cloudLibrary eContent Integration

When the library purchases eContent from Bibliotheca, the following automatic processes enable the integration with Bibliotheca's cloudLibrary eContent and Polaris:

Bibliotheca's API makes a call to the Polaris API (PAPI).
The Polaris API consumer service is notified. This service allows the Polaris ILS to consume data from third-party APIs.
The Polaris API consumer service calls Bibliotheca's API and gets the MARCXML records and a count of the number copies for each eContent title the library purchased.
The Polaris API consumer service parses the MARCXML records and creates the appropriate number of holdings tags based on the holdings count.
The Polaris API consumer service then submits an automatic import job for processing.
The bibliographic records are imported automatically using the import profile selected in the Vendor Account workform. The Integrated ebook Bibs import profile is selected by default, but your library can select another import profile, provided it has the settings required for the integration.
Automatic import jobs appear in the Import Jobs Queue. The automatic import jobs are listed in the Import Jobs Queue in the same way as staff-initiated import jobs, and the import report provides details regarding the automatic import.
New bibliographic records for the integrated cloudLibrary eContent are saved in the Polaris database.
A Resource Entity is created for each 856 tag that contains cloudLibrary vendor account data and links to the eContent in the cloudLibrary repository. The vendor contract ID is in subfield x of the 856 tag. The Resources view of the Bibliographic Record workform displays the Resource Entity. See Resource Entities.
Integrated eContent item records are created when the eContent bibs are automatically imported. During import initialization, the API determines how many item records need to be built, and 852 tags are inserted into the bibliographic records. When the bibliographic records are automatically imported, the appropriate number of item records are created using information in these tags as well as information in the Ebook automatic import item template selected in the 3M Vendor Account workform.
Auto-suggest and facets are updated the following day - PAC auto-suggest and search results facets for these newly imported eContent records are updated after the overnight jobs for these processes are run.

Then, when a patron checks out an eContent item in the Polaris PAC, the transaction is integrated between cloudLibrary and Polaris:

The PAC notifies Bibliotheca's API that an eContent checkout took place, in real time.
The item is checked out in the vendor’s service (cloudLibrary).
The item is checked out in Polaris.

Note:
Integrated eContent checkins through the PAC are handled the same way.

If the patron checks out the eContent directly from cloudLibrary, the following events occur:

Bibliotheca's API contacts PAPI to inform it that the checkout took place. These checkout calls to PAPI take place in a batch, which is sent to PAPI every 10-20 minutes.
The Polaris API consumer service monitors the PAPI checkout queue and processes any pending checkout transactions.
The item is checked out in Polaris.

Note:
Integrated eContent checkins through the vendor’s service (cloudLibrary) are handled the same way.

If your library also uses Bibliotheca's cloudLink feature to share digital collections among libraries in a cloudLink group, "external" patrons from other non-Polaris libraries in the cloudLink group can check out cloudLink titles held by Polaris libraries. For these checkouts from external patrons, Polaris assigns an item status of Econtent External Loan to the checked out item because the transaction cannot be associated with the patron. Polaris also returns those item records to In status when the external patron checks in the title in the cloudLibrary app, or when the loan period expires. See also: Implementing the cloudLink Feature.

cloudLibrary and Polaris Synchronization

Availability and hold counts (total number of copies, number of available copies, and number of holds) for cloudLibrary eContent titles appear in the PAC based on the status of the items in the cloudLibrary repository, not on the status of the items in the Polaris database. Patrons can see the availability information whether they are logged into their library account or not.

When a library purchases a new title, cloudLibrary sends a push notification that the title is available, the import process automatically imports the new titles, and the title appears in the PAC within minutes. The availability counts for existing cloudLibrary titles are automatically updated when the library purchases additional copies or when copies expire because of publisher limits.

When a patron checks out or places a hold on a cloudLibrary title in Polaris, the data is immediately updated in the Polaris database and in the vendor's repository. However, when a patron uses the cloudLibrary app to initiate circulation, the synchronization process takes longer because the app uses the Polaris API to push the data to Polaris, and then the API consumer service completes the process. The API consumer service also performs a periodic "pull" query of the cloudLibrary database and then synchonizes the data if any circulation activity was detected.

The Polaris database and cloudLibrary are synchonized according to circulation activity as follows:

Holds - Real time
Check-out or Check-in from the PAC - Real time
Check-out or Check-in from the cloudLibrary app - Every 5-15 minutes
Added copy for an existing title - Every 5-15 minutes
Expired copy for an existing title - Every 5-15 minutes
Added title - new MARC record - Every 5-15 minutes

To ensure that the API consumer service synchronizes transactions correctly when a server is rebooted, the API consumer service attempts to connect every 35 seconds for 20 minutes. If it fails to connect, the service stops.