Alma
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160 results found
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Automate Work Order creation based on item location.
Boston College would like to be able to configure Alma so that work orders are auto-created for materials in a designated location when they are placed on loan.
Here is the desired workflow:
- Item is loaned.
- At the same time, Alma automatically places a work order on the item.
- When the item is returned to the managing circulation desk the work order is triggered and the item is routed to the correct work order department for processing.
The purpose of this request is to improve the management of the laptops that Boston College Libraries loan to patrons, and to facilitate…
149 votes -
Set different reshelving time for specific collections in a library
The August release added a temporary Awaiting Shelving status which can only be configured at the library or circulations desk level.
We circulate all of our collections through one circ desk, but have a much shorter reshelving period for course materials (less than an hour) than for the general collection (up to a day). It would be useful to set different time to reshelve periods for these collections.
17 votes -
Allow user preferred pick up location while retaining other options
Currently in the TOU you can allow pick-up at "Any pick-up location" or at" User affiliated Campus Pick-up locations". If the latter is set, only pick-up locations of the user's campus are available. We need an extension to the former rule, that lets the user's preferred pick-up location (a new parameter in the user profile) be selected as default option, while still allowing the user to select a different location when placing the request.
Obviously, the "User preferred pick-up library" needs to be added to the user profile.77 votes -
Allow customization of close_paid_lost_loans parameter
When the closepaidlostloans parameter to false and lost loans are closed (either manually or through the Close Lost Loans job), refunds/credits are not automatically given to patrons if the item is subsequently found and returned. When setting the closepaidlostloans parameter to true and the lost loan is closed (automatically setting the Lost and Paid status), a refund/credit IS applied to the patron’s account if the item is subsequently found and returned, providing the Lost Loan Refund Ratio is greater than 0.
For libraries that wish to take advantage of this new Process Type, but…
82 votes -
Converting Physical item request to Digitization or Borrowing request
It would be great if we could convert a Physical item request to e.g. a Scan request or a Borrowing request.
For instance: our patron places a request in another Library from our institution ( = In transit Physical item request), but it turns out the book is damaged (-> convert to Patron digitization request) or lost and cannot be supplied. (-> convert it to a Borrowing request)126 votesThe option to change hold to digitization request (and vice versa) will also be added
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Provide birthdate information in search results of patron search
When searching for patrons through Fulfilment>Manage Patron Services, it would be useful if the search results included the patron's birthdate so that library staff had a unique identifier to check against when there a multiple patrons with the same name.
226 votes -
Booking, transit and preview time
We use the booking functionality in Alma for our Audio/Video-equipment. The equipment is administrated by our media production department, and is configured as a library in Alma.
The AV-library is the only place on campus patrons can check out and return AV-items. Apart from that, the AV-library also supports delivery to a library at a different campus (Kjeller).
• The transit time between the AV-library and Kjeller is set to 48 hours.
• The preview time on the equipment booking is set to one hour.Use case:
When scanning an item due for pick-up at Kjeller within the next 48…106 votes -
Hold active until (collection) date
currently the time a requested book is held for a borrower does not show unless you go into the Active holds lists. It would be helpful if this was shown when the book is checked in and on the notice that automatically goes to the printer (which we put in the book until the book is collected)
14 votes -
Prevent change of due-date when the item is under the recalled status.
Or have an alert message of some kind when the due date is being changed.
Because when the due date is changed, the recalled item reverts back to its initial status making it difficult to determine if there are requests placed on the item.230 votes -
Make Manage Fulfillment Activities the same thing as Manage Patron Services
I found this idea buried in a comments section and felt it deserved its own idea since my team keeps encountering the same problem.
Iain Gray said: "After finding a user it would be useful if when clicking on Manage Fulfillment Activities you were presented with the same screen as though you had used the Manage Patron Services screen. Instead you do not see the option to pay Fines and Fees from here and have to re-enter users details again."
I'll add that it would be great if Manage Patron Services and Manage Fulfillment Activities were the same page…
62 votes -
Improving usability of the inventory section for citations
Currently, it’s impossible to tell how ‘Digital’ and ‘Other’ inventory may be configured in the Inventory section of a citation. The green indicator shows the inventory exists but not whether it has been used for the citation.
Digital example:
You can’t see whether a digital representation has been selected via the ‘Manage Digital Representations’ option or whether a representation is Active or Inactive. The green indicator stays green even if the representation is Inactive or if it hasn’t been selected via Manage Digital Representations.Other example:
You can’t see whether the Link Resolver has been disabled via Edit > Citation…26 votes -
Change default in loan history to fulfillment activities
In loan history the default radio button is item changes. Better to have fulfillment activities as default because it displays displays loans, returns and in-house-use.
14 votes -
Flag items requested by another user in Patron Services screen
Our desk staff would like to be able to see at a glance which of the items a user has on loan has been requested.
We often have a scenario where a user presents at the desk with a blocked account. We can tell that one or more of the books they have on loan must have been requested, but need to 'View queue' for each of them to find out which ones have a request placed on them.It would be useful to be able to see this information at a glance.
Perhaps a column in the loan list in…59 votes -
Ability to change the default for reading room to NOT FINAL - Second Attempt
In August 2018 Release we got a solution for the original idea, which made things worse for us. Previously the default for the reading room was set to "Final" check in. The original idea suggested to change this to "Not Final" to help avoid a scenario where for example resource sharing items are returned accidenty to their home campus when users are not finished with them.
As of August 2018 Alma remembers the last selected choice and keeps it for the next action ("sticky approach"). Since eventually every book loaned in the reading room has to be returned "final", now…50 votes -
Refreshing linked account expiration dates
As we understand it, there are only two ways for a linked account's expiration date to be refreshed/synchronized with the user's primary account in their home IZ:
Requesting an item from the IZ with that linked account
Staff at the lending institution go to Manage Patron Services, Find user in other institution, enter the user's identifier, and then find user
We think that the Alma experience would be improved by triggering this refresh process by a renewal attempt, by having an ability to run and schedule a job that refreshes these expiration dates on a regular basis, or by some…
103 votes -
Borrowing Activity Letter
Currently, Alma limits the borrowing activity letter to list only 100 loans.
It would be great to have the letter list all loans without a limit.
21 votes -
Make Add an Item Work Order Configurable
When an "on-the-fly" item is created, loaned and returned by a patron, the item is automatically flagged for routing to the Acquisitions Work Order/Workflow.
In our institution, the ACQ Department does not work on these items, and this should not be the workflow that the materials are routed to, but we are unable to change the work order type.
We'd like to be able to configure or change the work order type for these materials, and also for the check-in process to more clearly delineate and note that the item is an "on-the-fly" item in particular. In the current process,…
49 votes -
"Borrowing Activity Report Job"
Apply the library user to add or customize additional schedule in Borrowing Activity Report Job to increase flexible of library user in the operations.
22 votes -
No items available for request due to policy- Show policy violated
When a request fails, an error message reads: "No items available for request due to policy." It would be very helpful if the error message included which policy prevents the request. With that information, I can easily tell the patron what prevents the request or fix a policy problem. Right now, I have to hunt the problem down in the fulfillment and/or configuration modules.
71 votes -
Waitlist functionality for short-term loans
It would be helpful to have a waitlist functionality for short-term loans (i.e. for reserve items). This would allow patrons to put their name on a list to be next in line once a short-term loan item has been returned. Alma would send an email/text to the patron when the item is returned telling the patron they have a specific window of time (e.g. 5 minutes, configurable by the institution) to check out the item. During that window of time no other patrons can check it out. After the window of time has expired the next person on the waitlist…
54 votes
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