Alma
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52 results found
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Please add the feature „Chat between Institution Zones“ to the Metadata Editor
Ex Libris should offer the option of creating a chat for each data record. This feature would facilitate communication between individual libraries regarding incorrect data records.
Currently, communication concerning bibliographic records are sent by email via a mailing list. For a library that has many departments with numerous employees, it is difficult to develop a workflow for jointly processing these emails. In a chat, several people within an institution can communicate with each other without having to coordinate internally beforehand.
But smaller libraries would also benefit from this chat function. When several emails are sent back and forth on a…376 votesCould you please clarify whether this request refers to communication between consortia (Network Zone) members regarding their shared data?
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Save certain subfields from being overwritten via F3 and PTC
When linking names, subjects etc. from authority files in various BIB fields, some cataloguing conventions require giving additional information in certain cases.
One example for such a requirement, stemming from the German speaking countries, is to add the time and place of an auction when linking to the genre/form term “auction catalogs” in BIB field 655 (see attached screenshot). This additional information is, of course, specific for each BIB record and must not be overwritten or deleted, if at a later point in time either PTC processes said BIB record or a colleague invokes the F3 functionality.
Since different subfields…
264 votesHello everyone, for those who raised comments about the correction of 830 $v, could you please provide a detailed, step-by-step explanation of the scenario in which this subfield gets overwritten?
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Authority data: first indicator in the bibliographic record
Now we have many mistakes in our bibliographic records in the settings of the first indicator by connecting with authority data (GND, IdRef, ..). It would be great to have an automatic process, which takes over the first indicator of the authority data to the bibliographic record when you select the authority heading.
What you have then is the following: First indicator, preferred term and authority identifier are taken over from the authority record to the bibliographic record by using “select” in the index view of the authority record.
It would be great, if this is implemented for 1XX/6XX/7XX in…156 votesI wonder if this request takes into account that certain fields in the 1XX/6XX/7XX have different first indicator definitions in the MARC21 standard for Bibliographic fields compared to their corresponding Authority fields. In such cases, copying the first indicator from the Authority to the Bibliographic heading would result in incorrect data. Is the reqeust is about Names only? Hans, I would recommend consulting with AAFG group for a detailed spec where this requested behavior is valid to which fields.
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Allow for an authority file to be addressed by different codes in $2 of various BIB fields
In Alma the authority file, a subject or term stems from, is defined by the content of $2 in various 6XX fields. This code controls the F3 functionality, as well as the linking process and the various jobs like PTC. Each and every authority file is addressed by one specific code.
In the German speaking countries we use an integrated authority file (GND), which amongst names and subjects, also includes genre/form terms. For historical reasons the genre/form terms in BIB field 655 are marked with the official LoC /MARC Genre/Form Code and Term Source Codes “gnd-content” and “gnd-carrier” in $2,…
152 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 -
Bibliographic records editing history
Here is an enhancement request concerning bibliographic records editing history.
Currently, the "View Versions" can only tell the different version of a bib. record. However, this cannot tell logging history of updating/editing the bib. records, e.g. who add/remove a MARC fields/who suppressed/released the bib. record etc. This is no history tab to keep tracking the changes of a bib. record which is unlike other history tab functionality available in other Alma pages, e.g.
• The PO Line Summary page when editing a PO line
• The Physical Item Editor page when editing item records
• The License Terms Details page…135 votes -
Prevent deletion in Community Zone based on field or value in specific field.
Blocking deletion in Community Zone based on field or value in specific field. Possibility to be definded as a parameter for each CZ vocabulary.
107 votesAs you all know, the Community Zone content is shared among all Alma customers, each with different requirements. Therefore, I’m not sure this request would be acceptable to the wider Alma community. That said, if there were a consensus on a closed list of fields that CZ bibliographic records should be restricted from deleting per MARC profile, this capability already exists and is managed by the Ex Libris Content Operations team. Unfortunately, this is not available for authorities. Do you think such a consensus could be reached?
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Allow CZ records to preserve or support local subject access for non-english indexing
We would like Alma to support a stable and sustainable solution for managing local subject access in Community Zone records.
Currently, when CZ records are updated, subject fields (65X) may be overwritten or removed. Although local fields can now be recovered in local indexes, this doesn't solve the core issue: subject access in our language is lost from the standard 65X fields, and this information becomes invisible to our consortial members.
We manage a large and continuously growing volume of electronic records, and the loss of controlled subject access has a significant impact. We have already identified more than 6.000…
107 votes -
Ability to select records to release from MD editor
Cataloger can release 1 record per time or all records can be released, but it would be useful catalogers could select multiples records to release.
103 votes -
search filters and better results display in the "search external resources" function
When we are searching WorldCat for a record to match a newly-ordered title, we often find duplicate records. The current search results display makes it difficult and time-consuming to choose the best record.
The external resources search would be much improved if we could limit search results by the language of cataloging (040 |b) and format. This would save us having to wade through multiple vendor records that aren't even in our local language of cataloging, and multiple records for resources in a format other than the one we are looking for.
It would save us a lot of time…
97 votes -
Improvements for the MDEs left pane
The left pane in the MDE is a very helpful tool for navigation in daily business. With the following improvements it could be even more helpful:
- Customization of the display of the different databases in all the tabs (records/templates/rules): it would be very helpful if one could select only the databases that are necessary for the daily work for display (example: I have in the record tab 14 different databases of which I only need 4, and one that I need is only accessible through the drop down menu); if a selection is not possible it would be helpful…85 votes -
Reminders : extend the Add reminder functionality to other roles (only Cataloger now)
Reminders functionality could be more effective if extended to other roles than only cataloger role. At least Electronic and Physical inventory operators should be able to add a reminder on a Bib record in a repository search result.
The managing of reminders from Cataloging menu can be limited to catalogers.82 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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Preferred term correction - correct coding when flipping LCSH to LCGFT
When a 655 field is coded for LCSH and matches a non-preferred term in LCGFT, Alma flips the heading to the preferred LCGFT term but does not update the coding (it should change the 2nd ind to 7 and add $2 lcgft).
The problem is limited to cases where:
A bib heading 655/_0 matches a non-preferred term in an LCGFT authority
What happens is:
The PTC job flips the heading to the LCGFT preferred form, but it does not change the 2nd-indicator from 0 to 7, and does not add $2lcgft
What is not a problem:
655/0 headings that…
77 votes -
The text font ,font size and color of Metadata Editor
1.When using Metadata Editor, the font size and color of the editing area are not friendly to the editor.
2.The text in the editing area needs to be enlarged by 150% in the browser to make it convenient for users to work for a long time
3.The text color or font in the editing area causes the black text to look like gray, which makes it inconvenient to check the bibliography
4.Can workers modify the Metadata Editor environment to make them comfortable working environment, such as the font size, font type, and font color in the editing area?
This can…
74 votes -
MDE Search Resources mask should be empty
When opening the Search Resources mask in MDE, the previous search is still in the data mask. For us there is no benefit for this behavior and we would like to have an empty mask and not to clear the mask every time before starting a new search.
(If other libraries need this opportunity, we would suggest to make the default settings for this mask customizable)73 votes -
New Metadata Editor templates: editing template v. creating new record
Previously, when opening a template in the classic Metadata Editor (MDE), a click on the template name from the list of templates would give a list of options, including creating a new record: there was no doubt as to whether you were creating a new record from the template, or editing the template itself.
However, with the new MDE, clicking on the template name takes you straight into editing the template itself. Creating a new record from the template now requires a right click first to get to the options menu, but this is not at all obvious. It is…
71 votes -
Metadata Editor should add the year automatically to the 866 field
Currently the Metadata editor does not add automatically the year to the 866 field. If we want the year to be in our 866 we have to add it manually. Actually this is the only way our patrons can see the year in Primo.
69 votes -
Mechanism to validate binary MARC record structure
There is currently no mechanism within Alma to ensure that exported or published binary MARC records have valid record structures. Even though Alma uses MARCXML and is not impacted internally by invalid binary MARC, libraries must still provide binary MARC records to external entities in the course of regular business (vendors, outsourcers, agencies, other stakeholders).
Structurally invalid binary MARC records significantly hamper data sharing for libraries. A third party application, MarcEdit, can be used to validate MARC record structure, but since our data is stored in Alma, there should be a mechanism native to Alma that validates binary MARC structure…
67 votes -
Visibility of extension packs and possibility of selecting them one by one for editing and/or deleting
Extension packs once added to a local MARC-based profile are not visible and cannot be retrieved in any way. It would be much better if each extension pack loaded to a bibliographic profile could be visible to system admnistrators in order to be downloaded from bibliographic profile for purposes of editing and reloading, should the need arise. This feature was part of the tentative future developments proposed by Ex libris back in 2017 (see: internal: 2017 Q1 URM-45100)
67 votes
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