Alma
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1845 results found
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Make it possible to add Vendor Interface fields and customize field value options for existing fields
In Alma, Vendor Interfaces in Vendor records are the place designed to hold e-resources administrative information, such as contact information, administrative details, and usage statistics details. However, the fields available to libraries were developed several years ago, are not customizable, and do not reflect the complexity of modern e-resources management. Different types of institutions have different needs and want to record different types of information, so adding a few new fields for all libraries isn't an ideal solution.
Instead, this request is for libraries to have the ability to add and manage Vendor Interface fields. Libraries should be able to…
220 votesHi Elizabeth, Katie, and everyone,
Thanks so much for sharing this idea!
From what I understand, it includes two main parts:
- Allowing institutions to edit the list of values in various fields, with a specific example being the “Implemented Authorization Method” field.
- Adding more fields and making them reportable in Analytics, along with a request for a flexible mechanism to support this.
Regarding the second point — adding a flexible mechanism is quite a complex change and could impact the timeline.
If you can point out around three specific fields that are most important to add first, it might be easier.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Thanks again,
Tamar
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All NZ cataloger activities must be collected in Alma Analytics
The Cataloger activity report in Alma Analytics displays only partial activity when catalogers work in the Network Zone. For example, it may display a delete action but omit record modifications, leading to incomplete tracking of cataloger actions. It is included in Known Issues (https://support.proquest.com/s/known-issues/knowledge-detail?recordId=kA2QO0000000jZp0AI) with status "No Further Action".
166 votes -
Create new reports for Authority management
National libraries and institutions managing controlled vocabularies require robust tools to ensure the integrity of their authority files. Current Alma functionality (Authority Control Task List) focuses primarily on the link between bibliographic and authority records. We propose a new set of dedicated Authority Management Reports to identify internal inconsistencies, errors, and redundancies within the authority files themselves.
Proposed Reports & Functionality
· Orphan Authority Records: Identifies authority records without any associated bibliographic records. Crucial for cleaning up legacy data or unused headings.
· MARC Encoding Errors: Detects structural errors within authority records (e.g., missing mandatory fields like 008, invalid indicators,…
53 votes -
Persistent User Group Data in Borrowing Requests Subject Area
We would like to request that the Borrowing Requests subject area in Analytics captures and stores the patron's information (specifically the User Group) at the time of the transaction, rather than pulling the current status from the user record.
Currently, historical reports on borrowing requests reflect the requester's present-day group. If a student who made a request three years ago is now a staff member, or if their record has been deleted, the historical data is either overwritten or lost. This makes the data entirely out of context and renders historical analysis and longitudinal reporting impossible.
In the Fulfillment subject…
62 votes -
Authority control for name-title access points: link bibliographic 1XX+240 to authority 1XX $t
In Alma, bibliographic records containing 1XX + 240 do not establish an effective authority link with the corresponding name-title authority record (1XX $t).
As a result, when the authorized access point for a name-title authority is updated (for example, a change in the title portion in 1XX $t), the update is not propagated to the linked bibliographic records. The 240 fields in affected bibliographic records remain unchanged and must be identified and edited manually.
This behavior results in:
· High manual maintenance effort
· Increased risk of inconsistencies between authority and bibliographic data
· Reduced effectiveness of authority control in…
48 votes -
Alma Analytics: Cost per Use - calculate use on all platforms
When using Alma Analytics for cost per use reports, only use from the chosen COUNTER Platform are calculated. In part, this is because in Electronic Portfolio Editor, only one COUNTER Platform may be chosen. This is a problem for our Ovid Journal collections as Ovid records use across three platforms. We would like all use to be calculated in Alma Analytic Cost per Use reports, whether this be solved by allowing us to choose multiple platforms in Alma or have Alma Analytics calculate all use, not just the COUNTER Platform chosen in Alma.
33 votes -
Allow relinking of items to other holdings records via API
The Alma user interface allows cataloguers to relink an item onto a different holdings record, either on the same bibliographic record or a different one. It is not possible to relink an item via the API.
If a library wishes to do a major restructure of holdings records via API (e.g. post migration from another system), it is currently impossible. For example, during migration of our early printed books from our old LMS, Ex Libris craeted one holdings record per location, despite there being multiple distinct items with different shelfmarks and provenance history, which should have separate holdings records. We…
49 votes -
Please integrate aspect „last copy within library / IZ / NZ“ within “Withdraw Physical Items” process
Ex Libris recently expanded the “Withdraw Physical Items” process to include more individual configurable aspects.
We would like to suggest to include the aspect “last copy in the IZ (thus: do not delete!)” as well, which would protect the last copy from deletion.
It would also be great to be able to protect the “last copy in the same library" or "last copy in the NZ” during the deletion process, if necessary.
We are familiar with the “Retention Information - committed to retain: yes” feature, but it is too troublesome for us to use, because we would have to actualize…
103 votes -
Request expiration date in Analytics
We are trying to retrieve a list of items that are about to expire on our holdshelf but it looks like the Request Expiration Date is not available in the Requests subject area in Analytics. We were expecting it to be in the Request Details section.
Of course, the holdshelf is just a specific case, limited to patron physical item requests, but this idea can be extended to any other request type in which an expiration date is meaningful.
32 votes -
Linked Data Enrichment Moves $e Relator Subfields to Incorrect Positions When Saving Authorities with F3
When saving a name authority record in Alma using the F3 function, the Linked Data Enrichment process is causing the $e relator subfield to move to an incorrect position within the field. Instead of maintaining the expected order (e.g., $a, $e, $1), the $e subfield is often placed at the end or in another unexpected location after $0/$1 subfields are added. This disrupts the intended structure of the authority field and creates extra manual work for cataloguers.
Attempts to correct the placement by copying and pasting the $e subfield do not work as expected—Alma consistently pastes it at the end…
80 votesCan you please confirm whether the $e subfield is always expected to appear before $0 and $1 in your workflows? If this is consistently the case, it may be possible to address the issue using an XSL normalization rule to automatically position the $e subfield before these subfields.
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Job of SUSHI Harvesting should report standard SUSHI exceptions
At the moment when running a SUSHI harvesting job, the job reports as successfull without further notice even if the vendor sends the report with an exception as described in the COUNTER API standards: https://countermetrics.stoplight.io/docs/counter-sushi-api/7ccbfsfe7nrev-exception
Example:
Alma is asked to download reports for the following timespan: begindate=2025-01-01&enddate=2025-09-30
The vendor sends the JSON file containing
"Exceptions":[{"Code":3032,"Message":"Usage No Longer Available for Requested Dates","Data":"Usage no longer retained for the following yearmonths(s): 202501, 202502, 202503, 202504, 202505, 202506, 202507, 202508, 202509"}]The Alma job closes as successfull. The months in question are marked as completed.
Expected behaviour:
Alma should either report the…24 votes -
Keep deleted Alma objects in Analytics
When I delete Alma objects such as PO lines, Purchase orders, course requests, invoices, purchase requests, they are deleted in Analytics as well. On the contrary, even if deleted in Alma, objects like bibliographic records or physical items are still accessible in Analytics.
It would be great if other Alma objects were also accessible in Analytics even if deleted.11 votes -
Zeros after the decimal point disappear in the price in order line items
The problem occurs when editing an order line item where the price contains zero or two zeros after the decimal point (e.g., 31.90, 37.00, 24.80). The price was entered correctly in the Acquisition Department in the format with a decimal point and two characters following it.
When the copy was edited in the target library to add the missing data, the following message appeared during saving:
Confirmation Message - Please note the following: The value in the "inventory price" field does not match the defined structure. Are you sure ypu want to perform this action?The system automatically “cut” the…
136 votes -
Encumbered Balance Amounts only link to unpaid purchase order lines
In the Summary Details of an allocated fund code, there are hyperlinked amounts listed next to Expended Balance and Encumbered Balance. We want the Encumbered Balance amount to link through to only purchase order lines that make up the total balance amount listed in the hyperlink.
Currently it links through to any purchase order line that had an encumbrance placed on it with this allocated fund code. Regardless of whether the purchase order line has already been expended and disencumbered or still has an outstanding encumbrance waiting to expend on it.
This would be helpful as it would give us…
19 votes -
Request for a List of Selectable Special Characters in the MDE Virtual Keyboard
Request regarding the MDE virtual keyboard for inserting special characters, which became available with the August 2025 release.
I would like to be able to view all available characters at once, or to change the order of the character code blocks in the drop-down menu.
It would be especially helpful if the characters could be displayed in Unicode order.
Currently, characters are grouped and selectable via a drop-down menu, but this structure requires users to know which set contains the character they want to input.
This makes the process inconvenient, especially when searching for less common characters.142 votes -
Reading Lists in the Task List Customise Alma task list (tasks requiring your attention) to match all our reading list statuses
As Acquisitions & Reading Lists Manager I would like to customise the Alma task list (tasks requiring your attention) to help the reading list team manage the reading list workflow as using facets is a time-consuming long way round to find the list categories each time.
Alma task list (tasks requiring your attention), section Reading lists, we would like to customise this list of tasks or add all reading list statuses each Library may have.
We have reading lists with status other than Unassigned - processing, complete, reading for processing.
We have 'updated' and 'core done' to help us manage…
68 votes -
The line separator in Analytics outputs is normally a semicolon, but should not be ambiguous
In various exports from Analytics, it was noticed that the characters present in Alma are output as follows:
- sharp bracket < present in Alma is put out by Analytics as & l t ;
- sharp bracket > in the Alma (bibliographic data) material is put out by Analytics as & g t ;
- ampersand & as & a m p ;
This is likely due to HTML being used as the export format in Analytics. However, for the further processing of large amounts of data, it is disruptive that a semicolon is used for coding here. The semicolon appears both…
64 votes -
Please allow customer-specific definition of local subfields regarding sorting and non-repeatability
The configuration of resources in Alma offers the option to define local subfields as "non-repeatable". However, this has no effect. No error message appears when saving if a local subfield is accidentally populated multiple times.
The normalization process "Marc21 Bib normalize on save" offers the option to sort subfields (tab "Task Parameters"). However, this has no effect on manually edited and saved data in MDE. Sorting can be triggered by the process from time to time for a dataset, but it does not run continuously. We had hoped to achieve sorting directly in MDE, which would allow operators to better…
30 votes -
Wikidata URIs
We request that Wikidata be maintained within Alma as an authority vocabulary source. This functionality should include the ability to search against Wikidata as part of the Metadata Editor F3 linked data enrichment function. Cataloguers should be able to enrich bibliographic records by manually selecting the authority to apply the corresponding Wikidata URI to a name heading. This is useful for non-Library of Congress cataloguers and for those with Special Collections and archiving cataloguing responsibilities to use a more agile and international authority source in our cataloguing.
94 votes -
Add item process type when creating a new item record
Currently when creating a new physical item record, you cannot populate the process type field. You must create the record, then go back in and edit the record to add the process type. DUPLICATING an item record does allow the process type to be updated, but creating a new item does not. The extra clicks to go back into an item record to edit it really adds up for Catalogers having to do this repeatedly throughout the day.
Here is a screen recording showing the issue when creating a new item record:
https://app.screencast.com/zw7GhHEnH5Won114 votes
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