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Add your Perlego catalogue to EBSCO Discovery Service

Learn how to export your organisation's MARC records from Perlego and upload them to EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) via sFTP.

 

Included: Essentials, Enhanced, Ultimate
Add-on required: None

Read more about plans and add-ons.

Table of contents

  1. Overview
  2. Before you start
  3. New to EBSCO FTP? Start here
  4. Step 1: Export your MARC records from Perlego
  5. Step 2: Upload your MARC records to EBSCO via sFTP
  6. Step 3: Verify your catalogue in EDS
  7. Keeping your catalogue up to date

Overview

Making your Perlego collection discoverable in EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) means your users can find Perlego titles directly from your library's search interface - alongside all your other resources.

Because your Perlego catalogue changes over time (new titles added, others removed), it's important to use the full upload process each time you update your catalogue. EBSCO's FTP import replaces your existing records entirely, which means added and removed titles are always reflected accurately. Partial uploads or one-off imports won't achieve this.

Note: EBSCO also has a native integration with Perlego that surfaces the full Perlego collection in EDS. This article covers the FTP method, which is the right approach if you want EDS to reflect your organisation-specific catalogue rather than Perlego's global collection. If you're unsure which approach is right for you, read Integrate Perlego's catalogue with your library discovery service first.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

  • Admin access to your Perlego Subscription Manager
  • An active EBSCO Discovery Service subscription
  • Access to EBSCOadmin (your EBSCO administration portal)
  • FTP access to EBSCO's server — you'll need to request this via the EDS Custom Catalog Questionnaire. Contact your EBSCO Account Manager before completing the questionnaire, as they'll need to set up your account first.

Note: If you haven't already set up Automatic Account Creation in your Perlego account, we strongly recommend doing this before making your catalogue live in EDS. Without it, users who click a book link from EDS may not be recognised as part of your organisation and could accidentally create a personal Perlego account. Learn how to set up Automatic Account Creation.

New to the EBSCO FTP portal? Start here

EBSCO provides a web-based file upload portal at ftp.epnet.com - you don't need any additional software. Once your account is set up, you log in with the credentials provided by EBSCO and upload your MARC file directly through your browser.

Note: Your login credentials for the FTP portal are separate from your EBSCOadmin credentials. You'll receive them after completing the setup questionnaire mentioned above.

Step 1: Export your MARC records from Perlego

Your MARC file contains the catalogue data that EBSCO will use to populate your Custom Catalogue Database. You'll export this from the Subscription Manager.

  1. Log in to your Perlego admin account.
  2. Navigate to the Subscription Manager.
  3. Select the Catalogues tab from the left sidebar.
  4. Click Export Catalogue.
  5. Choose All topics to export your full catalogue, or select specific topics if you only want a subset.
  6. Under file format, select MARC.
  7. Click to confirm the export request. Large catalogues can take up to an hour to process.
  8. Once ready, the file will appear in the catalogue requests table. Click Download to save it to your device.

Note: MARC files can be large — often too large to open directly in standard software. You don't need to open the file to upload it to EBSCO.

Step 2: Upload your MARC records to EBSCO via the FTP portal

EBSCO provides a web-based portal for uploading catalogue files. Once your file is ready, log in and upload it directly through your browser — no additional software required.

Important: Each upload replaces your existing Custom Catalogue Database records entirely. This is intentional — it ensures titles that have been removed from your Perlego catalogue are also removed from EDS. Always upload your full MARC export, not a partial file.

  1. Go to ftp.epnet.com and log in using the credentials provided by your EBSCO Account Manager.
  2. Navigate to the FULL upload subfolder within your account.
  3. Upload the MARC file you exported from Perlego.
  4. Once the upload completes, log out of the portal.

EBSCO will process the file automatically. Processing times vary — allow up to 24 hours for your catalogue to appear in EDS.

Note: For further guidance on the upload portal, refer to EBSCO's documentation on using FTP for EDS Custom Catalog records.

Step 3: Verify your catalogue in EDS

Once EBSCO has finished processing, confirm that your Perlego titles are appearing correctly.

  1. Log in to your EDS interface.
  2. Search for a Perlego title you know is in your catalogue.
  3. Confirm the title appears and that the link resolves correctly to the book on Perlego.
  4. You can also filter by Content Provider or Databases and look for Perlego to see your catalogue as a whole.

Note: If titles aren't appearing after 24 hours, check that the MARC file uploaded successfully in your FTP client and that it landed in the correct directory. If the issue persists, contact EBSCO support with the filename and upload timestamp.

Keeping your catalogue up to date

Your Perlego catalogue changes as titles are added and removed. To keep EDS accurate, repeat this process regularly — we recommend doing this at least once a month.

Each time you upload a fresh MARC export into the FULL subfolder, EBSCO replaces your existing records. This means:

  • New titles in your Perlego catalogue will appear in EDS.
  • Removed titles will be taken down from EDS.

If you skip an update cycle, your EDS catalogue may show titles that are no longer available on Perlego, or miss titles that have recently been added.

💡 Consider scheduling a recurring reminder to export and upload your MARC file at the same time each month.