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45 results found

  1. NR - Normalization rules editor -- fix display to ltr + use monospaced font

    1.
    Currently there's a problem with the NR editor when there are too many rtl characters (Hebrew, Arabic, etc.) in the NR, the whole display changes to rtl. This renders the NR unintelligible and makes editing it in Alma impossible -- you have to edit it outside Alma

    We would like the direction of the NR editor to be fixed to ltr regardless of the composition of the characters used

    2.
    We would like to have the NR editor use a monospaced font. This would make the code neater and easier to read

    24 votes
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    2 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →
    Completed  ·  AdminErez Shabo (Senior Product Owner, Ex Libris) responded

    Alma now supports XSL normalization rules, expanding its capabilities beyond the existing DROOLS support. This addition enables more advanced and intricate data normalization. The request of this idea can be addressed using the new XSL normalization rules. For detailed information on using XSL normalization rules, please refer to the May 2025 release notes available at: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Release_Notes/2025/Alma_2025_Release_Notes

  2. Add Alma support for microlanguages and language codes recognised by Library of Congress, including Austlang

    Alma’s support for Language for search indexing, facet, and display is hardcoded for 041 to the 3 digit MARC Code List for Languages.
    This excludes languages recognised by Library of Congress, such as Austlang languages which were recognised more than 6 years ago in 2018.
    This issue has been addressed in Primo in 2021 and 2022 with customer advocacy efforts, but remains a glaring omission within Alma.
    See details: https://igelu.org/primo-support-for-austlang-and-iso-639-3/

    The only option currently within Alma for searching this data is to use the keyword field to search by information such as C15, and then use the Language filter to…

    83 votes
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    9 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →
    Completed  ·  AdminErez Shabo (Senior Product Owner, Ex Libris) responded

    Hello all,

    I want to clarify the decision made regarding this request, as it should help make things clearer.

    First, we added the option to upload Controlled Vocabularies using a CSV or Excel file, making the process much easier than before.

    In addition, we enhanced the 041 $a OTB Controlled Vocabulary list to include ISO 639-3 languages, in addition to the existing MARC21 standard list. This extended list supports search, facets, and other functionality — offering more capabilities than most other lists in Alma. Any additional language codes (e.g., Austlang) can be added to this list by each institution according to its specific needs.

    Please note that due to a performance issue, the full functionality will be available in the February 2026 release. For more information on how to use it, please refer to the release notes and online help.

    Erez

  3. Add "equal" option to the title search "Authority id" index

    When searching for titles by authority ID, currently the search supports searching with: Contains keywords, contains phrase, is empty, not contains keywords, not contains phrase, is not empty.
    Add the option to also search by "equals".

    3 votes
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    1 comment  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  4. Add ISO 639-3 microlanguage names to Alma title search facets

    In Alma titles search facets, display the microlanguage name instead of its code. PCC recently approved the implementation of the ISO 639-3 language codes for use in MARC 008/35-37 and also 546$b.

    Example: where the language facet for a title search shows...

    Language
    Chinese (1)
    wuu (1)

    ...the following would be more useful...

    Language
    Wu Chinese (1)

    16 votes
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    4 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →
    Completed  ·  AdminErez Shabo (Senior Product Owner, Ex Libris) responded

    Hello all,

    I want to share an update regarding this idea. It appears there is a second phase of this enhancement, which has been postponed to the next release in February 2026 to address performance issues. Our infrastructure team is currently handling it.

    Erez

  5. Add indication that the bib. record has a MDE note

    It would be helpful to have an indication that there is a MDE note regarding this record posted by a cataloger.
    One option to see this indication can be on the preview of a bibliographic record. It can appear the same way as when there is an order for the record (see photo attached), and if you click the number, it should take you to the note.
    Additionally, it should be either reportable to Analytics or searchable in Alma, so that it will be possible to find all the records that have MDE note.

    57 votes
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    1 comment  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  6. Create a new an authorities search index “Matching Information” (or the like) for field 885

    As Alma GND User Group we represent staff users that are tasked with data management in the Integrated Authority File (GND), the most widely used authority file in the German speaking library community.
    We would like Ex Libris to introduce an authorities search index that makes the content of MARC 21 Format for Authority Data field 885 available for search purposes.
    As a QA measure several different algorithms are applied to the content of GND to find potential duplicate records and mark these candidates in field 885. In cases where the confidence value does not reach a certain threshold, the…

    106 votes
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    1 comment  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  7. Position sensitive NRs (Normalization Rules) - ISBD punctuation

    ISBD punctuation is determined by the following subfield.
    For example:
    In 245 the subfield preceding $$b must end in one of the following:
    1. space + colon
    2. space + semicolon
    3. space + Arabic semicolon (if your cataloging language is Arabic)
    4. space + equal sign

    The NR syntax currently does not offer any straightforward solution for correcting ISBD punctuation.

    We request the development of an NR function that will suffix the subfield with a string based on the subfield that follows it, including the case in which a subfield is the last one.

    I think it would be…

    76 votes
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    3 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →
    Completed  ·  AdminErez Shabo (Senior Product Owner, Ex Libris) responded

    Alma now supports XSL normalization rules, expanding its capabilities beyond the existing DROOLS support. This addition enables more advanced and intricate data normalization. This request can be addressed using the new XSL normalization rules. For detailed information on using XSL normalization rules, please refer to the May 2025 release notes available at: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Release_Notes/2025/Alma_2025_Release_Notes

  8. Please add the "suppress bibliographic record" to the log of the "view versions" in the MD editor

    Hello,

    We would like to have the ability to know when and by whom a bibliographic record was suppressed, when checking the "view versions" in the MD editor.

    Thanks.
    Dafna

    219 votes
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    12 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  9. New Alma Layout and New Metadata Editor: Same Icons for Different Functions

    1. In the New Alma Layout the ‘Recent Pages’ and ‘Recent Entities’ share the same icon although they serve different content (cf. attached screen clipping).

    2. In the new Alma layout, the icon for Advanced Search displayed left of the persistent search slot is essentially the same as the icon in the new Metadata Editor's left pane, which serves to filter the list of records (cf. attached screen clipping).

    We believe that using one icon for two different functions is confusing to the users and suggest replacing the icon for one of the two for both cases.

    2 votes
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    0 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →
    Completed  ·  AdminItai Veltzman (Product Manager, Ex Libris) responded

    Thank you for your feedback. We have changed the advance search icon to a different icon than the filtering option in the new metadata editor.
    We have checked the other idea of changing the icon for Recent Pages and the icon for Recent Entities and come to the conclusion it is the common semantic users are used to.

  10. Show if cataloguer notes exist

    When working in the meta data editor we don't know if a record has notes attached to it unless we select "View Notes". it would be helpful if record with notes attached showed the existence of a note, maybe with a small symbol?

    1 vote
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    Completed  ·  1 comment  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  11. UNIMARC to MARC21 Authorities crosswalk issues

    UNIMARC to MARC21 crosswalk should be updated
    On behalf of the Product management team we would like to hear about the improvments that are required of the following 'Planned' feature (which it's need was raised by a specific library) - any comment is welcome.

    0 votes
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    0 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  12. Support SWEDISH and NORWEGIAN special diacritics in Browse

    Support SWEDISH and NORWEGIAN special diacritics in Browse
    On behalf of the Product management team we would like to understand the need and use cases of the following 'Planned' feature (which it's need was raised by a specific library) - any comment is welcome.

    0 votes
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    1 comment  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  13. The issue of generating 008 filed in MARC 21 Bib

    While creating a new MARC 21 bib record, Alma generates the 008 automatically, such as "191126s2013####xx######r#####000#0#eng#d"
    The value in position 7-10 is a fixed date "2013". We would like the position 7-10 can be customized and retrieved from 264$c or 260$c.

    4 votes
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    1 comment  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →
    Completed  ·  Dana Moshkovits responded

    MARC21 OTB template of Books/Computer Files/Maps/Music, field 008 positions 7-11 had the year 2013. This was modified to the current year 2021.

  14. We expect UNIMARC and CNMARC tag 100 could be treated as a Control Field in NRs like MARC 008 field.

    We have an issue with UNIMARC/CNMARC field 100 which is not considered as Control Field when using Normalization Rules
    The current incorrect behavior is that the UNIMARC/CNMARC tag 100 cannot be changed using a NR for "replaceControlContents" - "Failed during compilation of drools files". Changing the NR to "replaceContents" produces no error but is not working (as 100 is a Control Field)
    We expect UNIMARC and CNMARC tag 100 could be treated as a Control Field in NRs like MARC 008 field.

    7 votes
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    2 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →
    Completed  ·  AdminDana Moshkovits (Admin, Ex Libris) responded

    A new function was added to enhance the Alma DROOLS to support the normalization of UNIMARC and CNMARC 1XX fixed position fields. As a result of the enhancement, UNIMARC and CNMARC tag 1XX are treated as Control Fields in Normalization Rules and no error messages are displayed.

    For more information please see Alma November Release Notes

  15. The metadata editor is not friendly for editing the bibliographic record

    It would be advisable to improve the visualization of the complete record; also that the cursor should be more precise when completing the indicators of each field; that the spaces between the subfields should be more clearly seen, etc, etc

    1 vote
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    0 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  16. Stop adding a line and taking cursor to 2nd line when I copy/paste into a field

    Whenever I copy & paste content into a field (replacing old content), it automatically does a carriage return/enter and adds an extra line below and moves the content I just pasted to the top where it disappears until I scroll to see it again. My cursor is automatically taken to the 2nd line and the first line disappears until I scroll or back up to see it.

    1 vote
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    1 comment  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  17. Prevent 9xx local fields from being saved to Community Zone (CZ) records

    There is a known issue of some sites not adhering to the Community Zone (CZ) Contribution Guidelines and Community Catalog Standards.
    An example of this is the addition of local 9xx fields to CZ records.
    Ex Libris already uses a normalization routine to validate CZ records which are changed by customers.
    However, this routine does not specifically prevent the addition of local 9xx fields, even though the guidelines are clear that only changes which benefit the broader community should be made.

    Use case:
    This has been a longstanding issue, but has been fixable in the Primo Back Office to an…

    24 votes
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    2 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  18. Add a F3 functionality in the dropdown menu of the MDE

    In the Metadata Editor, F3 is used in order to look up to the authority headings from a specific bib heading. This is a crucial feature of the MDE, yet it is not available in the dropdown menus. As our librarians sometimes work with tablets, with no function keys, this lack is troublesome. Adding the look up functionality in the dropdown menus would be a welcome improvement of the MDE.

    78 votes
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    2 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  19. Create a Physical Titles or Physical Items set from a list of MMS IDs

    It is possible to create an All Titles set from a list of MMS IDs, but not a Physical Titles or Physical Items set. To run certain jobs – like Change Holdings Information – a Physical Titles set is required. In order to run this job on a list of MMS IDs, you must first create an All Titles set, then extract some other key like OCLC #, then create a Physical Titles set from that list, and only then can you run your job. Since all physical titles and items DO have MMS IDs, it should be possible to…

    40 votes
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    Completed  ·  2 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →

  20. Suggestions for Normalization Rules (NR) functions

    Hello,

    Please see the attached file.
    We would appreciate it if the suggested Normalization Rules functions would be developed in Alma.

    Thanks

    218 votes
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    6 comments  ·  Metadata Management  ·  Admin →
    Completed  ·  AdminErez Shabo (Senior Product Owner, Ex Libris) responded

    Alma now supports XSL normalization rules, expanding its capabilities beyond the existing DROOLS support. This addition enables more advanced and intricate data normalization. For detailed information on using XSL normalization rules, please refer to the May 2025 release notes available at: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Release_Notes/2025/Alma_2025_Release_Notes

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