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

132 results found

  1. Add the ability to select, open, and edit more than one item record at a time.

    Currently, Alma only allows one item record to be edited at a time within cataloging. To have the ability to selected multiple items, and then open them all at the same time (either in the same screen, or pop-ups) would be a HUGE time saver. Not only for catalogers, but for binding and material physical processing users as well.

    226 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)

    As of July 2020, it is possible to run jobs on selected items from both the physical items search and the items list, according to your roles and permissions. Note that a role at the institution-scope is required to run jobs in Alma, as they may affect items from various libraries. Repository managers, who can manage sets, can also create itemized physical items sets or add the selected items to an existing set from these pages.

    For more information see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_m0zP_1JVE

  2. Add item copy number to physical item details area of analytics

    The item copy number doesn't seem to be exported anywhere in Alma analytics, and would be useful for shelf reading reports or stock checking/inventory control where you may not necessarily be able to scan a barcode in .
    The suggestion would be to include it under Physical Items\Physical Item Details\Copy Number.

    Note: this is different from the holdings copy ID which seems to be sourced from the holdings 852 tag.

    78 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    3 comments  ·  Analytics  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)

    The field “item copy ID” in the “Physical items” subject area “physical item details” folder comes from the item record and not from the holdings record. It is visible in the physical item editor in the “general” tab and is called “Copy ID”.

  3. Allow configuration of which columns are in the the Print Slip Report

    For institutions that handle a large number of Patron Physical Item, and other request types dealing with their physical inventory, the Print Slip Report available under Fulfilment>Resource Requests> Pick from Shelf is a crucial workflow tool.

    However the report output is inflexible, including columns which are irrelevant to many customers and which require hiding/deletion in Excel formats before being printed for onward process by library staff.

    It would be a huge improvement to be able to configure the columns that go into this report to ensure that only the key ones are downloaded for each circulation desk's pick from shelf…

    148 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. More Options for Fulfillment Notice Scheduling (SMS)

    Job schedules for fulfillment notifications are limited to terrible times for receiving text messages. SMS notifications run on the same job as the email letter notifications. For example, the "Send Courtesy Notices and Handle Loan Renewal" job has scheduling options of Not Scheduled, Everyday at 20:00, and Everyday at 24:00. The "Send Overdue Notices" job has scheduling options of Not Scheduled, Everyday at 03:00, Everyday at 05:00, or Everyday at 23:00.

    Needless to say, these are not ideal time for our users to be receiving text messages on their phones. We would like to see more scheduling options during regular…

    64 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. Interested Users with API

    When ordering with YBP using the API, it would improve workflow to add a hold for a patron into the Interested Users tab. Right now we add hold information into the Library Note field that goes to the Notes tab in Alma. We have to take an extra step to check for a possible hold with each title and add it to the Interested Users tab manually. It would be much better if the API would do it for us either by creating a new field to enter the information in GOBI or take it from the Library Notes field…

    22 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. Job to scan in items

    Our spine labeling workflow is quite bottlenecked because we have to scan each item 3 times: once to print the label, once to scan out of Tech Services, and once into scan into place. If there were a job to scan in items, we could at least reduce the 3 scans to 2 by scanning into an .xls and then running two scan in jobs on the same file.

    31 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)

    The “Scan-in operation on item” API may be useful for this. You can use this API to scan in a bulk of items. The API is documented in the Developers Network.

    A script for performing bulk scan-in of items is also described in the Developers Network.

    Please see comment for relevant links.

  7. Patron Self Registration

    Make Patron Self Registration possible via Primo. This feature would need to be configurable by libraries and able to be turned off altogether by the library. Configuration options could include: what data elements are required, whether new accounts need to be reviewed before they are active.

    56 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. Display Logic by Location

    At this time you can only hide Resource Sharing Requests by Availability, Ownership, or User Groups with Display Logic. But there are times when we need to hide the Resource Sharing Requests for a location when the item is still Available.

    30 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)

    Hi,

    There are two options you may consider.

    1. The display logic rules hide resource sharing requests when there are available copies. However, if the location of the available items has a ‘unavailable’ type then Alma will consider the items unavailable for this rule, even though they are on shelf.

    The location ‘type’ is an attribute of the physical location.

    2. As mentioned in my comment, you can define general electronic requests that can help hide the resource sharing link depending on item locations. For example, assume you have a ‘Laptops’ location, and you do not want a resource sharing link to show up when searching items of this location. You can:

    1. Define a dummy General Electronic Service that will show when the location is ‘laptops’.
    2. Define a Display Logic Rule that hides the resource sharing link when the above mentioned service exists (i.e. when the location is…

  9. Ability to report all MARC tags and subfields in bibliographic, holdings and authority records

    Hi Ex Libris

    I would like to have the ability to report on Marc bibliographic, Holdings and Authority data with ease.

    It should be easier to create an output field that will output a whole Tag or Tag with subfields using Alma Analytics.

    There used to be a BRIALLIANT functionality with VOYAGER where you could use Oracle stored functions to output MARC data. Options included:
    GetAllAuthTag (AuthId, tag, format)
    GetAllBibTag (Bib
    Id, tag, format)
    GetAllMFHDTag (MFHDId, tag, format)
    GetAuthTag (Auth
    Id, tag)
    GetBibTag (BibId, tag)
    GetAuthSubfield (Auth
    Id, tag, subfield)
    GetBibSubfield (BibId, tag, subfield)
    GetMFHDSubfield (MFHD

    32 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    7 comments  ·  Analytics  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)

    Please note that it possible already in Alma user interface to report on (create sets of records) according to any field and / or subfield of the MARC record. This functionality does not require that the field is indexed. Indication rules are used to retrieve data according the presence (or non-presence) of data in fields or subfields.
    For further details see the following three files at https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Materials/Overview_Materials/Presentations_and_Documents
    Rules – Indication rules and set filtering.pptx
    Rules – Indication rule examples.docx
    Rules – Indication rules – How to use wildcards for field codes .docx

  10. Add the "internal description" and "notes" fields of the portfolios and e-collections to the eInventory dimension in Analytics

    In our e-ressources workflow, we currently use the "internal description" field of the portfolios and e-collections to maintain some useful information on the resource status, e.g.: "local", "to check"... (because there is no specific field for these needs). It would be very useful to add this field in the "portfolios" and "collection" domains in Analytics, so that we can, for example, create an analysis to receive weekly reminders on these status. Currently, we have to use sets, which is less dynamic and personalized.
    It would also be very useful to add the "notes" fields in the Analytics dimensions for portfolios…

    53 votes
    Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
    2 comments  ·  Analytics  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)
  11. Automatic generation of call numbers

    The call numbers play an important role as source of information for staff and users and in the workflows, that is why we also strongly miss the automatic generation of call numbers (in Aleph the Z311 table "to register the last sequence number assigned for a sublibrary + prefix, so that the next highest number can automatically be assigned when an item record is created"). When we have to do it manually it deeply lowers the efficiency of the workflows and is open for human mistakes that cause further problems.

    20 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. Repository Search by Call. No.

    We would like to search by Call Number in the Repository Search

    2 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. Add PID for physical Items to Analytics

    Currently when a physical item is published to Primo it receives a unique PID that is not currently visible within Analytics. I believe the PID that is used for physical is identical to the PID for electronic inventory that is accessible in Analytics?

    Thanks,
    Dean

    3 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. An Un-Receive button right on the Receiving Page

    A simple Undo/UnReceive (CTL-Z) button that can be immediately used if a book was received in error and needs to be moved back to the list of books waiting to be received.

    31 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)

    Hello. Please note that it is possible to do “un-receive” from the receiving page (receiving workbench). For details see
    “Acquisitions – How to unreceive an item via the unreceive button.docx”
    at
    https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Materials/Overview_Materials/Presentations_and_Documents
    This document shows a detailed example of the “un-receive” option for items of both a “one time” and “continuous” type order.

    Have a nice day,

    Yoel Kortick
    Senior Librarian
    T: +972-2-6499369
    M: +972-54-7136408
    Yoel.Kortick@exlibrisgroup.com
    www.exlibrisgroup.com

  15. Renew resource sharing loans

    Currently it seems that only requests with a Received status show the 'request renew' option. This should be extended to requests that have the status 'loaned to patron' as these are more likely to need renewing.

    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)
  16. Add grand total to 'before values' in Analytics

    When creating large data sets, it'd be useful to be able to right click at the top of a column, 'Show Row level Grand Total', and choose something to show at the TOP of a column, instead of having to choose 'After values'. This might help avoid having to use prompts or exporting just to count things.

    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)
  17. Pop up note for item with a status

    I would like to see a pop up note when an item is in Missing status. We add additional notes in Statistical fields to track missing items. It would be good to be able to clear those at the point of scan in instead of having to investigate. In fulfillment you don't know if you scanned in a "missing" item.

    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)

    Dear Alma users,
    Currently when an item that has a process type “missing” is scanned in, Alma prompts a pop-up message stating that “Item’s missing status was removed, barcode xxxxxxxxxx” (see attachment for example).

    I believe this answers the need you raised: “In fulfillment you don’t know if you scanned in a “missing” item.”

    If for some reason you do not see this message when scanning an item that has a process type “missing”, please submit a Salesforce case.

    Thanks,
    Noam Fass | Alma product management

  18. A search action/filter limited to locally created portfolios (i.e. non-CZ portfolios)

    A search action/filter limited to locally created portfolios (i.e. non-CZ portfolios). Among other use cases, it should be a way to keep track of deleted CZ portfolios that have become local portfolios. As I recall, SFX had/has such a search possibility.

    4 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. Show user group in the visit card, borrowing request

    When pressing more details(visit card) on patron in a borrowing request we would like to see the user group. This information provide us with information that helps us fulfill the request correctly without searching for the patron elsewhere to gather the information.

    93 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. The cataloging level of a record changes to the level of the user editing the record when the record is saved. Add option to disable this.

    The cataloging level of a record changes to the level of the user editing the record when that record is saved. Please add an option to disable this feature. If a higher level cataloger wants to up the cataloging level on a record, they can do it manually. We're in a consortial environment, and this feature causes much frustration for our member libraries.

    39 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