3.4. Providers

Last Updated 05/11/2023

Setting Up Providers

Providers are the vendors from whom you order titles. You can create a provider profile that includes contact information for the provider, holdings information, invoices, and other information.

Create a Provider Account

Enter information about the provider. At a minimum, you need to add a Provider Name, Code, Owner, and Currency. You also need to select the Active checkbox to use the provider.

To create a new Provider account, select Administration → Acquisitions Administration → Providers.
Click New Provider.
To activate the provider, make sure the Active field is checked. Note: A provider must be active in order for purchases to be made from that provider.
Enter the Provider Name.
Create a Code for the provider. No limits exist on the number of characters that can be entered in this field.
Select a Currency from the drop-down menu. This drop-down list is populated by the list of currencies available in the currency types.
Select a default claim policy from the drop-down box (optional). This list is derived from the claim policies that can be created. (Optional)
Add the default # of copies that are typically ordered through the provider (optional). This number will automatically populate the line item’s Copies box on any PO’s associated with this provider. If another quantity is entered during the selection or ordering process, it will override this default. If no number is specified, the default number of copies will be zero.
If using EDI, you must create your provider account before you apply an EDI default. After you have saved the Provider account, you may set up an EDI account, then reopen the Provider account to select the EDI default. This list is derived from the EDI accounts that can be created.
Select an Owner from the drop-down menu. The owner indicates the organizational units whose staff can use this provider. This menu is populated with the shortnames that you created for your libraries in the organizational units tree (See Administration → Server Administration → Organizational Units). Note: The rule of parental inheritance applies to this list.
Enter the web address for the provider’s website in the URL field (optional).
Enter the Standard Address Number (SAN) for your provider (required for EDI).
If prepayment is required to purchase from this provider, then check the box adjacent to Prepayment Required.
Save the Provider.

Add Contact and Holding Information to Providers

After you save the provider profile, the screen reloads so that you can save additional information about the provider. You can also access this screen by clicking the hyperlinked name of the provider on the Providers screen. The tabs allow you to add a provider address and contact, attribute definitions, and holding subfields. You can also view invoices associated with the provider.

Enter a Provider Address, and click Save.

Required fields for the Provider Address are: Street 1, City, State, Country, and Post Code. You may have multiple valid addresses.
Enter the Provider Contact, and click Save.
Attribute Definitions tab: Your vendor may include information that is specific to your organization in MARC tags. You can specify the types of information that should be entered in each MARC tag. Enter attribute definitions to correlate MARC tags with the information that they should contain in incoming vendor records. Some technical knowledge is required to enter XPath information. As an example, if you need to import the PO Name, you could set up an attribute definition by adding an XPath similar to:
```
code => purchase_order
xpath => //*[@tag="961"]/*[@code="p"]
Is Identifier => false
```
where 961 is the holdings tag and p is the subfield that contains the PO Name.

Holding Subfields

If your library is planning to upload order records in a batch, you need to add some information to your provider records so that Evergreen knows how to map the copy data contained in the order record. You need to enter a Holdings Tag as part of the provider profile. NC Cardinal uses the 961 Holdings Tag to load vendor order record holdings during Acquisitions. If you will be using this feature, you must also enter holding subfields. Holding subfields allow you to specify subfields within the Holdings Tag to which your vendor adds holdings information, such as quantity ordered, fund, and estimated price.

Retrieve the record for the provider that has supplied the order records by selecting Administration → Acquisitions Administration → Providers. Click on the hyperlinked Provider name.
In the top frame, add the MARC tag that contains your holdings data in the Holdings Tag field (this tag can also be entered at the time you create the provider record).
To map the tag’s subfields to the appropriate copy data, click the Holding Subfield tab. Click the New Holding Subfield button and select the copy data that you are mapping. Add the subfield that contains that data and click Save.
The 961 holdings tag will be used with following subfield definitions:

|a Owning Library (required)

|b Quantity (required)

|c Copy Location (shelving location; required and may be supplied by library setting as noted below)

|d Collection Code

|f Fund Code (required)

|i Circ Modifier (required and may be supplied by library setting as noted below)

|l Call Number (required and may be supplied by library setting as noted below)

|n Note

|o Barcode (required and may be supplied by library setting as noted below)

|p Estimated Price

Not all subfields need to be included in your order records; it’s up to each system to use the defined subfields as needed. When loading order records during Acquisitions, use the Orders Merge Profile. This profile is available for all NC Cardinal and will replace 901c and 961 fields.

Library Settings Options for Orders

There are several acquisitions Library Settings available that will help with acquisitions workflow. These settings can be found at Administration → Local Administration → Library Settings Editor.

Default circulation modifier - Automatically applies a default circulation modifier to all of your acquisitions copies. Useful if you use a specific circulation modifier for on-order copies.
Default copy location - Automatically applies a default copy location (e.g. On Order) to acquisitions copies.
Temporary barcode prefix - Applies a unique prefix to the barcode that is automatically generated during the acquisitions process.
Temporary call number prefix - Applies a unique prefix to the start of the call number that is automatically generated during the acquisitions process.

Invoices

Click the Invoices tab in the provider account page to access invoices associated with a provider.

Edit a Provider

Edit a provider just as you would edit a currency type.

Delete a Provider

You can delete providers only if purchase orders have never been assigned to them.

Knowledge Tags

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