Alma
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1748 results found
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Enhancing Security in Alma: Restricting Return without scanning the item, Claim Return, Found Functions to High-Level Roles
The new Alma Manage Patron Services, implemented in February 2025, allows any role to "Return" an item without scanning it. This function should be restricted to high-level roles only. Similarly, the "Found" and "Claimed Return" functions should also be limited to high-level roles.
Currently, WS students can access these functions with the Circulation Operator – Limited role. While we are in the process of removing the Actions Customizations from the Settings wheel, our preferred solution is to restrict access to these functions to higher-level roles.
7 votes -
Problems receiving documents from POL (Purchase order Line)
Since the change to Alma's new visualization, when receiving the document from the order (POL) there are two behaviors that, in our opinion, are regressions:
- When we mark the check for “Keep in department” Cataloging copy, this check is not marked for future reception. We request that this check be kept marked by default.
- When the reception date has to be entered, marking a date before the current date on the calendar is not allowed.What we are asking for is that, since this improvement that has been presented (display of all data integrated in the POL), when we mark the check for “Keep in the department” Copy cataloging, this check is left marked for a future reception. In addition, it is allowed to put a past reception date. These two features are allowed from Acquisitions > Receive and Invoice > Receive. However, they are not permitted since Alma's improvement of displaying everything integrated in the POL is the most useful, in our opinion.
Since the change to Alma's new visualization, when receiving the document from the order (POL) there are two behaviors that, in our opinion, are regressions:
- When we mark the check for “Keep in department” Cataloging copy, this check is not marked for future reception. We request that this check be kept marked by default.
- When the reception date has to be entered, marking a date before the current date on the calendar is not allowed.What we are asking for is that, since this improvement that has been presented (display of all data integrated in the POL), when…
13 votes -
Ability to change discovery import profile
It would be useful to make change to discovery import profile via API. For example, to make change Harvest start date and End date and run the job in all supported way (e.g. reload and delete). Currently there are some OAI resources that do not support harvesting deleted records and we had to do "reload and delete" manually and regularly.
3 votes -
Show more details about Work orders in user roles
When work orders are attached to circulation desks, the details of the work order cannot be edited.
This leads to a problem with maintaining roles, since the work order only shows its associated circulation desk. It is impossible to see from the user record what work order is associated with that user, making it difficult to add or remove desired work orders.
If the role parameters could show at least the Code, then that would provide useful information. This would be useful both in the user role view and the preset user profiles.
This idea was generated because my support case 07776163 was closed due to "a fix for this issue will not be part of our current development work plan".
When work orders are attached to circulation desks, the details of the work order cannot be edited.
This leads to a problem with maintaining roles, since the work order only shows its associated circulation desk. It is impossible to see from the user record what work order is associated with that user, making it difficult to add or remove desired work orders.
If the role parameters could show at least the Code, then that would provide useful information. This would be useful both in the user role view and the preset user profiles.
This idea was generated because my support…
22 votes -
Ability to create Alma Analytics Objects from Primo VE Network Reports Folder
The institutions of the consortia working in the Network use the same analytics reports. In the case of Alma Analytics, it is possible to add new Alma Analytics objects from the Alma Analytics Network Folder. However, there is no possibility to add new Primo Analytics objects from the Primo Analytics Network Folder. Please implement such a possibility, as it is very important for consortia, especially those with consortium IT support centers.
101 votes -
Usability issues with the New Circ UI
- When processing items from a cart, if they are scanned at Return items and the item is a Ship physically item, the new UI just brings up the item and in small letters says Next Step - System - and the library its to go to. It also says not on loan (which in this case is not helpful, because there is an active request). The system "ships" the item, but doesn't tell you that it did and in order to print the shipping slip staff have to go back to the lending queue and find it.
- We believe if the system wants to help you and ship the item because there is a request, it should a) Say clearly that it shipped the item b) Provide a quick way to print the slip c) Make that Route to next step message the main pop-up so the person processing knows there is a request on it and routes it to the right place.
- When processing items from a cart, if they are scanned at Return items and the item is a Ship physically item, the new UI just brings up the item and in small letters says Next Step - System - and the library its to go to. It also says not on loan (which in this case is not helpful, because there is an active request). The system "ships" the item, but doesn't tell you that it did and in order to print the shipping slip staff have to go back to the lending queue and find it.
- We believe if…
11 votes -
Simplify item scanning when processing is complete
Operators would benefit from not having to choose a Work Order Type and Status when the treatment is complete. It is not always easy to find out which cataloguing or repair operation has been carried out on an item. And above all, it's not useful if Done =“No” is selected.
Couldn't you put this last line at the beginning of the form, and open the Work Order Type and Status boxes only if "Yes" has been ticked, rather than the other way round?
Thank you and thank you for supporting this modest proposal.
Nicolas
89 votes -
Retain previous Sort Routine settings when viewing Items Received in Purchase Order Lines
NOTE: I posted this before noticing it had been previously suggested (though I did search and couldn't find it before posting, and now it's been deleted:??); my apologies. Suggestion: In the previous iteration the system remembered the previous sort routine setting when viewing a list of received items. The new version reverts to the Library/location setting for each search, even when making more than one search in the same purchase order line. The description sort is our primary setting, so each time we view the list of items, for example to see what has been received and whether there are gaps where we need to claim an issue, we need to re-select the description option. If there is a way to customize settings to make a particular sort setting the default, that would also solve the problem but I don't see where this is an option.
NOTE: I posted this before noticing it had been previously suggested (though I did search and couldn't find it before posting, and now it's been deleted:??); my apologies. Suggestion: In the previous iteration the system remembered the previous sort routine setting when viewing a list of received items. The new version reverts to the Library/location setting for each search, even when making more than one search in the same purchase order line. The description sort is our primary setting, so each time we view the list of items, for example to see what has been received and whether there are…
1 vote -
Add a parameter to turn off Borrowing Activity Letter when using renew selected or renew all
Currently, the "Borrowing Activity Letter" is sent when a staff member renews items for a patron via Manage Patron Services.
This letter is often superfluous and the behavior is not ideal for libraries with "separate _ patron _ notifications _ by _ library" set to true – it ends up sending a letter from each library where the patron borrowed material.
If we had a parameter that could turn off sending it when renew selected or renew all is used, then we would turn it off and staff could elect to send it when they felt it was useful or when the patron requested it, via the More Actions menu.
Currently, the "Borrowing Activity Letter" is sent when a staff member renews items for a patron via Manage Patron Services.
This letter is often superfluous and the behavior is not ideal for libraries with "separate _ patron _ notifications _ by _ library" set to true – it ends up sending a letter from each library where the patron borrowed material.
If we had a parameter that could turn off sending it when renew selected or renew all is used, then we would turn it off and staff could elect to send it when they felt it was useful or…
3 votes -
Add ability to abort jobs when they are for information only, such as when exporting data or running overlap analysis
Currently it is more common than not for jobs in Alma to be missing an option to Abort them under Monitor Jobs > Running.
This is a highly frustrating situation where the only option is to open a Support case to request for the job to be aborted, and wait days for response.
In the meantime, staff work is completely halted for this while we wait for Support.It is understandable that the Abort option is not present in cases where there could be negative impact on records, such as initiating an job update to change the records.
But it is not reasonable to not have an Abort option when the jobs are for scenarios such as an export from the CZ Update Task List and by Overlap and Collection Analysis.
In such workflows, the jobs may stall when extremely large, and with an Abort option the user could start again with a smaller export or smaller data set comparison.
But instead right now we have stuck Overlap job for 3 days and have had cases when the CZ export was running for several weeks.This request would save on both library staff time and Support analyst time, to give control to the library to abort such information-only jobs in no-impact scenarios when the jobs are clearly stalled, and ensure that library work can continue.
Currently it is more common than not for jobs in Alma to be missing an option to Abort them under Monitor Jobs > Running.
This is a highly frustrating situation where the only option is to open a Support case to request for the job to be aborted, and wait days for response.
In the meantime, staff work is completely halted for this while we wait for Support.It is understandable that the Abort option is not present in cases where there could be negative impact on records, such as initiating an job update to change the records.
But it…3 votes -
Allow for greater variety in the scheduling of export invoices.
Allow for greater variety in the scheduling of export invoices.
We need to expand the times at which invoices can be exported automatically. Specifically 5 pm on Mondays. Thanks.
6 votes -
After three days, the system should send another reminder email to the reader who requested the book
1 vote -
Overdue Fine in different periods
After changing the "Overdue Fine" parameter, the entire fee is recalculated with the new value.
According to the law, the fee should be counted up to the change with the old value and after the change with the new value.
E.g. until 2024-12-31 parameter=0.2, then parameter=0.4
This is especially important in public libraries.120 votes -
1 vote
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Integration of Patron Age in Loan Rules
We propose that the patron's date of birth be taken into account in the loan rules of Alma's Fulfillment Units, alongside User group. This would allow the restriction of loan for certain documents to minors (under 14, under 16, etc.), ensuring compliance with access restrictions for sensitive content.
This feature would enhance loan management and ensure better compliance with library policies.111 votes -
NOT erasing Return Items page every time we leave it
Every time we leave the Return Items page, it erases the list of returned books. This is disastrous for us, so we would like to keep the list of all books returned during the day (or since logging in until logging out).
If someone benefits from erasing the list, just give us a choice whether we want it erased or not.Now let me explain why it is crucial for our work:
We work in quite small public library where Patrons can move around freely and pick books from the shelves on their own. Often they return books first and then go the shelves to browse and come back with new books a few minutes later or come back with another batch of books a few minutes after checking out first batch. If the list of Return items is erased every time we leave, we have to waste time and search for the patron's account every time (especially since we can't search for the patron's account in the search bar; we have to use Ex Libris report, which often crashes, and we have to log out and in again to make it work, which takes a horrendous amount of time).Every time we leave the Return Items page, it erases the list of returned books. This is disastrous for us, so we would like to keep the list of all books returned during the day (or since logging in until logging out).
If someone benefits from erasing the list, just give us a choice whether we want it erased or not.Now let me explain why it is crucial for our work:
We work in quite small public library where Patrons can move around freely and pick books from the shelves on their own. Often they return books first and…42 votes -
Ability to customise borrowing request statuses and actions
We only use a limited number of the borrowing request actions and statuses but find staff sometimes pick one that we don't use and then the request becomes stuck. We would like to be able to customise the list of actions available at the institution level (not just the user level) and also the list of statuses available in the Change Status drop down at the top of the Borrowing Requests page.
3 votes -
Improve Alma Analytics to allow for more straightforward and accurate COUNTER usage data and Cost Per Use reporting.
Improve Alma Analytics to allow for more straightforward and accurate COUNTER usage data and Cost Per Use reporting. To address the following:
Simplify CPU Calculation: Improve the system to allow straightforward calculation of Cost Per Use (CPU) by including financial data in the usage subject area, eliminating the need for SQL joins.
Increase Data Update Frequency: Increase the frequency of usage data updates in the e-inventory subject area and fix the date of the job, as the current monthly updates, which have variable dates, cause scheduling issues.
Enhance Data Accuracy: Address inaccuracies and missing data due to limited match points (title and ISSN). Examples include:
a/. Titles with only print ISSN in the Counter file.
b/. Title changes by users, leading to mismatches.
c/. Inability to link usage to CPU due to mismatched ISSN or titles, resulting in incorrect CPU calculations.
Improve Alma Analytics to allow for more straightforward and accurate COUNTER usage data and Cost Per Use reporting. To address the following:
Simplify CPU Calculation: Improve the system to allow straightforward calculation of Cost Per Use (CPU) by including financial data in the usage subject area, eliminating the need for SQL joins.
Increase Data Update Frequency: Increase the frequency of usage data updates in the e-inventory subject area and fix the date of the job, as the current monthly updates, which have variable dates, cause scheduling issues.
Enhance Data Accuracy: Address inaccuracies and missing data due to limited match points…
133 votes -
linked-data-powered sets and collections
TL;DR: populate existing ALMA sets / collections infrastructure using retrieval of a list of LCCNs from an external URL to allow linked-data-powered sets and collections.
Problem
We've all seen the book displays that most physical libraries have in their high-traffic areas. These might be works by the in-house press, topical events, anniversaries of author's birth, etc, etc.
In the digital space, there are shallow-functionality RSS feeds and then a yawning gap out to things that are typically called 'digital exhibitions' which are resource-intensive glossy displays.
ALMA Collections can be used for digital exhibitions, but populating them is labour-intensive and slow.
Concept
It is relatively easy to use wikidata queries to return lists of LCCNs of authors which meet particular criteria. See https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/User:Stuartyeates/PeopleForBookDisplays for queries which display "people associated with an institution" "Writers of a particular genre" "Authors of a particular subject area" "New Zealand LGBTI+ people" "Māori people" and "New Zealand people born today / this month". The result set of these queries can be downloaded without as a TSV (Tab Separated Vector), which for a single-column result set is isomorphic with a white-space separated list of LCCNs.
A method of populating ALMA bibliographic sets based on the holdings matching the LCCNs downloaded from an external source would hugely speed the making of these kinds of collections.
Technical implementations options
The simplest implementation would be a dialog to create a set of from a query URL, either an itimised set or a logical set (which would reload from the URL monthly or on demand). All the same set types and functionalities should be available. You'd need a drop down for which field to match against.
A more sophisticated implementation might be uploading a CSV with the fields ID, CollectID, ParentCollectID, CollectName, CollectDesc, CollectionImage, LCCNsURL,... and having ALMA create a set for each row, retrieve the LCCNs and match to BIBs, load the BIBs into the set and create a collection (or reuse an existing collection if a CollectID has been specified) and populate the collection with the set and metadata provided.
Possible complications (technical / ALMA related)
Very frequent retrieval of sets from an external source is likely to result in ALMA instances being blocked as bad netizens and needs to be avoided. In the very long term, if widely used, a clone of wikidata may be required; several organisations already maintain such things, refreshed weekly from the daily wikidata dumps.
The ability of anonymous third parties to update wikidata means that human oversight of public-facing changes in ALMA is needed.
There should not be any non-public or financial information here, but the connection probably still needs to be HTTPS not HTTP.
These URLs are VERY long because the entire query is in the URL; some pieces of infrastructure may not be prepared for such long URLs.
This being the corporate software, you’ll probably want a whitelist of hosts that you can connect to, similar to the FTP server list.
Possible complications (wikidata / representation related)
Some concepts (LGBTI+, ethnicity, etc) are represented cumbersomely in wikidata, but by allowing any query this approach allows institutions to make their own choice among the options.
Some fields (dates of birth for living people, ethnicity, etc) are sparse in wikidata. Individual libraries are free to add / correct details for individuals they have sufficiently strong interest in and suitable sources on.
In theory it is possible to translate Library of Congress Subject Headings (P244) to wikidata main subject (P921) to bibliographic items. In my experience this does not work in practice due to excessive sparseness.
Wikidata representation of book banning is a work in progress.
TL;DR: populate existing ALMA sets / collections infrastructure using retrieval of a list of LCCNs from an external URL to allow linked-data-powered sets and collections.
Problem
We've all seen the book displays that most physical libraries have in their high-traffic areas. These might be works by the in-house press, topical events, anniversaries of author's birth, etc, etc.
In the digital space, there are shallow-functionality RSS feeds and then a yawning gap out to things that are typically called 'digital exhibitions' which are resource-intensive glossy displays.
ALMA Collections can be used for digital exhibitions, but populating them is labour-intensive and slow.
…
47 votes -
Bulk edit fund summary information
At the moment, being able to set fund encumbrance/expenditure limits, or # days prior/post fiscal period for encumbrance/expentures has to be done in each fund and ledger separately. But many times, there are several funds that have to be changed all at once. Create a job that allows for bulk editing of this information so that editing funds is less time consuming.
1 vote
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