Please click through the tab-headings in the box below to search through our FAQs.
If you have any further questions that have not been answered here, please email orlo@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or book a consultation with the ORLO Co-Ordinator.
How do I get ORLO permissions? I want to create and edit reading lists.
Please book a space on an upcoming ORLO list creation training courses, where on completion of the session, you will be sent an email invitation to receive ORLO List Publisher permissions. Alternatively, please read through all the sections on this LibGuide and then email your Subject Librarian who will arrange ORLO List Publisher permissions. Please email orlo@bodleian.ox.ac.uk if you are unsure.
Who is responsible for my reading lists and who do I contact for help?
The exact balance of responsibilities for every reading list is different based on departmental policies and how your library is involved. Talk to your College or Subject Librarian for more information.
Can multiple tutors/editors contribute to the reading list?
Yes, you can work collaboratively on a reading list. Each list needs at least one named list owner, and you can add/invite anyone with ORLO permissions as a collaborator to edit and publish the lists. Tutors on sabbatical or departing from Oxford can easily share or pass on ownership.
How can I find the list(s) I need to edit?
From the ORLO homepage, type the list details into the search bar (e.g. department code or course name). ORLO will tell you how many lists it finds matching your terms; filters are set to 'Published' by default; if you are looking for a draft list please change the filter to 'Draft'. (N.B. only those with ORLO Instructor or Library permissions can see draft lists). To see more lists matching your criteria, hit the Return key to view all results in the next screen. If you are not seeing draft lists, check that you have logged in and removed the 'Published' filter. If you are still struggling to find your draft list, please contact your Subject Librarian and they will be able to provide you with the direct URL to the draft list.
We strongly recommend adding your list to "My Lists". This can be done from the search page by clicking "Add" on the right of the list description, or from the list itself by clicking "Add" at the top of the page near the list title.
Why can't I edit a list?
Collaborators and List Owners must be added to an individual list before they can edit them. Our data from the previous system only allowed a single user to be attached to a list, so the ORLO team were unable to add everyone onto their list. The list's owner can add you to their list, or email the ORLO team orlo@bodleian.ox.ac.uk to ask to be added onto a list.
Is it possible to “hide” ORLO lists behind a Faculty firewall?
The current single sign on (SSO) does not include enough information to grant permissions to only certain sections of the University. This means that we can’t put any lists behind a password or firewall, other than setting a list to 'All students at the institution' to limit access to only those with an Oxford SSO.
How can I make an ORLO list public?
When a list is created, it will automatically be set to the institutional default of 'All students at the institution', which means that only those with an Oxford SSO can access it. To change the list to public, first Unpublish the list via the three-dots menu; you can then republish the list by clicking 'My list is ready' and select 'Anyone' in the pop-up menu that follows. Please note that an Oxford SSO is still required to access any eresources on the list that are added from the Oxford collections on SOLO.
I've copied and sent out a link, but my students/colleagues can't log in!
If you copy the URL for your list from the URL bar, users won't get passed through the correct login and won't be able to access the list. Please always use the 'copy shareable link to list' (or section or citation) from the share menu to copy a link to an ORLO list or section.
Can I embed my ORLO list in Canvas?
Yes, you can embed your list in Canvas in a variety of ways. Please see the Canvas page for further details. You can either embed a full ORLO list into a Canvas module or a section of the list. Embedding the full ORLO list provides students with full functionality.
Can I create non-course ORLO lists?
Yes, you can create ORLO lists for non-course reading lists. For example, please see our Study Skills Resources list open to all of Oxford University. The only requirement to set up these types of lists is that you start the list title with the special code 'OXF' to separate it from departmental and tutorial lists. NB they will still need a course record in the library management system; please see the Course Records tab for further information.
How do I install the Cite It! button?
We recommend that you edit ORLO lists using either Google Chrome or Firefox (although students can access the lists from any browser). You can download the bookmark tool to the bookmark bar of your preferred browser. Go to the click on the cog icon on any ORLO page and click the 'Cite It!'. Please see further details on the Adding Items page
Adblocking extensions and blocking third party cookies can cause the Cite It! bookmarklet to fail; if this happens, please turn adblockers off and try again. If you have third party cookies blocked, add the following URL as an exception to allow Cite It! to work : https://oxford.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/
How do I create bookmarks that show both printed and ebooks?
Copy the URL of the ebook from the SOLO record and manually add this to the metadata of the print book. Please see the Bookmarking page on the ORLO LibGuide for a more detailed explanation.
How do I add a title with large numbers of holdings which times out?
There is a 15 second timeout when bookmarking items. In these cases the workaround is to bookmark as normal, ignoring the message that it is not found. Then manually remove the web address and add the LCN field. Then the Check Availability button works for the students to check the availability in Primo from the list item, as the time out is still an issue for the availability display.
I added a link but it isn’t working.
It is important to install and turn on the Oxford VPN if editing ORLO lists off campus. If you do not use the VPN, the links in the bookmarks you create will be more likely to break. You should also use the VPN when adding links to existing bookmarks. You can report broken links using the 'Broken Link' function on each citation; ORLO staff will do their best to fix or replace non-working links.
How do I remove an eLD link?
eLD items cannot be pushed from SOLO directly, but they are often pulled in automatically by other records. eLD links should be hidden if possible when found, as they cannot be accessed outside Bodleian Libraries Computers. To hide eLD links, click on Full Details, then the Links & Availability tab. Hover over the righthand side of the eLD link, and click 'Hide link':
How do I delete a bookmark?
Go to the three-dot menu button to the right of the bookmark you wish to remove and press delete. Please note that this action cannot be undone, you will need to re-add the bookmark to the list if you do in fact wish to keep it. BEFORE DELETING please check if the bookmark has a digitisation attached. If so, please inform your ORLO Library Rep or email orlo@bodleian.ox.ac.uk so that they can manually withdraw the digitisation in the back system as well.
I can't request digitisations - why?
The most likely reason is that you do not have a Course Record set up in the Library Management System; this is managed by the ORLO team. Please see the Course Records Tab for instructions on how to proceed.
The incorrect chapter has been digitised – how can I request this to be fixed?
Please contact your Subject Librarian so they can look into this.
Why has my digitisation request been rejected?
When your digitisation request was rejected you would have received a message which would give a brief explanation of the reason using certain terms. Rejection messages you may receive are as follows:
Exceeded copy limit. This means that our CLA Licence allows us to scan 1 chapter or up to 10% of a book, this request would exceed this limit.
Existing electronic copy available. This means that we have found an ebook for this title. We do not make scans when an ebook is already available.
Not permitted by RRO. This item is not covered by our CLA Licence and we do not have permissions to copy it.
Duplicate request. A scan of this item has already been requested for this reading list.
All rejected requests are sent weekly to Subject Librarians for review.
My digitisation request was rejected; I've revised the request and want to try again, but it doesn't show 'request digitization' any more!
The request will have to be detached from the repository (DCS) before a second request can be made. Please copy the 'Shareable Link to Item' from the three dots menu, and email it to orlo@bodleian.ox.ac.uk letting us know that you would like to re-request a digitisation; or speak to your Library Rep.
I need the digitisation to be attached to more than one citation - what do I do?
Please do not request the same digitisation on a second citation, as it will be rejected. Please copy the 'Shareable Link to Item' from the other citation you want attached to the digitisation, and email it to orlo@bodleian.ox.ac.uk letting us know that you would like the digitisation to appear on more than one citation.
Can I embed my ORLO list in Canvas?
Yes, you can embed your list in Canvas in a variety of ways. Please see the Canvas page for further details. You can either embed a full ORLO list into a Canvas module or a section of the list. Embedding the full ORLO list provides students with full functionality.
What is a Course Record and why do I need one?
ORLO lists require a separate course record to be present in the Library Management System (Alma) in order for the list to work properly (display live library availability, allow digitization requests). This course record allows the list to sync with the Digital Content Store (the online repository for scans), and can allow the ORLO list to be integrated with Canvas where relevant information is supplied.
How do I request a Course Record for a new ORLO list?
Please fill out the information in our Course Record Request form.
Can't the course data just be loaded from Canvas?
Unfortunately, the lack of centrally-managed course data in Canvas means that data cannot be piped from Canvas into the Library Management System. The ORLO team must receive these data from users via the form above and enter them manually into the LMS.
I have been asked to edit a draft list. How can I edit this?
You will need ORLO List Publisher permissions to access draft lists. Any edits that are made to a draft list will be immediately saved to the list, however, changes will only be visible to students when the list is published. You will need to republish the list each time you make edits for students to see these.
How do I import references from a non-ORLO reading list?
If you have the references for your list in a reference management tool (such as EndNote, RefWorks etc), you can import these into ORLO (see the 'Importing reading lists as RIS files' guide on how to import a .ris file). Please note that the order of items on the list will be lost in such an import.
If your existing list is only available as a MS Word or pdf file, you can use that as a starting point for your ORLO list, even if you cannot automatically import or convert it to ORLO. For more information about reference management software, including workshops please see here: https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/reference-management.
I have been sent a link to an ORLO list but I’m getting a 404 error message
The link you are trying to access is probably for a draft (i.e. Unpublished) list which requires you to log in to ORLO and have ORLO list publisher permissions. If you have List publisher permissions, log into ORLO from the homepage in your browser and then to open the link again in a new tab in your browser.
How do I move sections around within a list?
Click on the waffle icon to the left of a section heading and click and drag this to the desired location on the list. Alternatively, click the tickbox on an item or section to activate the Move Up or Move Down buttons at the top of the screen - this moves the section one place. Please note that there is no the option to create sub-sections in your list, but a section can be indented (three buttons menu, Indent section) to create a 'visual' subsection.
Is it possible to undo changes to lists?
There is no 'undo' button in ORLO; all changes are saved live onto the list, so please take care when editing your lists. Changes are live instantly, and you will need to manually re-add or delete any new items/sections.
Can I make a backup of my list?
To keep a backup of your list, click on the three dots and 'Export List'; export the list as a .lgn file (Leganto proprietary file format) and save it on your computer. A list can be imported using this file with all sections and items intact.
I have published a list by mistake. What do I do?
If you have published a list on the new ORLO platform by mistake, you can unpublish it by clicking on the three dots menu at the top of your list and clicking "Unpublish list." To publish a list again, please click on 'My list is ready' in the banner on the top of the page.
Once your list has been published it will be immediately visible to students. A review request will also have been generated for Library Staff where a list has library support. They will complete this review as quickly as possible. Reviews will include checking links and looking into the possibility of acquiring electronic and print materials to support your teaching.
Please note that you can add notes to the 'Library Discussion' on the items on your reading list - click 'Full details' then navigate to the Library Discussion tab - as well as on the list itself, to send messages to Library staff to consider during their reviews; these notes will not be visible to students.
Is it possible to merge more than one list into a single list?
There's no current method of merging lists directly. However, you could use the 'Copy section' feature to copy each section and add all of its citations from one list and then into another. Create your new list first; then in section view, click on the checkboxes next to the section(s) you want to copy out. Click on "More actions" -> Copy section(s), then search for the list into which you want to copy the sections. Tip: start typing the name of your list to narrow down the search.
How do I make a copy, duplicate, or backup of my list?
It is not possible to copy a list within ORLO; if you need to make a copy or a backup of your list, export your list as an .lgn file. This is a proprietory format for ORLO's underlying software which will save your sections. Keep this on your local storage if you just want a backup, or import the .lgn file into ORLO to make another identical copy.
Is it possible to separate out one list into several?
The best way to do this is to export and import the list (see above) as many times as required and delete the unwanted items and sections from each list. It might be a good idea to Archive the initial list first just in case it is wanted at a future date.
How do I delete a list?
To hide a list from general view you can Unpublish a list. If a list is no longer needed by students, ORLO staff can archive lists for you, and reinstate them if needed in future. Please note - Archived lists cannot be viewed by students. Lists will be locked at the end of the Academic year to preserve them for future use by that year's cohort; a rolling programme of archiving old lists will run to reduce confusion for students. If you really want a list to be deleted, i.e. never to be seen again, then prefix the list name with del_ or DEL_ and notify the ORLO Co-ordinator by emailing orlo@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
I've accidentally deleted a list!
If you delete a list accidentally, the ORLO team can reinstate that list provided you notify us within 30 days. Please email orlo@bodleian.ox.ac.uk including the name of the list you wish to be reinstated. Please note that individual sections and items which are deleted from lists cannot be retrieved in this fashion.
Can I export an ORLO list?
ORLO lists can be exported as Word, PDF, Excel, RIS (for Reference Management software), EndNote or lgn (a proprietary file format for ORLO's underlying software) files once they are published. To export the list:
Please note that if you have any unpublished changes on your list, these will not appear on the exported file.
How can I export in certain citation styles?
Export in particular citation styles is only supported on Word export. The citation style of the list can be chosen in the dropdown once Word export is selected. Then, when the list is exported as as Word document (as outlined in the steps above), the selected citation style will be applied.
What is rollover and what does it mean for my lists?
Rollover is the copying of lists from one time period to another, usually one academic year to another so that a list can be locked each year and edits made to a new list if required. Rolling over lists with digitisations will ensure that the digitisations are linked to both lists while they are current. Analytics will be linked to each list and can be compared from year to year. Please see the rollover page for further details.