Skip to content

Alma

Your feedback matters to us. Help us improve Alma by telling us what you’d like to see using the message areas below. You can also can support something already posted.

We would love to be able to respond to every idea that is submitted, but this is not feasible. We are, however, committed to responding to the most popular ideas—those that have received the most points.

For more information please review our FAQ and guidelines. Thank you.

  • Hot ideas
  • Top ideas
  • New ideas
  • My feedback

137 results found

  1. Allow Jobs to Accept CSV files

    There are many instances where we would like to run a job like the change physical items job for a list of barcodes where the variable is not the same for each barcode. For example, I'd like to add provenance codes to a list of barcodes, but each barcode could have one of 15 different codes. So it would be great to be able to upload a CSV or TSV with two columns - one with barcode and one with the provenance code for that barcode.

    19 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  2. Moving item records to differenent holding records and merging holding records

    Being able to merge holdings records that have been accidentally created. Either that, or moving item records to different holding records, even if the holding records are in the same location, but different call numbers.

    18 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  3. Ability to change item's Material Type while in process

    We would like the ability to change an item's Material Type while the item is in process. Currently, Alma does not allow this unless the item is in place. If the item is in process, we get the error message, "The item is not in place and there are requests registered for this item. Please handle the requests before moving or updating this item." Incorrect material type is part of the reason the item was sent to processing, so it seems strange the change cannot be made while the item is there.

    17 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  4. Changes made to Enumeration D - H, and Chronology K & M should appear in the item History tab

    At this time, only changes made to the Enumeration Fields A-C, Chronology I-J, and Chronology L appear in the item record under the History tab; we would like for changes made to any of the Enumeration and Chronology fields to appear in the History tab of the item record.

    If Alma is offering the use of 13 different enum/chron fields, they should all follow the same rules. Emphasis should not be given to just a handful of these fields, because many institutions use more than the 6 most popular fields.

    17 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  5. Moving item records should have a better way of refreshing the list of items

    When item records are moved from one location to another the move will be made and the list of items will refresh but then leave all of the items moved still on the page. From here there is no good option to refresh the page and continue working and moving item records. Using the Alma back button takes you back to the bib record where you have to reenter the the list of items. Moving a page forward on the list of items will display a blank page of no records being found. If a browser refresh is done a…

    16 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  6. Add privilege to perform "Browse shelf listing" to physical inventory roles

    When a user has the "Physical Inventory Operator" but no "Cataloger" role he/she can perform browse search in bibliographical and authority data but can NOT select "Browse shelf listing" - which is what one would expect.

    It would be helpful for staff not working in the area of cataloging to be able to do call number browse search. There are several use cases:
    .) Browse search can be very useful to look up complex call numbers of multi-volume works that are published in volumes and are further subdivided into sections. By looking at the index you can sometimes get a…

    16 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  7. Run a "change temporary location indications" job

    This functionnality is currently available only with the "change physical item" that allows change for all item indications. Such a new job would help all librarians to change temporary locations for a set of documents avoiding the risk of errors in other item fields. With that new option, it would be possible to keep the "change physical item" job only available to ILS manager and let all librarians run the "change temporary location indications"

    14 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  8. Allow the ability to withdraw an item when holding is associated with an Active PO Line

    Library staff need the ability to delete-withdraw items from holdings that are associated with active PO lines when the item has been replaced by a newer year. This activity is typical when a library retains only the current year's issues or the latest volume of a serial.

    At present, in order to withdraw these items, the staff member must move the items to a secondary holding record that is not linked to the active PO line, which adds unnecessary work to a simple withdrawal task.

    According to a Knowledge Article on the topic https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Knowledge_Articles/Withdraw_an_Item_with_an_Attached_Purchase_Order_Line, it is currently only possible…

    12 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  9. Auto Populated Copy ID Number Added to New Item Records

    I'd like to propose streamlining the Alma item record creation process by enabling automatic population of the Copy ID field with "1" for new items. The system should also allow for easy modification of this default value for subsequent copies (2, 3, 4, etc.).

    Currently, the manual entry of "1" is often missed, leading to errors and requiring time-consuming batch corrections. Implementing this auto-population feature would significantly reduce data entry time and the need for monthly clean-up reports, ultimately improving efficiency and data accuracy.

    This idea was previously suggested by Leona Hughes on June 24, 2020, but was closed: (Automatic…

    12 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  10. Add barcode to Managed Deleted Repository report

    It would be very helpful if the Managed Deleted Repository Report could include the barcode of the item that was withdrawn. We were recently working on an inventory project, compiling a spreadsheet with barcodes. Some items were withdrawn, but we had them in our barcode spreadsheet and needed to delete them. We thought that the Managed Deleted Repository Report would help us identify them, but the barcode wasn't in the report.

    11 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  11. Change Physical Item Job should ignore default MARC holdings template when changing location

    Also entered as NERS ID 5949 for Next year's enhancement process cycle

    When using the Change Physical Items job to change an item's location, we are running into problems because of the way Alma processes this job. Alma creates a new holding with the same data as the original holding and reattaches the items to this new holdings record. If all items are changed to the new location, the original holding is deleted. When creating the new holding, Alma uses the default MARC holding template. Our default is set with 852 indicator 1 set to 1 for Dewey Decimal classification,…

    10 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  12. Auto-assigning barcodes to a set of physical records in Alma

    Currently there is no way to auto-assign barcodes to a set of physical items in Alma in order to retrieve in-house usage statistics for non-circulating material. We were informed this is possible for new items at the Acquisitions stage but not currently possible for existing material in Alma. We are requesting a new job to be run in Alma or via an import profile to auto-generate barcodes to a set off physical items in Alma for in house statistical purposes.

    10 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  13. Automatic addition of specific holdings to a Collection in Alma

    Is it possible to have a particular holdings location in Alma to be automatically added to the Collections feature rather than manually adding each title? For example, anything that may be catalogued at the location John Paul II Library>>Closed Access, can they be automatically added to ‘Collections’ at the cataloguing stage without input from the cataloguer?

    Currently, the only way to add them to a ‘Collection’ is to manually add it at the cataloguing stage by choosing 'View Related Data>>View Collections>>Add to Collection'. However, with multiple cataloguers in varying departments in our institution, this is an added step that may…

    9 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  14. Missing Padding Option for Accession Number Sequences in Call Number Generation

    Currently, Alma does not support padding (adding leading zeros to reach a fixed number of digits) for accession number sequences used in the automatic generation of call numbers (e.g., via the "Generate" / "Calculate" button in the item editor). If the next sequence value is set to "0003," the leading zeros are removed upon saving. Even if the next sequence remains "0003" in the sequence configuration, the zeros are still automatically stripped when generating the next call number in the item editor.

    Institutions that use custom call number schemes requiring padding can therefore only use Alma’s "Generate" or "Calculate" button…

    9 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  15. Allow the use of comma for decimal separator in item replacement cost.

    Hello,

    Instead of using a decimal point for the decimal separator, the Brazilian real have a comma. The thousands separator for Brazilian money is the period.

    Alma does not allow the use of comma as a decimal separator in item replacement cost. This is causing several problems to us, as this field had comma in it from our previous system (Aleph), and every time we need to update an item record the system gives an "Item replacement cost must be a number" error. Also, it seems that any Analytics report that includes the field results in an SQL error.

    Regards,

    8 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  16. Publishing to OCLC: Enrich LHRs Using OCN Instead of MMS ID for Unchanged/Deleted Holdings

    OCLC processes incoming Local Holding Records (LHRs) by applying a 'replace all' mechanism. If WorldCat has three holding records for an OCN and the library sends just one holding record, WorldCat will replace the three existing holdings with the single incoming holding. This is documented here: https://help-nl.oclc.org/Metadata_Services/WorldShare_Collection_Manager/Data_sync_collections/Create_an_ongoing_data_sync_collection/Local_holdings_records_collection/30MARC_21_Format_for_Holdings_Data_and_OCLC_local_holdings_records

    Currently, Alma's LHR publishing job for OCLC takes this into account by enriching the publishing of modified holdings with unmodified/deleted holdings that belong to the same bibliographic record. According to the Alma documentation: "Note also that when a holdings record is updated, it is republished together with all the holdings records linked to…

    8 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  17. Apply physical item template with POL template

    The POL template allows a small number of item record elements to be saved: library, location, material type.
    It would be beneficial to save staff time by allowing staff creating POLs to also select a physical item templates when creating a POL. This would allow setting defaults such as copy ID, item policy, is magnetic, and pieces, that are generally known at the time of order.

    Templates are essential time savers.

    8 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  18. Commitment to retain blocked by location

    The commitment to retain functionality is really great for managing shared print collections, but not all physical locations should be eligible for retention commitments. For example, there are certain locations that might hold rented/leased material or material that the library cannot commit to retaining long term. Items in those locations should not present those fields. Can that be added to physical item configuration?

    7 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  19. When a specific Operator runs a Job that updates physical items, the ID of the Operator that initiated the job should be included in physica

    When a specific operator runs a job to update or change physical items, that operator should be listed in the physical item's history, rather than just "System".

    6 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  20. Add "number of renewals" as a unit of measure for configuring maximum renewal period

    Telling patrons that something can be renewed a maximum of one, three, or six times is much clearer than explaining a renewal period, and patrons are often caught off guard when a renewal goes through for fewer days than usual. Adding "number of renewals" as an option for configuring maximum renewal would greatly cut back on confusion.

    6 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  • Don't see your idea?

Feedback and Knowledge Base