Alma
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1903 results found
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Show 866 holdings field text on item records screen, so don't have to go back and forth to check holdings dates.
Presently from the list of item records, we have to click on "Holdings" to see the 866 summary holdings for vol & dates. It would be very helpful for the 866 holdings to be visible on the item record screen.
16 votes -
Customize Alma search indexes
We would like to customize the search indexes in Alma for all MARC21 fields (not just localized fields). For instance, in the Alma advanced search > all titles > "Title" > we would like to change to "245 (Title)" to make it easier to identify the MARC21 field we want to search.
91 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 dispute.
It's also true that you can run an Analytic report to find this information. But this can be a long and tedious process and would be much more convenient within the Fulfillment activities or somewhere equally easy to access.
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…
84 votes -
Improvements to Pick From Shelf list needed
Currently our staff spend too much time managing requests. Improvements to the interface for Pick From Shelf would help in some of these cases. We would like to see:
- A search box.
Very often we need to target a particular request, a task made more difficult by less than ideal facets (see #2). Search functionality exists under Monitor Requests & Item Processes, but not all options for handling requests are available in that view (such as "Skip Location").
- Better facets.
Two of the facets available in the Monitor Requests & Item Processes view would be great for Pick from Shelf: "Request/Process Type" and "Pick-up Location". Currently we have a need to facet out temporary move requests in order to view only the patron physical item requests. To do so in Pick from Shelf we use the "Destination" facet, which is still not ideal because we cannot see individual library hold shelves or whether an item is for office delivery. "Request/Process Type" would allow us to separate the two types of requests very easily. The facet "Pick-up Location" from Monitor Requests and Item Processes would then allow us to see which hold shelf an item is routing to or whether it is for Office Delivery. Adding these two facets would allow us to prioritize our requests more efficiently.
Currently our staff spend too much time managing requests. Improvements to the interface for Pick From Shelf would help in some of these cases. We would like to see:
- A search box.
Very often we need to target a particular request, a task made more difficult by less than ideal facets (see #2). Search functionality exists under Monitor Requests & Item Processes, but not all options for handling requests are available in that view (such as "Skip Location").
- Better facets.
Two of the facets available in the Monitor Requests & Item Processes view would be great for Pick from Shelf:…
20 votes -
Handling books on the shelf that didn't get checked in
When a book on the shelf was accidentally not checked in and another user brings it to the desk, it clears the original checkout and adds a fine without generating a message to let us know. In most cases, we would waive those fines, since the book had obviously been returned. We would love to see a pop-up when that happens so we can go and waive the fine on the previous customer's record
41 votes -
Add seach box to Active Hold Shelf
We often have 1500+ items on our Active Hold Shelf. While we have the ability to sort, this does not help much when we are looking for a particular item. A search box would allow us to locate an item easily without clicking through page after page.
16 votes -
In the List of Items screen, add "description" to the list of search options in the "Find" box.
Currently in a list of items, Alma allows us to search within the list of items by only barcode or the call number. Adding the ability to search the description field would simplify trying to locate an item with unique information in the description, such as "index".
22 votes -
Alma Templates: allow user-by-user customization of default holdings templates
The shared MARC21 holdings templates in Alma offer customization of the template properties, allowing the selection of one template as the default. This customization applies to the entire institution, and not the individual Alma user. Therefore, when we have multiple catalogers working with multiple templates, they all have to conform to one default template. It would be useful to allow each cataloger to set the default template for their workflow.
142 votes -
Retain Data in Interface Records
We really like the multiple tabs on interface records that allow us to record different admin logins and statistical information.
Publisher and vendor changes happen pretty frequently in our environment and we foresee needing to move interfaces from one vendor to another on occasion.
We just found out the hard way that when an interface is deleted from a vendor record and then added to another vendor record all the information that was in the various interface tabs gets wiped out. Can something be done to preserve the information that was hand keyed into the interface tabs?”62 votes -
Return and reissue items with a single click that have reached their max loan period
When items reach their maximum loan period and patrons want to borrow the items again they have to be returned and issued again by a circulation operator. This is an unnecessarily complex workflow. Please could an option be added for circulation desk operators to be able to return and reissue the items with a single click of an interface button (providing their are no blocks of course).
28 votes -
Add a checkout widget that can be accessed from the desktop
The most common thing we need to do in Alma is to check out books, but we need to train our students and Circ clerks to go to "Manage Patron Services." What about some kind of checkout widget or even an entry in the main Alma menu that actually says "Check out" or "Check in"?
24 votes -
Cursor auto-return to search box.
Each Alma search involves re-clicking the search box to restart the search process. Time consumer when searching lists of items. Many websites have a feature in which the cursor auto-returns to the search box. Please add this feature.
65 votesThe new Alma layout provides this functionality. For example: search: Physical Holdings -->the cursor stays at the search box. Same works for Borrowing /Lending Requests search, Order lines search (when the new layout is turned-on) and all other areas moved to the new layout. Note that there’s a keyboard shortcut (/) to focus on the search, which works for all search-mode (current interface and new layout)
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Add more options for ILL integration
Adding ILLiad integration to Alma was welcome but also brings more issues into the system. For example - patrons are shown in their account via Primo that ILL loaned items are not renewable. They are but not via Alma. A customizable message for the Resources sharing library that would display in "My Account" saying "Renewable via ILLiad" would be welcome. We have configured ILLiad to send courtesy notices. Now that we have integrated with Alma patrons get two courtesy and "due today" letters because Alma cannot turn off letters for specific locations. The ability to turn off those two letter for specific locations would be welcome.
Adding ILLiad integration to Alma was welcome but also brings more issues into the system. For example - patrons are shown in their account via Primo that ILL loaned items are not renewable. They are but not via Alma. A customizable message for the Resources sharing library that would display in "My Account" saying "Renewable via ILLiad" would be welcome. We have configured ILLiad to send courtesy notices. Now that we have integrated with Alma patrons get two courtesy and "due today" letters because Alma cannot turn off letters for specific locations. The ability to turn off those two letter…
24 votes -
Enhance Advanced Search to allow regular expressions
Allow the matching of regular expressions as one of the criteria to perform an advanced search. This would be a much more powerful and precise method for gathering sets.
44 votes -
Configure Alma Letters to use the operator's "from" address, rather than the value stored in "addressFrom"
This is in reference to case 00172604. It was suggested we post this here by Yaala Ariel-Joel.
- Go to Alma Menu -> General Configuration -> Letter Emails
- Select, for example, the General Assign To Letter
- We have configured the "addressFrom" field in this and several other letters to be the email address of one of our library departments
For some letters, however, we find that it would make more sense for the FROM address to use the email address of the individual Alma operator whose action generated the letter, rather than using the single email address that is stored in "addressFrom".
For example, different Alma operators who work in different departments perform functions that initiate the General Assign To Letter. So, having a single department's email address used as the FROM address doesn't make sense in all cases and can be misleading.
As of now, this isn't in development, but Yaala said this group might want to know about it. I have also added a screenshot of what I mean.
This is in reference to case 00172604. It was suggested we post this here by Yaala Ariel-Joel.
- Go to Alma Menu -> General Configuration -> Letter Emails
- Select, for example, the General Assign To Letter
- We have configured the "addressFrom" field in this and several other letters to be the email address of one of our library departments
For some letters, however, we find that it would make more sense for the FROM address to use the email address of the individual Alma operator whose action generated the letter, rather than using the single email address that is stored in…
28 votes -
Ability to suppress licenses from discovery
Sometimes, licenses have confidentiality clauses, so we can't show them in Primo, but right now, it is an all or nothing prospect. it would be great if a checkbox on the record could suppress a confidential license from showing up in Discovery.
116 votes -
Enable batch updating portfolios to update PO line field
Please add a column for PO line to the excel file for batch load updating portfolios. Below are specific examples from the Alma listserv of other institutions describing use cases for why this would be helpful.
Thanks,
TerraUse cases from ALMA listserv:
Eleanor Craig, e.m.craig@sussex.ac.uk
Sent: Wednesday, 23 September 2015 4:35 PM
To: ALMA-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: [ALMA-L] Individual journal subscriptions associated to Electronic Collections"We have a subscription to the Sage Premier 2015 package. Each of the core titles (portfolios) in the package have the collection Sage Premier 2015 and this is what the purchase order for each of them has been attached to (so we can pay against each core title). Is it possible to move all the purchase order lines attached to Sage Premier 2015 over to Sage Premier 2016? So without having to cancel and then recreate the large number of purchase order lines every year?"
Erin Bell, Librarian (UWA)
"Alma does not allow the automatic moving of purchase orders however, it can only be done manually, one-by-one. I looked at this from many different angles and consulted ExLibris, and there’s no way to do it."Sita Austin (sita.austin@flinders.edu.au)
Electronic Resources Librarian, Flinders University of South Australia
"Moving order records is time consuming and it would be great if there was a way to do it in a batch."Please add a column for PO line to the excel file for batch load updating portfolios. Below are specific examples from the Alma listserv of other institutions describing use cases for why this would be helpful.
Thanks,
TerraUse cases from ALMA listserv:
Eleanor Craig, e.m.craig@sussex.ac.uk
Sent: Wednesday, 23 September 2015 4:35 PM
To: ALMA-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: [ALMA-L] Individual journal subscriptions associated to Electronic Collections"We have a subscription to the Sage Premier 2015 package. Each of the core titles (portfolios) in the package have the collection Sage Premier 2015 and this is what the purchase order for each of them…
18 votes -
11 votes
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Access SalesForce from directly within Alma
There should be the ability to get directly to ExLibris support (SalesForce) from within Alma vs. going through the customer center.
11 votes -
Include Fulfillment Notes when Shipping items in Resource Sharing
It would be nice if pop-up fulfillment notes on an item record were attached to a resource sharing request when an item is shipped, much like the barcode currently does. So if a damaged book has a note saying "Underlining noted," that note would attach to the request record so that the borrowing institution could see it. This would make it easier for the people processing on either end to know whether an item shipped with damage, or a set shipped with a certain amount of items, etc.
135 votes
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