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

181 results found

  1. Prioritising Digitisation requests over hold requests for processing

    Is it possible to have digitisation requests automatically prioritised to the top of a request queue over the physical item requests. Currently all physical item and digitisation requests go by the date they are placed by the patron. We find that patrons are waiting months sometimes just to get a copy of a chapter, where as if all digitisations were automatically at the top of the list they could all be processed and then items loaned to patrons.

    66 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. Requesting Multiple Volumes or Multiple Copies of One Title

    Alma will not allow a patron to request a second volume of a title on the same record unless the item has a description. However, as one of our catalogers explained: "Since they are part of an analyzed set, the volume number goes on the holding record, not the item record, and therefore, there needs to be two holding records."

    This is problematic for requesting analyzed sets from our off-site storage facility, which is where we get the most complaints from our patrons.

    We put in a Salesforce case (#00485416) about this, but they closed it because they insist we…

    66 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. Sort booking requests by Start Time

    When monitoring resource requests on Fulfillment > Monitor Requests & Item Processes, a "Sort by" button with an option to sort by Start Time would ease the handling of booking requests.
    The booking requests are currently sorted by Request Date, which is not very useful, and can not be sorted by any other field.

    A "Sort by" button actually does appear on Fulfillment > Pick From Shelf.

    Another option could be adding the Start Time on the drop down menu of the bar "Requests" on top of the page.

    62 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. Include past digitization request information in borrower request tab

    In the Manage Patron Services area, you can see current and past loans, current and past returns, but once a digitization request has been processed, it is no longer viewable from the borrower record.
    Being able to see past digitization requests from each patron would help immensely with being able to identify when a patron has already received material from a certain resource. Being able to see previous request details in a list (including title, author, barcode, pages already provided) will help identify if providing additional requests from the same title may exceed the allowable copyright limit for material from…

    59 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 "Managed By Library" facet in "Monitor Requests & Item Processes"

    There's a need to check the list in transit from a library to another library.
    In "Monitor Requests & Item Processes" menu, there are 'Pick up location' or ' 'Owning Library' facets.
    But there's no facet to check destination of the item.

    It will be very helpful, if the facet is given by Alma.

    45 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. On Hold Shelf letter should display pick-up library rather than owning library

    Currently, if a student places a request on a book from a different library to be picked up at their "home" library, the On Hold Shelf letter comes from the owning library with the owning library's branding, not from the pick-up location, which is what they are expecting. This is confusing to students because they are not expecting an email from a different library and often ignore it.
    The On Hold Shelf letter email should have the pick-up library information/branding, not the owning library's information/branding.

    44 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. XML Expansion for "Ful Resource Request Slip Letter" with Data about Reshelving Status and about Expected Date when Item will be Reshelved

    For fetching requested media at the stacks we are making use of the "Ful Resource Request Slip Letter" in printed form which we customized according to our needs.

    Unfortunately, the data fields that contain

    • the information that the requested item might currently not be at the stacks because it has just been returned and is therefore very likely on its way back to the stacks (Status = awaiting_reshelving)
    • and the information when the requested item is expected to be reshelved ("reshelving_time")

    are not provided in the XML data of the "Full Resource Request Slip Letter".

    This information, when be presented…

    42 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. Option to define which library will serve a patron digitization request with priority

    We allow patrons to place digitization requests on print journal articles. For this we use a central digitization department that serves several libraries of the institution. Since the request can be placed on the journal title it often occurs that several libraries could fulfill the request. At the moment the system picks the serving library randomly. Since our central digitization department is located at our central library, it would be extremely helpful, if we could define that items of the central library fulfill the requests with priority. This way we could eliminate unnecessary transfers of items between libraries and speed…

    41 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. Option to Return Items Without Filling Patron Requests

    Items checked in that have patron requests on them are automatically placed on hold shelf and the patron is immediately emailed. Currently Ex Libris allows a delay for the notice for a maximum of 999 minutes, which is often not long enough. Sometimes materials come back that need repair, updates, or to be quarantined. This can take varying amounts of time. It would be ideal if the system would allow us to have the option to check materials in without triggering the hold process, so we may complete any necessary steps we need to before an email is triggered to…

    39 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. Store information about request history

    It is currently not possible to see whether an item has previously been requested, only that it's checked out. I want (often) to be able to tell: how many times throughout the history of this item has it been requested and in what way (page from shelf, recall, something else). It's super weird to me that this isn't present in the fulfillment history at least, and probably in analytics.

    38 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. A separate booking calendar

    Now, it is not possible to establish a separate calendar for booking request, the library's opening and closing times are used.
    We would like the booking request to have a separate calendar from the Library's general hours.

    37 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. Send borrowers an email when they place a request

    It would be good if, when someone places a request on Primo, they could be sent an email receipt to confirm what they have requested. (This is an idea for both Alma and Primo, as I assume the email would be sent from Alma).

    Not only would it be useful for users to have confirmation (a lot of webforms will send users a copy of their completed form, so people half-expect one from Primo/Alma), but it would allow libraries to include important messaging.

    eg. at the moment, January 2021, we're in lockdown again, so the email could ask people to…

    35 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. Option to add user details to Pick from Shelf & in export list

    For institutions that manage requests differently depending on User Group or other values in the user record, it would be useful to have this info displayed with the rest of the request data in a pick from shelf list. Alternatively it would be useful to have this data in the export list so that staff managing these requests have this additional data to hand.

    34 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. ILL cancel/reject workflow - "Lender Reject Email Letter"

    ILL workflow scenario of a library with several sublibraries.
    - Step 1: The (central) Resource Sharing Department creates a fulfillment request to receive a book from a sublibrary (to be sent via interlibrary loan).
    - Step 2: The sublibrary can not or will not send the book and therefore the sublibrary cancels the request. This also triggers a "Lender Reject Email Letter" to ILL partner.

    However, the fulfillment request cancellation form only provides these fields:
    - Cancellation reason
    - Cancellation note

    But a "Lender Reject Email Letter" needs the following fields:
    - Reject reason
    - Note to partner

    The "Cancellation…

    33 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. Prevent the reservation of items from other libraries if material exists on the user's campus

    By default, Alma allows the user to request material from any of the libraries registered in the system.

    For us this is not always desirable, because in certain cases the library where he can request the material is located hundreds of kilometers from where he is, and the transport of this material becomes difficult and time-consuming.

    This is especially problematic when the material exists in the library/campus where that user is registered. The requested item would take longer to arrive from somewhere else than if he waited it to be returned to his campus.

    To solve this, we would like…

    31 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. Block the patron (several days) if they do not pick up a physical item that was requested and that they have reserved on the hold-shelf

    Create a new TOU request type Policy type to sanction the not pick up of the item from the hold-shelf

    31 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. Bulk Work Order Functions

    A function that allows you to scan multiple item barcodes to create a specific type of work order on all items you scan.

    This would also allow you to remove work orders in bulk.

    This is a function we very much need; on Monday I had to create 140 work orders for one of our Resource Sharing services, and this took nearly an hour and a half to do. This is not feasible for us in the long term, and we very much need a rapid function for this process.

    This function would, of course, need to inform the user…

    30 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. Show Additional ID under Manage Patron Services > Request

    The Royal Danish Library has placed the pickup number in Additional ID. In order to have easy access to the number, we would like to see the number under Manage Patron Services / Requests. We would like to have an extra column (Additional ID)

    30 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. Batch Update Expiry Date for Items in Department (Work Orders)

    It would be really helpful if we had the ability to change expiry dates for items in process (in department, with a work order) in a batch. This screen already includes the ability to change status, mark done, and generate barcodes in batch. Adding an option to update the expiry date that way seems like a logical addition.

    28 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. Allow transferring a recall to the next eligible item without placing a new request

    In the event a patron with a recalled item has extenuating circumstances that prevent the item's timely return, it would be helpful to pass the recall process to the next eligible item in the holding, e.g. the next oldest loan. Currently, we are only able to extend the due date of the current loan, and advise the requesting patron to cancel then re-request the item - this would cause issues if there is a queue of requests for the item, and we would like to be able to "bump" the chain of requests down if possible.

    28 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