Seasonal Serials Prediction Patterns only work when beginning with Spring.
Area of concern: Serials Prediction in Alma.
Currently, when creating 853 predictive patterns, there are limitations to titles with a seasonal frequency. Attempting to create seasonal prediction patterns, whose enumerations begin with anything but Spring (21) results in errors, such as skipped issues, or improper numbering.
This limitation means that many journals with seasonal patterns cannot have their issues correctly predicted out through Alma’s automated process. Staff members are stuck manually creating/receiving issues for these titles. This decreases efficiency, increases the likelihood of human error, and prevents Alma’s claiming process from working correctly.
What should be changed: As Serials Processors, we would like to have the option for a seasonal prediction pattern to begin enumeration with any season. This would benefit our workflow by allowing these titles to be predicted and eliminating the need to receive them manually.
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Rebecca Bearden commented
I have had some luck with getting the fall/autumn season to start by utilizing the subfield x and y. Example: $$a v. $$b no. $$u 2 $$v c $$i (year) $$j (season) $$w f $$x 23 $$y ps23,21 $$8 1 for a publication issued Fall, then spring the following year. I will note that you also need to be careful what you input as your issue date. You may have to be more generous or conservative with that date for it to choose the proper year for each issue. However, the season prediction pattern problems I run into that are still problematic are 1. preferring Fall over Autumn in general. It would be nice if there were a way to specify which is preferred for a particular publication rather than editing manually, and 2. Whether winter is the final issue of the year, or the first issue of the year. It typically defaults as the first, and creates incorrect patterns depending on which year you want that issue to reflect vs. the others in that volume.
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Naomi Crotty commented
I have found that you can create a seasonal prediction pattern, but only for the Northern Hemisphere (where spring is the first season in a calendar year) and not for the Southern Hemisphere where Autumn is the first season in a calendar year. I have screen shot and combined my working for both scenarios, please let me know if I am just doing something wrong.