Alma
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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.
87 results found
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"Maximum renewal date" should be viewable on Alma
"Maximum renewal date" should be viewable not only Primo, but Alma. Patron can see his/her "Maximum renewal date" by him/herself, but staff can NOT check it.
183 votes -
Enable desk operators to select from a predetermined list of loan periods.
We would like desk operators to have the option of selecting from a list of predetermined check out periods for items in certain collections.
Boston College Libraries currently provide approximately 80 laptops to community members, which can be borrowed for a fixed loan period. For many patrons this static loan period is either too short or too long, adding some loan period choices would enable us to easily meet the needs of more patrons.
Currently in Alma, offering a variety of loan periods would require the creation of additional locations and terms of use. Doing so would enable us to…173 votes -
Enable bulk due date changes based on a set of items listed by barcode
We've had occasions where it would have been useful to be able to create a set of items, for example, in Alma Analytics. Then to take that set of items, e.g. a CSV or Excel file listing the barcodes, and then to update the due dates of all those items, to a new fixed value.
This is similar to the current Bulk Due Date Change functionality, but with the addition of uploading a list of items to change.
Regards,
Ciaran
The University of Manchester Library
155 votes -
Overdue notifications to be sent also on days after closed days
We noticed that if closed days are configured, and a closed day is between the due date of a loan and the planned day on which the first reminder should be sent, the job does not generate a notification on that day but waits until the next one.
This leads to misunderstanding on the patrons side, because the grace period is not always identical and can vary depending on possible closed days.
We described the issue in case nr. 05301818 (old SF nr.: 00953477) and were told that this is the expected behaviour. The Product manager decided that when there's…119 votes -
Make Alma able to deactivate the security of the RFID tags when lending items from other IZs
In a network circulation context, Alma cannot currently disable the security of the RFID tag when lending the document from another institution zone (hold shel request on items of other IZs). We would like Alma to be able to deactivate the security of items of other IZs. Currently the deactivation must be done "manually" in a third party software.
110 votes -
Short Loan Reminder - overdue notice doesn't display due time
The Short Loan Reminder uses the Full Overdue and Lost Loan Notification letter for the overdue reminder (sent x minutes after due time). This letter does not display the due time of loans however, and is not configurable.
93 votes -
Patron services – Renew all loans
When the number of loans is more than 50, they are displayed on several pages.
When we want to renew all the loans, or to modify their due date, we can’t do it all at once, but page by page.
We would like to be able to select ALL the loans, no matter how many they are, to work them on bulk.89 votes -
Add a tab "re-loan" to Patron Services to return and re-loan items in one step
An additional tab (e.g. "re-loan" or "Wiederausleihe" in German) would be a valuable improvement to the Patron Services page.
The goal of this tab is the returning and re-loaning of an item to the patron in one step, with a pop-up warning if there are requests present in the request queue.
The option of a re-loan tab would be a big help in cases where large amounts of items are reloaned to the same person when the items reach the maximum amount of renewals. The additional tab would make the process easier, less error-prone and especially faster.86 votes -
Manage Item Returns: Send one Return Receipt Letter for all returned items per user
Returning items via "Manage Item Returns" generates one Return Receipt Letter per returned item. This means if one user returns several items he will get several e-mails, one for each item. This is annoying for users. The problem arises especially when the drop box for returns is used and the staff scans in lots of unsorted returned items from different users.
Scanned-in returns should be collected in a cache and allocated to the users who loaned them. After pressing "Exit" and closing the scan-in-session one return receipt per user containing all returns belonging to this user should be send.
Thanks…
85 votes -
Ability for fulfillment staff to renew patron loans from other institutions under network activity in Alma
Our consortium would like circulation desk staff to have the ability within Alma to renew items on loan from other institutions from under a user's network activity tab (renew all and renew selected, though renew all being more helpful if both are not possible).
Currently, only the user has access to a renewal option via their Primo VE My Library Card.
67 votes -
Fulfillment Overrides without separate login
When an override by a manager is needed at a circulation workstation, there should be a way for the manager to override either remotely or at the workstation without the operator logging out.
54 votes -
option to "Send Return Receipt" from "Return items"
When I'm returning books from the drop box, using "Return Items", I would really appreciate the option to "Send Return Receipt" in cases where the patron has accrued fines. It makes sense from a customer service standpoint - rather than the fine eventually going to billing (and adding the billing fee) without ever letting the patron know that they owe a fine. This is similar to the last idea posted, but subtly different, so I thought I'd go ahead and suggest this.
Thanks, Marian51 votes -
"Fulfilment Configuration Utility"- include specific loan date for closed days
When setting up the Closed Library Due Date Management for short loan items, it would be useful to be able to test it in the Fulfilment Configuration Utility by specifying the loan date and time rather than the only option being 'if the item was borrowed now'.
For example, in order to test the rule for our 24 hour loans when taking the weekend closed days into consideration, this can only be done on a Friday, which can mean having to wait 5 days to test the parameter.
If it were possible to select Friday 08:00 as the loan date…
50 votes -
Option to set return time to 15 minutes before closing
We issue equipment such as laptops to students. These must be returned before the library closes.
In the current TOUs it is only possible to set the due time to closing time. However, we really need to check all equipment is back, and therefore would like to set the due time to 15 mins (or 30mins) before closing.We would also do this for short loans, as these require being returned before the library shuts. Otherwise the student will receive fines.
Changing the closing time of the library would be too confusing for everyone
45 votes -
Handling books on the shelf that didn't get checked in
When a book on the shelf was accidentally not checked in and another user brings it to the desk, it clears the original checkout and adds a fine without generating a message to let us know. In most cases, we would waive those fines, since the book had obviously been returned. We would love to see a pop-up when that happens so we can go and waive the fine on the previous customer's record
40 votes -
Extra column in "Return items" with "Fine per patron"
We would like to have an extra column in return items, a column for fine per patron. Because at every return we immediately want to see if the patron has a fine in general, not for the returned item. We would like to see this in Return items and not via "Manage patron services / Returns". Is this possible or something similar?
35 votes -
Bulk Change Due Dates for All libraries of institution
Add the ALL LIBRARIES option to avoid having to do one after the other
35 votes -
Automatically disable a loan rule
During the holidays, we set up exceptional loan rules for a specific period (e.g. summer holidays).
But these rules must be deactivated manually, at a given date, in order to return to the normal rules used during the academic period.
It would be very interesting if these rules could be deactivated automatically by Alma, by entering, for example, an expiry date.
31 votes -
Re-loan should not cause automatic renewal of items already on loan
When loaning an item to a patron, who has this item already on loan, the system automatically renews the loan (if possible). An option in configuration is needed to suppress this automatic renewal for the following reason: too many errors occur, when the item is automatically renewed. If the patron intends to return the item and the circulation desk operator by accident scans the item for loan, then the item is back in the library stacks but by accident renewed for the patron (who will get claimed!).
30 votes -
Automatic Loan Renewals-needs more options
Could you add the ability to configure automatic loan renewals by physical location within a library? We have some locations we would like to have auto renewals for and some that we do not.
29 votes
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