The Primo enhancements process is a key part of the Product Development Collaboration Agreement (PDCA), between IGeLU, ELUNA, and Ex Libris, with Roadmap commitment for successful requests.
The Primo enhancements process runs on an annual cycle and is managed collaboratively by a joint Primo Enhancements Team comprised of members of the separate Primo Working Groups (WGs): IGeLU Primo WG and ELUNA Primo WG. The team is co-led by an Enhancements Coordinator from each Primo WG, with oversight by the IGeLU Primo WG Coordinator and the ELUNA Primo WG Chair.
From October 2024, Primo enhancements are managed within the Community Enhancement Request and Voting process (CERV), as rebranded from NERS (New Enhancements Request System). CERV is supported by two products: the Enhancements Portal for request submission and management and the Voting Portal for member voting. Guide: Ex Libris Users Enhancements Portal Manual
Note: The Primo Idea Exchange is a separate optional channel for suggesting Primo enhancements directly to Ex Libris, and is managed and maintained solely by Ex Libris Primo Product Management. It does not have Roadmap commitment, as not covered by the PDCA.
Contents
This page logs the results and delivery of Primo enhancement cycles from 2014 onwards, including successful requests, their votes, and development points.
See the Timeline Summary for enhancement round dates and the standard timeline structure.
——————–
2025 Primo Enhancements
- Open for submissions until January 19, 2025
- See the Timeline Summary for all key dates
——————–
2024 Primo Enhancements
- One round of voting: 57,829 votes total, by 391 accounts, across 99 Votable submissions
- Development points: 155 (150 available, with extra 5 points used from 2023 cycle as #8134 did not reach 30 labels)
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| A better DEI Term Tool #9021 | 3283 | 40 | Aiming for H2 2025 |
| Primo VE Facet for physical availability, configurable for locations / policy #8756 | 3064 | 50 | Aiming for H2 2025 |
| Primo VE Advanced search – Exact – Title: $a alone must find results #8871 | 2953 | 15 | Aiming for H2 2025 |
| Add A-Z to Database and Journal Search in Primo VE #8760 | 2763 | 30 | Aiming for May 2025 |
| Add the ability for patrons to change the default sort #8810 | 1333 | 20 | Aiming for Feb 2025 |
| Add facets to Collection Discovery #7799 (additional item for 2025 Roadmap with NDE UI only) | 1758 | n/a | Aiming for May 2025, but may be later in 2025 (Note: NDE UI items will be in monthly releases, not just quarterly) |
| Resource Type Filter Ribbon: after a search, distinguish between resource types with and without results #8868 (additional item for 2025 Roadmap with NDE UI only) | 1045 | n/a | Aiming for May 2025 |
| Consolidate My Library Card display of loans/requests from all institutions in the network #8970 (additional item for 2025 Roadmap with NDE UI only) | 1040 | n/a | Aiming for May 2025, but may be later in 2025 (Note: NDE UI items will be in monthly releases, not just quarterly) |
| Edit the out-of-the-box search and facet rules in Primo VE #9000 (additional item for 2025 Roadmap, pending research and consultation) | 1940 | n/a | Aiming for H2 2025 |
——————–
2023 Primo Enhancements
High level solutions (Ex Libris Knowledge Article)
- Two rounds of voting
- Round One: 51,229 votes total, by 332 accounts, across 119 Votable submissions
- Round Two: 46,431 votes total, by 298 accounts, across 17 Votable submissions
- Development points: 195 (200 – 5 borrowed in 2022)
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Ability to do a bulk export of search results (VE/BO) #8126 | 6469 | 120 | Aug 2024 |
| Prevent search results expansion by use of exact phrase (VE/BO) #8210 | 5654 | 55 | Nov 2024 |
| Allow HTML coding in labels, public notes and collection description (VE/BO) #8134 (nb consultation item with IGeLU and ELUNA Primo WG/s for the closed list of 30 labels) | 8134 | 20 | Feb 2024 (Phase1) and Nov 2024 (Phase 2) |
| Preserve the formatting of citations copied from Primo (VE/BO) #8157 (additional item for 2024 Roadmap) | 3503 | n/a | Nov 2023 |
| Add ability to configure the display at the item level and the location level in the GetIt section (VE) #8141 (additional item for 2024 Roadmap) | 1102 | n/a | Feb 2024 |
2022 Primo Enhancements
- Two rounds of voting
- Round One: 56,033 votes total, by 378 accounts, across 108 Votable submissions
- Round Two: 47,645 votes total, by 294 accounts, across 17 Votable submissions
- Development points: 205 (200 from 2022 + 5 from 2023, which will then have 195)
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Enable patrons to check ‘Keep me signed in’ (VE/BO) #7809 | 4,288 | 45 | May 2023 |
| Prevent Autocomplete suggestions from non-activated sources in CDI (VE/BO) #6729 nb The solution is to improve the workflow by automatically triggering expanded search beyond full text activated resources when there are zero results in a CDI scoped filtered search, to show the additional CDI results | 4,244 | 20 | Nov 2023 |
| Add barcode search to Primo (VE/BO) #7859 | 3,985 | 25 | Feb 2023 |
| Better UX for changing number of titles per page (VE/BO) #7700 | 3,979 | 15 | Feb 2023 |
| Collection Discovery usage in Primo Analytics (VE/BO) #7186 Update: Originally planned Nov 2022, but design revisited from Actions Usage subject area to introduce a new Customized Values subject area | 3,643 | 15 | Aug 2023 |
| Requesting Flexibility in Local Resource Type Configuration (VE) #7790 Update: Continuing enhancements, including in August 2023 | 3,614 | 50 | May & Jun 2023 |
| Add “Starts With” Functionality to Call Number in the Advanced Search (VE/BO) #7986 | 3,459 | 35 | Feb 2023 |
2021 Primo Enhancement Results
- One round of voting: 50,990 votes total, by 358 accounts, across 98 Votable submissions
- Development points: 150
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Primo VE: Advanced search: add support for “exact only” #6693 nb Scoped only for Primo VE and CDI on solr, as not feasible for Primo with Back Office on lucene. The solution for Primo VE and CDI is for targeted fields of title, author, and subject, due to size and complexity of indexed data, particularly in CDI UPDATE: Pushed back from Nov 2022 to Feb 2023 and then to May 2023 for inclusion of title and hypertext linking flow, and configuration options | 2,964 | 50 | May 2023 |
| Add granular localization options for Collection Discovery #7402 | 2,723 | 40 | Aug 2022 |
| Enhance the database search to include keyword searching #7199 | 2,636 | 20 | Feb 2022: Primo with Back Office Feb 2022: Primo VE for all data fields Mar 2022: Primo VE for Database Categories |
| Report a problem for records in Primo #7371 & Add integrated error reporting functionality to Primo #7430 UPDATE; Several additional refinements across Aug & Nov 2022 releases, and into 2023 Roadmap | 2,622 (1,579 & 1,043) | 30 | May 2022 |
| After advanced search, show top of results list #7265 UPDATE: Additional refinement in Aug 2022, for retention of last choice user setting | 2,119 | 10 | Mar & Apr 2022: Primo VE May 2022: Primo with Back Office |
| Easily check which activation in Alma is causing a specific record to appear in CDI #7364 (no points as already on Roadmap) | 3,183 | n/a | 20th Oct 2021 |
| Display both Link in Record and Link Resolver in View It for CDI records #7311 (no points as already on Roadmap) UPDATE: Known issue with disabling availability statement Direct Linking configuration for BO sites. Ex Libris states they will not fix this | 2,856 | n/a | Apr 2022: Primo VE May 2022: Primo with Back Office |
2020 Primo Enhancement Results
- Two rounds of voting
- Round One: 35,817 votes total, by 280 accounts, across 97 Votable submissions
- Round Two: 36,625 votes total, by 266 accounts, across 13 Votable submissions
- Development points: 150 + additional items for 2019 points
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Add Journal Coverage Dates to Brief Results Page #6718 | 6,550 | 70 | Nov 2021: Primo VE Feb 2022: Primo with Back Office |
| Create spinner or indicator for GetIt frame to indicate content is loading #6440 | 5,347 | 5 | Feb 2021: Primo with Back Office (n/a Primo VE as no mashup and loading diamonds already in place) |
| Ability to dedup or FRBR between local data and CDI data #6702 nb The solution will allow more control for customers not by grouping the results, but rather allowing more control on the activation side such as to not include a Book package from CDI, which will mean no duplicates with the local Books, but to choose to still include all the Book Chapters of that package UPDATE: Nov 2021 delivery was ‘all-or-nothing’ ie opt-in to not surface any CDI Books. Aug 2022 revision was to prevent display of CDI Books when there are no participant records in a Database collection, on the premise that Database collections are ‘zero title’ and therefore unlikely to cause duplicates by overlap with portfolios. Records associated with portfolio based collections will still appear if they are Matched & Merged with any participant record in a Database collection list maintained by Ex Libris, with no correlation to site-based full text activations. | 5,217 | 50 | Nov 2021 and Aug 2022 |
| Fix indexing of words with hyphens (e.g. hand-book, etc.) #4457 nb The solution will be for a closed list, not any hyphenated term | 4,017 | 25 | Jul 2021: Primo VE May 2021: Primo with Back Office |
| Extend customization options for all request forms (Primo VE) #6637 (additional item for 2021 Roadmap) | 2,309 | 40 | Jul 2021: Primo VE (n/a for Primo with Back Office as already in place) |
| Add support for microlanguages ISO 639-3 and language codes recognised by Library of Congress #6710 (additional item for 2021 Roadmap) – Advocacy timeline | 1,067 | 60 | Oct 2021: Primo VE Nov 2021: Primo with Back Office |
| Add 505$t to Primo VE TOC and Title indexes #6552 (additional item for 2021 Roadmap) UPDATE: Consultation item Sept 2022 with community feedback to Ex Libris, to adjust from main title to addtitle to alleviate ranking issues and allow for separate boosting, with change done Feb 2023 Release | 1,173 | 10 | Jun 2021: Primo VE (n/a for Primo with Back Office, as sites can configure this already as they wish) |
2019 Primo Enhancement Results
- One round of voting: 31,857 votes total, by 250 accounts, across 58 Votable submissions
- Development points: 100 of 150, with remaining in 2020
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Sticky facets by default #6125 | 2,757 | 25 | May 2020 |
| Enable option to favour latest edition of bibliographic work to top the FRBR group #6230 | 2,609 | 25 | May 2020: Primo VE Nov 2020: Primo with Back Office |
| Export search results to Excel/csv #6190 | 2,409 | 30 | Aug 2020 |
| Make it possible to override Start Harvest date for Delete and ReLoad pipes #6184 | 2,001 | 8 | May 2020: Primo with Back Office (n/a Primo VE as no pipes) |
| Improve NUI user actions on mobile devices #6290 | 1,917 | 12 | Feb 2020 |
| Set automatically the cursor in the search box #6341 (additional item for Roadmap, outside of standard delivery timeline) | 1,195 | 5 | Feb 2020: Primo with Back Office Jul 2020: Primo VE |
2018 Primo Enhancement Results
- Two rounds of voting
- Round One: 25,596 votes total, by 206 accounts, across 88 Votable submissions
- Round Two: 25,696 votes total, by 179 accounts, across 16 Votable submissions
- Development points: 150
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Short Permalinks for Records and Searches #5845 | 5,045 | 40 | May 2019: Primo with Back Office Nov 2019: Primo VE |
| Informative Text for Non-extendable Loans in the user area #5866 | 3,248 | 25 | Aug 2019 |
| Add User’s Ability to Select Multiple Items for Renewal #5493 | 3,041 | 20 | Jan 2019: Primo VE Feb 2019: Primo with Back Office |
| Improvements to PCI Administration #5857 (Part 1: More details about each collection on the PCI page (such as number of resources, types of resources it contains). | 2,369 | 20 | Mar-Sep 2020, as part of CDI within Alma |
| Citation trail indicator back on brief display #5610 UPDATE: Removed from brief results in minimised / mobile display in VE Feb 2020 and BO May 2020 due to issue of icon and text overlap | 2,041 | 10 | Jan 2019: Primo VE Feb 2019: Primo with Back Office |
| Custom CSS/SML/Code/Mapping Tables for Emails generated within the new UI #5877 (additional item for Roadmap, outside of standard delivery timeline with agreed delivery of Primo VE for Send to and Saved Search, and Primo with Back Office for Send To and partial Saved Search for improved OTB design by underlying links and rsrctype display, additional labels adjustment, hex code adjustments for several elements, and hide/show logo) | 1,730 | 35 | Nov 2019 and Feb 2020: Primo with Back Office Feb and Mar 2020: Primo VE |
2017 Primo Enhancement Results
- One round of voting: 22,716 votes total, across 56 Votable submissions
- Development points: 150 + 50 transferred from 2016
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Add support for any citation style via Citation Style Language (CSL) #5381 | 2,141 | 100 | Jan 2019: Primo VE Feb 2019: Primo with Back Office |
| Zotero support in new UI #5346 | 1,602 | 30 | Nov 2017: Primo with Back Office Jul 2018: Primo VE |
| Improve date facet functionality for resources that cover ranges of dates #5342 | 1,468 | 40 | Aug 2018 |
| (New UI) Hyperlinked headings should go to Browse list and not perform keyword search #5387 (Delivered as part of Enhanced Hypertext Linking) | 785 | 10 | Nov 2017 / Aug 2019: Primo with Back Office Jul 2018: Primo VE |
| Clickable related titles in Item Details tab #5291 (Delivered as part of Enhanced Hypertext Linking) | 751 | 10 | Nov 2017: Primo with Back Office Oct 2018: Primo VE |
| Primo Central Index: Availability facet for Open Access documents #5357 (Additional item for Roadmap, outside of standard delivery timeline) | 1,747 | May 2018: Primo with Back Office Aug 2018: Primo VE |
2016 Primo Enhancement Results
- Development points: 100 for single item, with remaining 50 transferred to 2017
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Provide email, print and push options for list of loans/requests in My Account #3441 | 776 | 100 | Aug 2018 |
2015 Primo Enhancement Results
- Two rounds of voting
- Round One: 14,682 votes total (Sept/Oct 2015), across 144 Votable submissions
- Round Two: 12,761 votes total (Mar 2016), across 16 Votable submissions
- Development points: 150
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| After logging in return to the last place they were before logging in (both UIs) #4840 nb The solution will be delivered by the user will be notified that the results might be changed once logging in, but still show the first results | 1,532 | 20 | 2017 |
| Ability to search for new records, and get alerts with only new records #2955 | 1,216 | 50 | Nov 2016 |
| Provide notification to user regarding the expiration of an authenticated Primo sessions #4672 (New UI) / #4323 (both UIs) | 1,099 New / 1,024 Both | 15/30 | 2016 |
| Adding new PNX fields for Search and Display #4482 nb The solution will be delivered by increase of display fields from 50 to 250 | 1,170 | 30 | Aug 2017 |
2014 Primo Enhancement Results
- One round of voting: 9,286 votes total, across 108 Votable submissions
- Development points: 150
| Request | Votes | Points | ReleaseDelivered |
| Date slider – ability to use exact dates #3379 | 437 | 30 | |
| Better search statistics [bX clickthroughs, tab uage, facets] #2966 | 283 | 50 | |
| Give clearer explanation when renewal is impossible [when renewal is denied system should state why] #3145 | 280 | 30 |
Timeline summary
| Year | Submission Deadline | WG Review | Member Voting | WG Review | Ex Libris Pointing | Member Voting (if needed) |
| 2025 | 19.1.2025 | 20.1.2025-5.3.2025 (6.5 weeks) | 10.3.2025-6.4.2025 (4 weeks) | 9.4.2025-10.4.2025 | 11.4.2025-6.6.2025 (8 weeks) | 16.6.2025-29.6.2025 (2 weeks) |
| 2024 | 13.1.2024 | 14.1.2024-3.3.2024 (7 weeks) | 4.3.2024-29.3.2024 (4 weeks) | 30.3.2024-1.4.2024 | ( | |
| 2023 | 28.1.2023 | 29.1.2023-11.3.2023 (6 weeks) | 12.3.2023-2.4.2023 (3 weeks) | 3.4.2023-6.4.2023 | 7.4.2023- ( | |
| 2022 | 5.02.2022 | 6.02.2022-19.3.2022 (6 weeks) | 20.03.2022- ( | 17.04.2022-20.4.2022 | 20.4.2022-16.6.2022 (8 weeks) | 19.6.2022-3.7.2022 (2nd round) |
| 2021 | 13.02.2021 | 14.02.2021-27.03.2021 (6 weeks) | 28.03.2021-17.04.2021 (3 weeks) | 18.04.2021-22.04.2021 | 23.04.2021-19.06.2021 (8 weeks) | |
| 2020 (COVID) | 8.2.2020 | 9.2.2020-25.4.2020 (11 weeks) | 26.4.2020-10.5.2020 (2 weeks) | 11.5.2020-14.5.2020 | 15.5.2020-9.7.2020 (8 weeks) | 12.7.2020-1.8.2020 (2nd round) |
| 2019 | 9.2.2019 | 10.2.2019-29.3.2019 (7 weeks) | 31.3.2019-21.4.2019 (3 weeks) | 22.4.2019-28.4.2019 | 29.4.2019-13.6.2019 (7 weeks) | |
| 2018 | 17.2.2018 | 17.2.2018-13.4.2018 (8 weeks) | 14.4.2018-29.4.2018 (2 weeks) | 30.4.2018-1.6.2018 (5 weeks) | 15.7.2018-15.8.2018 (2nd round) | |
| 2017 | 15.3.2017 | 16.3.2017-15.4.2017 (4 weeks) | 5.6.2017-20.6.2017 (2 weeks) | 21.6.2017-10.10.2017 (16 weeks) | ||
| 2016 | 7.3.2016-29.3.2016 (2nd round 2015) (3 weeks) | |||||
| 2015 | 29.9.2015-24.10.2015 (1st round 2015) (4 weeks) | |||||
| 2014 | 2.9.2014-24.9.2014 (4 weeks) | |||||
| 2013 | 16.7.2013-6.8.2013 (Primo/MetaLib) (4 weeks) | 25.11.2013-9.12.2013 (OPAC via Primo) | ||||
| 2012 | 8.5.2012-22.5.2012 (2 weeks) | 1.6.2012-15.6.2012 (2nd round) 31.10.2012-14.11.2012 (OPAC via Primo) | ||||
| 2011 | 8.3.2011-21.3.2011 (2 weeks) | 6.5.2011-23.5.2011 (2nd round) | ||||
| 2010 | 14.12.2009-11.01-2010 (4 weeks) |
Standard timeline
The following timeline allows for sufficient time for all involved: for members to submit requests and vote during voting rounds; for the Primo Enhancements Team (volunteers!) to review requests and prepare the ballot; and for Ex Libris to scope, assign points, and incorporate delivery into the development schedule.
Where possible the timeline takes into account internationally shared significant holidays, which is typically for observance of the Easter period fluctuating each year in April.
The timeline for Primo enhancements also aligns with with key dates for the Alma enhancements process. This is not required, but is preferred as it allows for requests to be transferred between these products where necessary to ensure the submission is included in the correct product ballot. This is typically for requests which are configured in Alma but expressed in Primo, as these are handled in the Primo ballot as ‘the system of expression’. This alignment also benefits our community in having common known dates to plan for time to consider the requests, for these two key products. Alma and Primo dates have been in close or exact alignment from at least 2019.
| When | What |
| Jan-Feb | Submission Deadline: New requests can be submitted at any time, but there is a deadline for consideration in the current year round. Note: All requests from the last year are archived |
| Feb-Mar-Apr | WG Review: The Primo WG/s Enhancements Team (comprised of members of IGeLU Primo WG and ELUNA Primo WG) reviews, de-duplicates, verifies to check not already possible in-product and not a defect, transfers to Alma or vice versa, and organising ballot setup (6-7 weeks) |
| Apr-Mar | Member Voting: Four week period, allowing time for review, and accounting for a holiday period during this month for many members. Note: Primo will usually have one voting round, but an additional round may be run if necessary (see below) |
| end Apr | WG Review: The Primo WG/s Enhancements Team reviews the results, and sends the full list of requests and votes for each to Ex Libris Primo Product Management to assign Development Points to the top voted results. This is the top 20 per the Product Development Collaboration Agreement, but may fluctuate slightly, such as if top voted submissions are rejected and therefore not pointed. Note: The full list of results is provided from WG to Ex Libris as an opportunity for insights into community interest and may lead to additional product development, as Ex Libris may decide to develop further requests |
| Apr-May-Jun | Ex Libris Pointing: Ex Libris Primo Product Management reviews, scopes, and assigns Development Points to the top 20 voted results and the Primo WG/s determines if an additional round of voting is needed. Reasons for an additional voting round include if there are significant top voted request/s rejected by Ex Libris and therefore there may be doubt over community preference, requests split to allow more granular voting on pointed elements, or no clean alignment of assigned points for top voted requests to available Primo Development Points. Ideally, all allocated development points are expended in each year, to avoid workload implications for Ex Libris in fluctuating development cycles, but points may be borrowed or kept in reserve for the following year (8 weeks) |
| Jun-Jul | Member Voting: If necessary (see above), an additional round of voting takes place over two weeks (the ballot is only for scoped and pointed requests deemed as votable) |
| Jul-Sep | If not already advised earlier by the Primo WG/s, the successful accepted requests are advised by September, as the traditional month for the IGeLU Conference to be held |
| by Sep next year | Delivery: All accepted requests are delivered as Primo enhancement features by Ex Libris, as per the Product Development Collaboration Agreement. For example by Sept 2025, all 2024 requests should be delivered. Note: In the event that Ex Libris Primo Product Management advises they will add additional items to the Roadmap which were not necessarily top voted but were requested by the community as part of the enhancements process, these additional items are not held to the schedule of ‘within a year’ delivery |
Primo development history summary
- May 2007: First release Primo managed by Primo Back Office (BO) on Classic UI by Local installations with direct server access (Direct-Dedicated), with releases named as Versions up to 4.9, and sites able to decide to apply versions or not
- November 2008: Roadmap revision with customer feedback for less frequent Version releases (2.x) and instead more Service Packs (2.x.x) in intervals of 1-3 months. For example, Service Packs for Version 2 of 2.1.2 on December 14 2008, 2.1.3 on February 2 2009, and 2.1.4 on March 31 2009, and then Version 3 release in beta on November 9, 2009
- December 2009: Primo Central Index beta release available for development partners
- June 2010: Primo Central Index first general release available, for sites using Version 3.0
- April 2015: Releases changed from irregular numbered versions to quarterly releases, with the releases named by the month of release, for example April 2015 Release
- Mid-late 2015: Hosted cloud SaaS options introduced for Primo managed by Back Office, such as Multi-Tenant and Total Care, with enforced release application by Ex Libris rather than release application at the choice and timing of the site. Releases applied to the Sandbox two weeks prior to Production (four weeks for consortia)
August 2016: New UI introduced - August 2017: Primo VE deployment model introduced with monthly releases, only using New UI, as a management option for sites using Alma (instead of Primo Back Office)
- February 2019: Central Discovery Index announced, as a merge of the Summon and Primo Central Indexes, with early access Alma customers from November 2019, Alma customers beginning enablement February/March 2020 and switchover from March/August 2020, and SFX customers beginning transition in late 2020
- May 2022: Primo VE Release Cadence introduced (in conjunction with the same for Alma). ‘Feature releases’ now changed to quarterly, in alignment with Primo managed via Back Office. May 2022 was the last monthly release, and then the first Feature release was August 2022, with ‘Fix’ releases’ continuing for Resolved Issues releases in interim months eg June 2022 and July 2022
- May 2025: The first General Release of the Next Discovery Experience UI (NDE UI) for Primo VE only is anticipated in May 2025
Enhancement process summary history and specific year adjustments
- 2006: Product Development Cooperation Agreement with IGeLU and Ex Libris (August 22, 2006)
- 2008: Product Development Collaboration Agreement with IGeLU, ELUNA, and Ex Libris (May 10, 2008)
- 2009: Discussions begin for formalising the Primo enhancements voting process into a New Enhancement Request System, from late July 2009
- 2009/2010: First formalised member voting process for Primo enhancements on 40 submissions gathered together by user feedback to Ex Libris and entered by the Primo WGs into the new database, with 100 votes per member institution and a limit of 10 votes per submission (Core – http://ners.galib.uga.edu)
- 2011: First voting for Primo in the NERS (New Enhancements Request System) locally developed platform (by Bob Trotter and Mark Dehmlow – https://ners.igelu.org/), on 250 enhancements extracted from Pivotal and added to the platform by the Primo WG/s. Two voting rounds given the high number of initial submissions. 100 votes per member institution, with votes able to be applied as the site wishes
- 2012/2013: Primo voting rounds varied due to granular split between Primo / MetaLib and OPAC via Primo
- 2014: Product Development Collaboration Development revision (December 2014)
- 2015: Ex Libris Idea Exchange launched (September 2015)
- 2015/2016: Primo voting rounds and delivery varied due to focus on New UI development
- 2017: Primo enhancements process timeline ran later due to focus on the Primo New UI rollout
- 2020: Primo enhancements process timeline adjusted due to COVID-19, in response to community feedback
- 2021 (Jan): Enshrined ongoing a standard initial voting period of 3 weeks (previously between 2 to 3 weeks) in response to community feedback to give sufficient time for review for member voting
- 2021 (Oct): Product Development Collaboration Development agreement revision, with Primo allocated points rising from 150 to 200, from the 2022 cycle
- 2022: Primo enhancements process timeline was adjusted to allow additional time extension in initial voting round for system issues, to allow time for correction
- 2023 (Jan):
First planned voting for the Primo enhancements process in the new enhancements platform. Update: The enhancements system migration has been postponed - 2024 (Mar): The Product Development Collaboration Development was revised in March 2023 to move 50 points from Primo to a CDI trial enhancements process in 2024 ie 200-50 = 150 points for Primo in 2024 cycle. Note: 50 points were also moved from Summon to CDI, with 100 points total for CDI
- 2023 (Jun): The timeline was adjusted to allow additional time for Ex Libris Pointing. This was due to the complexity of submissions requiring additional discussions and also falling during the Easter observance period, with resulting pushback of earlier advised dates for additional voting round
- 2024: The Alma WG and the Primo WG/s collaborated on an agreement to extend the voting round from 3 weeks to 4 weeks for both products, in response to community feedback for additional time, while staying in alignment to ensure requests can be passed between these products during the reviewing process. The collaboration included agreeing to avoid holidays as much as possible for community members and Ex Libris Primo Product Management, and ballot closing dates were additionally set to close during the working week, to ensure greater support in the event it is needed. This effort of collaborative agreement was also fuelled by lower voting in 2023 when the dates were one week out of alignment, with clear need to restore the longstanding practice of alignment for these two key products
- 2024 (Oct): The Primo enhancement cycles are managed within the Community Enhancement Request and Voting process (CERV) from 23 October 2024, with the first CERV branded cycle to be run in 2025. CERV is supported by two products of the Enhancements Portal for request submissions (Aha) and the Voting Portal for member voting (ElectionBuddy). CERV replaced NERS (New Request Enhancement System), which referred to both the process and the platform. The custom-build NERS platform was used from 2010 through 2024, and was decommissioned on 11th November 2024, with links redirected to the new Enhancements Portal
Additional notes
- Release Delivery details in the yearly logs include variations due to quarterly releases for Primo with Back Office and monthly releases for Primo VE (introduced in August 2017). Note: Primo VE shifted from monthly to quarterly feature releases after May 2022. Voting rounds have also varied due to Classic UI and New UI (introduced in August 2016)
- Additional enhancements related to submissions which Ex Libris advises will also be added to the Roadmap are not held to the ‘within a year’ standard delivery timeline. These entries may be marked in the yearly logs with the scoped points for information purposes only
- Number of accounts voting per round available from the voting system from 2018 onwards. Note: Accounts may be for a) single membership for individual site with 100 votes total per voting round, b) single membership consortia with single membership paid on behalf of many members with 100 votes total per voting round, c) multi-membership consortia with memberships paid for each member and votes applied centrally via one account with 100 votes multiplied by the number sites per voting round (for example 100 votes x 5 sites = 500 votes). Per the Product Development Collaboration Agreement, sites may only vote on contracted products and who are members of both IGeLU and ELUNA are only permitted to vote once in an enhancements cycle for a product
- The yearly enhancements process described here is the only one which guarantees Roadmap commitment per the Product Development Collaboration Agreement. This process is not associated with the Primo Idea Exchange, which is managed directly by Ex Libris Primo Product Management (not the Primo WG/s), is not bound by any agreement with ELUNA or IGeLU, and has no Roadmap commitment