Setting Up Organization Resource Groups

You can associate selected organizations as Resource Groups, and make remote and federated databases and other resources available to PAC users based on the organization resource group. For example, resource groups can be used to expose or suppress specific databases from federated database searches, and to filter the display of ebook bibliographic records. If there is no resource group associated with a resource such as a database, access to that resource is not restricted.

Note:
Organizations that share one vendor contract for eContent may wish to set up a digital branch for the content and assign that branch to a resource group. For more information, see Setting Up a Digital Branch for Integrated EContent.

Use the Resource Group workform to create Resource Groups and assign organizations to them. One organization can belong to multiple Resource Groups. You need the following system-level System Administration permissions to work with Resource Groups:

• Resource Group: Access
• Resource Group: Create
• Resource Group: Modify
• Resource Group: Delete

Important:
Make sure to do both a PowerPAC and Mobile PAC (if your library uses Mobile PAC) reload each time you: add or change a resource group; add or change a vendor account; or change the Resource Groups: Search results settings profile in Polaris Administration.

To create a new Resource Group:

1. Select File | New from the Polaris Shortcut Bar, and select Resource Group from the New dialog box.

The Resource Group workform opens.

2. Type a name and description for this resource group. The name must be unique. Consider a naming convention that distinguishes Resource Groups by purpose; for example, Resource Groups for federated databases and Resource Groups for e-Content.
3. Specify the organizations that should belong to this Resource Group as follows:
   • Select System Level Access to give PAC users access to the resources associated with this Resource Group when the PAC connection organization is the system.
   • Select All Branches to automatically check all branches. Resources with which this Resource Group is associated are available when the PAC connection organization is any library-level organization or any branch-level organization. Typically, it is not necessary to select all branches; if access is not restricted, a resource group is not necessary. However, you can use this option to select all branches and then de-select specific branches in the list. The All Branches check box is gray when some but not all organizations are selected.
   • Select a library organization check box to select the branches associated with the library. PAC users connected to any of the selected library’s branches have access to the resources (databases) associated with the resource group.
   • Expand the library organization, and select individual branches. PAC users connected at any of the selected branches have access to the resources (databases) associated with the resource group.

If the PAC connection organization is a member of this Resource Group, the resources associated with the group are accessible in Polaris PowerPAC, subject to your PAC display and usage condition settings. For information about associating resources with resource groups, see Registering Remote Resource Servers.

4. Select File | Save.

Important:
Be sure to reload both PowerPAC and Mobile PAC (if your library uses Mobile PAC) each time you: add or change a resource group; add or change a vendor account; or change the Resource Groups: Search results settings profile in Polaris Administration.

Related Information

• To find a resource group, select Administration | Resource Group. You can search by Name or Description and limit the search by organization.
• To create a new Resource Group from an existing Resource Group, select File | New from the open Resource Group workform, and select Clear Work Form or Copy Existing Work Form.
• To delete a resource group, right-click the Resource Group in the Find Tool results list and select Delete from the context menu, or open the Resource Group workform and select File | Delete. A Resource Group cannot be deleted if it is associated with a server record.
• To remove an organization from a Resource Group, clear the check box for the organization in the Resource Group workform. If the resource group is associated with one or more databases, users connected to that organization will not be able to access the database(s), and the Report of Unavailable Targets dialog box appears. The dialog box lists the database display name defined for PAC (the organization-level name or system-level name, if none is defined for the organization), the server display name, and the organizations affected. If you continue to save the record, the database is removed from PAC display (if it has been selected for display) for every organization indicated in the report where there is no inheritance. The database may still be available for a parent organization.
• To see the number of remote databases available to the branch in the staff client and PAC, right-click the branch name in the Administration Explorer and select Properties.