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.
- or
No existing idea results
- ~ No ideas found ~
1826 results found
-
Avoid duplicate Item call numbers
At present, when duplicating an item, barcode is automatically generated and saved even before any changes in a duplicated item record are done. That means in practice, that if - for some reason - Item call number or any other field were not modified, duplication is created. That is a huge problem in fields that 1] require unique value, 2] there are no warnings about duplicate value in any moment of the process. Suggestion: Similar to duplicating bib record, the new barcode is created only after actual saving of the new (duplicated) item. The cataloguer will be required to generate a new barcode - as in creating a new item - and that would diminish unwanted barcodes with duplicate data being saved automatically.
At present, when duplicating an item, barcode is automatically generated and saved even before any changes in a duplicated item record are done. That means in practice, that if - for some reason - Item call number or any other field were not modified, duplication is created. That is a huge problem in fields that 1] require unique value, 2] there are no warnings about duplicate value in any moment of the process. Suggestion: Similar to duplicating bib record, the new barcode is created only after actual saving of the new (duplicated) item. The cataloguer will be required to generate…
1 vote -
Ability to have more than customize payment status (paid/not paid)
We have several statuses that an invoice goes through - received, Open, coded, ready for payment and paid. Having the option to use configurable statuses would reduce the number of times we have to go into SAP to check payment status.
1 vote -
Add Loan Information to Fulfillment Set Export
When Create Fulfillment Set is used to create a set of items that are Overdue, Lost, Claimed Returned etc it would be very useful for the loan and borrower's information to be included in the exported spreadsheet.
Currently only the Process Type and Due Date are included. Including the Loan date, Patron's name, Primary ID, and Preferred email address would allow staff flexibility in contacting patrons by mail merge or manually.
1 vote -
Additional SMS possibilities using webhooks
I would like to suggest additional SMS possibilities when using webhooks. Currently, there are only four SMS message possibilities triggered when using webhooks (Borrowing Activity Letter, Fulfillment Cancel Request Letter, Loan Status Notice, and On Hold Shelf Letter). Others that would be very helpful to include with webhooks are:
Courtesy Letter, sent to patrons before their items are due
Ful Overdue and Lost Loan Notification Letter, sent to patrons after their items have become overdue
1 vote -
Change Opening Hours calendar 'Apply Changes' from link to button
Currently the 'Apply Changes' link on the Open Hours configuration page is easy to miss. Since it is so crucial to click this when editing timings (such as End of Term), it should be more prominent. I would suggest making it a big button right next to Save, that will be greyed out if there are no changes to apply.
1 vote -
ability to edit or remove created tags
ability to edit or remove created tags
1 vote -
Add Call Number to all Overlap and Collection Analysis Reports that include Print
Add Call Number to all Overlap and Collection Analysis Reports that include Print
The new Title Look Up function that permits comparing a list of print to various electronic collections is excellent. However, the output reports don't include the print call numbers. That would be a significant improvement; staff could then easily use the report to go to the shelves. As it is, we have to do a separate process in Analytics just to get call numbers which seems like a waste of time.
1 vote -
automated import profiles - create log file with useful information if process fails
We are finding Alma less than helpful in cases where the automated download fails due to a parsing error. Apart from actually creating a log file as suggested here, there would be other ways to improve this experience.
This is what currently happens:
- for automated import profiles, no log file is created when the process fails, the emailed report simply states that the import failed, there is nowhere in alma where I could find any further information
- because of this, we then need to try and run the import manually, so we can see what the issue is
- Alma fails again, this time logs a report stating 'The job completed with errors. For more information view the report details (or contact Support using the process ID).' We need to find the file details under 'Events' (instead of 'View file details'). No meaningful further information is included in the log
- at this stage the file still hasn't been downloaded for us to look at
- so we need to find the relevant ftp connection details and go and download the file ourselves
- then we usually try and import the file again
- at last Alma tells us there is a parsing error, but with no further details (if e.g. there was a duplicate LDR field, it should say so)
- we open the file in marcedit which so far has always worked just fine (ExLibris even recommend this as a workaround)
- because we use marcedit to open it and it copes with these 'errors' we cannot see what was wrong with the file in the first place and we cannot report back to the vendor that supplied the fileAlso, I am wondering as Marcedit can be programmed to cope with such things like stray special characters (I assume that's the issue with these files), then it should be possible in Alma too? I have compared both the recompiled marc file with the original file using notepad and I could not spot any differences.
We are finding Alma less than helpful in cases where the automated download fails due to a parsing error. Apart from actually creating a log file as suggested here, there would be other ways to improve this experience.
This is what currently happens:
- for automated import profiles, no log file is created when the process fails, the emailed report simply states that the import failed, there is nowhere in alma where I could find any further information
- because of this, we then need to try and run the import manually, so we can see what the issue is…1 vote -
Customization of the search categories
The customization of the search categories to be displayed in the Advanced or Simple Search is solved very very awkwardly. 3 clicks for each category is just too complicated.
My suggestions:
- Make activation switch directly operable
- Make list sortable by activated terms
make
- Checkboxes for the terms in both columns for advanced and simple search
- Improve the explanation in the KB, because
translating "dc:Title" with "Dc Title" has no added value. An explanation that dc:title B is e.g. DUBLIN CORE title would be super, so that one knows what one activates there.Please improve at least the KB urgently!
Thanks!The customization of the search categories to be displayed in the Advanced or Simple Search is solved very very awkwardly. 3 clicks for each category is just too complicated.
My suggestions:
- Make activation switch directly operable
- Make list sortable by activated terms
make
- Checkboxes for the terms in both columns for advanced and simple search
- Improve the explanation in the KB, because
translating "dc:Title" with "Dc Title" has no added value. An explanation that dc:title B is e.g. DUBLIN CORE title would be super, so that one knows what one activates there.Please improve at least…
1 vote -
show exchange rate
Under the Summary tab, Pricing, have a Native Pricing line where the price is calculated with the current exchange rate. Also, in the Invoice Lines tab, allow for an option to show Native Pricing in the table settings.
1 vote -
Ability to open links in metadata editor in a new window
The "Go to link" feature for URLs in the Metadata Editor should give the option to open the link in a new window.
1 vote -
Improving ‘PO Line Summary’
When creating a "PO Line", it would be interesting to add other options in "Acquisition Method" and "Material Type" in the PO Line Summary
1 vote -
Display purchase request approval/rejection reason in purchase request alerts in citations
We think it would be helpful for the purchase request approval/rejection alerts for citations in Alma to include the approval/rejection reason. This would appear in the Type field of the alert in addition to the "Citation Purchase Request Approved/Rejected" text (like how the rule used to approve/reject copyright for a citation appears after "Approved" or "Rejected" in the Copyright Status field).
1 vote -
When cancelling requests from the pick list, display a warning message
On the pick list, requests are displayed at a title level. This means it is possible that multiple requests are present for the title. When clicking 'cancel request' from the title, all requests are cancelled, not only the first one. Since this behaviour occurs even when requests are from different requesters, for different volumes or different digitisations, we would like a warning message to appear before deleting multiple requests from this screen.
1 vote -
Improve “Chat for Support” role to add product specific scoping or separate roles per product
As more products are added and managed by the Alma HEP it becomes a concern that Ex Libris is not adding necessary granularity for roles. The “Chat for Support” role does not have any granularity for different products.
For example, we would like for some of our senior acquisitions staff to have visibility and ability to open Chat sessions for minor title by title issues with Rialto, which we have recently implemented. But this is not possible, as the role gives visibility and ability to open Chat sessions for Alma also, which is not appropriate per our internal management of staff support and case handling.
Fulfillment of this request would be ability to assign staff a role of Chat for Support, scoped to Rialto and then separately another role scoped to Primo VE, and then separately another role scoped to Alma etc. Or alternatively completely separate roles such as ‘Chat for Support – Rialto’, ‘Chat for Support – Alma’, etc.As more products are added and managed by the Alma HEP it becomes a concern that Ex Libris is not adding necessary granularity for roles. The “Chat for Support” role does not have any granularity for different products.
For example, we would like for some of our senior acquisitions staff to have visibility and ability to open Chat sessions for minor title by title issues with Rialto, which we have recently implemented. But this is not possible, as the role gives visibility and ability to open Chat sessions for Alma also, which is not appropriate per our internal management of…1 vote -
Add vendor information to Order Now Letter
Currently in the Order Now Letter the vendor information is not output in the XML, which is automatically generated when submitting an order.
With adding this feature, the ordering person could then also receive the information by e-mail from which vendor the resource was ordered.
1 vote -
—-—-—-— Marlise Daum commented: Lieber Moritz Eigensatz Ach so… Du weisst ja sicher, dass man über “View title in Search” das Exemplar find
Barcode of item visible under requests
—-—-—-—
Marlise Daum commented:
Lieber Moritz Eigensatz
Ach so…
Du weisst ja sicher, dass man über “View title in Search” das Exemplar findet.Aber direkt anzeigen bei den Requests lässt es sich (momentan) nicht. Welches Exemplar/Strichcode betroffen ist, lässt sich auch erst erkennen, wenn der Request einen bestimmten Status hat (zum Beispiel “On Hold Shelf).
Gerne kannst Du dazu einen “Enhancement Request” einreichen: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma
Liebe Grüsse
Marlise
View request · Turn off this request's notifications
SLSP Support, powered by Jira Service Desk, sent you this message.1 vote -
Index MARC field 440 contents to Series or Series statement in Bibliographic details of Design analytics
Series titles entered to MARC field 440 currently cannot be retrieved using Design analytics. Many old bib records carry series titles in field 440. Thank you for your consideration!
1 vote -
Archived Reading Lists show up in Reading List Tasks
When I archive reading lists, they show up in reading list task section and there isn't way to remove them from there. I don't need know that they've been archived, so it would be nice if they didn't show up in this area since I use it to monitor reading lists I'm currently working on. If there is a way to configure this, so they don't show up, I haven't been able to find any documentation for it. (Most of the time I get pointed to Leganto and we don't use it)
1 vote -
Allow Correction of MARC21 Field Data in Metadata Configuration List
In Config-->Resources-->Metadata Configuration-->MARC21 Bibliographic, Alma users can add a new MARC21 field not currently included in the suite of out-of-the-box MARC21 fields by using the "Add Extensions" command to upload a XML file that contains field definitions and prescribed indicator and subfield values. The values in that file trigger error warnings in the Metadata Editor if that field contains incorrect indicator values or unauthorized subfields in a given bibliographic record. However, it is currently NOT possible to delete a newly added MARC21 field or upload a revised XML field definition file without deleting the entire extension pack.
What we're requesting is that Ex Libris enable users to delete a MARC21 field from the Profile Details list--AND/OR to upload a revised XML field definition file and replace the one currently in place--without deleting the entire field extensions pack. With the current setup, you're more or less stuck if you want to change a field setting (e.g. indicator values) or simply want to remove one MARC field and recreate it due to an error.
In Config-->Resources-->Metadata Configuration-->MARC21 Bibliographic, Alma users can add a new MARC21 field not currently included in the suite of out-of-the-box MARC21 fields by using the "Add Extensions" command to upload a XML file that contains field definitions and prescribed indicator and subfield values. The values in that file trigger error warnings in the Metadata Editor if that field contains incorrect indicator values or unauthorized subfields in a given bibliographic record. However, it is currently NOT possible to delete a newly added MARC21 field or upload a revised XML field definition file without deleting the entire extension pack.
What we're requesting…
1 vote
- Don't see your idea?