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.
1744 results found
-
Search function in Monitor Jobs Menu
In the menu "Monitor Jobs" (Admin -> Manage Jobs and Sets -> Monitor Jobs) there is no search function for the Scheduled Jobs. For all other Tabs (Scheduled Manual Jobs ; Running ; History) there is a search function. As we have many Scheduled Jobs it would be very useful if a search function could be implemented as in the other tabs.
Thank you
45 votes -
Sending On Hold Shelf Letter
When scanning a barcode in Fullfilment - Checkout/Checkin – Returns items
• Printing the Ful Resource Request Slip Letter
• Change of document status in “Hold shelf”But no print On Hold Shelf Letter
The operator can place the request on the reservation shelf but the reader is not notified
Can the action “Returns items trigger the printing of the letter “On Hold Shelf Letter” ?
6 votes -
linked-data-powered sets and collections
TL;DR: populate existing ALMA sets / collections infrastructure using retrieval of a list of LCCNs from an external URL to allow linked-data-powered sets and collections.
Problem
We've all seen the book displays that most physical libraries have in their high-traffic areas. These might be works by the in-house press, topical events, anniversaries of author's birth, etc, etc.
In the digital space, there are shallow-functionality RSS feeds and then a yawning gap out to things that are typically called 'digital exhibitions' which are resource-intensive glossy displays.
ALMA Collections can be used for digital exhibitions, but populating them is labour-intensive and slow.
…
47 votes -
Request for Improvement of the Physical Item Receiving Function in the Library
Currently in Alma, when librarians receive physical items that have been ordered and have arrived at the library, items with a patron physical item request and items without a patron physical item request must be processed separately.
It would be helpful to have a feature that allows librarians to receive both types of physical items—those with a patron physical item request and those without—together in a single receiving workflow.
7 votes -
NACSIS-CAT Could App: Enable English output in NOTE field when converting 336/337/338 fields for records with 040 $$b eng
Currently, when converting 336/337/338 fields to a NOTE field in Alma --> NACSIS-CAT mappings, the output uses Japanese vocabulary regardless of the cataloging language. For records with 040 $$b eng, we request that the NOTE field be generated using English vocabulary to match the cataloging language.
Example:
Expected output for 040 $$b eng:
336 $$a text $$2 ncrcontent
337 $$a unmediated $$2 ncrmedia
338 $$a volume $$2 ncrcarrier
→ NOTE: Content Type: text (ncrcontent), Media Type: unmediated (ncrmedia), Carrier Type: volume (ncrcarrier)Current output:
→ NOTE: 表現種別: text (ncrcontent), 機器種別: unmediated (ncrmedia), キャリア種別: volume (ncrcarrier)This enhancement would ensure consistency…
7 votes -
Create an All Open Access CZ Collection for Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals
Could a CZ collection be created for Elsevier ScienceDirect journals that are completely open access leaving out hybrid journals (or what Elsevier terms as "contains open access" or "subscribed & complimentary"). That information can be found on their web site: https://www-sciencedirect-com.proxy.binghamton.edu/browse/journals-and-books?contentType=JL&accessType=openAccess
If a title becomes open access after a specific date, that information can be found on the journals "All issues" page (see attached showing that Advances in Nutrition became OA "31st December 2022").
2 votes -
Make Cataloger notes searchable in Alma and/or Analytics.
It would be helpful if the data in the Cataloger notes within bibliographic records were searchable, possibly through Advanced search, keyword search, or even within Analytics. This would allow catalogers to easily gather these notes and organize them for specific resources related to projects that require review.
22 votes -
Establish system to ensure complete coverage of LC classifications
Alma Analytics includes LC Classification code data, but frequently valid classification codes come up as "Unknown." Ex Libris currently has no reliable way of keeping up with changes in LC classification. They rely upon the "Library of Congress Classification Outline", which is not complete. They will add classifications upon customer request, though this process takes months or years and puts significant burden upon institutions. Ex Libris should develop a system to reliably update its LC classification coverage. This could take the form of e.g. establishing its own access to Classification Web, subscribing to LC updates, and/or setting up some alternative…
67 votes -
Subject headings's in Analytics
"Subjects" in analytics (6XX MARC fields) are all jumbled up in one index. This creates a problem for analysis of correctly applied LCSH subject headings (our focus). AND, 2nd indicator signifies the type of subject heading, such as LCSH "0"; NLM "2"; etc. Currently, working with the subject index, it is impossible to filter for the type of subject heading needed in an analytics report, even though the MARC variable fields contain this data. Therefore, it would be very useful to filter for the types of subject headings we would like to see in a report, without losing recall (i.e,…
1 vote -
Create a way of marking borrowing requests visually for Staff Attention
Sometimes we receive borrowing requests that need special staff attention when the item is received or returned. Examples include:
- When the other library is sending an invoice inside the item we are receiving
- When the other library requests special handling in the use of the loaned item
- When an item needs to be returned in special packaging or with insurance
- When an item needs to be returned with accompanying IFLA vouchers
- When an item has loose pieces which need to be checked for before return
- When the item received in a request did not come from the active partner
Student…
2 votes -
New option to 'Linking level' menu for Electronic service
I would like to add a new option to the 'Linking level' dropdown menu in the Electronic Service Editor (e.g. Working paper)
This feature will enable you to benefit when searching in Discovery using the 'Resource Type' filter.12 votes -
MD editor save marc tags chronologically
Upon save any MARC tags that are in the wrong chronological order are saved in the correct order.
13 votes -
Enable creation of individual patron blocks for loans of specific material types
If an institution needs to prohibit an individual user from borrowing a particular type of resource temporarily, e.g. placing a temporary ban on laptop loans for that person, then there is no way to block them from borrowing items of that specific material type without preventing them from borrowing everything else as well. As a result, we are unable to apply blocks in exceptional circumstances, such as with our laptop loans service, because the block would be disproportionate and prevent the user borrowing any physical items at all. The only workaround would be to have a ‘Blocked’ user group configured…
34 votes -
Fee block: automatic blocking and unblocking
The following configuration is desired:
A fee block should be set automatically once a freely selectable fee amount has been reached and after a freely selectable period of time.
- Once the fee has been paid, the block should be automatically deleted.
Reason for automatic fee blocking:
The fee limit that can be configured in Alma only refers to the maximum fee amount that may be reached, but not to the period in which a fee must be paid, regardless of the amount of the fee.Reason for automatic unblocking:
Fees can be paid at any time, especially after the planned…1 vote -
System Events Subject Area: Add "Record was Created", "Record was Updated", "Record was Deleted" for Holdings PIDs
Currently, the System Event subject area does not track the creation, update, or deletion of holdings records. Adding this functionality would provide valuable insight into how often these actions are performed by staff. This data would support performance reporting and make it also easier to identify the number of modified records when metadata corrections are needed.
2 votes -
Augment the X-Exl-Api-Remaining header to include the threshold figure
The Alma API includes the X-Exl-Api-Remaining header in responses, e.g.:
X-Exl-Api-Remaining: 192522
It would be helpful if the value for this header additionally included the threshold figure, a.k.a, the total number of requests, e.g.
X-Exl-Api-Remaining: 192522,200000
In the above example, the threshold is 200'000.
This would allow external monitoring scripts to dynamically determine the percentage of requests used for the day. Currently determining this has to based on a static threshold manually added to the script, and would need a script update if the threshold changes (due to an increase or decrease in the number of user licences).
Alternatively the…
1 vote -
Use same format for all dates in Analytics
When combining different subject areas (I use the button “Combine results based on union, intersection, and difference operations”, and I am using union) I find that it is not always possible to combine dates.
For example: The date "Event Start Date"."Event Start Time" from Physical Items Historical Events cannot be combined with "Loan Date"."Loan Date" from Fulfillment.
This is due to differences in date formats.
It's hard to predict which parts of Analytics a library would want to combine. So I suggest that the date formats be standardised across Analytics6 votes -
Allow Dynamic Fields (e.g., Current Date) in the Subject Line of Email
Hi Team,
Currently, the Borrowing Activity Letter subject line is controlled entirely by a label provided by Alma, rather than through the XSL template. Because labels only support static text, it is not possible to use dynamic values—such as the current date—in the subject line.
This creates a limitation for institutions that send periodic Borrowing Activity summaries. Many libraries want to include a date (e.g., "Your Borrowing Summary – March 10 2026") so that patrons can easily distinguish one report from another. However, because Alma does not evaluate XSL or variables in label-based subject fields, dynamic values cannot be used.…1 vote -
Allow the keyword function to search up permanent call numbers directly
If I enter a call number into the keyword search box, it will often show no results despite showing results when the search category is switched to "permanent call number." Inputting an OCLC into the keyword search consistently yields accurate results, so why can't it do so with call numbers?
6 votes -
Support CID: resource_sharing_request_id in Letters
The Internal Identifier (XML resourcesharingrequestid) is the required file name for the batch automatic delivery of digital lending requests via the Automatically Ship Rapido Digital Requests job. The Internal Identifier is 17 characters. Supporting CID: resourcesharingrequestid within print slip letters XSL would allow the Internal Identifier to be scanned by a barcode scanner during the digitization workflow of physical materials instead of an operator manually typing in a 17 character identifier which increases errors and is time consuming.
3 votes
- Don't see your idea?