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

144 results found

  1. Ability to customise email subject heading in Alma letters using letter data

    As library staff we would like the ability to customise the email subject heading of Alma letters using letter data so that we can flag something up to a customer/use in their email inbox.

    For example, we've recently customised our On Hold Shelf Letter using XSL to have different content when a customer is picking up a Resource Sharing request as we ask customers to collect these from our Customer Services desk whereas other requests are placed on a self service hold shelf in the library.
    We were able to customise the letter using XSL, but could not find a…

    12 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)
  2. Show book's edition information when doing a Physical Item search

    This is a more efficient way to show essential information, rather than having it available only via All Item search

    12 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)
  3. Scan-in items to create an Itemized Set

    For many of our workflows, we have a large batch of physical materials upon which we need to perform a bulk action (e.g. place them all on a Work Order or request a Permanent Location change, etc.) The items are on book trucks and there is no Set upon which to Run a Job unless we create a new one every time as a TXT or CSV file, which then has to be uploaded to Alma. It would save a lot of confusion, plus work and training time for staff and student workers, if it was possible to use Scan-In…

    12 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. Attach multiple courses/sections to a reading list more quickly

    We use a single reading list for many sections of a course, and also reuse these reading lists from semester to semester. Attaching courses to a preexisting reading list is a very slow process which must be done one at a time. I'd love in the reading list courses tab, when you click "Associate Course" and then "Select from List", you were given the option of a checkbox so that many course sections could be added to a reading list at once.

    Alternatively, in bulk upload of courses, if you can attach a NEW course to an existing reading list,…

    12 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. Add shortcut to viewing item history

    Many of our staff have trouble remembering how to access an item's history in Alma. It would be nice if a shortcut to that information could be added. I imagine something like an extra tab on the Scan In Items page called Item History - it allows you to enter a barcode and quickly pull up all the info in the Item Changes, Holding Changes, and Fulfillment activities tables but without having to first enter the Physical Item Editor.

    10 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. Create a scan in message when a call number is inadvertently changed using change item information

    Add a Scan in message when an items call number has been changed through Scan in items> Change item information, when the call number field has been left blank.

    This could be an optional message enabled through "Scan In Messages Configuration" where you could select either none, pop up message or feedback message.

    The workflow I am referring to is here
    https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/030Fulfillment/020Resource_Requests/040Scanning_Items

    It would happen when the call number is empty, and it is being moved to an existing holding with a different call number.

    10 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)
  7. Item Policy Code Table issues

    After adding an Alma Item policy in the Configuration->Fulfillment->Physical Fulfillment->Item Policy, the Item Policy Code Table allows you to edit the Code. Existing items records linked to the item policy code are not updated in such an edit. Such items retain the now “orphaned” original item policy code as can be queried in analytics.

    To compound this, leading and trailing spaces within an item policy code are considered significant, so an edit to remove a trailing space leaves (invisible to the user) distinct item policies, one of which is broken.

    We propose the following three changes:

    1.) The Item Policy…

    7 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. self checkout

    Self checkout over sip2 to have Alerts/fulfillment notes on checkout , not checkin only.

    Patrons need to be alerted to how many pieces SHOULD be in the item when they checkout so they can alert staff if pieces are missing on checkout

    7 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)
  9. Expand Course Reserves Facet/Advanced Search Functionality

    When working in Reading Lists and Courses the facet filtering limits staff to a single selection in a category at time. However, many institutions have multiple terms or staff liaisons serving more than one academic department. In such cases, it would be quite helpful to allow staff to select multiple facets. The inability to multi-select prevents staff and their managers from being able view the whole picture and effectively managing the work.

    If that’s not possible, we’d like to request that you expand the advanced search options for reading lists, courses, and citations to make all of the facet options…

    7 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)
  10. Alma: Quick login/user switching on shared workstations

    Staff working service desks often use shared workstations that aren't their primary workstation to serve patrons. Can a function be added to allow staff to switch users quickly to maintain good security practices while allowing for prompt service?

    Perhaps a scan/swipe ID plus PIN like in restaurant service paired with an adjustable quick time-out that can be workstation specific. Alternatively, maybe a fulfillment specific application can be developed for general fulfillment activities only on shared workstations (check out/in, holds, etc.). Thanks.

    6 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)
  11. Improving Ability to Create Repeating Courses for Multiple Semesters

    Currently there is no ability to have two courses in different semesters with the same course code and section number in Reserves. Our college reuses course codes and section numbers between semesters, so we are unable to build new courses with the same course code/section number combination before the current semester ends.

    I would like to add additional identifying fields to the current code/section unique identifier. Possibilities include unique terms (Fall 2022) or a term/year combination (Fall + 22-23).

    6 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. Manage Item Returns: Send one Return Receipt Letter can be aggregated like the overdue notices.

    There should be a standard configuration that would allow libraries to set it up and set a batch time so a returned receipt would reflect all of the items returned in one day for a given borrower on one "returned" receipt.

    6 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. Library opening hours - prolong the "valid to" field in bulk

    It would be very helpful to have a possibility to prolong library opening hours in bulk. We have more than 40 libraries and now the only possibility to prolong library opening hours is to open each line with opening hours, save it and run the "Apply changes" job. With so many libraries with many lines for opening hours in the library calendar will be this change for many hours of clicking.

    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. Remove "Valid Until" in calendar entries

    The current behavior in Alma is that any calendar entries have an effective date and a valid until date, that is automatically 3 years beyond the date the event was last edited.

    The effective date does not in my mind serve any purpose and creates puzzling and frustrating situations for fulfillment services staff if the current date approaches any of these valid until dates, because patron loans will start being shortened, seemingly for no reason.

    For exceptions, date ranges are called explicitly. For standard hours there either should be no valid until date, or this should be specified explictly, to…

    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)
  15. Extend or allow one to be able to extend the time it takes to time-out when on the Manage Patron Services screen.

    Please extend or allow one to customise their own time-out settings for the Manage Patron Services screen.

    Gets on my nerves when I'm in the middle of composing an email to a Patron about their loans and I have to keep bringing up their account because it goes back to the search screen.

    I need more time if I'm dealing with: fines, loan history, and making notes on an account, whilst trying to communicate what I'm doing.

    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)
  16. Display logic to hide services by user assigned RS library

    Allow Discovery Interface Display Logic rules to hide service Rapido Physical Offer based on user's assigned resource sharing library.

    In our instance, we have one default/generic RS library and several location-based RS libraries. Users are put in the generic RS library by default, then reassigned to a specific RS library depending on where they are enrolled. For example, a patron in Chicago would have the Chicago RS library assigned, while an online patron would still have the generic RS library assigned.

    We would like the ability to hide Rapido physical offers from users with the generic RS library assigned. Currently…

    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)
  17. The option for Fulfillment AND Internal notes to pop up during Check in/out

    When scanning an item into the Scan In Items screen, both Fulfillment and Internal Notes pop up. However, when scanning items into the Circulation screens (Manage Patron Services & Return Items), only Fulfillment notes pop up.

    We would like the option for Fulfillment AND Internal Notes to pop up for staff while using the Circulation screens at the desk. There tends to be important information in both fields that they should be aware of while checking items in and out.

    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)
  18. configuration exeptions in opening hours

    I wanted to update the opening hours in the psb for the next year. Some Holidays like the first of january, the first of may or the third of october, the library is closed every year.
    I realized, that I can’t add a „recurrence“ for these days with the record type „exception“. If I add a new record and choose the record type „event“ I can add a „recurrence“ but the status will be „open“. I can’t change the status to „closed“
    It would be nice if the record of these Holidays could have the „recurrence“ „yearly“ and the „status“…

    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)
  19. Improve General Electronic Service

    In each General Electronic Service, the Service Details page has a section marked "Disable Service," with radio button options for
    Never, When resource is owned by the campus, When resource is owned by the campus and available, When resource is owned by the institution, and When resource is owned by the institution and available. These controls do not work. I have been told that making them work would be an enhancement. I suggest that they be hidden or removed in order to avoid wasting the time of library staff in trying to make them work.

    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)
  20. Add Fulfillment Jobs Configuration : a daily aggregation letter of returned items

    The existing "Return Receipt Letter" is sent in two situation:
    1. when librarian clicked the done button at 'Manage Patron Services' screen,
    2. After scan each item at "retrun item"
    this letter is set in Circulation Desk configuration, user recieve letters after return items each time.

    we suggest Alma create a new Fulfillment Jobs Configuration* to sent "return receipts", like the existing configuration "Loans - Overdue and Lost Loan Job".

    The new configuration could reflect all of the items the patron returned at the same day, and list all items for the patron on one "returned receipt". Configured as such,…

    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)
  • Don't see your idea?

Feedback and Knowledge Base