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.
35 results found
-
Merge records between IZ and NZ in batch
You cannot merge bibliographic records in batch from separate zones. We would like to encourage institutions to improve NZ bibliographic records by having users be able to do this within their own IZ instead of having to set up with the central office a separate external process for records to be updated in batch in the NZ.
1 vote -
Deleting Bib in NZ if record not Held by other IZs - Delete bib records job
When running the "Delete bibliographic records" job on a set of bib records in the IZ, check if the records being deleted are not held by any other members and if not - delete the bib on the NZ as well.
1 vote -
Bib Suppressed in NZ - Not showed suppressed in lZ
When a bib record is suppressed from Discovery at NZ level, it would be nice to have the Suppressed Icon when searching for the same bib record at the IZ level in the Network tab.
1 vote -
Functionality to manage unique URLs for NZ local collections
In instances where there is no CZ collection for an e-resource, we have to create Network Zone local collections in Alma to allow our consortium members to discover and access the content in Primo. However, we are not able to do so if each member has a unique access URL for the resource.
We would like to see functionality in Alma that would allow us to manage unique identifiers for URLs for each member in NZ local collections.
10 votes -
Display "Bibliographic Rank" for Electronic Collections IZ/NG
In the November 2023 Alma release, "bibliographic rank" information displays for Community Zone collections (please see attached screenshot and https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173/suggestions/39648964) but this information does not display for Community Zone collections activated in the Institution Zone/Network Zone.
This makes it more time consuming to evaluate the bib record quality of collections already activated because one would need to search for them one by one in the CZ.
Please display "bibliograpic rank" for all elections collections (CZ and local too if possible) in a library's Institution Zone and Network Zone and also make this data available in Analytics so reports can…
33 votes -
Allow AFN loans and returns via Offline Circulation
AFN (Automated Fulfillment Network) items can neither be loaned nor returned via Offline Circulation. The Offline client accepts the AFN barcodes, but when we attempt to load the file into Alma the resulting error message is "Item not found. Barcode: [barcode number]". Since non-AFN resource sharing loans are considered “local” records in Alma, they can circulate via Offline Circulation. Please add this functionality for AFN loans and returns as well.
1 vote -
Add Volume number to Matching Records summary results in the Metadata Editor
When a single ISBN is assigned to an entire set of multi-volume works, sharing the record for one of the volumes with the Network Zone may retrieve multiple matching records. In these cases, it is difficult to find the correct record because the Title, Author, ISBN, and Subjects are the same. We have to open each record using the View option to check the Volume number, and when dozens of volumes exist, it will take a long time to find the right one. It would be helpful if we could see the volume number in the brief results without opening…
5 votes -
Duplicate Title Analysis should include match option for Unique OCLC number match method
The Duplicate Title Analysis job and report currently include matching on only one attribute at a time, rather than on all of the attributes that might be covered by a given match rule. For instance, matching on system number provides only matches between 035$a in different records, while the Unique OCLC number match method covers both 035$a and 035$z. As a result the duplicate title analysis report is missing records that would otherwise be found by an import profile or the match method in the network zone.
11 votes -
Items with fulfillment notes cannot be checked out on self checkout machines
Currently items with Fulfillment Notes loaned through the Automated Fulfillment Network (AFN) cannot be checked out on the self checkout machines. Locally owned items with fulfillment notes can be checked out through the machines. Having the ability to checkout all loans on the machines regardless of notes will streamline the process for patrons and service desk staff. It will also eliminate the confusion that occurs when users encounter this situation during the time of checkout.
5 votes -
Make ACTL reports dynamic
In a network environment usually the majority of Institution-Zone-BIB-records are linked to the Network Zone. Currently the ACTL reports are not comprehensive – see Ideas Exchange “Make reports in the ACTL of a network environment comprehensive”.
Once the IZ-ACTL comprehensively reports on the records representing all the resources available in a particular library, it would be of great help if the reports within a NZ environment were dynamic. Meaning that if one of the staff users of any of the Institution Zones has already corrected a NZ record it is linked to, and subsequently has deleted the item in their…
71 votesDear Community,
I want to share with you that the requirement of this idea is planned for 2024 H2.
The Consortia member institution's enhanced Authority Control Task List (ACTL) will include reporting Network Zone record changes at the Institution Zone level, allowing corrections of such records, and pushing those corrections to the entire Consortia ACTL.
Similar reporting of Network Zone records changes available in every Consortia member ACTL will be affected by the actions done by the member, which is doing the work on behalf of the entire Consortia.
The Alma Team
-
Fulfillment Network Users get roles assigned by Role Assignment Rules
Network Zone/Fulfillment network users get roles scoped to our institution zone by the role assignment rules, which makes it appear that they have access to user and financial and other data of our institution, even if they don't.
I propose changing the behavior so that users who are not local, and from another institution are ignored by the role assignment rules.
1 vote -
Network Zone indicator for centrally paid collections
In our instance of the Network Zone, we have collections that the central office negotiates a price for the libraries but the central office does not pay for those collections. We also have collections that are paid for by the central office. Currently I add internal notes indicating if the collection is centrally paid or not. Can an indicator be added to the CZ collections, in which during activation, you could check a box in the Activation Wizard: Electronic Collection and Services Setup that indicates the collection is centrally paid for.
3 votes -
Run the job ‘Change Physical Items information’ with user role ‘Physical Inventory Operator’ at library level
Background
Currently, a user with ‘Physical Inventory Operator’ role at institutional level can perform physical inventory change by a batch job ‘Change Physical Items information’ in Alma. This applies to a set of any physical items owned by all libraries in an institution. A user with this role at library level has no way to run the job ‘Change Physical Items information’ in Alma as it is not on the job list.Request
In an institution of a network of libraries, a branch library staff often updates information of a batch of physical items owned by branch library. The user…1 vote -
Increase report limits on Delete bibliographic records job
The Delete Bibliographic Records job does not include a report on the records deleted and any errors if the set is larger than 10,000 records. This number is not sufficiently large enough for operations in a network zone, and the main workaround is to create smaller sets of records and running multiple delete jobs.
Please increase the reporting limits on the delete bibliographic records job.
1 vote -
E-Resources: Make public note and authentication note translatable
In the editor of e-collection / service / portfolio, it is possible to set up the public note and authentication note. These are then displayed to the patron in Primo VE in the box with full-text link in view it section.
Currently it is a simple text box with no translation possibility. In our network we use 4 languages for the UI. Therefore, we require this field to be translatable so the note language adjusts to the patron interface in Primo VE.
24 votes -
Add API name as an Analytics field in Physical Items subject area
I am looking to create an Alma Analytics report for quality control purposes for the numerous Ex Libris Developer Network's apps we use. Currently, the only way to monitor item record changes using the APIs in the Physical Items subject area is to select "Modified By" but the only option recorded is "exl-api". I cannot monitor which APIs are updating which records with this generic "exl-api" response. I would like to add either a different field to select API by name or update the "exl-api" response to "exl-api_[name of API]".
1 vote -
Include Item Description in the ASRS Remote Storage Update Job
When an item is added into the ASRS, Alma's Inventory Remote Storage Update Job sends the following item record fields to our Dematic EMS system:
- Item barcode
- Call number
- Author
- Title
This is described in the Developer's Network documentation here: https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/integrations/remote_storage/asrs/
We would like to have the item description field added in addition to the call number since it holds the volume and other essential enumeration information.
Not having the volume and enumeration information in our Dematic system makes it extremely difficult to inventory a journal series, or locate an individual volume in the Dematic/EMS software.
12 votes -
Alma collections: Allow to add from network zone
Our Alma consortium shares a common network zone. On the local institution level, we are building Alma collections (not digital/electronic collections). We can add titles from the institution zone, but we can't add titles from the network zone.
This is documented:
Alma Online Help (English) > Resource Management > Inventory > Managing Collections"You can only add titles from your Institution Zone to collections. NZ-managed inventory cannot be added to collections."
This is very bad since many of our e-book packages are managed on the NZ level. So we can't add e-books to our collection and present them together with…
161 votes -
AFN Loans on library loans webhooks
We manage home delivery requests. We need to print labels and generate a file of deliveries once a day with all loans.
Alma did not provide a list of home delivery transactions the same day, you need to wait the next day to generate a Analytics report.
We have developed a solution that makes a list using Loans Webhooks. Now we are using AFN (Automated Fulfillment Network) in our consortium and those transactions are not published on our Webhook, because books are from other institutions even though the loan was made in our system.
In order to have all home delivery transactions we need all loans made…6 votes -
Make "Send Query to Patron" option available in other areas of Alma
The Send Query to Patron function found under Fulfillment - Resource Sharing - Borrowing Requests - More actions (on item) is a great tool for notifying patrons within a request without having to cancel the request to send a note. Can this be made available elsewhere in the system (e.g. Pick from Shelf, Patron Requests, Network Activity, etc.) for quick and easy access to the function?
12 votes
- Don't see your idea?