Edlink can seamlessly combine data from multiple sources to create a single, unified view. To layer additional sources on top of an existing source, you can add an enrichment.
Primary Use Cases
One major use case for Data Enrichment is populating missing data fields on a primary source by connecting a secondary source. For example, a primary source like Google often contains user identities but may lack specific rostering details, such as school site data. By connecting a secondary source like Qmlativ (or another SIS), Edlink can merge the school site assignments from the SIS onto the Google user profiles.
Another major use case is to layer SSO functionality on top of data coming from a primary SIS source. For example, a district may use Infinite Campus as their primary source for rostering data, but may want to use Microsoft for SSO authentication. By connecting Microsoft as an enrichment to Infinite Campus, Edlink can merge the SSO data from Microsoft onto the Infinite Campus user profiles. When users log in, to your platform via Edlink SSO, they will automatically be matched with their Infinite Campus profile based on their Microsoft credentials and they will come through to your platform with a UUID that matches the UUID you receive from our rostering endpoints (e.g. /api/v2/people).
Enrichment sources are flexible; if a specific secondary source is not providing the expected data, it can be changed or replaced with another source that contains the necessary information. There is not currently a limit to the number of secondary sources that can be added to a primary source.
Setting Up Enrichment
To set up an enrichment, navigate to the Sources tab within the District Team in your Edlink Dashboard. Select the source you want the enrichment to merge data into, click Settings in the left column, and under the Data Enrichment Configuration section, click Create a Link. Then, choose the source you would like to add to the enrichment.
Note: If you are unable to see or link secondary sources (like Clever or Classlink) in the list, it is likely because your District Team is not verified or your user account does not meet your team's Multi-Factor Authentication (2FA) requirements. Verification is required to view and manage these specific source types.
Once your enrichment is set up, you can configure it further by selecting the source you had just added in the source settings page. Adjustable options include:
- Link Priority
Sets the priority of the link. Sources with higher priority will be processed first. - Scheduler Time Delay
The amount of time in seconds that Edlink will wait before attempting to start a series of tasks. Set to zero to start immediately after receiving a new task. - Merging Data
These options allow you to tune the data enrichment algorithm by selecting a Join Strategy to determine how Edlink combines datasets:- Left Join (Default): Retains all records from the primary source and merges matching records from the secondary source.
- Right Join: Retains all records from the secondary source and merges matching records from the primary source.
- Inner Join: Retains only records that exist in both sources.
- Full Join: Retains all records from both sources. This strategy is specifically useful for appending entities (such as staff members or schools) that do not exist in the primary source but are present in the secondary source.
Limitation: Write-back features (such as assignment passback) are not supported for entities that exist only in the secondary source.
