Automating systematic reviews with library systems: Are Primo and Alma APIs a pain reliever?
Peta Hopkins, Bond University
Systematic (literature) reviews especially in medical field – one example retrieved 40,000+ abstracts, screened to 1,356 full-text, and included 207 in the final review.
Were asked for process to reduce time involved down to two weeks. Developing toolset of elements to automate processes. Esp find/download full-text from subscriptions, batch-request from interloans.
- Primo APIs to find/download? Not really (because actually it’s the Alma uResolver and even that can’t pull full-text).
- Alma APIs to submit interloan requests? This has worked well – 95% success rate.
Old system searched Primo, clicked interloan link, tick copyright boxes, submit
Now upload Endnote file into system, click link to submit requests to Library, tick copyright boxes, submit (in bulk)
Dev wanted better documentation on APIs (eg encoding format); more helpful error messages; and in future want a way to find full-text and download.
Repositories at https://github.com/CREBP