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configuration:third-party_content

Connecting to Third-Party Content

In addition to loading content into its own internal index, VuFind® can also communicate with third-party services to pull in additional information.

BrowZine

Journal information can be searched through BrowZine starting with VuFind® 4.1. Copy the BrowZine.ini file into your local settings directory and fill in the necessary details. The comments in the file will guide you. Once configured, searches can be performed at http://your-server/vufind/BrowZine. The BrowZine module is most useful in combination with combined searching.

EBSCO

EBSCO content can be accessed with either the EDS (EBSCO Discovery Service) or EIT (EBSCO Integration Toolkit) module. The EIT service is deprecated, so EDS is recommended when possible. Each service has its own .ini file in VuFind®'s configuration directory which can be edited to activate the appropriate module of VuFind®. Searches can then be performed at http://your-server/vufind/EDS or http://your-server/vufind/EIT, as appropriate.

Starting with VuFind® 9.1, EDS customers can also access EBSCO Publication Finder as a separate search backend.

LibGuides

Your LibGuides can be searched in VuFind® starting with VuFind® 2.3. Copy the LibGuides.ini file into your local settings directory and fill in the necessary details. The comments in the file will guide you. Once configured, searches can be performed at http://your-server/vufind/LibGuides. The LibGuides module is most useful in combination with combined searching.

Starting with VuFind® 9.1, you can also search Database A-Z data stored in LibGuides. There is a separate LibGuidesAZ.ini file which can be configured, but by default, this will inherit settings from the existing LibGuides.ini file. To perform Database A-Z searches, go to http://your-server/vufind/LibGuidesAZ.

OverDrive

Content from OverDrive can be incorporated into your catalog. See the OverDrive Configuration page for more details.

Primo Central

Ex Libris Primo Central content can be accessed by modifying the Primo.ini file in VuFind®'s configuration directory and going to http://your-server/vufind/Primo.

Summon

To search the Summon discovery service through the VuFind® interface, you will need to enable Summon in the VuFind® configuration file to enable this functionality.

  • Uncomment the [Summon] section of config.ini file.
  • Advanced settings can also be customized in Summon.ini file.

To access the Summon service in your VuFind® installation, add “/Summon/Home” to the VuFind® base URL.

WorldCat

To search items held at other libraries via OCLC's WorldCat Search API, you will need to fill in required and desired settings in WorldCat2.ini. (Note that the original WorldCat API was controlled by WorldCat.ini, but it was scheduled to be shut down by OCLC in late 2024; WorldCat API version 2 support was added in VuFind® 10.1).

WorldCat content can be accessed by adding “/WorldCat2/Home” to your VuFind® base URL.

Mixing and Matching

See the Combining Search Types page for details on combining results from multiple sources.

If you want to use VuFind® as a custom interface for one of these services, but you do not need to also maintain a local Solr instance, see Using VuFind® Without Solr.

Other Providers

Any content provider with an API can potentially be integrated with VuFind®. See Connecting a New External Data Source for more information on how to build a VuFind® connector. Feel free to reach out to the community through the support page if you want to begin a project to support a new service.

See Also

For information on augmenting results with additional content like cover images and reviews, see the external content page.

configuration/third-party_content.txt · Last modified: 2024/10/03 13:31 by demiankatz