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.
2018 results found
-
Sort of holdings with the same location by call number in the GetIt Tab
Currently, the display of holdings in Primo for multi-volume monographs is random.
Alma only allows to configure the order of locations by "their proximity to the patron, according to the library IP address”. However, holdings with the same location but different call numbers are not sorted in any meaningful way.When we catalogue a multi-volume monograph we create a different holding record for each volume, so we cannot use the “item sort routines” to adjust the display in Primo, because they only apply to items within the same holding.
Currently, our patrons see things like this:
http://primo.sns.it/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=requestTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=39pis_alma2150514590002521We’d like to…
94 votes
Dana Moshkovits
responded
This idea was mistakenly marked as completed and therefore I am setting it back to its original state.
The idea that was completed as part of October release is ‘Sort of holdings by location(A-Z) in Primo Getit’ -
Expand ONIX-PL import to all default values in Alma.
For ONIX-PL to actually save time, more variables has to be supported.
We suggest that all default fields in Alma, and language for Text and Data mining are included in the import file.94 votes -
Ability to link to single interface records from vendor record
At the moment, when you link to an interface from a vendor record in Alma the interface record cannot be linked to one that has already been set up. For example, if you have Vendor A and link it to Interface X you cannot also link Vendor B to Interface X. You are also unable to have two interfaces with the same name. This is required in situations where we have multiple vendors for the one interface. For example, SAGE journals are acquired directly through SAGE but the ebooks are acquired through iGroup. In this case we would like to…
93 votes
Anonymous
responded
Submitted by Ex Libris PM on behalf of our customers
-
Expand "Create Physical Items Work Order" job to include work order Status
The “Create Physical Item Work Orders” job should be expanded to allow users to add work order Status in addition to Type and Department to a set of records. Currently adding Status is a 2nd separate step. After running the job to apply Type and Department, you must then sign into the appropriate Currently At location, Manage In Process Items, and then apply the Work Order Status (limited to one screen of 20 records at a time). Very Inefficient!
93 votes -
Authenticated "Authentication note" field
Make the content of the "authentication note" field (electronic collection editor and portfolio editor) only visible to our legitimate end-users by means of authentication: preferably via sso, another option would be via ip. That way we can register and manage all our username/password information for e-sources from within Alma. And get rid of the in-house solution (according to the Alma-L mailing list other institutions, like us, developed solutions involving a link to an authentication protected page).
Currently the authentication note has the same functionality as the "public note" field. It is displayed to anyone searching in our Primo. There also…93 votes -
Permanent collections
Colecciones permanentes:
Si un título tienen todos sus ítems asignados a una colección permanente de documentos perdidos, extraviados, descartados, etc. , el sistema Alma debe evitar que el registro se recupere y visualice a través de Primo, esto a fin de que los usuarios no visualicen un recurso que no tiene la biblioteca y a fin de evitar de realizar otro proceso de cambio.Permanent collections:
If a title has all its items assigned to a permanent collection of lost, missing, discarded documents, etc. , the Alma system must prevent the registry from being recovered and viewed through Primo, so…93 votes -
PO Line and invoice attachments: Upload/View/Edit/Delete - additional user roles needed
It is possible to upload attachments to a PO Line or an invoice. These attachements can be viewed, edited and deleted as well.
In case of using Alma as (the only) data storage for e.g. invoice PDFs, it is very important that attachments can be deleted only by specially privileged staff users. Deletion might be necessery e.g. because of erroneous uploads.
Looking into the 'Roles Reports' shows that there is no 'Delete' option listed (so Edit means also Delete):
Purchasing Operator / Purchasing Manager
- polineattachments.xml ... View Edit
- po_attachments.xml ... Edit
- invoiceattachmentstab.xml ... View
- poline…
92 votes -
Set preferred SMS default to "Yes"
When adding users manually in Alma the phone number has a parameter called "Preferred SMS" which is automatically set to "No". It controls whether Alma sends SMS' to the patron or not. It can only be changed after the profile is first saved. Hence it is ease to forget to toggle this setting.
We would like to have the option to choose the default setting for Preferred SMS, or the option to toggle this setting before saving on the "Quick User Management" registration form.
92 votes -
Add Storage Location ID as column choice in Item View screen
We would like to view Storage Location ID in the item view screen within Alma: https://www.screencast.com/t/1fJ1IyCq
We can now access in Analytics however staff would like to be able to see this field without having to run a separate analytics report to see the data.
Thanks!
90 votes -
Prevent vendor deactivation if open purchase order lines exist
Even though there are current purchase order lines linked to a vendor, the vendor can be deactivated with a single click.
For our institution, this plays a role in automatic claiming, where a claim letter is generated and sent once the receiving date has been exceeded, although the vendor is set to inactive.
It would be very useful to reject the deactivation of the vendor if there are open purchase order lines attached. An error message should be displayed indicating that there are open purchase orders linked to the vendor.
We would prefer this message not to be overridable, but…
90 votes -
merge vendor records
Most libraries have multiple records for the same vendor. This is often the result of migrated records from a previous system, but can also occur because of changes in library workflows or even the acquisition of one company by another.
Currently, the only option is to choose one vendor record going forward and stop using the other vendor records. However, this creates extra work for libraries, such as changing the vendor on purchase order lines and including multiple vendors when running reports on historical expenditures. The ability to merge vendor records would solve these difficulties.
89 votes -
Batch editing and deleting invoices
There is currently no way to batch delete invoices. Old invoices can be an issue when it comes to deleting POLs. For those of us with thousands of invoices to delete, it would be extremely helpful to have a batch delete option.
Additionally, a job to set invoices back to review (in bulk) would be very helpful.
[If this idea has already been posted, please let me know]
89 votes -
Display the date a work order is created
When a work order is created to put an item in process internally ("Technical Services (CAMS)" or "Show to supervisor" or "Preservation") it would be helpful to have Alma display the date this status change happened.
It could be in the "item history", and/or the "In process" display, and /or in the "list of items." Currently, the receipt date is the last date displayed in these locations, which does not help with locating an in-process item.
88 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.
88 votes -
Possibility to open a record in MDE with MMS ID in URL (Deep Link)
At the moment it is not possible to create a link from an external system or a document which opens the MDE for a given MMS ID.
We would like to speed up the workflows of our cataloguers by having a possibility to generate links to Alma for a list of MMS IDs.
e.g. https://{alma domain}/mde/?mms={mms id}
This could then used by external tools to generate a "show" or "edit" link for our cataloguers.
It would also be possible to generate such links in an Excel document with MMS IDs by using a formula to generate such links, which would…
88 votes -
Add pickup library code to On Hold Shelf Letter (FulPlaceOnHoldShelfLetter)
In our consortial environment we are maintaining a public list of libraries. The patrons can see the library contact information there for each library in our network - https://libraries.swisscovery.help.
We would like to add a URL link to this list to specific pickup library where the user has to pickup the title mentioned in the On Hold Shelf Letter (code FulPlaceOnHoldShelfLetter).
Unfortunately, the pickup library code is not available in the letter XML. There are pickup library name (request/deliveryaddress) or combination of library name and circulation desk name (request/calculateddestination_name). But these are not suitable for URL linking.
88 votes -
Display renewals in Item History
In the Physical Item Editor, under the Fulfillment activities, we are able to see the Loan and Return history. I think it would be great to see Renewal information in this place as well.
So many times, we have patrons disputing fines because the item was late and they renewed it thinking that it's not due on the original due date.
It's true that when the item is checked out to the person you can see this when you click Actions>Loan History. But this does us no good when the item is checked back in and a patron comes to…
87 votes -
Alma bookings - concurrent bookings issue
Our institution wants to introduce bookings in Alma for our High Demand loans, which are 3 hours.
The main issue we’ve found is concurrent bookings, see scenarios below, with a 5 minute exclusion set up:
• A books item for 11:40-12:40 - however doesn’t borrow the item within the 5 minute exclusion
• B books item at 11:46, for 11:50-12.50
• A checks out item at 11:53, despite booking for B at 11:50
What is needed is some mechanism for bookings to expire automatically once the exclusion period is reached.
87 votes -
Show Interested User name directly in the PO Line list when receiving new material
Currently, for PO Lines with interested user(s), we can only see a green "V" in the PO Lines list when receiving new material in the Acquisition Department.
Since we increasingly use Purchase Requests to order new material, we almost always have IUs in the PO Lines. These IUs can either be patrons or staff members.We'd like to be able to see straightaway the IU's name(s) when receiving, either directly or when flying over this green "V".
It would save us a few clicks to be able to see quickly the Interested User's name. And it is important for us:…87 votes -
Ability to edit a location instead of creating a new one
We are aware that this is a fulfillment configuration, but it is one which causes problems with acquisitions.
We would like the ability to 'edit' existing location codes that would automatically update everything within those locations to the new location, including holdings, items, and PO lines...rather than having to create new locations and move things before deleting the old location.
This would eliminate the problems with "change physical items" jobs that don't change locations for things with no items attached (common with serials).
This would also eliminate the problem of POs becoming unlinked from holdings when a location is changed.…
86 votes
- Don't see your idea?