes so we don't have to change that. This part of the rule is finished. This rule is effectively saying that if a record has a MARC field of 511 and that field has a subfield "a" that contains data, move on to the action section and do what the rules say there. If a record does not have that MARC field and subfield, go to the next rule (skip the action section).

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Creating and Editing Rules

Editing the Display Rule - Actions (“then”)

Now let's look at the action or "then" section. Our requirements here are that we get the data from subfield "a". There aren't any special formatting procedures that we need to perform so, again, all we have to do with the existing skeleton line is to change the XXX to 511. A quick breakdown of the "create" line:

Troubleshooting

Display Source Record (MARC Record)

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Troubleshooting

PNX Record (add "&showPnx=true" to the end of the URL)

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MARC for Beginners (in a single slide!)

MARC tags/fields use a 3 digit number to identify certain types of metadata for the material you are working with. MARC fields from 001-009 are control fields and typically have special coding associated with them. You'll probably have to do some research or ask one of our resident metadata experts about those. MARC fields 010 and above are primarily grouped in blocks of 100 (eg 010-099, 100-199, 200-299) which may be represented with Xs rather than ranges. So, if you were talking about fields in the 500 block you would refer to them as 5XX fields (which happen to be the notes fields). You may also see the X used in just the last (ones) digit like 59X (which is the range of local notes fields).

MARC fields 010 and above have data within them that the control fields do not:

- Indicators: There are two indicators at the beginning of a MARC field which may contain data that affects what may be contained in the subfields that follow. If an indicator is "empty" this is typically represented by a pound sign (#) or hashtag.

- Subfields: A MARC field may contain multiple subfields. The MARC display of a record will show these subfields prefixed by a dollar sign ($). So, if a MARC field has a subfield "z", it will display as $z followed by the metadata for that subfield. Subfields represent different types of metadata for that particular MARC field. Looking back at our example rule which used field 511 subfield "a", the description of subfield "a" looks like this:

$a - Participant or performer note

If we look at something a little more detailed like the MARC 245 field, which contains metadata about the title of a work, we see subfields like:

$a - Title

$b - Remainder of Title

$p - Name of part/section of a work�$c - Statement of responsibility, etc.

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Useful Resources

Links and stuff: https://www.orbiscascade.org/programs/scts/technical-services/nrsg/resources-for-nrsg-members/
ExLibris Documentation (not ALWAYS useful). Here’s a good search engine that targets a few different ExLibris documentation repositories: https://libtechlaunchpad.com/elsearch/#gsc.tab=0
Your colleagues and friends in the NRSG. <3

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The End?