Products & Services / I-Share / Primo VE Discovery Interface
Related product I-Share

Primo VE Discovery Interface

Revised: April 16, 2024

Overview of Primo VE for I-Share Libraries

  • Primo VE provides discovery for the library’s catalog of physical and electronic resources, as well as consortial resources and resource sharing.
  • Primo VE includes a Central Knowledge Base of e-resource packages and authority records.
  • In Primo VE, patrons can view their account and all items checked out or requested from all I-Share institutions, place requests (as allowed), and renew materials.
  • The I-Share Union View is a Primo VE discovery interface from the Network Zone branded as I-Share that contains all I-Share libraries’ inventory.
  • Changes made to bibliographic records (including adding records and Suppressing records from Discovery) should be reflected in Primo VE within 15 minutes. However for Central Discovery Index (CDI) resources, it may take up to 72 hours from publishing in Alma until full-text and searchable rights are visible in the Primo VE Discovery search.
  • See other I-Share institutions' Primo VEs by choosing from the list at: https://i-share.carli.illinois.edu

Primo VE Customization Documentation

Primo VE Customizations: Getting Started for CARLI I-Share Institutions

Primo VE Customizations: View Configuration Tabs

Common Primo VE Customizations

Customizing Labels and Headings in Primo VE

Primo VE Customization Package: Shared CSS and JavaScript Solutions

Primo VE Configuration Documentation

Primo VE Authentication for I-Share Libraries Using Single Sign-On

CARLI Recommendations on Local Fields in Primo VE for I-Share - CARLI Recommendations and instructions for how to add Local Fields for display, facet, and search.

CARLI Recommendations on Local Resource Types in Primo VE for I-Share

Add I-Share Results to "Everything" Search - The default Everything search does not include I-Share results; learn how to add them.

CARLI Recommendation for Tags in Primo VE - See why CARLI's Recommendation is to turn Tags OFF.

Primo VE Boosting Records in Blended Search Profiles

Primo VE Dedup and FRBR

Primo VE Results Ranking Configuration

bX Article Recommender - What is bX?, how to enable it in Primo VE, and FAQ.

I-Share Resource Sharing Requesting "Availability" Options - CARLI makes changes to these options for I-Share libraries.

Primo VE Display Documentation

Primo VE Resource Sharing Request Form - Consortial Required Settings - Information only. The display of this form is managed consortially by CARLI staff.

Remove the "Not Needed After" Section from the Local Request Form

Primo VE default display fields of Bibliographic Records - Primo VE comes with a set of predefined fields for display in Bibliographic Records. This document describes which are turned on by default and which are not and links to instructions for turning on fields that are off by default.

Add ISBN/ISSN/Identifers to Primo VE Full Record Display Details

Primo VE Holdings and Items default displays

CARLI-distributed Primo VE Holdings Notes Displays - On 6/23/2023 CARLI distributed a set of holdings fields for display. I-Share libraries can customize them further, if desired.

Change the Number of Holdings Displayed in the GetIt Section of the Full Record

Display Logic Rules (DLR) and General Electronic Services (GES)

CARLI-Required Display Logic Rules for I-Share - Information only. These rules have been set up and will be maintained by CARLI staff.

I-Share Display Logic Rules Recipes for Requesting - Create Display Logic Rules to refine the behavior of when Local request links and I-Share/AFN request links appear to users in Primo VE.

Display Logic Rules for Electronic Resources - Create Display Logic Rules to control when certain full-text e-collections will appear over others.

Interlibrary Loan-Related Display Logic Rules - Create Display Logic Rules to control when the ILL-related service displays.

InterLibrary Loan and Alma General Electronic Services (GES) - how to set up services for ILLiad and Tipasa

Connecting to Primo VE

How to create a Primo VE Search Box on your website

Direct URLs to Primo VE pages (Full Display, Advanced Search, My Library Card, Login)

How to create your base link resolver URL to embed links to Primo VE in databases and indexes

Configuring OCLC Services to search Primo VE

Connecting to I-Share via Z39.50

I-Share Union View - The I-Share Union View is a Primo VE discovery interface that presents I-Share-specific branding and provides searching across the entire I-Share network for I-Share users, library staff, and visitors from around the world. Users can search all resources across the institutions participating in I-Share, including physical inventory, electronic inventory, and external data sources imported into local Primo VEs.

Other Primo VE Information

Primo VE Analytics 101 - An introduction to accessing Primo VE analytics and an overview of some of the out-of-the-box reports you can run.

Primo VE and EBSCO Databases

Troubleshooting the WorldCat API in Primo VE

Ex Libris Central Discovery Index (CDI)

List of Other Libraries Using Primo VE - A list compiled by the CARLI Instruction and Public Services Committees (last updated April 23, 2020)

CARLI Primo VE Webinars

Discovery Primo VE Committee "Discovering Collection Discovery" webinar - Presented December 12, 2023.

Discovery Primo VE Committee "Primo VE Usability: Perspectives on Pain Points" webinar - Presented July 11, 2023.

Discovery Primo VE Committee "Usability Testing 101" Webinar - Presented December 13, 2022.

Discovery Primo VE Committee "Getting Started with Interface Customizations in Primo VE" Webinar - Presented July 19, 2022.

CARLI Discussion Sessions for the Ex Libris Primo VE "Become and Expert" Webinar Series - Held January - April 2021.

CARLI Resource Sharing in our New Age: Primo VE Configuration & Customizations of Labels - Presented January 22, 2021. This discussion focused on configuring and customizing labels in Primo VE with a focus on Resource Sharing needs.

CARLI Instruction Committee Webinar: Primo VE in Practice- Life After Going Live, 12/2/2020. Six presentations on practical experiences instructing patrons on how to use Primo VE, whether at a reference desk, in a classroom, or other setting.

Getting Ready for Primo VE webinar series - Presented April 2, 2020. Seven short webinars on Primo VE topics of interest to CARLI I-Share libraries.

Ex Libris Documentation, Training Videos, and Information

Ex Libris Knowledge Center Primo VE Documentation Page - This page provides links to all Primo VE documentation. Selected links for specific tasks/information are highlighted below:

Ex Libris Knowledge Center Primo VE Training Videos Page - This page provides links to all Primo VE training videos.

Ex Libris Primo VE Release Notes Pages

Ex Libris Advanced Development Resources for Customization

Ex Libris GitHub Development Environment

Ex Libris GitHub Explore Package

Community Knowledge document: Primo VE - Customization guide September 2018 - this document from Technion Libraries in Israel describes a number of specific customizations they have made with CSS and JavaScript.