Add pop up screen to notify Library Staff that a patron physical item hold request is awaiting collection by the user at the hold shelf - when that user's ID card is scanned (or user is searched for) at the Manage Patron Services screen in Alma.

When search terms have a typo or is otherwise not exact (e.g., the title field has "&" and you search using "and"), the search yields no results. Please enable fuzzy searching so we can get results when the search terms have minor errors.

Please consider adding a dark mode for staff who are using ALMA for most of their work days and may experience eye strain and headaches due to the bright white screen. It would be more accessible for the website to have different color filters or a dark mode.

Currently, Alma job reports do not identify which records have failed when a job is run against them (such as publishing to OCLC).

It would be very helpful to have lists of the specific records involved, so that their errors can be fixed and the jobs re-run successfully.

To avoid duplicates when we have both local portfolios and CDI records, we can rely on the "Do not show as Full Text available in CDI even if active in Alma".
Enabling this feature will show in Primo local IZ portfolios, and is very good when local records are rich and CZ records are limited/poor.
Sometimes however CDI records are richer. In such a case we would like to hide IZ local portfolios and show CDI records instead.
Sometimes CDI records at title level are not richer, but chapter/article information are available. In such a case we would like to show local IZ records, and show CDI chapter/article records, while hiding CDI title records.

It would be therefore useful and clearer to replace the "Do not show as Full Text available in CDI even if active in Alma" with a set of checkboxes:

• show local IZ records YES/NO

  • Show related chapter/article records from CDI YES/NO

• show CDI records YES/NO

  • Show related chapter/article records from CDI YES/NO
    

This request is based on an idea ( https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/48828641-replace-do-not-show-as-full-text-available-in-cdi ) and takes into accounts comments added by other customers.

Alma current design is to record many audit trail type fields such as 'Created by' and 'Updated by' as being performed by “System”.

Alma's automated workflows undoubtedly greatly help us in managing our environment. But the truth is that it is our staff who are initiating these workflows to occur by their own activity, and it is their Primary ID which should be recorded, not "System".

Issues with the current design:
• we cannot use the data to report on workflow efficiencies achieved by our staff in both Alma and Alma Analytics, which prevents using the data also for rostering and workload management, both in the short term and long term trend analysis
• we cannot easily troubleshoot problems by immediately approaching staff recorded in Alma as being involved for more information, which is extremely important to do quickly before memories fade, more data is overwritten, and logs are lost for case investigation

Examples of this, which are initiated by a user but recorded as “System”
• acquisition workflows such as initiating packaging and sending POLs
• updating various records by a staff member running a manual job

This submission requests that information fields such as “Created by”, “Modified by” and “Updated by” will always reflect the Primary ID of the user account who initiated the action, whether by one-on-one or bulk automated workflows, not “System”.

Notification of a user block appears when you attempt to perform certain actions, such as loaning an item, but are not displayed when you are placing a request on behalf of a patron within Alma.

If a staff are helping a patron request material any notifications should be displayed at this point, so staff can be prompted to help resolve any issue related to the user’s account. This is often a time when staff are directly interacting with a user and can more easily resolve issues. If staff only see a block when loaning an item, they will often need to contact the user to follow up about the issue connected with the block.

The ability to handle multiple Lost or Claimed Returned items in bulk to make them Found has been a great new function included in the New UX for Manage Patron Services (from November 2024).

We would like to suggest further development with the management of Lost and Claim Returned items on a user account, with additional functionality options for staff:

• Currently marking a loan item as ‘Found’ sends the patron a letter advising of this, when it is not necessarily true. We would like Alma to present a checkbox advising that a letter will be sent to the patron of Found status, and the staff member may then choose to uncheck the box to prevent the notice being sent.

• We would like Alma to show a checkbox advising associated fines and charges will be waived, and the staff member may choose to uncheck the box if they do not wish to waive the charges.

These checkboxes would ideally be configuration options, where the Fulfillment Administrator role may choose the desired default settings.

Organizational mergers or splits of libraries can occur at any time, necessitating the management of changes in the library landscape even after the migration process.

They involve the transfer of collections and data between libraries. While Alma supports the transfers of holding and item information between libraries, there are currently (as of Dec‘24) technical limitations when it comes to moving acquisitions data. This functionality is not yet supported by Alma.

We therefore propose implementing a solution that facilitates the seamless transfer of purchase orders, invoices, as well as linked vendor data and budget transactions between (owning) libraries within Alma. There should also be a support for various acquisition types (e.g., gifts, exchanges)

For detailed information and considerations, see the appendixes.

Alma has a wonderful resource of the History tab in Electronic Collection, but unfortunately the implementation of this in practice is greatly limited.

Currently there are many changes recorded only by "System" and a Modification Date of Old Value of the previous last change and the New Value of the date of change. But there is no meaningful information as to what was changed.

This does not support our workflows such as trying to troubleshoot problems. We must then attempt to track back through weekly Release Notes, entries in the CZ Update Task List, and Jobs History to try to match up the dates. Often we ultimately realise the futility of this and open a case, adding to the already overburdened Support team and waiting several weeks or even months for any answer from the data which is available to Ex Libris but hidden from customers. We should not have to contact a vendor simply to know what has happened to our records, when there is a mechanism in place already of a History tab, but it simply isn't developed properly yet to record meaningful data.

An example screenshot is attached, along with details of a prior Idea Exchange submission which Ex Libris advised first would be fulfilled: "Electronic Collection History tab will be changed to record all changes of Electronic Collection attributes" (Feb 2022) and then incorrectly closed it with partial delivery only: "Changes in “Access Type” and “Description” fields are now being tracked in the History tab of the Electronic Collection." (Aug 2024).

This request is that all changes made to an Electronic Collection are recorded in the History tab, including the Primary ID user account or System making the change and the details of what was changed in Old Value and New Value.

Make it possible for notes that staff add to patron/user accounts in Alma to be deleted in batch by running a job on a set, or by using the following (ideally in combination) criteria:

• Primary Identifier of staff person who created the note

• Primary Identifier of user account note was added to

• Date range when notes were created

• Unique Identifier for note (this field doesn't exist currently)

• Note Type

This enhancement request relates to Alma Analytics enhancement request AENH-I-36287 'Improve analytics reporting options for notes added to User/Patron accounts' -- the fields requested there would make it possible to create a set of user notes to be deleted in a batch job.

For the communication between selfcheck kiosks and Alma, the SIP2 protocol is needed.
The full protocol can be found here: https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/3M-Standard-Interchange-Protocol-Version-2.00.pdf

Unfortunately, Ex Libris does not support all fields that would be available in the protocol (marked as 'not supported' in this document): https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/integrations/selfcheck/sip2/

Please make the whole SIP2 protocol available for Alma.

see Idea Exchange with several use cases:
https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/45725089-support-full-sip2-protocol

Functionality being requested:

A way to designate items as UNAVAILABLE, separate from Work Orders, and from all current existing Process Types, and have the Unavailable designation used by Primo and Primo VE to label the item's availability as Unavailable/Not Available

Impact of Problem:

There are situations where we need to make one or more items Unavailable in Primo, and potentially non-requestable, while keeping the items discoverable to users. (see Use Cases below). Current functionality does not allow libraries to accomplish this in a manner which is workable for library staff and clear and usable for patrons. (see Ways in which current functionality is insufficient, below)

Technical Requirements:

1. The ability to designate and un-designate an individual item as Unavailable

2. The ability to designate and un-designate a set of items as Unavailable in bulk

3. The Primo/Primo VE calculated availability of an item designated as Unavailable needs to be Unavailable/Not available

4. The availability status of an item designated as Unavailable should be returned by the API as Unavailable/Not available

5. "Unavailable" needs to be a usable criterion for Primo/Primo VE General Electronic Service availability rules

6. "Unavailable" needs to be a usable criterion in Fulfillment rules input parameters to control the loanability and requestability of items designated as Unavailable

7. "Unavailable" should be reportable in Analytics

8. Implemented solution must be equally functional for Primo and Primo VE

Use Cases:

1. A library is closed for renovation and the items are inaccessible to staff and patrons, but the items must still be discoverable in Primo/Primo VE so that patrons can be directed to Resource Sharing. The items need to clearly display in Primo/Primo VE as Unavailable/Not Available.

2. Portions of a collection are temporarily inaccessible to staff and patrons, but must still be discoverable in Primo/Primo VE so that patrons can be redirected to Resource Sharing. The items need to clearly display in Primo/Primo VE as Unavailable/Not Available

3. Groups of items are awaiting decisions to be withdrawn or transferred, or are otherwise Unavailable and need to be clearly Unavailable in Primo/Primo VE

4. A group of items is not usable or permanently not available for a variety of reasons, but still need to be discoverable by patrons

Ways in which existing functionality is insufficient, impracticable, or creates undue work for library staff:

1. Existing process types are not accurate for the use cases. The items are not Missing, Technical Migration, Lost, etc

2. Work Orders

   1. create a request for each item, which is often undesirable

   2. adding and removing work orders in bulk has multiple drawbacks. If an item has multiple Work Orders, or is in a Process, bulk update to add or remove work orders can remove existing process statuses, work orders, and vital information about where an item is (e.g. out on a Resource Sharing loan, in Cataloging, etc)

   3. items need frequent monitoring to manage work orders as on-loan items that need to be Unavailable return to the library

   4. the goal is not to manage any process or workflow for the item. The item isn't being processed. It isn't passing through stages of work or from department to department to have something done to them. It is simply Unavailable

   5. items in work orders are still requestable in Primo/Primo VE

   6. patrons find the Primo/Primo VE display of items in work orders to be confusing

   7. it isn’t feasible or practical to move tens of thousands (or more) items into Work Orders

3. Items in an Alma Location type of "Unavailable" show as Available and In Place in Primo/Primo VE, which is inaccurate

erin.nettifee@duke.edu 17. Jan 2025

Duke would also find this enhancement helpful.

When we search for titles or keywords in other databases (not Alma) and don't want to include a specific word, we add NOT operator to search query. However, in Alma it's not supported in the basic search. In the advanced search it only appears in each rule line as "not contain keywords/phrase" condition, thus when we add a group of rules and would like to change the Boolean operator to NOT, we only have two options: And/OR, so we cannot exclude group of rules. Therefore, consider adding NOT operator to advanced search and support it in basic search to save time to navigate to advanced search in these cases.

Our user accounts have a due date in the future that will encompass loans for the academic year. If a user separates from the university, their account will be set to expire by our user synchronization job. Their loans, however, continue to reflect the due date that was assigned when their account was active. This often results in items that are due many months after a person has left the university. Consequently, our staff must pursue updates to loans on expired account manually. We would like to see an option to update loan due dates when a user account is expired using a scheduled or run on demand job.

Description: Currently (automated) suppressed or unsuppressed records are not synchronized between Institution Zones (IZs) and Network Zone (NZ). The synchronization only works if the (un)suppression is done manually in the Metadata Editor (MDE). We propose the enhancement that (un)suppression of records is synchronized between IZ and NZ in the Alma consortia and not only in case of (un)suppression via MDE.

Business Reason: This improvement would ensure that records are correctly displayed as (un)suppressed in Alma and therefore are also correctly displayed in Primo which would then benefit the Patron and improve their search experience by displaying correctly the available resources.The improvement would also significantly benefit the Alma consortia since the suppression on NZ level is not dependent on members with the relevant rights to conduct this suppression for other institutions. This process includes the checking of the status of (un)suppressed records in all institutions before conducting the actual suppression and constantly repeating this task to keep the status between IZ and NZ updated.

User Story: As a system administrator in a consortial setting with or without the relevant rights to log directly in the NZ, I would like that records which are suppressed and unsuppressed during processes outside the Metadata Editor, are automatically synchronized in the NZ if needed. In this way, bibliographic data would be kept synchronized between IZ and NZ. Moreover, this task would not be dependent only on those with the relevant rights. As a Patron I would like to have only those resources displayed in the catalogue which are truly available in one of the associated libraries. Other information is misleading.

Technical Requirements: Adjust Alma so that (un)suppressed records are synchronized automatically between IZ and NZ:- Suppress a record on NZ level in case the record is suppressed in all IZs- Unsuppress a record on NZ level in case the record is unsuppressed in at least one of the IZs.

The automatic synchronization on NZ level should work for all processes during which a record is (un)suppressed outside the Metadata Editor.

Changing the vendor for a Print Book Standing Order closes the current PO line and creates a new one instead of simply changing a vendor. This action moves all items to new PO line, but additional and very useful information are lost. Keeping all internal notes (PO Line notes, renewal note, invoice note), attachments, invoice lines, history in a new PO line would allow for easier tracking of the standing order and avoidind unexpected problems with inventory. Keeping all POL information could be an optional step (e.g. checkbox) when saving the POL with the new vendor.

The reminders and reminder letters sent to patrons currently often end up in upstream spam filters of the mail providers. If this is not the case, we regularly receive feedback that they considered some of the automated notifications to be spam or phishing mails.

On the one hand, we would like to be able to optimise the automated notifications so that they are less automatically classified as spam according to today's standards. Ideally, Alma would already take common standards into account. On the other hand, we would like to see the possibility to personalise the notifications more and, for example, to change the salutation from a simple "Good day" to a personal salutation such as "Dear Ms XY" (whereby the name is of course automatically taken from the account concerned).

We noticed that if closed days are configured, and a closed day is between the due date of a loan and the planned day on which the first reminder should be sent, the job does not generate a notification on that day but waits until the next one.

This leads to misunderstanding on the patrons side, because the grace period is not always identical and can vary depending on possible closed days.

We described the issue in case nr. 05301818 (old SF nr.: 00953477) and were told that this is the expected behaviour. The Product manager decided that when there's a closed day between the job run and the due date, due to the request for not sending emails on closed days, it will check another extra day.

We would like IZs to be allowed to choose whether they want this extra day or not, by adding e.g. some parameter in the overdues configuration.

See also: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/45080170-overdue-notifications-to-be-sent-also-on-days-afte

This warning message was added in July 2020 release to prevent accidentally completing a lending request:

https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Release_Notes/2020/Alma_2020_Release_Notes

With the introduction of Rapido, we noticed this warning message popping up a lot more often, and since the default value is on "Confirm", many requests are cancelled accidentally by double-scanning. We would like to suggest that this message be set by default to "Cancel" rather than "Confirm" or being able to configure the preselected default value.

The mapping table is under: IZ Configuration > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Scan In Messages Configuration > line 3 Complete lending request.

Sometimes, when posting a fine or fee to an account, the barcode gets scanned before entering info into the comments field requiring the removal of the fine and then having to re-post it into the patron's account. Would like an edit option in the ellipses to be able to go back into the fine and edit the comments field.

Description: In our topology, many IZs are shared by multiple institutions. In such case, the availability of e-resources is controlled by Inventory Management Groups (Available for). When using the Inventory Management Groups, the availability of e-resources’ full-text links in Primo VE can be controlled by: IP range, view affiliation and user campus. To display the full-text links to the Patrons, we currently rely on the combination of view affiliation for local views of the libraries / campuses, and users using VPN for IZ views and the NZ union views. We would like to extend the functionality of the user account as a source for the user affiliation to campuses and libraries. This functionality is partially there with the field Campus, but needs to be enhanced so that one user can belong to multiple campuses or libraries.

Business Reason: The practice of using IP ranges to regulate access to electronic resources no longer aligns with modern usage patterns, particularly as many users now access these resources off-campus. The use of the view affiliation requires the library to direct the user to a specific link for the catalog. Patrons expect to be able to just log in and see the relevant content for them. This development would allow us to capture the user affiliation to libraries / campuses that license e-resources in the IZ. This would lead to a better user experience in Primo VE. The availability of e-resources would be derived directly from the user login, and not based on their current IP address, or the view.

User Story: As a Patron, I created my edu-id account and affiliated it with my library. I want to be able to see the e-resources in the library catalog without using 3rd party applications like VPN or searching for the exact link to the catalog on the library website. As a student, I study at two institutions. I created my edu-id account and affiliated it with these institutions. I would like to be able to log in to swisscovery to my institution and see which e-resources are available for me without using VPN.

Technical Requirements: Add a field in the user profile to store affiliation to one or more libraries and campuses for the purpose of matching e-resources Available For with the user affiliation. Allow to set the field via API so we can update the data from our national identity provider. Update the Primo VE availability logic to check this new field when calculating availability of e-resources' services for the user.

Description:
Currently, the Metadata Help URL configuration in Alma is limited to being managed at the Institution Zone (IZ) level. We propose the enhancement to make this URL distributable from the Network Zone (NZ) to connected Institution Zones. This would streamline configuration management for consortia and ensure uniformity across member institutions.

Business Reason:
This improvement would significantly benefit the Alma consortial community by reducing repetitive configuration tasks for individual institutions. It would also enhance consistency in user experience and metadata guidelines across the network. All customers, particularly those operating in consortial environments, would benefit from this centralized management.

User Story:
As a system administrator in a consortial setting, I would like to configure and distribute the Metadata Help URL from the Network Zone so that all connected Institution Zones automatically receive and apply the same configuration without the need for manual adjustments.

Technical Requirements:

• Allow the Metadata Help URL setting to be managed and distributed from the NZ.

• Institution Zones should inherit the configuration.

Configuration:

Alma Configuration Menu>Resources>Metadata Configuration>Marc21 Bibliographic> Field Details>Help url

Many institutions have requirements to be able to track when Alma configurations have changed, and what staff members changed them.

This is especially true because many Alma administrator roles combine complex librarianship tasks with systems configuration abilities. For example, Catalog Administrator or General Systems Administrator is required to create new metadata import profiles, a task catalogers do regularly. But both roles also grant additional abilities to configure Alma systems behavior.

Analytics currently has a subject area called "System Events," but it does a poor job of capturing this information, and in some cases the information being captured is mislabeled to imply it is relevant when it is not. For example, the system event 6141 - "mapping table updated" - is capturing internal tracking information for Ex Libris, and is not actually reporting when mapping tables were updated by Alma users.

Improving how configuration changes are tracked and how that data is kept for reporting and logging would go a long way towards reducing risk of Alma not functioning as expected. It would also enable institutions to better manage audit requirements, and more efficiently troubleshoot when Alma has unexpected behavior.

Example use cases include:

• Monitoring changes as part of standard internal audit review. For example, an institution may identify that Electronic Resources staff need Fulfillment Administrator in order to manage general electronic services, but none of those staff should be changing other areas of fulfillment configuration. Because Alma's roles do not separate those duties, the audit requirement would then become to monitor changes in fulfillment configuration to know which staff members are changing them and when. We would want to generate a regular report that logged information like the name of the logged in user, the name of the table, the date/time the change occurred, what row(s) changed, and what the prior and new values were in those rows.

• Troubleshooting unexpected Alma behavior. For example, suppose that custom linking for a set of CDI databases begins to behave unexpectedly. Configuration for those database links is handled in Configuration > Discovery. A staff member hears about the database issue, goes in and attempts to fix it, but can't. The issue then gets reported to a library systems staff member. At that point, the systems staff member can only see the last updated by and timestamp. To troubleshoot what happened, they need to be able to see an edit history for the table value to see if/how it has changed.

Related:

https://enhancements.exlibrisusers.org/ideas/AENH-I-36061 (from IGeLU)

Situation - As a library we work on the basis that staff get only the level of access and roles that they need. Currently the Roles created in Alma are rather limited. Which means we have limited options as to what we can give staff.

Solution - With the privilege report being created, we would like the opportunity to create our own user roles for staff in Alma - and use the privilege report to only allow users to be able to do the specific tasks they need.

Add a title search index for just MARC field 245 a,b.

The title search index in Alma currently includes almost 40 fields, including series and contents notes. This can lead to many results, making it difficult to locate the title in question. Having a direct search like Serial Title, which searches one field, would be much more helpful and efficient. (https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/Metadata_Management/180Search_Indexes/050MARC_21_Search_Indexes#MARC_21_Bibliographic_All_Titles_Search)

Currently the only way to create a new controlled vocabulary list (to use in fields with per-defined values) in Alma is by adding the values manually, one by one. Usually the controlled vocabulary lists are added in implementation by the migration teams, but after Go Live, there is no way to do that neither by the institution nor by the support.

The letters list has grown considerably over time, with different naming conventions and brief descriptions that are unhelpful - especially when trying to differentiate between resource sharing letters and letters for local loans.
Overdue letter examples:
(1) *Borrower Overdue Email Letter* is a resource sharing partner letter. (However "borrower" is a common alternative to "patron" for many libraries). Neither labelled resource sharing, like some letters are, or indicated that it's a letter to RS partners. Mixes "email" and "letter".
(2) *Ful Overdue and Lost Loan Letter* is technically an invoice for local loans.
(3) *Ful Overdue and Lost Loan Notification Letter* is maybe a letter, maybe a lost loan invoice... both for local loans.
We'd like to see:
(1) At minimum, a review of the entire list, with customer input (i.e. a letters working group, or customer vote) on the names and descriptions and some agreed consistency over terminology. If the names cannot change then at least a review of the description.
(2) An additional way of filtering them based on work area e.g. letters to patrons, letters to RS partners, local fulfilment, resource sharing, acquisitions etc.
(Based on request 36127)

Problem: The Manage E-Resource Activation Task List does not adequately cover the multiple tasks and steps that operators need to complete during the resource's lifecycle. For example, for most electronic resources, there are usually multiple tasks in progress simultaneously (e.g., entering the EZProxy stanza on the server, ensuring admin access to the publisher's site) but because the Manage E-Resource Task List allows only one status to be assigned to a resource, there is no way to manage multiple simultaneous tasks nor easily determine what task has already been completed.Request: We request that the Manage E-Resource Activation Task List be improved so that operators can display a comprehensive customizable list of tasks to attend to for the resource, the status of each task and the ability to record comments relevant to each of the tasks to be completed/in progress. NB the operator needs to be able to view/have multiple tasks in progress simultaneously.

Alma Enhancements Admin 20. Feb 2025

Alma 2025 Enhancements cycle: AENH-I-34792 and AENH-I-36412 describe a highly similar enhancement request. AENH-I-34792 will be included in the upcoming ballot as Votable, incorporating necessary aspects from AENH-I-36412, and AENH-I-36412 is Not Votable.

After creating an itemized set, it would be extremely helpful to be able to add to such a set with a file of records. Currently, the only way to add to it is by searching in Alma and adding records that way. But this is not useful if you already have a file of 100+ PrimaryIDs and you would like to just add to the current itemized Set.

Creating an order for a title which already has inventory requires too many steps, as well as too much navigation. For example, when placing a new continuous order for a physical title that already has a holding (such as when a vendor changes), an operator must perform 7 seven separate steps (below). This reduces productivity and requires too much mousing and clicking. We would like staff to be able to associate a POL with existing inventory directly from a POL via the ability to search and link a holding, item, or portfolio, as appropriate for the order type. 1) Create a POL using Assign Inventory Manually 2) Fill in the order details 3) Save 4) Navigate from the POL to the existing holding 5) Associate the holding with the POL 6) Navigate back to the POL 7) Use Save & Continue or Order Now  

Purchase requests - Use of templates for orders

• Use of templates: The target is to enable use of templates making order from a purchase request in ALMA.

The use of templates when making order is quite useful to save time and to reduce mistakes because it makes possible to set up recursive information (such as vendor, fund, Acquisition method) instead of writing them for every order having the same vendor, fund …

Now the possibility of using templates is active only when making order from the title, not using “Order” function from a purchase request; we are asking to enable use of templates also in this last case.

Add Find and replace editing command to MD Editor. This helps a lot when editing simple corrections, and saves the time to create normalization rules if the number of bib records to correct is just one or two.

The functionalities from the Item List should also be possible directly from the Receiving Workbench, for example "Open Predicted Items", "Withdraw Items", "Run a Job". This would allow users to create additional predicted items, withdraw items, or run a job directly from Manage Items in the Receiving List. Currently, Alma does not allow users to easily create additional items or withdraw them. This is problematic because a user is likely to be using Manage Items from the Receiving List when they recognize the need to create additional predicted items or withdraw them. To do so, they need to exit the Receiving List and navigate to the List of Items of the correct holding through a new Repository Search. This workflow is inefficient, reduces productivity, and introduces more clicking/mousing into the process. Adding the Run a Job action to the Received Item List would allow additional functionalities. (Based on requests 35947 & 35345. Re-worded in order to reflect merged request ).

Alma Enhancements Admin 3. Feb 2025

This functionality is on the current Alma Roadmap [H2 2025]

Editing order templates is cumbersome work. It would be so nice to have the same kind of overview of them, as we do now with PO lines. Could order templates be listed, with easy overview of their features? Could they even be bulk edited or deleted?

Alma Enhancements Admin 19. Feb 2025

This functionality is on the current Alma Roadmap [H1 2026]

Currently, when we use the APIs to update user records, we have to extract the entire User record even though we only need to update one small portion of it. It would be useful if we had the ability to update User records via the API without having to extract the entire record. This should be recorded in the History tab as well, identifying what field was actually updated. Currently, because it is a swap all, the History tab seems to indicate that the entire User record was updated when it's only been one small part.

Problem: Users will sometimes submit digital resource sharing requests for multiple sections of the same item. There is no way to “catch” these requests before they are sent to partner without forcing all requests to wait for manual intervention.

In accordance with Canadian copyright law, Canadian libraries do not provide copies of more than one chapter/article from the same item (book/journal issue/etc.) for the same user. In digital resource sharing, the user’s home institution generally stops these requests before they are sent to partners. The mechanisms for stopping requests like this are similar to those used when stopping duplicate requests (since they are for the same book/journal issue) but very different from the built-in copyright features in Alma that rely on page numbers and percentage of the total work.

Canadian libraries take their copyright responsibilities very seriously. To prevent potentially copyright-violating requests from getting through, libraries have developed a series of time-consuming and inefficient strategies including:

• Preventing ALL digital requests from being sent to partners automatically, so that staff can manually check and ensure that there are no previous digital requests for that work from that user

• Running an analytic every day to check for potential copyright violations and duplicates, and cancelling requests as needed (even if a partner has already started to fulfill that request)

However, it would be simpler and more efficient if these requests could be caught at the source.

Solution: When a digital request is placed by a user who already has an active request for the same item (regardless of page length), stop it from being automatically sent to partner and add it to a task list for staff to verify whether the request is legitimate.

Situation - recently Ex Libris created the individual accessibility setting in Leganto. So that users could increase font size, change site contrast and feedback message duration. Staff would find it useful to have the same individual accessibility settings for Alma.

Right now the purge date is a static value manually inserted when registering a new user. When the user renews the registration, purge date must also be manually updated.

In our library regulations we'd like to purge users after a specific amount of time after expiry date. Keeping purge dates manually up to date is however quite an error prone procedure.

It would be great to have the chance to automatically update the value in purge date when saving the user data at renewal time according to specific a timespan (e.g. 10 months or 10 years after expiration date).

This proposal has been presented also as idea ( https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/45741457-user-add-option-for-dynamic-purge-date-e-g-12 ) Other customers commented emphasizing the need of keeping purge date related to the expiry date when implementing the enhancement.

When we relink inventory (holdings/portfolio/representation) from one MMS ID to another, we'd like to be asked if the POL can be moved as well so it remains with the inventory and lives at the destination MMS ID.

This could be on the confirmation screen. On that screen there is an area to select the destination bib record and an area to select Handling for bibliographic records without inventory. It would be nice for there to be a third drop down to select Handling for records with POLs. We'd like the options in drop down to include at least these three activities:

1. move the POL to the same destination MMS ID as the inventory

2. unlink the POL from the current record but do not move it to the new record

3. do nothing with the POL (leave it on the current MMS ID).

See attached screenshots for visuals.

Give customers the ability to query Alma using relative dates. This functionality is currently only available in Alma Analytics, but we would like it to also be available for repository search.

This functionality would be especially useful for creating logical sets to populate collections. One of the most common uses for collections is to showcase new materials (i.e., books, journals, databases, etc. acquired in say the last 90 days). However, there is currently no way to build a logical set using relative dates. The best one can do is to select the current year and then commit to updating the query each year. To be completely free of the need to manually update the collection, customers need a way to build queries using relative/non-fixed dates (current date minus x number of days). Ideally, this option should be available for all date types but, for the purpose of this use case, should at least include creation date, activation date, and publication year.

The Scan in Items... Status field value is not sticky. This is a productivity issue and also leads to errors. The system always defaults to the first value in the list (alphabetically) and staff have to change it every time. The same is true for the Done option. The last used option should stick. Use Case: I am a staff member in Acquisitions technical services. I am an original cataloger and my workflow involves cataloging a piece, and then updating the status of the work order to "Shelf Prep." From the Metadata Editor, I complete my cataloging, save and release the bib record, then go to Scan In Items, change the status from the default value to "Shelf Prep," then Scan in the barcode. Now I work on my next bib record, finish cataloging in the MDE, save and release record, go to the Scan in Items screen, and now I have to re-select the status of "Shelf Prep" and scan in the item. I have to re-select this status all day as I go about my cataloging work. 

Change the order of operations with the Alma Link Resolver to check for an ISBN match in first the Institution Zone (IZ), then the Network Zone (NZ), before looking for an author/title match in either the IZ or NZ. Institutions have access to content that may only be found in the NZ and an ISBN match is more accurate than an author/title match. Therefore it is preferred that all ISBN matches are completed before an author/title match is done.

Impact of this problem:
The current order of operations for the Alma Link Resolver is as so:

1.Search for ISBN match in IZ

2.Search for author/title match in IZ

3.Search for ISBN match in NZ

4.Search for author/title match in NZ.

Once the link resolver finds an ISBN match, it stops looking for other matches. So if it does not find an ISBN match at step 1, it continues to step 2. Even if it finds an author/title match at step 2, it continues on to step 3. It will stop once it finds an ISBN match during this process. This is resulting in erroneous IZ links being displayed in Primo on CDI records due to an author/title match (step 2), along with the correct NZ link from an ISBN match (step 3). This is of course confusing to users.

Expected outcome:

If the order of operations is changed to the following, this should reduce/eliminate incorrect IZ links caused by author/title matches when there is an ISBN match in the NZ:

1.Search for ISBN match in IZ;

2.Search for ISBN match in NZ;

3.Search for author/title match in IZ;

4.Search for author/title match in NZ.

The link resolver would still stop looking for matches once it finds an ISBN match.

*This request originated from Salesforce case: 07682889: "Links for different editions appearing on the same CDI record" see the attached file for case context.

Libraries have a business need to be able to monitor Alma for data inconsistencies and other issues that need to be addressed when they occur. Analytics is an excellent tool because it has the needed data (generally) and regular reporting can be set up to email to Alma users.

The problem is that reports send to Alma users even if the report is empty, and if you are using the common approach of having the report sent to you in an Excel file, you do not know it's empty until you review the file. This adds extra clicks and "noise" to a staff member's work and makes it more likely that they will miss it when the report comes through and actually has content that needs to be reviewed.

It would be a strong improvement to Analytics to allow an option when configuring an Analytics object to only send the object to subscribers when the report returns one or more records.

erin.nettifee@duke.edu 7. Jan 2025

This has been requested before - https://enhancements.exlibrisusers.org/ideas/AENH-I-36031

If an institution needs to prohibit an individual user from borrowing a particular type of resource temporarily, e.g. placing a temporary ban on laptop loans for that person, then there is no way to block them from borrowing items of that specific material type without preventing them from borrowing everything else as well. As a result, we are unable to apply blocks in exceptional circumstances, such as with our laptop loans service, because the block would be disproportionate and prevent the user borrowing any physical items at all. The only workaround would be to have a ‘Blocked’ user group configured not to be able to borrow that specific material type, to which users being blocked could be assigned temporarily. However, that is not a workable solution for us because each of our User Groups has different entitlements to length of loan period, maximum number of items, and so on. We would like the ‘Blocks’ tab in a patron record to enable individual material types to be selected when creating a block for that user, determining the scope of that block.

We need additional mapping options in Import Profiles. We need the ability to map to Electronic Collection, Material Type, and Acquisition method, based on field/subfield values in the input file. For example, because you cannot map to E-Collection, you have to have a separate profile for each collection for which you want to load portfolios. This dramatically increases the number of profiles we need to maintain. As another example, we have several EOD profiles for Casalini, when we could have 1 if Material Type and Acquisition Method could be mapped. We currently have multiple profiles because we load different material types (Books, DVDs, etc.) and have multiple Acq Methods, such as Approval, Purchase at Vendor System, etc.

In the new unified PO Line Task List view, after an action is complete and an alert that it succeeded (green with a check) or failed (red with an X) pops up. This alert is anchored to the right side of the screen and multiple alerts align vertically. However, since the new view doesn't have the column on the right side of the screen, the popups' location on the right side of the screen means that any time something pops up, it blocks actionable buttons, requiring that we either wait for popup to minimize or click the X to minimize it. This affects any screen that doesn't have the right-hand column the old view did (invoicing, packaging POs, managing sets, etc.)I would like to suggest moving these alerts so that they don't block menu buttons.

Background - Libraries frequently use API access to Alma records to complete a variety of tasks, provide services, and support special projects. Currently, the types of records and fields that are accessible via APIs are limited. For example, in bibliographic records, the 024 (UPC) field data is inaccessible via the API.

Impact of Problem: APIs are unable to access all data fields for the records being queried, which prevents libraries from fully utilizing the tool for tasks, integrations, and projects.

Purchase requests - New workflow in Alma

New workflow in Alma: the target is to split the action Approve and Order in two distinct actions: one for Approve and one for Order.

This requirement arises because in many libraries the operator that approves is different from the operator that orders: usually they are two different persons.

Here is the new workflow we propose:

• the user enters the purchase request through the Primo online form;

• at the acquisition office, the purchase requests manager assigns the request to an operator with a specific “approver role”;

• the approver operator evaluates the opportunity of the purchase:

  • if not, he/she rejects the request;

  • otherwise, he/she clicks on a new button called Approve: the order is not created, the request status is set to Approved, and the purchase request is moved to the Unassigned tab;

• the purchase requests manager assigns the purchase request with the Approved status to an operator with the specific “purchaser role”;

• the purchaser operator completes the request and orders the material by clicking on a new button called Order; the purchase request status is set to the new value

For this new workflow, it is necessary to add an new role to the existing ones:

• the purchase request approver operator: this role permits only to approve or reject the purchase request, without the ability to select vendor and fund, and to order.

The two current roles, the purchase request operator and the purchase requests manager remain as they are.

Moreover, for this new workflow it is necessary to add a new status to the existing ones:

• Ordered, which will be subsequent to the Approved status

The two current statuses, In review and Approved, remain.

The workflow for adding or revising General Electronic Services, the Online Services Order, and other Alma configuration tables would be quicker, more efficient, and less likely to cause errors if it were possible to reorder by drag and drop or another means than the current "move up/down" by a single row at a time. Some configuration tables in Alma support drag and drop (Display Logic Rules) or the ability to place "at/before" the top, bottom, or any item in the list (Create and Manage Collections). For tables where the order has an impact on public display, these improved methods for placing and reordering the tables would greatly increase and improve Alma usability and staff productivity. It would also benefit end users by ensuring that important additions and revisions can be made in a very timely and accurate fashion.

Alma automatically sets the field "Valid to" on 3 years when setting standard opening hours in the library calendar. But the opening hours do not change very often. This setting also causes problems with long-term loans. For example, the opening hours are valid until October 2025, but the library wants to loan documents until January 2026 (documents bought from some grants, and the academic staff has been working with these documents for a long time). It would be nice to have a possibility to set somewhere that library opening hours should be valid for more than 3 years, e.g. for 5 years or more. (Based on request 36187)

It's important to get a general overview of physical titles holdings in All titles and Physical titles searches same as collection is categorized in All titles search. This way librarians will have the ability to narrow results by specific library without navigating to another search type, i.e., physical holdings. This category offers a unified experience as well, same as other search types offer to narrow results by collections or library. This is needed when you search for a title/subject and would like to compare between the physical titles' holdings and the electronic titles' collections.

We would need to have some of the licensing field be available in the Einventory table or have the Einventory data added to the Licensing table. Specifically, we would like to have the Ecollection name, Ecollection internal description field, license name, license terms available in one table so we could more easily update the internal description data.

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It has been suggested that the use of a join would remove the need for this enhancement. We are unable to make Joins work, and are reporting that to Ex Libris.

That said, we do not think it should obviate the need for the enhancement request. The reason is that we would like us to at least give consideration to what this means in terms of staff access to such functionality. There are two reasons this does not solve our actual problem, which we would define as, “A user with access to Alma Analytics is incapable of querying related data.”

1. First, while I am capable of understanding a SQL query, we do not have access to the underlying schema that sits behind the Oracle Analytics database. We do not actually know which fields serve joining columns.

2. But second, and more importantly, in our opinion, is that requiring SQL in this manner goes against the spirit of what we are paying for with Alma Analytics. We pay for a flexible system that makes it easy for even non-technical (at the coding/SQL level) staff who do have proficiency with Alma data relationships (inferred via the UI) to define ad hoc queries. If a SQL join, is the only viable option, then Alma Analytics will only be usable for this kind of use case by a very small number of highly technical staff. So we would have a reporting bottleneck that the service called Alma Analytics is designed to otherwise alleviate.

Situation - As a large institution, we have lots of users that lose access to borrowing at different times near the end of their academic course. Libraries have to contact users to get books returned before they graduate. We need to be able to send out an email to these users with a list of their loans on it to tell them to return the items. However, we also need this letter to be configurable, like the overdue and lost notices are. So that different libraries can send an email to a user whose accounts expires in 40 days. But a different library may want the email to be sent 20 days before the account expires.

Solution - A new type of email is added to the overdue and lost structure. So that we can configure emails to be send by different libraries to users before their accounts expire in Alma. With a list of their current loans added in a table format. So that the user knows what they need to return.

Shelf report within Alma is a great inventory tool but has limitations.

1. Shelf report checks against permanent location and ignores temporary locations.

2. Shelf report is limited to one location. These limitations cause problems which make the inventory process less productive and more time consuming.

• Because the shelf report checks against permanent location instead of current location, all items that are in a temporary location appear missing when the permanent location is checked. If a display shelf is scanned, all items will error with "not part of the range/set."

• It is often necessary to scan more than one location at a time. For example, if there are reference items located within the general collection or if multiple floors are scanned at one time. This limitation also makes using many sets that include more than one location difficult.

Requests:

1. Check against Current Location instead of Permanent Location when using the Shelf Report tool.

2. Allow users to select multiple locations when using the range and set option within Shelf Report.

Within Alma, it is possible to configure blocks that ensure users who have items on loan and overdue are unable to place any more requests until the items have been returned. However, it isn’t possible to apply blocks in a more granular way, such as to prevent a user who has resource sharing items on loan and overdue from placing any more resource sharing requests. It is not our library policy to prevent users with items on loan and overdue from requesting anything else until they have returned their overdue items, so we cannot apply blocks to encourage people to return their resource sharing items by the due date either. This is unfortunate because additional fees can be payable to some resource sharing partners for late return of their items. We would like to be able to specify in Alma configuration that a user who has resource sharing items on loan and overdue will not be able to place any more resource sharing requests until the overdue items have been returned.

Adding a new fulfillment unit rule is currently a very tedious process that is prone to error. The new rule is created at the bottom of the list, and then in order to reorder the rule, you must use the "Move Up" or "Move Down" options to place the rule appropriate. Each time you click "Move Up" or "Move Down", the fulfillment rule page refreshes, which means that you have to then re-locate the rule you are working with on the screen to continue to adjust its placement.

We have found that once we got past seven or eight rules (which is not unreasonable for libraries with complex collections,) this process became very arduous and error prone. We suspect the reason this has continued as a UX approach is because it is something that is generally front-loaded for new adopters and less painful for longer-term Alma users who have had their rules "settle" over several years, minimizing needing changes.

We would like to propose improving this process - some possible approaches could include:

1) Implementing drag and drop rule functionality, using the existing "Save" option, and perhaps paired with a restore function or confirmation dialog to avoid accidentally reordering rules;

2) Reordering with row number by exporting to an external spreadsheet, editing the row number, and then reimporting the list

erin.nettifee@duke.edu 2. Jan 2025

We have also shared this idea at https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/49097645-improve-reorder-functionality-in-fulfillment-unit

Ability to take action against multiple tasks at once, such as marking multiple tasks as done, reassign to the same user, etc.

We often want to reassign tasks on this list to a particular person. Currently, assigning an e-resource to an Alma user from the Activation Task List must be done one at time, and it takes three or four clicks to do for eachwhich is cumbersome and becomes laborious when the task list has a lot of entries. Therefore, we would like to be able to select multiple entries in the task list and then select an Alma user from a dropdown to assign the resources all at once. The selection could also include the option to email the user and include a note, as the current one-by-one process does. In addition, bulk actions like marking tasks to completed/done would also considerably help us!

Alma Enhancements Admin 24. Feb 2025

Alma 2025 Enhancements cycle: AENH-I-36439 and AENH-I-36412 describe a highly similar enhancement request. AENH-I-36439 will be included in the upcoming ballot as Votable, incorporating necessary aspects from AENH-I-36412, and AENH-I-36412 is Not Votable.

Many libraries would like to have more flexibility when configuring pickup locations for requests, in a request terms of use. One significant improvement would be to allow a library to specify, from the list of pickup locations, the specific pickup locations that should be allowed.

Alma campus functionality can support this need in a very limited way, but because a library can only be in one campus, it does not support most use cases.

This is functionality that was in Aleph and is lost for libraries moving Aleph to Alma.

Use cases:

• Pickup location setup by patron group / statistical category - for example, a library may want to allow faculty and graduate students to request delivery to a particular research department where arrangements are made for a staff member to have Alma access and circulate books for those patrons. However, they don't want visiting scholars to be able to have items sent to that research department. Right now, this use case can't be met in Alma. If we had a "pick from list of locations" option, we could write two request policies - one for faculty and graduate students that included the research department, and one for everyone else that did not include the research department. (Note that personal office delivery does not meet this requirement because not all users in this case have offices.)

• Library / courier delivery - A set of libraries may want to deliver items to each other, but only allow reading rooms to deliver to a specified set of reading rooms at the other campus. This use case cannot be met with Alma's current configuration.

florence.lanz@unibe.ch 17. Jan 2025

The University Library of Bern strongly supports this enhancement request, as outlined also in the associated idea in the Idea Exchange: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/36023989-add-more-flexibility-in-request-tou-pickup-locatio

We would suggest the implementation of the solution proposed by Ex Libris last year for NERS request 8914 (In List Configuration Option in Request TOU Pickup Locations Policy), which is great, but did not get enough votes last year:

"The suggested solution will be -

It will be possible to configure In the Fulfillment configuration an institutional list of 'Pickup groups'. Each row in the 'pickup group' table is made of:
The pickup group code
A library name
Optional - a specific reading room name

For example, the institution may define 2 groups:
East libraries
West Libraries and one east reading room
West Libraries and all east reading rooms'

The 'East libraries' may be defined as:
E1 library
E2 library

The 'West Libraries and one east reading room' may be defined as:
W1 library
W2 Library
E1 reading room

The 'West Libraries and all east reading rooms' may be defined as:
W1 library
W2 Library
E1 reading room
E2 reading room

The pickup groups will appear in the list of options when defined a Pickup Location policy. Therefore, it will be possible to define a pickup policy of 'West Libraries and one east reading room', and set this policy in a request TOU.

If an item may be request as per the 'West Libraries and one reading room' policy then all of the pickup locations of this group will appear as selectable options.

Changing the pickup group setup will affect the recalculate process as does changing the policy value.
Deleting a pickup group will not be possible if it is used in a policy. A 'Show Related policies' action will enable reporting a list of the policies that made use of the group, similar to the 'Show related terms of use' option for policies."

This is a submission much like Oregon State University's request #8335.

Presently, the link resolver will show article content as being potentially available if print inventory is detected, even if those holdings do not encompass the article in question. Perhaps this is intended as a measure of caution, since many print item records do not utilize enumeration/chronology fields and instead rely on descriptions, and others may not have item records at all.

Example from our catalog

What we'd like to see is the link resolver be able to detect when a print serial includes item records that all have either enumeration or chronology filled in. In those cases, where item record information can be parsed to determine held volumes/issues, the link resolver should be able to recognize when the article in question is indeed not available (and in Primo, not display items from that physical title in "Get it"). This will have the added benefit of allowing ILL services to display instead of print issues that are do not contain the article needed.

Previously the item pop-up message included patron information such as "on Hold Shelf for Last Name, First Name"

The new interface shows that the item should be placed on the hold shelf, but provides no information as to whom it is for. This now has to be separately searched - adding an extra step that used to be seamlessly provided

Add to the "Bulk change due date" process the option to run on a predefined ("itemized") set of users, and not just on users defined by a user group as iti is currently.

We would like Ex Libris to keep its LC classification coverage up-to-date. Alma Analytics includes Library of Congress classification-code data, but periodically we see newer valid classification codes come up as "Unknown." Ex Libris currently has no reliable way of keeping up with changes in LC classification. They commit only to cover the published "Library of Congress Classification Outline", which is not complete. They will add classifications upon receiving support requests, though this process is often quite slow and puts significant burden upon institutions. This enhancement would have Ex Libris independently maintain complete coverage of LC classification. This could take the form of e.g. establishing its own access to Classification Web, subscribing to LC updates, and/or setting up some alternative system with LC for updating their coverage. The outcome would be that Analytics users would be confident that very few valid classifications would come up as "Unknown" in Alma Analytics, and those that did would be added within a reasonable time frame without the need to file support tickets.

It would be very useful to be able to copy an invoice and then edit it (invoice #s, dates, prices, funds, etc.), rather than having to rebuild the same invoice in the next fiscal year, or the following month/quarter, for the same exact titles. This would be great for lengthy invoices or standing orders that you receive frequently. For example, we have a vendor that sends monthly invoices for the same 5 serials, so a new invoice has to be created manually by staff each month. A duplication feature would enhance productivity in the acquisitions workflow, and would be an ergonomic improvement since less data would need to be added manually through clicking and typing. Justification: There is an existing feature to export and then import an invoice, but that process is cumbersome and is not a time-saver for shorter invoices. The exported invoice contains much of the relevant information, but not in the proper format. There is overall data cleanup needed in the form of removing numerous columns from the export file, and to do things like separate POLs from their statuses, as well as the fact that the export includes fund names but not codes which requires knitting in data from Analytics to include the codes needed in the Import Invoice through file. While import/export process can save time on invoices over 25 lines, it is not worthwhile for briefer invoices.  

Current set up of Fulfillment in Alma does not allow for the due date to be set to a date and time in the past. This would prove invaluable during testing works.

Staff are sometimes confused by "System" changes in physical item histories when they are trying to track the history of problem items (such as incomplete or missing items). If item histories included the Primary ID of the staff member who initiated any job that may have changed the location or bibliographic record of an item, rather than just "System" as the originator of the change, it would give library staff the option to follow-up with that staff member.

It would be beneficial if there could be an option to configure predefined templates for creation of invoices as there are templates for orders.

There's no option to view PO lines of specific funds in X fiscal year. When you search for a title or click on 'All PO lines', you get all the PO lines of various funds, and you cannot sort them according to a specific fund or fiscal year. Therefore, adding a fund category to facets that includes the name, code and an option to select a desired fiscal year will allow librarians to sort PO lines according to fund and perhaps narrow more results by using the facets, that is opposed to searching the fund in Funds search and be limited to perform advanced actions to narrow the PO lines list as desired.

Currently, the Preferred Term Correction Task is not intended to call the "Normalization on Save" Task.So, the Authorities - Preferred Term correction job mixes our sub-fields defined by the Sort subfield task.We would like the Authorities - Preferred Term correction job to call the "Normalization on Save" Task or to not change the way the subfield sort is defined by the Sort subfield task.

Currently there are many fields in the 3xx range which are not supported out-of-the-box in the Bibliographic Details dimension of Alma Analytics.

We have mapped 300 to a Local Param several years ago, but we are stymied in our work updating to RDA consistently as the desired foundation for then considering LOD work in BIBFRAME, given this is a key area with many 3xx fields utilised such as 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 340, 344, 345, 346, 347, 380 and 382.

Although the number of Local Params increased in 2024 finally from 10 to 30 we use already many of these for other important field data with few left, and it’s not reasonable to take up more than a dozen of these just with 3xx fields.

These fields do not generally have many characters, so it is not anticipated that this would add much to the performance load for the daily ETL to hardcode add them to the Bibliographic Details dimension.

This idea would be fulfilled by each of these mentioned 3xx fields being added to Alma Analytics as a standalone field ie not all in one field, to support bibliographic data management, maintenance, updating projects, and reporting.

Allow customers to create new roles in Alma for the purpose of restricting access to particular Analytics reports (or groups of reports), so that we can use those roles to limit access to the reports we create.

We make extensive use of Analytics reports at UW-Madison, and would like a better way to ensure that reports with sensitive data, etc. are restricted to the appropriate staff. For example, we are contemplating 4 "types" of report viewers such as: 1. Public Report Consumer: can view reports with no sensitive data (e.g., holdings data reports); would be assigned to all Alma users (student workers and permanent staff) 2. Sensitive Circ Report Consumer: can view reports with circ transaction data and patron identifiers 3. Restricted Circ Report Consumer: can view reports with circ transaction data and patron names 4. Sensitive Financial Report Consumer: can view reports with acquisitions data that should only be seen by administrators, funds managers, acquisitions staff, etc. Note: We know that existing roles can have privileges added or removed to customize roles, but we have generally resisted doing that in the past in order to keep our roles/privileges as close to "out of the box" as possible, and consistent across our consortium. The creation of new roles for this purpose would seem to be a better solution if it is possible.

Expected outcome: Allow us to create new roles as described above that can be assigned to staff and then be used to restrict access to particular reports (based on the types of data exposed in those reports).

The current development of the Primo Discovery subject area in Analytics is very minimal, with only overall measures such as “Total Number of Titles Indexed in Primo VE”.

Originally it was thought on the basis of documentation that this subject area had much greater development, but testing and cases to Ex Libris for apparent defects with OAS not matching to documentation have led only to the documentation being changed to state even more minimal and less useful data.

For example, it was reported that the documentation included the option to drill down to "the specific date on which a title was indexed” which was found not to exist in OAS, and the data did not appear to be updating daily by standard ETL.

Ex Libris response was to change the documentation to specify the date only being to the month rather than by date, and to add a Note that the entire subject area only updates on a monthly ETL, same as the Titles area (07186518 and 07197998).

This enhancement request is for this subject area to be developed further, to be made useful with meaningful data for reporting, monitoring, and troubleshooting and give boost to managing external source data records, including the following:

• Update the data on the standard daily ETL, instead of only monthly

• Add Date granularity in alignment with other subject areas down to the exact date, not just by month

• Add ability to report on data and drill down to the record specific level, with at minimum Originating System ID and MMSID for all data sources

• Add a table for each separate external data source code, and ability to drill down to the records mapped against each data source and associated Measures for each, instead of only one measure of “Number of External Titles Indexed in Primo VE”. For example, we have codes 61UQ_LIBGUIDE with approx. 170 records, 61UQ_ATOM with approx. 7000 records, and 61UQ_ESPACE with approx. 56000 records

• Add measures on numbers of records which are DEDUP and FRBR grouped together including across data sources

• Add details on records which are DEDUP and FRBR grouped together, with ability to drill down to the record detail level, including at minimum Originating System ID and MMSID

• Add details of deleted records, by specific record IDs and overall measures

• Add details of records suppressed from Primo VE, by specific record IDs and overall measures

• Add details of records processed by scheduled and manual run discovery import profiles, and by specific Job ID, by specific record level with Originating System ID and MMS ID, and overall measures (currently only found in Alma job reports by Total records processed, Records successfully processed, Records failed, New records updated, Updated records, Deleted records, Records deleted not in file, Records with deleted status but not found in database, Records that failed to load). Include in this also the Job ID for reference back to History

• Add details of records in Collections for Collection Discovery, across all data sources, by specific record IDs and including each Collection ID and overall measures

• Add details of records in Database Search by specific record IDs and overall measures.

Primo Enhancements Admin 20. Feb 2025

Primo 2025 Enhancements cycle: This submission has been moved from Primo to Alma, by agreement of the Primo and Alma Enhancement Teams.

Configuring Terms of Use (TOUs) for loans in Fulfillment Configuration is a time-intensive process because there are 26 parameters that must be set manually. This increases the likelihood of errors, especially when parameters include numerical values or require precise settings. Staff often spend significant time double-checking configurations, which could be better utilized elsewhere. By introducing functionality to copy and edit existing TOUs or create them from pre-defined templates, this process would become much faster and more accurate. Library staff configuring fulfillment rules, particularly those responsible for complex or repetitive setups, would greatly benefit from this enhancement. Ideally, users would select an existing TOU to duplicate, adjust the necessary parameters, and save the new version or choose from a pre-configured template to expedite the process.

Background: In August, ExLibris implemented the Info Card feature for contributor pages in Alma, which appears under specific conditions related to linked authority records. This enhancement has significantly improved the visibility of contributor information.

Current Conditions for Info Card Display:

• A person is linked to an LC Names authority for a personal name.

• A person is linked to a Name authority that exists in VIAF and can be linked to an LC Name authority for a personal name.

• Information on the person exists in LC Names and Wikidata, with at least two fields containing information beyond the name of the person.

• Wikidata cache is updated in Alma on a weekly basis.

Enhancement Request: We propose an additional feature to further enrich the Info Card functionality. Specifically, we request that when an ORCID iD in the form of a URI is present in either the LC name authority record or Wikidata for the author, the following should occur:

• Display the ORCID iD URI: The ORCID iD URI should be prominently displayed in the Info Card.

• Make the ORCID iD URI Resolvable: The URI should be clickable and resolvable directly within the Info Card in both Alma and Primo.

Benefits: Integrating ORCID iD URIs will enhance the discoverability of author contributions and facilitate seamless access to their research profiles, thereby improving the overall user experience.

Thank you for considering this enhancement to the Info Card feature. We believe this addition will greatly benefit users and contribute to the ongoing development of Alma and Primo.

amanda.xu@usda.gov 23. Dez 2024

The ORCID iD in form of URI should appear in Prime VE as well. It is for both Alma and Primo. Thanks!!! Amanda

When we search for similar electronic titles and are not sure which electronic collections they belong to, we have to review all the search results and find the relevant ones. If we had an electronic collection category in facets it would be easier to view the list and get an overview of the collections in which the titles are included and narrow the results by ticking several collections or clicking on one of them.

When we search for titles in All titles search, we expect to get a general view of all the collections we have, that means electronic collections and digital collections. Those who search for titles which they don't know how many physical/electronic/digital copies they have, will get the big picture and find what they need within one search in one place. As a result, this improvement will create a unified search which will retrieve results of all kinds of material (physical, electronic, digital).

Currently users must have one of the Admin roles to edit Import Profiles. This also gives them access to the Configuration area of Alma. There should be a role to permit users to Manage Import Profiles (e.g. create/edit) that does NOT also give them access to the Alma configuration area. Profiles need to be changed regularly to adjust funds or electronic collections. The staff who know what changes need to be made are not the same staff who need Administration access, thus the permissions to Manage Import Profile should be its own role in Alma. See also Ideas Exchange which has 173 votes as of Jan 2025, and was also Accepted by Ex Libris in Octobor 2023: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/38965627-new-role-for-manage-import-profiles

Patron loan limits are present in Alma at the Configuration end but are not visible in the Patron Services screen where it would add value to the existing information present on this page. Desk staff at our Institution do not possess the roles to switch to the Configuration screen to view such data. As we possess complex loan limits that vary according to user group and also within user groups, the addition of this information would allow us to provide a better user experience as this is one of our top user queries.

In Alma, Vendor Interfaces in Vendor records are the place designed to hold e-resources administrative information, such as contact information, administrative details, and usage statistics details. However, the fields available to libraries were developed several years ago, are not customizable, and do not reflect the complexity of modern e-resources management. Different types of institutions have different needs and want to record different types of information, so adding a few new fields for all libraries isn't an ideal solution.

Instead, this request is for libraries to have the ability to add and manage Vendor Interface fields. Libraries should be able to create new fields to reflect their own local needs and manage their own controlled field values lists. The new fields should all be viewable in Alma Analytics. This will make it possible to e-resources librarians to flexibly respond to new developments in the field and track the information they need in Alma (instead of relying on external shadow systems and spreadsheets).

This functionality is already in place in Alma for licenses (see https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/020Acquisitions/040Configuring_Acquisitions/170Managing_License_Terms). Like License terms, we should be able to add new terms, choose the term type (including free text, yes/no, or controlled vocabulary, and then we can create the controlled vocabulary) and choose the Vendor Interface record section in which the term will appear. License terms have the additional functionality of public display; I am not requesting that for Vendor Interface fields, as they are designed for internal purposes only. I will attach a mockup of what the Add Vendor Interface Term form should look like (based on the Add License Term form).

Autoload collections are not always clearly identified in Alma. The default name of the collection does not always mention this information and there is no specific tag which can be searched or displayed in the CZ releases reports. This can be the source of useless changes by EIO or creation of cases.
We do not want to add terms like ‘AutoHoldings’ or ‘Autoload’ in the public name of the collection as this is not an useful information for end-users on Primo.

It would thus be very useful to tag these collections with the mention ”Autoload” in the Alma collection search results, in the CZ releases reports and to allow the search on collections concerned by this functionality.

A simplified system for print periodical receiving would make receiving faster and more efficient. This would save time and help to avoid often costly errors.

A receiving system that uses modified Holdings rather than predictions would consolidate print periodical receiving into one area. This would reduce the number of steps in the receiving process. Training would also be easier, allowing students to take responsibility for some receiving.

Issues this proposal would address:

• Predictions for each individual issue of a periodical mean that if the publication is delayed the expected dates need to be updated individually.

• Some publications, such as newspapers, can have hundreds of predictions that require searching through multiple screens.

• Delayed publications result in unnecessary claims.

• When a publication pattern changes the existing pattern and all unreceived predictions have to be removed and a new pattern created.

An example of what this simplified system and the steps could look like is attached.

bibsys@nb.admin.ch 12. Mär 2025

AENH-I-36421 is classified as "Ressource Management" but actually belongs to the category "Acquisitions".

In the unfortunate event that we learn that a patron passes away, we need a quick, clear, and finite procedure to immediately and permanently cease/stop any and all IZ and NZ notifications to the patron's email account, especially those that are tied to a SIS load (Example: Banner). College administration directs the library to ensure no emails are sent to the deceased's email account. We need to be able to definitively state to college administrators "Absolutely zero communications, automated or manually generated, will be sent regarding the deceased patron's library account from the IZ or NZ."

Existing work-arounds include toggling the account to internal, removing the email from the account, or entering a fake email; or use of the "Patron Opt-in/Opt-out function" that does not cover all possible letters. However, work-arounds are insufficient and not best practice. As it stands, any patron account toggled external (account information controlled by SIS), will continue to be subject to automated and manual notifications outside of the letter list. Our college uses "Banner" for our SIS. Whereas Banner will eventually remove the patron, there is a governing policy which states the college must retain student records for three years, which means the purge date could be up to three years away from the expiration date of the patron account. Our instance of Alma is also part of a shared library system (consortia NZ) and part of an AFN (automated fulfillment network) and thus linked records may exist in other systems, which would not apply in most Alma instances. As part of the AFN, patron notifications originate from the lending institution and not the patron's home institution. We do have a procedure to remove items involving the AFN from the patron record, however that takes time. The need to block notifications is immediate under these circumstances.

We recently received notification about the tragic death of a patron and the college made it clear that the family should not (ever, now or in the future) receive any notifications about any college business such as overdue notices. I am 100% in agreement with the college's policy. We would like to honor that policy, but if we toggle the student's account as internal, the account will likely not be purged according to the college's policies. It would be best if we maintained the record as externally controlled by SIS and simply prevent generation of any notifications, period. The need is to have a very simple way to instantly stop any and all notifications from being generated from the deceased's account in their home institution as well as any linked accounts via a simple, clearly labeled toggle switch available in the patron's account by an operator with the appropriate permissions/role.

The ‘Requests’ Analytics table provides only title-level bibliographic data. This means you can only report on digitization requests from the title level and cannot report on the specific chapters and articles requested.

We have to monitor for breaches of copyright law and are unable to use the Requests table to do this, as we need more granular data e.g. to know if a user has requested more than one chapter of the same book, or more than one article from the same journal issue. Having only the book/journal title in Analytics means we are unable to do this and rely on maintaining a local spreadsheet to report on this information. This is inefficient, time-consuming and subject to human error.

The ‘Borrowing Requests (Resource Sharing)’ table had the following additional fields added in December 2020: Chapter Title; Issue; Pages; Volume. We would like to see this replicated in the Requests table.

When an item is available there's a green indicator and when the item is not available there's a gray indicator. It would be great if you could extend the rainbow of colors to indicate other cases to when the item is on loan or on order or lost, etc., because when the librarian sees that the item is unavailable, she/he doesn't know why. They always have to click on the items or navigate to the list of items page to find the reason for their unavailability. Therefore, consider adding a small window when you hover on items in the brief record and the items section in the split screen which summarizes the number of items with their process type - which are on loan, on order, lost, and etc. with color indicators. In addition, add an 'i' icon when one or all the items are unavailable to inform the librarian there is an explanation for their unavailability.

Describe the functionality being requested:

The Alma User Purge job is not Automated Fulfillment Network (AFN)-aware. It will allow the deletion of a user record from the user's home institution's IZ even when the user has active transactions or fines/fees at another AFN institution. These "orphaned" linked user records are confusing for both users and library staff and are not a best practice for user record management.

Business reasons that reflect the community or how all customers would benefit:

When a user is a member of an Automated Fulfillment Network (AFN) institution, and that user is eligible for services at the other AFN member institutions, it is a disservice to ALL institutions in the AFN when the user’s home record is able to be deleted while they have active transactions at other AFN member institutions. This is not best practice for user record management.

Technical Requirements:

Alma knows, as evidenced by the user record’s the Network Activity Tab, whether the patron has active transactions at other network institutions. Add functionality to Alma’s User Purge job to check for that linked user record network activity before allowing the user’s home record to be purged.

User Story:

Examples of the resulting problems we've encountered thus far include: 1) If the user's home institution performs a purge and then re-loads records, the orphaned linked user records in the other AFN member institutions do not re-connect to the new version of the user's home record. The user then cannot view their previously charged AFN material on their account. 2) If the user then receives notification from the item's home institution, the user will often contact their home institution for assistance. The user's home institution has deleted the user's record in their own IZ and has no access to the user’s activity. 3) If the item's home institution is unable to contact the user, they often contact the user's home institution for assistance. Again, the user's home institution has deleted the user's record in their own IZ and has no access to the user’s activity.

When performing a Physical Items search by barcode for a title/holdings with multiple items, when clicking “Items” within the ellipses or opening the items display (see screenshot items-nav), you should be taken to that item in the list of items, not taken to the start of the run of items. Within the title search, the barcode is highlighted in the results list (see screenshot short-list), but this is not navigable when the list is very long (see screenshot long-list). But we do need to see the item within the context of the other items, so a direct search that displays only a single item is not sufficient.
Impact of Problem: It is time-consuming, confusing, and difficult to find a specific physical item within a long list of multiple items; workflow and efficiency would be improved by a direct link from the ellipses menu.

The heading for 'Physical Item ID' in Analytics should be recognized as a valid heading when creating sets in Alma.

Currently, the heading in Analytics is ‘Physical Item ID’ but when creating a set in Alma it will only accept ‘PID’ as a useable heading. This requires staff to remember to either edit the column heading in Analytics or edit their exported report in order to add their report to a set.

The column headings that are programmed to be acceptable when creating a set, whether adding from Analytics or from a file, should match the default column headings used in Analytics.

When we catalogue a title that includes a number of several volumes and/or copies and each volume has a certain wording to describe its content of the volume such as Vol. 1 part 2 or Textbook, there is no option to edit this specific item in the List of Items screen (in the same line of an item as inline editing), but in Physical Item Editor only. The problem is that when you edit an item in the 'Physical Item Editor' you can't view the information of the other items (volumes/copies) which you are dependent on, such as description and copy ID. These have to be coordinated with others. Therefore, in the current use case, there's an essential need to view the description wording of other items and remember or copy the exact wording of an item to add it to the current item we edit, thus the wording of all the different items will be identical and unified.

Therefore, if an edit action is added above the list of items, and enables inline editing or editing in grid view in the list itself, it will save valuable time in navigation back and forth between the two screens. This suggestion applies to lists of items in order lines and physical holdings screens as well.

The new "Amazon Order It" plugin is, overall, extremely helpful tool for us! But, if the Plugin included the ability to enter "Interested User", it would add a lot of value for us. Thanks for your support.

The Duplicate Title Analysis job currently includes matching on only one attribute at a time, rather than on all of the attributes that might be covered by a given match rule.

Matching on “System Control Number” provides only matches between 035$a in different bibliographic records. As a result, the Duplicate Title Analysis report misses records that would otherwise be found by an import profile or the “Unique OCLC Number” match method.

The Duplicate Title Analysis job 035$a parameter also misses OCLC numbers that aren't formatted exactly the same, for example,
(OCoLC)5778810
ocm05778810
(OCoLC)ocm05778810

These are the same OCLC control number but are not caught by Duplicate Title Analysis.

The “Unique OCLC Number” match method matches on both 035$a and 035$z, so adding it as an option to the Duplicate Title Analysis job should catch all of these duplicates.

Without this enhancement, the Duplicate Titles Analysis job is not comprehensive. Libraries must employ other multi-step procedures like Analytics reports to identify duplicate records and manually massaging output files of data to run through a separate Merge Records & Combine Inventory job in order to identify duplicate records.

For items placed on a temporary hold shelf with the intent of using them for a display - it would be nice to be able to set up a workflow where the item upon return just reshelves to their permantent location instead of having to move them either manually or via job to remove them from the temporary shelf.

Describe the functionality being requested:

The Alma User Purge job currently deletes users with active requests. Alma should allow for active requests to prevent user record purge.

Business reasons that reflect the community or how all customers would benefit:

It is possible that the only purge-prevention activity that a user may have is an active request (local, or AFN). When purging linked user records in a fulfillment network, sometimes the only activity that a linked user record may currently have is an active request (a request that is in the pick-from-shelf queue, in transit for hold, or on the active hold shelf); the requested item may be committed for the patron’s use, but not yet checked out to their account.

Technical Requirements:

Alma already checks the user record for these settings, and the user record is eligible to be purged, if:

• Balance due on their local account is below “waive threshold”

• No outstanding local loans.

• No assigned PO lines, POs, or invoices.

• No locked bibliographic records.

• No assigned import profiles.

• Not working in the MD Editor.

• Not currently locked by a running job.

• No associated assets or grants (If Esploro is enabled for your institution)

Ex Libris should be able to add “No active requests” to this list of checked criteria.

User Story:

The patron may have already been notified that the item is on hold for their pickup, but if their linked user record is purged in the item’s home library as part of cleanup while the item is on hold, the patron will become unable to check out the item.

When processing invoices, staff can see 5 lines of previous invoicing from the POL, with their invoice number and invoice line, status, from/to dates, and additional information. It would be very useful to also be able to see the cost of those previous invoice lines, to quickly review for significant price changes without having to go to the POL.

Add ability to toggle an item missing to the Circulation Operator role. Staff who do not have the training to create/edit inventory need to be able to mark an item missing but currently you must have the Physical Inventory Operator role in order to do this.

Relates to archived NERS request 4573 aka CERV request AENH-I-34251

In the History tab of a user record that has been updated by the SIS feed, it would be helpful to know what was updated, even if the Status Date was updated. We have seen multiple instances where the SIS feed states it "updates" a user record, but nothing is listed in the History tab for the User. The only thing we can see that has changed is the Status Date.

We would like to be able to track the usage of electronic content (e.g. digtial representations of pdfs) using the Alma analytics system.

At the moment, the Course Reserves dimension does not include that data and so cannot be harvested. We would like the ability to access electronic collection data for citations within course reserve reading lists.

This would help us better inform our faculty when they request these pdfs to be added to their course reserve reading list. We could see how often these resources are being used and pass that information along to faculty. This information would help them in building their syllabi (perhaps leading faculty to forego material that isn't used or look for other material).

This data could also be instrumental in determining our promotional efforts for this service (uploading digital representations for course reserves). If these resources aren't being accessed, we could then work to better promote them through outreach programs.

Furthermore, if a vendor decides to remove certain electronic material that is located in one of our electronic collections, we could better handle sourcing that material elsewhere.

Outside of these use cases, this enhancement is important because it would lead to more robust reporting via Alma analytics. This enhancement could provide deeper insight into the impacts of course reserves and electronic collections.

When libraries are making changes to circulation rules, it is a common need to create a new terms of use because one or two policies are different (like a due date or overdue fine amount.)

It would save fulfillment staff members a significant amount of time if there was a way to duplicate a Terms of Use and then change the one or two policies that are different, and then use the new Terms of Use in the changed rule.

A similar improvement might be to create a Terms of Use template, and allow the template to be able to be duplicated and changed.

Right now, if you want to make sure the new Terms of Use is similar to the existing one, you must use multiple tabs or browser windows to create the new policy from a blank one, which is awkward and error prone.

You can duplicate a policy type in Configuration > Fulfillment > Advanced Policy Configuration, so adding that to the Terms of Use feels like a logical and needed improvement to Alma. This is especially true for libraries that are new adopters.

Make it possible to use regular expressions within indication rules in ALMA.

Indication rules in Alma are case sensitive by design. Case sensitivity is appropriate for ensuring exact matching and the prevention of inadvertent data problems. However, there are use cases in which case insensitivity within indication rules would be more appropriate. For example, when checking for the existence of incorrect or outdated words/terms within bibliographic record fields, which may have been entered in any kind of case, it can be almost impossible to predict and account for all the different case variations: upper, lower, camel, sentence, title, capitalized, etc. The option to ignore case sensitivity in indication rules would make it possible to search for and identify more occurrences and thus greatly improve clean up processes. This option would not be risky for indication rules because they filter sets but do not modify data. Case insensitivity (i.e. ignoring case sensitivity) is common in regular expressions (for example, with the i flag). It would be extremely helpful and time-saving to be able to ignore case sensitivity in indication rules and would also be beneficial to the end users in ensuring data is as accurate, consistent, and updated as possible.

Situation - Currently we have Fulfillment Units with over 100 loan rules in the list. If we want to add a new loan rule into the list. If we add a new rule to the list. It is added at the bottom. So their are times where staff need to click over 200 times to move the rule to the top of the list.

Solution - We are requesting the creation of a drag and drop option in this list or copy and paste to a specific part of the list. So that we can move loan rules quickly up and down a list.

We use the physical items export procedure at regular intervals in the form of a CSV file (comma-separated text file). Official documentation :

https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/050Administration/070Managing_Jobs/020Manual_Jobs_on_Defined_Sets

see “Export Physical Item” section

The CSV file is inconsistent: fields are sometimes surrounded by quotation marks, sometimes by French quotation marks (guillemets), sometimes by quotation marks and French quotation marks (guillemets), and sometimes by nothing at all. This causes problems for some of the analysis programs we use in post-processing.

We would like to see one improvement:

-A compliant CSV file: quotation marks systematically surrounding each field.

-Can we have the option to export in another format: TSV format (tab separator), or Excel format (XLS or XLSX).

In an academic institution, many ""proxy for"" users will be arranged on a semester or yearly basis, it would be good to have an expiry date so that this permission stops and does not extend into perpetuity.Ex Libris developed this such that you can create a separate user for a proxy that would log into Primo differently. And obviously be a different account to check out items on behalf of faculty. But we don't think this is ideal, because it splits a single patron's acvitivty , the proxy, into two records which could create confusion. (Based on request 35865)

Alma roles need improvement to enable libraries to follow the best practice of granting "least access" to IT systems, especially with regards to Alma Administration. Put simply, Alma's administrator roles grant too much access to a particular subject area without giving the flexibility to better match permissions to a library's organizational structure. This is particularly an issue for the role of Fulfillment Administrator.

Example scenario: Big University Library has a Discovery Department that manages Primo, and a Circulation Department that manages physical rules and copyright. In order for the Discovery Department to manage Primo and Summon, they must have the Fulfillment Administrator role to be able to configure Discovery Interface Display Logic; that gives them additional access to configurations that are not part of their job.

An additional consideration is that for many parts of Alma administration, configuration change history is not captured. This makes it more important to ensure that only the staff who should have access to fulfillment administration have that access.

An ideal approach would be to keep the broad "Fulfillment Administrator" role but to add new roles that provide access to specific pieces of the menu, e.g., "Fulfillment Administrator - Resource Sharing", "Fulfillment Administrator - Discovery Interface Display", and so on.

The recent work done to segment the Alma Analytics roles shows the usefulness of breaking roles apart to allow libraries to grant access appropriately. Expanding that to more areas of Alma would be of great value.

It would be useful to display patron's Statistical categories in the left panel of the New Circulation Desk UI.

Thanks for support !

Currently the Authentication Note field displays to everyone in Primo, which means anyone in the whole world can view the information in it, which renders it useless for sensitive information such as authentication information.

When we download an Excel report from Analytics, the report is presented as a list and not a table. Therefore, in most cases, we have to create a table to allow sorting and efficient editing which is cumbersome and not optional in a list.

In addition, if we were to create automated flows on the report daily via Microsoft Power Automate, we cannot connect to the report unless it's transformed into a table.

Situation - Currently staff at libraries have to chase different users for books before they graduate or lots of other types of circumstances. If they create a report in Analytics for users loans then the information is out of date by a day. Which means that sometimes they contact users that have already returned items. Or they have to go through a list of users records one by one to get up to date information on users loans. It would be better if staff could have a list of active loans at their library that they could search or turn into a set of loans. This would be useful to then be able to run a job to change the due dates on that set of loans.

Solution - We would like a live loan search for information in Alma. So that staff can search for the active loans at their library. Rather than using analytics which is a day late or having to go through individual user accounts one at a time. The creation of this list of loans could then be used to create sets and have a bulk update job for changing loan due dates etc.

looft@ub.uni-koeln.de 13. Mär 2025

This sounds interesting, especially if it also means that CDOs with limited scope and no access to analytics can not only select loans (as is already possible), but also may sort those by due date or may export a list including at least the borrowers-ID beside title information, item call number, barcode and due date. (Whereas exporting names might be sensitive to data protection law.) This would help to overview loans in small libraries without reminders and fines.

Add a field in the Portfolio fact table of the E-Inventory subject area titled "No. of Available Portfolios (CZ)". This field would store the number of available portfolios in the CZ for a given electronic collection. For example, as of 07/23/2024, this field would return a numerical value of 4,195 for the electronic collection titled ABI/INFORM Global (CZ Collection ID: 612400000000000006). This field would allow us to use an Alma Analytics analysis to quickly identify which electronic collections in our IZ need manual intervention to bring them back in sync with the corresponding electronic collection in the CZ. Current Process: In order to identify electronic collections of Aggregator type that are out of sync between the IZ and the CZ, we must follow these steps in Alma: 1) Search for all electronic collections in the IZ 2) Apply the Aggregator package facet 3) Locate the first item in the list 4) Write down the number of available portfolios in the IZ 5) Click on the "Click to view the record in community" icon next to that electronic collection's name 6) Write down the number of available portfolios in the CZ 7) Click on the Institution tab to return to the filtered list 8) Move to the next electronic collection in the list 9) Repeat Steps 4-8 for all of the electronic collections in the list Note: By default, if an electronic collection is of type Aggregator package, our process is to set it to auto-activate new portfolios. Even with this setting, the electronic collections in the IZ fall out of sync with the CZ.

Problem: In resource sharing requests, staff can use the “note to partner” feature to send a message to the partner library about the request or the item. This is very useful for communicating about the status of the request – for example, the condition of the book, estimates for shipping time and courier details, following up after the book has become overdue, etc. It keeps all the information about the request in one place for both libraries.

The “note to partner” feature is not available for requests between institutions in an Automated Fulfillment Network, even though many of the same issues arise. Instead, staff must use the “email partner” feature, which sends the partner library an email, that they then have to tie back to the request itself. This system is inefficient and emails can be misdirected or lost.

Solution: Add the “note to partner” function for AFN requesting.

Describe the functionality being requested:

It should be possible to automatically block users based on a set threshold for the number of items they have checked out that are in a lost status. Please add a Lost Item threshold to the Patron Limits in Alma. Currently, the Patron Limits table only contains delinquency threshold blocks for Max Overdues, Max Cash, and Max Overdue Recalls.

Business reasons that reflect the community or how all customers would benefit:

Not all institutions automatically charge a lost item replacement fine for lost materials. For some lost items, the replacement cost may be below the Max Cash block threshold for the user’s user group, but the library would still like the user to be accountable for/aware of their lost status materials; being unable to continue to use library services until the lost item is returned has proven an effective way to automatically get the patron’s attention. The majority of institutions do not use the bursar functionality to automatically transfer fines to the patron’s campus account (or, the patron is a linked user from another institution who is not eligible to have their fines transfer to the bursar).

Being able to automatically block a patron based on their number of lost items, in addition to/instead of their owed Max Cash, will make the work of library staff more efficient. Please add a Lost Item threshold to the Patron Limits in Alma.

Technical Requirements:

Alma is already aware of which items on a user’s account have the status of Lost. Thresholds for Max Overdues, Max Cash, and Max Overdue Recalls are already set in the Patron Limits table. Please add a Lost Item threshold to the Patron Limits in Alma.

Other Documentation:

Idea Exchange: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/46254445-add-patron-limit-threshold-block-for-number-of-los

The Electronic Resource Activation Task List includes only $a of title field 245, which means important information is missing, specifically Name and Part ($n, $p). For example, the title "Oxford Bibliographies" appears 3 times in the list, when in fact the 3 titles are for these distinct works: Jewish Studies; Islamic Studies; Medieval Studies. The task list should include data from $a, $n, $p in the Title field because these are considered part of the title proper.

When updating our User Profiles, we have to go into each role and update the expiration date. It would be easier if we could select all of the roles and update them to the same expiration date at once.

We would like the system to double check that format and title of the item requested really does match the item the patron requested. Our options for classic resource sharing locate is to use AND or OR on the metadata elements. We have tried using OR and while the system might match on more items, we also get complete mismatches. It is in our opinion that Alma to not be sure and ask a human than deliver a book on calculus to a student who ordered a sociology book. The patrons are so confused, and it makes us look like we don't know what we are doing. This is why we have stuck with the strict locate settings of Title, ISBN/ISSN, AND OCLC. OCLC could be improved if the index only included the 035 A subfield. We are proposing that if the system fails to match or has a potential mismatch it gets a status of locate problem, so staff can intervene prior to the patron receiving the wrong item.

We currently have to run an analytic report to create a list of users who have left the institution before their items were due when their expiry date has been changed by the institution to an earlier date. This then requires manual intervention in the user's record by staff as due dates can not be changed for Inactive accounts. We have to make the user active and then change the due date of the item to that days date, then go back in and make the user Inactive again. This takes up a lot of staff time, especially when students are graduating. We would like to have a system where Alma can run a job against Inactive users and change any future dates to their record expiry date.

erin.nettifee@duke.edu 17. Jan 2025

Duke would also find this enhancement helpful.

To assist with collection management or to assist users undertaking extended research, staff may need to request long runs of items from physical holdings of serials, such as newspapers or journals. However, there is no way to place a bulk request for items. Each item needs to be selected and then the same user and request information needs to be entered multiple times making this a time consuming and repetitive process.

From the ‘List of items’ screen in Alma, items can be filtered and then multiple items can be selected to undertake the actions specified in the ‘Manage selected’ drop-down. If ‘Request’ could be added to this list of actions, then a selection of items could be requested for a user at once, saving a significant amount of time.

To support this functionality, it would be helpful to improve the search and filter options in the ‘List of items’ screen. As item ‘Description’ is used to differentiate items this could be included in the search options. Also, for the ‘Description’ filter, it would be beneficial if multiple descriptions could be selected at once rather than only one, making it easy to filter only the required items ready to be selected and then requested.

We'd like to see the PO Line number (and if possible the PO number) on the Alma search screen. See attached screenshot. Suggested placement is next to the cart icon followed by Orders (#) if that could show the PO Line number (top priority) and PO number (if possible) of all the orders for this MMS ID.

We would also like for these numbers to be available in the resulting spreadsheet when selecting the list for download from this screen.

The Bibliographic Details dimension in Analytics should include the Management Tags for publishing jobs to OCLC WorldCat (Export to WorldCat) and Libraries Australia (Export to Libraries Australia). These data should be available and treated like the administrative data for the “Suppress from Discovery” management tag.

Analytics should display the “Export to ___” value for each bibliographic record (e.g., Publish Bibliographic Record, Publish Holdings Only, Don't Publish). The value should be visible for both the Institution Zone and Network Zone levels in a network environment to allow consortium staff the ability to check for conflicting settings between zones.

Having these data present in Analytics will help troubleshoot the unexpected outcomes of publishing jobs and allow libraries to identify when a tag has been set incorrectly so that it can be fixed. This management tag is the only criteria that the OCLC Publishing Profile uses to determine what should be published from Alma to OCLC, so it is critical for libraries to have this tag set correctly.

See also Idea Exchange: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/39217558-expose-export-to-worldcat-management-tag-to-anal

current ideas exchange item https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/45596488-support-local-portfolio-record-creation-using-pars

currently import profiles only allows using static url creation from importing MARC records. it requries additional steps of extracting a parser parameter and editing spreadsheet to us portfolio loader to overwrite with a parser parameter. This is necessary for collecitons shared in a multi campus environment with separate account

linkj@elac.edu 23. Okt 2024

thank you for trying to help

Right now Alma it treats everything as a book either physical or digital. We have cases where the patron requests a DVD and receives a book due to Resource sharing just matching on the title. By having system capture the patron’s material type preference we are ensuring they receive the exact item they wanted. We believe this would also help in areas such as the new ebook project. There are some patrons that insist on using print and do not want to read an electronic book. Ensuring we capture the patrons preference would save staff time and ensure more satisfied patrons.

Current the Default View setting is an institution wide setting in Configure Discovery Views. This is not ideal for a multi college institution. Make the default view configurable at the user or location level. The display in discovery fuction on title records and portfolios does not work very well in a multi-campus environment with this as an institution wide setting

The E-Inventory subject area has an ISBN field but it is a list of several ISBNs. The ISBN valid single (Normalized) field would allow us more precise data analysis. It also allows us the ability to pull a report based on this field into other analyses.

In order to better manage notes added to user/patron accounts, it would be helpful to have 3 additional fields available in User reports in Analytics:

• Primary Identifier for staff person who created note (info displays in Alma user notes)

• Date note was created (info displays in Alma user notes)

• Unique Identifier for note (does not currently exist -- see enhancement request AENH-I-36286 where we have requested that this field be added to user notes)

This enhancement request relates to Alma Fulfillment enhancement request AENH-I-36286 'Ability to Delete Patron/User Account Notes in Batch by Set' -- adding these 3 fields to analytics would help us to create a set of user notes that could be deleted by running a batch job.

Allow the option to include all, or only specified indicators and subfields, to be added to Alma Analytics when requesting a Local Parameter to be established. Also, make each MARC field for a record a separate entry (for Local Parameters only) to allow for increased matching and parsing capabilities.

We are fully utilizing the User records' Statistical Categories but need to be able to apply an expiration date. Some users change between categories so it would help us for statistical purposes to know when they were utilizing resources as a particular category and when not. Currently, this has to be done by hand - manually removing the categories and we don't have the manpower to do this. This needs to be available both in Alma and in Analytics.

Suggest:

• When manually adding a statistical category, include an option field labeled "Expiration Date". This should be optional - not mandatory - since not all statistical categories will expire on a user's record.

• In a User record, within the Statistical Categories tab, add a column labeled Expiration Date that lists the expiration date for each category.

Add an option to the Update/Notify User job to remove note(s) selectively (i.e. possessing a common term in the note). Our Institution utilises user notes to keep track of visits by students without their ID card - these require removal per semester per academic year which is a very manual and time consuming process.

Currently, when you view a PO line of a book that has one item or several items, there's no option to view the list of items from the ordered items/holdings for ordered items section.

When the new Physical holdings search UI was launched several years ago, a 'view items' link was added to view all the items of the holdings if any change was needed in one of them and it's very effective. When you create or view a PO line and you are not sure how many items the bib includes in general, in case you would like to check the wording description of the former volumes that were ordered and received and copy the exact volumes description, you need to navigate to a different screen to view the list of items and then memorize or copy its content to the new items that will be purchased, because currently you can only view the barcodes of items and edit each one of them separately, but you cannot view the list of items from the PO line. In addition, if a journal has several holdings, you can view the items of each holding, but you cannot view the list of items of all the holdings. Hence, it would be very efficient to add a 'view items' link above the ordered items/holdings for ordered items section in PO lines of print books and journals, the same as the physical holdings search provides.

Provide for the ability to import data where export capabilities exist.

This will allow for quick updating of interface sections, such as Terms of Use and Fulfillment Rules, rather than having to perform the task one entry at a time. This will also allow for settings to be easily shared across Production and Sandbox environments, or otherwise bulk update tables. Importing functionality already exists for Calendars.

At present, when selecting "Letter Examples>Add from system letters" at Letters Configuration, only the most recently sent 10 letters are displayed - it would be beneficial to possess a drop down menu here of more letter options as those of interest are not always those displayed in those most recently sent.

Needed Change: The ability to override a POL at the item level (change/delete) is imperative for the work done by Cataloging and Acquisitions staff. As a cataloger at a large research library, we frequently receive gap-fill purchases of periodical issues from third-party vendors or as gifts from donors—including for subscriptions that are still open. We know that we can associate a POL at the holding level, but this is undesirable for these situations where we need to trace the POL/method-of-acquisition to an individual item. Also, if you change a continuous POL at the item level, Alma changes the POL for every item attached to that same holding. Often we have many items purchased with different (or no) POLs—subscription, firm order, gift—together on one holding, and these items need to be on the same holding to clearly reflect what we hold, sequentially, to our users. Catalogers and acquisitions staff need to be able to override a hyperlinked (continuous) POL at the item level to accommodate these very common occurrences of gifts (with no POL) and gap-fills (with differing POLs).

When entering vendor details in the Material Supplier field within POLs, both the Vendor Name and Code are displayed. However, within the Vendor field in invoice records, only the Vendor Code is displayed. We'd also like the Vendor Name to be displayed in invoice records. Our Vendor Codes in Alma are often assigned by our finance team, while our Acquisitions team has control over the Vendor Names and can make them meaningful to us.

We can search by Vendor Name within the Vendor field in invoice records, but only the code is displayed, which makes it difficult for us to tell whether we have selected the correct vendor record.

Alma lacks daily quota limit functionality for ISO-ILL lending requests. This creates a challenge for libraries, as staff can become overwhelmed and unable to provide adequate attention to each request.

We propose implementing a configurable daily quota mechanism for ISO-ILL lending requests that would automatically reject requests once the daily limit is reached and redistribute them to other ISO Partners, allowing libraries to better manage their workload and maintain service quality. The system would automatically reset the quota counter at the start of each day and provide appropriate notifications to requesting institutions when the quota is exceeded.

Available Idea Exchange: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/49253558-daily-quota-of-iso-ill-lending-requests

It would be very helpful to flag activated Alma collections when they are concerned by display logic rules.

At the moment, there is no indication and activation changes may have some impact on the discovery and fulfillment level. It would be very useful for electronic operators to be directly alerted (for example with an icon at the collection level or a message alert in case of collection's deletion). It could prevent collection deletions or other mistakes made due to lack of knowledge.

Title: Index Letter Name from User Attachments tab to allow searching by Letter Name

Describe the functionality being requested:

Often I wish that I could find examples of Letters that have been sent to patrons, particularly in cases where the example I need only gets sent rarely, and I can’t find it as an option for a Letter Examples any longer as it was sent too long ago. It would be good to be able to search for part of the Letter’s name, e.g.

FulUserLoansCourtesyLetter - 11/03/2024 05:01:14 AEDT

And retrieve a list of users that have received this Letter (so I can view their attachments tab & find the Letter example). This would be a good way to know that Letters are working, too, particularly if you could search by date range and Letter type.

Impact of Problem:

Finding Letter samples can be tedious sometimes as there are scenarios that only occur rarely, but you want to see how the Letter looks in preparation for next time it gets sent. Examples include Loan Status Notice Letters where there are a few types of wording that don’t crop up very often, e.g. where requests were cancelled and the due date doesn’t change, because the cancellation occurs just at the right time before a renewal can be triggered/before an item goes to overdue.

Expected Outcome:

It should be as simple as doing a search in the Users search index (either basic search or advanced) for the Letter’s name.

Technical Requirements:

Include some elements of the Attachments tab content in the Users search index, in order to be able to retrieve a list of users who have received particular Letters, in order to find Examples. This could be limited to the User Manager or even User Administrator role in Alma.

Currently, when contacting users using the Update/Notify Users job in conjunction with the User Notifications Letter, the process will only send to the preferred email address in the patron record. For our former students whose patron records have expired in Alma, this means that the notifications go to their student email address to which they no longer have access.

To contact our former students once their Alma account has expired in line with university IT regulations, we have to take their unique identifier out of Alma and contact them using a separate external system. This entails a lot of extra work and means we are unable to provide information in the email about any outstanding loans, which they cannot access through My Library Card after their account has expired.

We would like to be able to select non-preferred email addresses or switch preferred email addresses for our expired students so we can still contact them about outstanding items on their account.

Describe the functionality being requested:

General System Administrators in Alma should have the ability to hide libraries that are not in use by the institution but need to stay in Alma, for example the out of the box Resource Sharing Library, or libraries that have been created for various purposes but don’t need to function in Alma as libraries.

In the example in the attached Word document, the libraries indicated in red are not in use (the Resource Sharing Library not at all, and the other libraries not for anything other than facilitating Primo VE resource sharing requesting). They must stay in Alma but are needlessly cluttering up Alma menus where they are not needed.

Technical Requirements:

Add a configuration option that allows libraries to be suppressed from display in the end user view of Alma. This configuration option should remove undesired libraries from such areas as search indexes, physical item drop down menus, and acquisitions-related drop-down menus (including Rialto menus). The configuration should be easily modified should certain libraries need to be re-added to front-end display in future.

Functionality requested:

Add the ability to schedule the Add from Set (Associate Standalone Portfolios) job, which currently does not have scheduling options available, unlike other manual jobs.

Business reason for request:

We automatically import new records with standalone portfolios daily for ebooks purchased through GOBI. Because the portfolios created by the import process are for titles from several different providers/publishers, we cannot automatically create them in a single electronic collection. New portfolios created through this import job automatically populate saved logical sets per provider, but these sets must be manually added to the various electronic collections weekly. This happens through the Add from Set job, but because the "Add from Set" job can only be accessed from the portfolio list under the e-collection's service and no scheduling options are available there, staff must run a separate job manually for each e-collection.

Technical requirements:

Either of the following two options would be acceptable:

• Add scheduling options identical to those available for manual jobs accessed through the Admin > Run a Job menu to the dialog for the Add from Set job.

• Move the Add from Set job to the Admin > Run a Job menu, where it would presumably have the same scheduling options available as other jobs in that menu.

User Story:

A staff member managing the regular task of associating new standalone portfolios with the appropriate e-collections currently must manually set up and run several instances of the same job weekly. With the proposed functionality, the staff member would save time because they would only need to review reports from scheduled Add from Set jobs to make sure the jobs ran as expected.

Currently there is no easy way to know how many proxies a faculty member have, and who are they. The only way is to search by the sponsor email address.

Please use separate columns to export the price information and the currency indicator. The price field should be formatted as a number rather than as text. (Based on Request 35838)

Add number of renewals against items in the loans table at Manage Patron Services screen. Currently additional clicks are required to obtain this information.

Currently, when you search Electronic Portfolios and then click into the search box to paste in a new search term, it auto highlights the entire field contents. In All Titles search, it does not.

It would be preferable if they were consistent, to avoid erroneous searches due to muscle memory. For example, if a user clicks into an All Titles search box and uses CTRL-V to paste an MMSID, the pasted content may wind up reading something like "990021916990026842260204803680204803" and when muscle memory takes over and hits Enter before noticing, this erroneous search obviously results in no records being found.

Users who make use of both the All Titles search and Electronic Portfolios search would benefit from the behavior being consistent across both.

Under the current specifications of the title level request, if several libraries in the institution hold the requested material, the item to be checked out is randomly assigned. Considering the size, position and characteristics of each library, we would like to configure the priority order of libraries for the title level request. (i.e. Central Library 1st, XXX Campus Library 2nd...)

The current specification is interfering with each library's operations especially when accepting requests from other institutions like through the Fullfilment Network.

Situation - We have recently started using the institutional calendar closure process for Christmas and Easter vacation periods. So that the majority of due dates will jump to after the vacation period. However, we have a set of short term loan periods that libraries do not want to jump vacation period. However, if we change their Closed Library Due Date Management status to ignore closed dates. This means that their due date will land on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday throughout the year. This either means students have confusing dues or staff have to do a lot of manual work changing due dates or the systems team need to change a set of loans rules before each calendar closure period and change them back at the end of the holiday.

Solution - We are for the library closure exception to have a extra field that defines the closure as a weekend/bank holiday or vacation. We are then asking for the Closed Library Due Date Management field in loan rules to have different options dependent on whether the exception is a weekend or a vacation (or the option to ignore both closure exceptions).

Situation - As a large institution we have a lot of duplicate records created. We can ask staff to merge these records. However, if a staff member merges a record and the primary record isnt on a collection but the secondary record is on a collection. The new record created will have lost its connection to a collection.

Solution - we would like a warning to tell staff that the connection with the collection will be lost in the merge process. And to give the option for the collection to be added to the new record.

We utilise the Manage Deleted Repository feature for troubleshooting and correcting issues by the Restore workflow.

These issues may occur by human error, such as for multiple copies of the same physical title withdrawn on the same day and accidentally the wrong one is deleted due to the records having very similar information.

The fields currently available in Managed Deleted Repository are very useful, but in such scenarios of high similarity of data it would help us even more if the Barcode and Description was made available for display in the list of Customize View options.

While most of the information fields available already in Manage Deleted Repository focus on title level information, there is a precedent for item level information such as Item call number, Permanent Location, and Copy ID (but we don’t actively use Copy ID and do use Barcode).

Please see the screenshot attached example where it is impossible to differentiate between the two items deleted, hindering the ability to effectively move forward quickly and easily to identify and restore the one which was mistakenly deleted.

To increase the use of self-service machines, it would be nice to be able to differentiate between the process statuses so requests in status on hold shelf, transit and in process could be communicated to the user on the self check machine's display.

At the moment all requests are treated the same and the patron can't see which of the requests are ready on the hold shelf and which still are in process.

We would like to have an ability to identify our partially linked headings in order to better prioritize authority control work. We would like to be able to generate a report for partial linked headings in Analytics, without time period restriction as is now in Alma. Also, it will be highly beneficial to be able - in the ACTL screen in Alma – to filter by Partial matches, just as it now possible to filter by "Linking – BIB heading found no matching AUT headings", for example

When receiving one-time or continuous POLs in the Received Items List, the Receiving Note displays in the top right of the screen. However, we cannot edit the note from this screen. To edit the note, you need to go back to the 'Receive New Material' list, click on the POL number to access the POL, and edit the note from there.

It would be useful for us to be able to edit the Receiving Note from the Received Items List while we can easily see the list of received and unreceived issues. Sometimes we write a note that relates to the next issue we receive, and the note is no longer relevant and can be removed once that item has been received.

Note that this enhancement was previously added to the Ideas Exchange in Aug. 2022 where it received 48 votes while active.

We would like to prevent users from placing additional renewal requests for an item after they have already placed a renewal request and been denied.
Impact of Problem: Currently users can continue to request and re-request renewal of an item even after renewal has been denied; this costs time and misleads the user.

Enriching serial records in the Community Zone (CZ) can be quite frustrating. Replacing a poor serial record with a richer one from the Institution Zone (IZ) is cumbersome and time-consuming.

Given that both bibliographic records represent the same journal, there is no conflict with ISSNs, and the incoming record has higher brief level, it is illogical that the bibliographic record doesn't get enriched automatically when the portfolio is updated. This is what happens when the command Update to CZ is used. Libraries should have effective tools to improve CZ records without relying on manual editing.

We would like to add notes to the quick flow “Fulfillment > Deliver Digital Documents” (as is possible via the longer workflow of “Scan In > Manage In Process Items”). This way, we can swiftly deliver digital documents - regardless of file size - with a note to the patron. At this moment, for a note to be delivered to the end user, we need to take the more extensive route through “Manage In Process Items”. Here we are limited to file size and have to break up large files (as the file size limit is 25 MB and URLS for filesharing are deactivated when the delivery method is Attach Documents – Link). Adding a note via “Deliver Digital Documents” would be ideal to quickly send (large) files, accompanied by a note for clarification if needed.

For network zone resource sharing, the borrowing request should include the call number of the item from the lending institution’s Alma instance; this field should be available for exporting to Excel.
Impact of Problem: It is helpful to have the call number from the lending institution in instances when we have borrowed an item and they don’t receive its return, but it is also not on loan to the patron. The call number allows us to check our shelves for the item in the event it may have been accidentally reshelved in our collection. The current method in Alma to enable shelf checking for loaned materials is very difficult and cumbersome, involving a lot of clicking, copying, and then pasting item information into another program (spreadsheet). If the lender’s call number was included in the borrowing request information it would be quicker to get to, streamlining the process of manual shelf checking.

Situation - We currently use autorenewals on most of our loans. As the university has set an expiry date on all users accounts after a user has graduated. We need to loans to end on specific dates in summer before the user has graduated. In order to make sure we get items returned and fines paid before users graduate. The maximum renewal period does not meet our needs, as we need loans to end on a specific date.

Solution - We are asking for the creation of a maximum renewal date which can be attached to a institutional calendar event. So that specific loans can end on specific dates at specific libraries.

Field 0247 $$a XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX $$2 orcid used in authority records and is currently not searchable in CZ authority vocabularies.

When creating a POL for a multi-volume title, the "interested user" details appear only on the 1st volume item, and all other volumes are not marked as requested as weel by the same patron.

Currently there exists an Alma advanced search that will identify all item records within an Alma Collection and its sub-collections.

'All titles Where (Collection ID (All Sub-Levels) Contains Keywords "collection ID").

Search results can be saved as sets for action via Alma jobs.

It would be equally helpful to have an Alma advanced search that identifies all the collection and sub-collection records within an Alma Collection, so that these can also be saved as sets for action by Alma jobs.

These are short bib records with MMS IDs but there is currently no uncomplicated search available to pull them together as a set.

Creating the search manually using OR keywords "collection ID" is unfeasible when a collection has nearly 300 sub-collections to capture.

Instead we are currently using a manual approach, downloading the spreadsheets at each collection level and copying the collection MMS IDs into a text document for set creation.

For large, multi-level collections this is time-consuming and tedious.

Create an interface in Alma that allows an acquisitions administrator to list out all of the item record templates that have been created by all users that relate to the ordering process. Allow the administrator to edit all of the templates. Currently there's no way to get such a list, to edit specific ones without pretending to start an order in the system and then choose the template.

The New UX PO Line Task List facet options include only a single instance of ‘Reporting Code’, which contains values for Reporting Code 1.

This request is to label this facet option from Reporting Code to Reporting Code 1 and add the missing facet options for Reporting Code 2, Reporting Code 3, Reporting Code 4, and Reporting Code 5.

These options will only display as facet options if the site has configured Reporting Codes 2-5 and the results include POLs with this data.

Note: Previously submitted in 2024 as #8832

The option to Look up title for physical titles in the Overlap and Collection Analysis feature fails to return a match when there are physical holdings but no items.

This is an inconsistent and unexpected experience, as differing with longstanding Alma search results by Physical Title to return physical inventory regardless of itemisation.

We are therefore unable to use this feature, as the outcomes are not accurate or fit for purpose for a significant range of our locations.

This enhancement request is to improve the Overlap and Collection Analysis feature to return matches for all physical titles, including both physical holdings with items and physical holdings without items.

Note: Previously submitted in 2024 as #8833, including text that this limitation was not documented, but this is since done per case 06971703: “Overlap and Collection Analysis Look up title for physical titles does not return a match when there are physical holdings but no items, only physical titles with items are considered for the matching.”

The previous Patron Services page UI allowed you to collapse the summary section (User Notes) on the right side of the screen.

However, at new UI, collapse sidebar panel button is still on the right side though the User Notes section is in the left pane.

So we can't hide the User Notes when we show the screen to patrons.

We would like the Patron Services New UI to be improved so that User Notes can be collapsed and hidden like the previous UI.

In Alma's fulfillment area, processing a library/patron digitization request often requires multiple steps to get copyright approval. Currently, the copyright clearance process is a single step - a check against the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), but if a publisher or rightsholder isn't part of CCC, the licensing process must be managed outside of Alma.

If the digitization request is a product of a citation, then it would be helpful to include relevant course data and the number of students in the course as part of the request.

We propose adding a new state to the 'Pending' workflow for digitization requests. The stages would include:

1. Contacting Rightsholder

2. Awaiting Rightsholder Response

3. Awaiting License Review

The approval or rejection of the request would end the process.

Additionally, processors should be able to add notes at each stage and upload PDFs of the rightsholder’s approval or rejection to the digitization request record.

NOTE: CCC integration would NOT be required for this feature.

Problem: The ISO protocol for interlibrary loan transactions allows copyright compliance information to be passed between systems as part of an ILL request. For example, if the user has agreed that the material will only be used for an allowable purpose, this information may be transmitted as part of the request.

However, this field is not supported in Alma Resource Sharing. If you receive a lending request from another library, and the ISO message includes any copyright compliance notes, you can only see them by opening the ISO XML.

XML is not easy to read and important information that is only available within the XML can be easily missed. Copyright compliance information cannot afford to be missed.

Solution: Add a copyright field to the staff interface that displays the information from ISO, if any.

When Interested user requests are added at the order stage, and then arrive in the department, we need a more visible method for being alerted that these items need fast-tracking when they are in a work order. They do not appear in the Tasks menu Items in department - requested by patron list. (Based on request 35018)

*This is for the Fulfillment Network, not AFN.

We are testing the FN function(*1) for implementation in our consortium.

There is a barrier when using the FN request function to request materials from other institution.

Specifically, there is no option to restrict the ordering of materials from other institution when own institution has materials available for loan.

If own institution has materials available for loan, the system should be controlled to prevent requests to other institution.

This functional improvement was put on the agenda at the IGeLU 2023 meeting.

This meeting was attended by Mr.Guy, Mr.Israel, Mr.Erez and others.

Primo VE was the main focus of this meeting and we were instructed to make a case for this issue as it belongs to Alma.

For this reason, I created this case.

Please refer to the IGELU meeting saying the new cases should be forwarded for review by Alma Product Management, according to information provided by Primo Support in SF case #06824542(Waseda).

Reference

(*1)

Fulfillment Networks

https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/030Fulfillment/050Resource_Sharing/Fulfillment_Networks_Overview/010Fulfillment_Networks

As is, there is no easy way for Alma Resource Sharing institutions without ILLiad to send and receive electronic documents with institutions that use ILLiad / Odyssey. To remedy this issue, we would like to request an integration between Alma and a stand-alone Odyssey server. On the borrowing side, files received in Odyssey would be added to the resource sharing request in Alma without human intervention, and the status of the request would be updated to received. On the lending side, files added to Alma would be able to be sent through the Odyssey integration to another institution's Odyssey using the address in the partner record.

Right now static links in portfolios can be derived form 856 tags in imported MARC records.

Sometimes however we need to manipulate those links to fit the needs of our institution. We could do that easily with a process based on a Normalization Rule (NR) defined in the import profile. But this doesn't work, since in such case our changes to 856 are not considered by Alma when creating the Static links in Portfolios. Static links are always created before NR/process are applied and we can't choose to create them after.

Please add to import profile the choice to derive the links in portfolio before or after manipulation.

This request is a modified version of an idea ( https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/45153145-when-importing-create-portfolio-links-after-pro ).

Alma search results by All Titles and Physical Titles include a record display for Physical holdings.

When there are multiple holdings for the title, this physical holdings display appears to be in a random order, and there are no options available for staff to sort the columns into a more meaningful order, such as by Item Availability summary statements.

The jumbled display slows down our staff workflows, forcing them to stop and expend considerable mental energy and time to review the disordered list, rather than being able to quickly skim the details and move forward.

In contrast, the List of Holdings display has column sorting arrows including for Library, Location, Call number, and Access number.

This enhancement request is to add the same column sorting arrows to the Physical holdings display in the All Titles and Physical Titles search.

Note: Previously submitted in 2024 as #8835, and the problem still exists in the same way in the New UX for Titles

We want all circulation operator roles (limited, extended, manager, administrator) to submit requests for patron holds and/or scan requests from Alma without assigning the 'requests operator' role, which currently allows temporary and/or permanent holdings moves (which are only performed by technical services and stacks maintenance staff).

Submitting a book request or physical/digital request but not necessarily performing the function would be a valuable patron-facing function at the circulation desk that would be helpful - without assigning permission to assign materials to different locations/libraries. We used to have this function granularity in Aleph and would like this developed for Alma.

When returning resource-sharing items are scanned in by a borrowing library, in preparation for return to an item’s original lender, the item record on the borrowing side is immediately deleted, although the resource-sharing request record is retained. The request continues to be searchable in Alma, but the item record, including item barcode, is no longer searchable, even though the barcode is included in the resource-sharing request record, as well as on a user’s record, under Returns.

We would like the item record, with barcode, to be retained and retrievable in Alma for a locally selected number of days instead of being immediately deleted. This enhancement would make it possible to quickly and easily locate all needed information about an item based on the unique identifier associated with the physical item itself, streamlining workflow and troubleshooting as items pass through multiple locations upon return. Quick access to item information also facilitates communication between borrowers and lenders, and between library staff and users.

It has been discovered that

- Alma job Suppress Bib records from discovery can be run on the bibliographic records set content type only, an Alma set of content type = collections, cannot processed by this job

- Alma job Suppress Bib records from discovery does not perform automatic reindexing of the collection items as opposed to manual resaving of the specific collection in Alma MDE

- also, Alma job Suppress Bib records from discovery does not trigger automatic internal job Warmup collection discovery cache as opposed to manual resaving of the specific collection in Alma MDE which does trigger it.

It would be very useful when managing large Alma collections if the standard jobs worked as the manual saving of individual records does.

When you register a new user the moblie number is not set as preferred for SMS notifications.

If you want to send sms notifications you have to edit the phone number in the contact tab manually. It would be nice to have the option to set the sms as preferred as default.

This proposal outlines two feature requests to improve access to borrowing history and enhance the visibility of key information on the Network Activity tab. This will enable more efficient cross-institutional services and better patron support.

1. Access to Borrowing History Across NZ Institutions

   1. Feature Request: Librarians will be able to view the borrowing history of their patrons at other NZ institutions.

   2. Current Situation:

      1. The Network Activity tab only displays current FN loans and current FN requests.

      2. Librarians cannot directly access the borrowing history or detailed transfer records when their patron borrows books from another NZ institution.

      3. Assistance from librarians at the other institution is required, which delays service and limits the ability to provide comprehensive patron support.

2. Show more information on the Network Activity tab

   1. Feature Request:
      On the Network Activity tab, allow librarians to see

      1. The pickup location selected by patrons

      2. Request queue of that item

      3. Loan time of patron loan in the format MM/DD/YYYY HH: MM

   2. Current Situation:

      1. Patrons occasionally overlook the correct pickup location and arbitrarily select a library, confusing service desks.

      2. Service desks cannot retrieve the patron’s selected pickup location in the system, as this information is only displayed in the patron’s email.

      3. Being able to see the request queue of that item and loan time can make the librarian's workflow smoother.

      4. Additional details are provided in the attached document.

Title: Improve how user type ‘Contact’ works in Alma (eradicate duplicates)

Describe the functionality being requested:

Contact users in Alma become duplicated when they are listed in various areas of the vendor record, for example:

(See attachment for version with screenshots)

It would be great if Contact users could be treated more like actual patrons in terms of having their own unique record/ID in the system, and could be linked in various areas of the Vendor record using the same unique ‘patron’ record, rather than allowing duplication as above.

Another example of a duplicated contact:

(See attachment for version with screenshots)

Impact of Problem:

Duplicate records when you view Contacts make it quite an unwieldy area of User Management in Alma.

Expected Outcome:

We’d have a single vendor contact record that could be re-linked to various areas of the vendor record as required, without duplicating contact records.

In Alma, when adding Statistical Categories to User Records, it would help to see the code along with the Description. Currently, we only see the Description. However, some of our Descriptions are the same, but the codes are different. It would help us tremendously to see both - when entering the categories manually and when viewing the User Record, Statistics tab. Suggest putting the code after the "Statistical Category" column.

We would like to use the Alma Analytics Subject Area "Configurations (Limited)" in our Change Management process.

Currently, this subject area can be used to create reports concerning Fulfillment Policies and Terms of Use configurations and when they were modified and by whom.

• It would be great if we could also report on what was changed via "old value" and "new value" fields in this Subject Area.

• In addition, we would like to be able to report on all configuration changes made by administrators in Alma, in a historical overview (with changes made by whom and when).

At the moment the course tab on the user profile only contains columns for Course code and Section. There is no option to add more information about the user course enrollment.

It would be usefull to have access to more informations about the course enrollement in the user tab like: Course name, term and year.

Our library would like the ability to grant view-only access to patron fulfillment information. The primary use case for this is to support non-fulfillment staff who do patron reference and research support; those staff often receive questions about fulfillment functions, but do not provide fulfillment services, and so a view-only function would support that business case best.

Within the new Manage Patron Services UI, we would envision something like:

• attaching them to a circulation desk with a specified role

• Left navigation

  • View main user pane, able to use "Done", able to send activity report, able to send requests report

  • Grayed out or not available - quick user management, add/renew patron role, send return receipt, send loan receipt

  • able to see user group box, expiration date, active balance, accrued fines, Pay button hidden

  • Able to see system notes, user notes, Manage notes grayed out or hidden

• Loan list

• • Access to search, filter and sort

  • Able to view loan state information (e.g., claimed returned, lost, renewed)

  • "Scan item barcode" box either grayed out or not visible

  • No options to renew, change due date, or mark as found

  • Allow loan export

  • Click to third panel could be not available, or available but read-only

• Returns

  • "Scan item barcode" box either grayed out or not visible

  • Able to view return dates, view fine information

  • Click to third panel could be not available, or available but read-only

• Requests

  • Able to view request workflow steps and icons (expired, hold shelf)

  • Click to third panel could be not available, or available but read-only

  
  

When items are placed on the hold shelf and are briefly consulted in the library, there is no easy way to directly reshelve them in Alma FF. The workarounds are far from ideal and are very labour-intensive when facing a large amount of physical requests: cancel the request (but this is not correct and influences our request statistics) and reshelve via the expired hold shelf, update the expiry date to yesterday (but this requires a lot of clicks) or wait until the item automatically appears on the expired hold shelf and reshelve from there. With this last option there is too much time between the moment of consultation and the moment of reshelving, which makes that items are not available on shelf or for request for a too long time period. It also makes that new features like the hold shelf reminder letter cannot be set up (because patrons could receive a reminder when they already consulted the item).

Possible solutions are:

• for an item that is scanned in via ‘return items’ the underlying request will disappear and the item will be reshelved automatically.

• A button ‘consulted’ (like there is a button ‘cancel’) which immediately reshelves the book when you handle a request is another – less preferable – option.

The Users subject area in Alma Analytics currently contains information about roles that are assigned to a user, but it does not contain the parameter information.

That means that you cannot report in Analytics on

• staff with a role and a specified circulation desk or department;

• staff with a role that is read-only;

This really limits the ability to monitor role changes and, in particular, to be aware of when an administrator role is actually granting access to an Alma user or simply letting them see existing settings. This needs to be added to Analytics.

It would be helpful for reference staff to see all courses loaded into Alma to discern whether a reading list is available/attached to a course. Ideally, a course reserves viewer would be able to search the courses index and click into the course record, but not modify information within that course record. Searching the courses index would be invaluable when a faculty member does not know their course number or ID. Currently, this information is not available in the reading lists index. This would help in having to provide elevated privileges for the search of this index.

The out-of-the-box solution from ALMA allows the entire MARC21 format to be checked. We would also like to have everything checked, but with the restriction only to the fields/subfields/indicators activated in the IZ, so that an entry that is conform to MARC21, but is not activated in the IZ, also results in an error/warning message. This would concerning all MARC21-details: variable fields, indicators, fix fields, contents.

The Fund Expenditures subject area has an ISBN field but it is a list of several ISBNs. The ISBN valid single (Normalized) field would allow us more precise data analysis.

Our current use case is to find duplicate POLs and understand if they are on different MMS IDs. We could do this with an analysis of duplicate ISBNs in the Funds Expenditures area.

The Import Profiles Details screen (Resources > Import > Manage Import Profiles) has few options for narrowing the list of profiles if one isn't certain of the profile name, or if descriptions are too similar. Please add filters and more columns to the display screen--preferably sortable columns--for fields that distinguish the zone (IZ or NZ), status, scheduling details, and import protocol for import profiles.

Priority 1: Zone - Users in a network environment should be able to clearly see whether an import profile in their Alma IZ is using the network zone or the institution zone for an import profile, as this significantly affects the workflow and processing of records being imported. This could be a column for display and a filter that checks the import profile for the "Use Network Zone" value. If checked, filter/display as "Network"; if not checked, filter/display as "Institution".

Priority 2: Status - While the Active/Inactive status of a profile does display on the Import Profiles Details screen and is useful for identification, users want to limit and/or sort based on whether a profile is active or inactive. There is currently no ability to limit or sort by this column.

Priority 3: Scheduling - It should be clear to users on the Import Profiles Details screen whether an import profile is scheduled to run regularly or is used on demand only. At minimum, display the Scheduler Status of active or inactive. Preferably, if scheduling is active, display the scheduled day and time.

Priority 4: Import Protocol - It should be clear to users on the Import Profiles Details screen whether an import profile is configured for upload from the user desktop, from an FTP server, or via OAI. A column display should be added to indicate FTP, upload, or OAI.

Without this additional information on the Import Profile Details screen and the ability to sort and filter the entries, library staff have a much greater chance of choosing the wrong Import Profile and loading records incorrectly.

The Fulfillment Configuration Utility is a wonderful Alma feature for troubleshooting fulfillment rules and helping to answer patron questions. However, it is limited because the information it returns has to be generated manually, by searching for an individual patron and then an individual item, and reviewing the output in the UI.

It would be a huge improvement if there was an available API or APIs that could accept a list of users and barcodes and return the attributes associated with the items for loan, request, booking, and overdue and lost loan profiles.

An API could then allow libraries (newer adopters or longer-term users) to automate testing of their configurations, producing output that could be more easily scanned in one place, and allow staff to identify areas for remediation or improvement in their fulfillment workflows.

Situation - Currently, we run the bulk due date job daily for a week in order to change all users loans at a library have their due dates restricted to a specific date in summer. This is to remind the users to return the books at the end of an academic year. However, this is a long process for a member of staff to do. It would be better if this job could be run on a scheduled basis in Alma.

Solution. We are asking for the bulk due date change job in Alma to have the option to be able to be scheduled to be run on a daily basis for a specific period.

If a user returns a laptop to one of our laptop lockers and there is another laptop in the locker already, they are able to borrow that other laptop straight away. This is despite us having a reloan limit in place to prevent an individual borrowing a 1 day loan laptop until 30 minutes have passed and a 1 week loan laptop until 24 hours have passed. Unfortunately, as the laptop locker supplier stipulates that each laptop requires an individual title record in Alma and the reloan limit works on the basis of title, the limit we have set is not being applied properly because Alma is unable to recognise the two laptops as being related. We need to be able to define a reloan limit in the Fulfillment Terms of Use that affects Material Type in addition to title. We would want to be able to stipulate that a user cannot borrow another item of the same Material Type for a particular length of time.

We need a way to identify users from our institution who have been registered with the Fulfillment Network in Analytics. Currently, there is no feature available to define or track this within these systems.

It is crucial for us to be able to monitor registrations for other institution numbers, as this directly impacts our ability to recognize and manage the usage of Fulfillment Network users.

We believe this may be a widespread issue affecting libraries globally that use this feature. Therefore, we request the addition of a new option or functionality that would allow us to define and track Fulfillment Network users more effectively.

Case

07104324 - [Fulfilment Network] How to check Linked accounts in my institution using ""Linked From Other Institution"".

We would like the ability to set default search parameters or select a default filter/facet parameter (or make them sticky) within the Borrowing/Lending Requests task list User Interface (UI). Some staff work on certain “statuses” in either borrowing or lending requests, and/or certain “statuses” have a higher priority, so they get worked on first. Currently when we work with Borrowing/Lending Requests in Alma and filter/facet for a certain status (or any of the other filter/facet options) and then navigate away from Borrowing/Lending Requests in Alma (or get timed out and have to re-select a desk), none of the previous filtering/faceting remains when we return to Borrowing/Lending Requests. We have to re-select all the desired options. Enabling sticky settings would make our work more efficient, quicker, and less likely to err.

We're using webhooks as a proof of concept on our sandbox, for the time being. In particular, we use webhooks on loans.
Official documentation :
https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/090Integrations_with_External_Systems/030Resource_Management/300Webhooks

We're bothered by the ecological/energy waste generated by this webhook. Unlike the notification webhooks, this webhook does not provide any filtering.
If we activate it in production, we estimate that there will be almost 500,000 API calls per year, for which only 1% will result in an action according to our action rules.
Can we have a possibility to filter the webhooks on loans, according to these criteria (and / or):
-item library
-item location
-item temporary location
-item policy.

When researching rightsholders and submitting copyright requests, librarians frequently require multiple notes to be saved at different times during the rights clearance process. This was functionality that was available in ILLiad and Ares that is not present in Alma.

For more efficient invoice processing, there is a need for the invoice running total and full total to be displayed ABOVE the invoice tabs. This removes the need for operators having to switch tabs every time they wish to view the running total when adding and processing invoice line items.Additionally, we request the ability to see all invoice line items on one page. This will enable easy review and improve invoice processing efficiency. (Based on request 34642)

The lack of an external search when relinking a Purchase Request (PR) to a new Bib record is an issue, as we need to relink the PR to avoid overwriting existing holdings, for example in the case of ordering a new edition of something we already hold. We would also need to relink the PR if the PR is not for the required format, i.e. has been generated on a print bib record, but an electronic copy is required. Placing an order manually allows an external record to be imported at the beginning of the process, or a suitable existing record located, and the order placed from there. When placing an order for something not held from a PR, you must leave the PR, search for and import an external record, then go back into the PR to go through the process of relinking the PR. Not only does this increase the time taken for the task, but increased steps also increased opportunities for error if Relink/Copy and Overlay are mixed up. Testing the process has highlighted issues with PR process, and will allow us to feedback to ExLibris, who have queried why so many of our orders are created manually. As part of this feedback, we would suggest that ExLibris add in an external search when relinking a PR to a new record.

Only addresses with an Address Type of 'Home' or 'Office' can be used for Personal Delivery. This is a problem for us because the addresses that come through into Alma for each user from our student information system integration are in Address Types ‘Home’ and ‘School’. We don’t use ‘Office’. We are unable to get the systems integration changed for local reasons. We would like to see all Address Types made usable for Personal Delivery, with options in the Request Terms of Use to enable us to show only the Address Types that we use and therefore that we want our users to be able to see in the request form in Primo. Also, when the request comes through into Alma, we need the relevant address that the user has selected to be provided as part of the request information, but not the other Address Types that the user hasn't selected. At present, our staff are having to use an Alma Analytics report we have created to look up addresses or check in the patron record for each user.

Currently, we can't use Personal Delivery and are forced to rely on a local workaround instead, which involved setting up a new campus called ‘Postal delivery’ and new libraries called ‘Home address’ and ‘Term-time address’ so that our students could select them on the request form in Primo. This also requires additional steps for our staff, who have to use an address look-up in an Analytics dashboard to get the appropriate address and use it to create an address label for each parcel. This requires more significantly manual intervention by staff than Personal Delivery would if it could use it and introduces more potential for human error as well.

We would like users to be able to place requests for Personal Delivery using the out-of-the-box Alma functionality in our Primo environment, selecting their home address or term-time address according to preference. Those requests would go into Alma, where library staff would be provided with all the information they need, on the same screen, to pick the items from the shelves and create address labels for posting out to users.

When students leave the university we manually change the due back date of any items they have on loan to that day. This sends out the Loan status notice for the due date change only, but we would find it easier to manage if there was a specific letter for a manual date change. This would allow us to specify reason, i.e. left university, due to graduate, expired record.

Currently the "Change PO Lines Status" job enables to cancel or close or delete a set of POLs. It would be beneficial to also be able to reactivate PO lines.

For Primo VE customers, the Level URL (Electronic Collection Editor -> Additional -> Level URL) of Electronic Collections (content type: Database) will be published. For non Primo VE customers who rely on Alma General Publishing, this is not the case. These customers need to create an Electronic Portfolio as a workaround for these collections for one reason only - to publish the Level URL. Please allow the Alma General Publishing data enrichment to retrieve the Level URL directly from the Electronic Collections (content type: Database).

Describe the functionality being requested:

When configuring libraries and viewing the list of physical locations, it would be helpful to be able to see the External Name column on the main list of locations, instead of having to edit each location to see the External Name.

(See attachment for two screenshots)

Technical Requirements:

In Alma Configuration, add the External Name column to the display options in Physical Locations List, so that the column can be displayed or hidden within the cog menu.

Several of the jobs in Fulfillment Jobs Configuration have a "Run Now" button to kick off the job on demand instead of having to wait for the scheduled time. This option should be added to the "Loans " Due Date Correction after Calendar Change" job. (based on request 36012)

Please add the 79X fields to the list of available Local Extensions in the Alma Metadata Editor.

Many Alma libraries are in a Network Zone environments, and many Alma libraries use OCLC. OCLC’s Bibliographic Formats and Standards guide sets aside 79X fields for local use “for access points not supported by cataloging instructions” including Personal Names, Corporate Names, Meeting Names, and Uniform Titles. (https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/7xx.html)

Enabling these 79X fields to be marked as Local Extensions in bibliographic records in the Metadata Editor will allow libraries in a network who use these 79X fields to manage name headings for local authors, donors, special collections, and alternative collection titles that might aid their patrons. All 79X fields should also be indexed and searchable in Alma.

Because 79X fields cannot be set and protected as Local Extensions, libraries in a network may have their important local data overwritten by updates to network-linked bib records, thereby losing their hard work and reducing patron access to local data and information.

The OCLC Connexion Integration profile currently offers an abbreviated set of match and overlay actions that do not account for CZ-linked records the same way as manual import profiles.

This integration profile should include the match action available when creating import profiles to “Disregard matches for bibliographic CZ linked records”.

It should also include Community Zone linked records handling parameters available when creating import profiles—specifically the “Unlink record from Community Zone and create a local record” and “Update Community Zone record with local extensions” options—for institutions or networks that want to allow matching to CZ linked records.

The inability to account for CZ-linked records in the OCLC Connexion Integration profile frequently presents unnecessary matches or multi-matches when users import records. When these matches are not handled properly, users may create duplicate records in Alma that must be later identified and cleaned up.

The Acquisitions - Receiving and Invoicing - Receiving screen has an Item Description column that shows info about each title. The date on this screen is populated only from 260 or 008 fields (Support Case 07723731). Please allow the Item Description to also populate the copyright date based on the 264 2nd indicator 4 subfield c as described in LoC ( https://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bd264.html ) and OCLC ( https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/2xx/264.html )

When creating template from a PO there are fields that we would find useful to be saved to the template, such as : "INTERESTED USERS", "INVOICE STATUS" and in the "ADDITIONAL" tab - "Associated PO lines".

Increase from 10 to 30 the number of Holding fields that can be added to the Holding Details dimension of the Physical Items subject area as Holding Local Parameters. This will enable reporting on multiple specific local note fields in Holdings records.

Alma Enhancements Admin 22. Feb 2025

This functionality was listed on the current Alma Roadmap for H2 2025 but will be available earlier, in the coming May release.

Currently, when a user accesses My Account via a self-check machine, they are unable to view any information pertaining to their active AFN checkouts. We opened a support case with Ex Libris, reporting these findings and providing details provided by our self-check vendor (mkSolutions) and their final decision was that this functionality is not currently supported, requiring an enhancement request.

Within Alma, the purchase request function does a matching process with local record using the ISBN field (MARC 020 $$a). Unfortunately, whether it is set up using fuzzy or exact, any 020 $$a with a-z text in the field causes an error and prevents the purchase request from being created. This occurs often with older or imported records, where the additional information has not been added to the $$q. The workaround from Ex Libris is to link the bib and then unlink to edit the bib information, removing the non-ISBN information before saving. However, this would mean that the purchase request is not attached to the local record. We queried with Ex Libris (case number 07042507) regarding the setup of the purchase request form within Alma to provide a work around for the fact that any local record with a-z in the field results in an error, even with fuzzy matching, and were told to add an enhancement request.

We cannot use this feature in Alma currently due to the mis-matching causing additional work for our Acquisitions staff to re-link, our Metadata Team having to clean up the record before the order being placed, or us spending a lot of time and effort in trying to create a normalization rule that could clean up the records in bulk and continuously. We would like the form to call only on the element that is the ISBN, e.g by using reg ex to only bring in the ISBN element even when the $$a has non ISBN elements within it.

Situation - We have recently started to use calendar closure for Christmas and Easter Vacations. However, if a item is scanned in for a request and the 7 day hold shelf period lands on a closed day. The hold self date is moving to the next open day. Which means that a 7 day hold shelf is turning into a 31 day hold shelf.

Solution - We would like the hold shelf to have the option to be able to land on close day or the option for staff to override this. So that the hold shelf is 7 days.

Add new dimensions to the API Analytics areas for data in the Alma Analytics Objects.

Fields to add for read and write permission (labels taken from Analytics Object page):

Internal ID for analytics object (not available on Analytics Object page)

Scheduled Report (On/Off)

Description

Recurrence Pattern

Delivery Option

Format

FTP (On/Off)

FTP (Link/Attachment)

FTP format

FTP configuration

Sub-directory

Add Timestamp (on/off)

Use Case:

SFTP settings for Analytics Objects must be updated when there is a change in an institution’s SFTP protocols. Allowing these fields to have read/write permissions would allow Alma administrators to bulk update the SFTP settings without having to check each Object to confirm it uses SFTP for delivery and individually change the settings for each Object.

Justification/Impact:

This additional API access will save time for any institution that needs to update Analytics Objects in bulk and will also allow reporting of all Analytics Objects and their settings. Currently, if there are any changes to Analytics Objects like an update in SFTP, each Analytics Object must be manually updated one-by-one. This will be an beneficial additional for all Alma institutions, but will be especially beneficial for Alma Network Zone participants as consortia may have numerous Analytics Objects running for each NZ participant.

Currently we can only search vendors by name or code but not by address

Background - Libraries utilize the webhook tool in Alma to be notified when some events occur, and includes information on the results or status of that event. Unfortunately, the tool does not include all record types in Alma. For example, portfolio and representation records, though mentioned in Ex Libris webhook documentation ( https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/alma/xsd/webhook.xsd ), are not actually monitored by the tool. In August 2024, this was communicated to Ex Libris for these two specific record types, and a "planned for future release" clause was added to their page, but with no timeline. Ex Libris recommended submitting an enhancement.

Impact of Problem: The minimal record-type coverage of webhooks greatly diminishes its effectiveness for libraries who rely on the monitoring tool for tasks, integrations, and special projects

Title: Add affiliated campus & User Statistical Category as input parameter options in Role Assignment Rules table

Describe the functionality being requested:

We would like to make use of Role Assignment Rules (RARs) for our library staff, but to do so we would need more Input Parameters options to be made available in the Automatic Role Assignment table. Adding Campus and User Statistical Category as Input Parameter options in this table would allow us to assign user roles based on a user’s campus where that user had a Statistical Category for the Libraries department.

Impact of Problem:

Currently we are not able to make use of RARs for anything but the most rudimentary rule (e.g. adding an instructor role for all users with the Academic Staff user group), because we are not able to identify library staff specifically with the existing parameter options in the Automatic Role Assignment table (they don’t have their own user group). A lot of time is currently spent managing Role Profiles, adding and removing roles from library staff records, and waiting for library staff to be given the correct roles if the main administrator is on leave.

Expected Outcome:

The requested change would result in time saved, plus would allow us to reduce the number of Role Profiles we need to maintain. The change would also eliminate any delay in new library staff members getting their appropriate Alma roles and therefore getting access to Alma for induction.

Technical Requirements:

• Add two Input Parameters to the Automatic Role Assignment table: Campus and User Statistical Category

• All the above Input Parameters to be used to assign a particular Role Profile to certain staff members based on their Patron Affiliated Campus and their User Statistical Category.

If we have a discount to apply to an order and it is an amount rather than a percent, when the amount is entered, a percent is calculated to the hundredth XX.XX% and this then changes the discount amount based on the calculation of that rounded percentage. See video of this happening: https://www.loom.com/share/5a17019fb2024ebabe5a1cc40660b9cc?sid=d36bee62-2988-4ef7-9d05-d96b3870d795

The expected functionality per https://tinyurl.com/4nx7znfa is to always use the % and adjust the $ based on it, but this causes inconsistencies when the discount is amount-based and the order line amount will as a result not match the invoice.

Situation - The Library management systems team current adds a institutional calendar exception to close all library over the Christmas and Easter periods. This means that all libraries in our system have to be closed on the dates that have been set. However, some of our libraries need the ability to be able to delete the calendar closure over these periods as they still wish to have loans due dates land during this periods.

Solution - We would like systems administrators to have the ability to be able to delete an institutional calendar exception or event at library level. So that the library can run its own process over specific vacation periods.

erin.nettifee@duke.edu 10. Mär 2025

Can't the library add a library-level exception that overrides the institution-level exception? Or am I misunderstanding something about this?

The new 'has orders' facet that was added recently to Titles searches allows librarians to narrow down results according to bibs who have/don't have PO lines effectively and save valuable time to go over all the results, especially when you have titles with similar titles or several editions, but unlike other facets you don't get an overview of the counter, so you don't know how many titles have or don't have PO lines, unless you click on 'no' or 'yes' values. Adding the counter is important to get a preliminary information of the orders count, moreover it creates a unified view as other facets. In addition, the values don't have checkboxes next to them, thus if we would like to tick several facets of other categories at once to get refined results, we can't tick one of the orders' values, only apply the ticked facets and then narrow down the results again by clicking on one of the 'has orders' values.

Libraries that have multiple branches and/or multiple geographic areas are not able to effectively use Alma's personal delivery functionality because it does not provide enough control.

As currently implemented, if more than one library wants to provide personal delivery to their patrons, Alma chooses one circulation desk to route the item to. Once the item is received at the library that handles personal delivery, the item is immediately loaned to the patron, and then presumably enters a delivery pathway.

However, it is common for libraries to split up delivery work and to have specific types of patrons they are responsible for delivery to, and this model does not work for those scenarios.

Use case:

• A Library system has a branch responsible for delivery to undergraduate faculty, and another branch responsible for delivery to Law faculty, since the law school is in a building several miles away. If a Law faculty member requests delivery of an item from the undergraduate library on the main campus, Alma knows as part of that request that the Law Library is responsible for delivery for that patron. It puts the item in transit to the law library, and then when the item arrives at the Law library, the remainder of the currently implemented delivery workflow kicks in.

Note that the recommendation of implementing a "Personal Delivery Library" may potentially fit the use case, however, there are downsides. For example, if this system has a personal delivery library, and a Law faculty member requested office delivery of a book at the Law Library, Alma would send it to the Personal Delivery Library to then be manually delivered back to the Law Library to be sent to the patron, adding time and processing steps that are unnecessary.

Please auto-populate the 670 field (Source Data Found) in a new authority record with Title, date in $a and MMS ID in $w.

Alma has fairly well developed anonymization rules for loans, requests, and borrowing request records, that allow libraries to control when records are anonymized, or not, based off of parameters such as location and user group.

However, the model begins to break down for supporting libraries who would like to offer individual borrowers control over whether their records are anonymized. For example, if a library does not generally anonymize loan records, and an individual patron wants their loans to be anonymized (as they have a legal right to do in many places,) libraries must use a workaround such as putting the patron into a specific user group and then anonymizing based off of that user group. That is a clumsy workaround path that is prone to error and takes up lots of staff time.

A more ideal way to do this would be to add in user statistical category as a parameter for fulfillment anonymization rules, in addition to user group. This mirrors the functionality of fulfillment unit rules.

Use cases:

• A library wants to anonymize loans, but a subset of patrons are graduate students working on research, and they want the library to maintain a record of the materials they've borrowed that they can reference. In this case, the default library rule could be to anonymize loans, but they could create a user statistical category of "Anonymization Opt-Out", apply it to appropriate patron records, and then write a rule so that those records are retained.

• Conversely, a library may not want to anonymize any transactions, but have a patron or set of patrons who request to have their records erased. The library could create a user statistical category of "Anonymization Opt-In" and apply it to the appropriate patron records so that those users could have their record information erased when their transactions are complete.

Adding this functionality would be extremely helpful in the loan, requests, and borrowing request fulfillment areas; less so in the fees/fines areas, but it could still be helpful there.

The current Author and Author (Contributor) fields in Analytics include numerous subfields from MARC fields 100/110/111 and 700/710/711, respectively. The majority of the subfields are intrinsic parts of the authorized form of name that contain values needed to enable differentiation and disambiguation between authors with the same name.

However, the current Author and Author (Contributor) fields also include the subfields that contain relator terms. Relator terms are not a part of the author name but instead are used to signify the relationship between the author and a particular work; the relator terms are dependent on the work and not on the author, per se. As a work-oriented element, the relator terms may vary in both value and number from work to work and record to record, although the authorized form of name of the author/contributor is exactly the same. When the relator term is included in the author/contributor fields, it is impossible to search upon, identify, and unite author/contributor names in Analytics. With the relator terms removed, it will be possible to use the Author and Author (Contributor) fields as data points within Analytics reports and with Analytics API-supported development.

The subfields that should be removed from the current Author and Author/Contributor mapping to create the new fields are:
For 100/110/700/710 fields – subfield e
For 111/711 – subfield j

babb@buffalo.edu 24. Feb 2025

Commenting to add that the Analytics Community of Practice has indicated that this addition to Analytics should be happening; my hope in submitting this enhancement proposal is that Ex Libris will be able to provide confirmation and anticipated delivery date. Thank you very much!

When you add multiple items to a PO line (copies or volumes) and you need to make changes, for example, the vendor sent you a new quote and it's higher than the list price of the publisher and once you inform the librarian who requested to purchase the copies, she/he decides to reduce the number of copies due to the high price. As a result, you have to delete 8 out of 15 copies. The only option to do that is to click the ellipsis of each of the 8 items and click on "delete". There's not a bulk action to tick several items and delete them at once and unfortunately, it's time consuming.

There are also cases when you add 2 items of volumes (with their description) and forget to add 2 more copies of the same volumes for the same library or another library and would like to duplicate these items with their description to add two more copies of the volumes easily instead of clicking the "add items" link to add them and then edit each of them separately. The bulk action should include also the "receive" action that was recently added to the ellipsis in the new PO line task list UI. If we want to receive several items from the PO line, there's no option to do so, only one by one or navigating to the 'Receive New Material' screen. A bulk action that includes duplicate, receive, and delete actions and displays above the ordered items list would be very beneficial.

Currently, when working in the Alma task lists under Course Reserves, we can only select one option per facet. There are many times we need to be able to filter more precisely, by selecting multiple options. Please make this more flexible.

Example use case: to prioritise reading list reviewing workloads and balance budget, for lists with the status 'Ready for Processing' we'd like to be able to filter out either 'Semester 1' or 'Semester 2' from the course terms, depending on the time of year, but keep any course terms that span both semesters (eg 'Year Long' or 'Across Academic Years'), so we can ensure we are only reviewing lists for modules being actively taught in the present semester.

Situation - When cataloguing records, staff will sometimes add all ISBNs to a new record that they are creating. However, they may only want certain ISBN numbers to be used for matching processes. So that records with these types of ISBN are not used for match on import or FRBR'ed wrongly.

Solution - Therefore it would great to have an option to be able to add ISBN's into a Alma Marc record - that specifically will not be used for matching on any import process etc.

Make the date that a role was initially assigned to a user available in both the user’s account under the role management section and in Analytics.

We often need to know the date that a role was first added to a user's account. The status date is not static and because we use the API for updates from our SIS the status date often gets updated with random dates. The API updates also make the history tab difficult to use to track down role additions versus changes. We also need the date a role was added to be available in Analytics. We need the ability to generate reports that include this information as part of our user management strategies and to identify and troubleshoot potential widespread issues where checking user accounts individually is unsustainable.

Expected outcome: We should be able to easily see a column that includes the date a role was initially assigned/added in the context of all of their roles in the General Information tab. We also need the date a role was added to be available in Analytics.

Currently the documentation states that requests cannot be anonymized if you want to use Alma digitization workflow. Our consortia tested this and noted the documentation is correct. We would like to allow requests to be anonymized while also allowing digitization to work.

erin.nettifee@duke.edu 10. Mär 2025

Hello UWisc friends:

Could you provide a link to the documentation that points this out? We are also interested in this at Duke.

All Titles search doesn’t display portfolios in order of PID; Electronic Portfolios search does. It would be preferable if both search options used the PID order in the view immediately after performing the search.

In the All Titles search results, the initial display of portfolios beneath the title appears to be random. If you click on “Electronic Portfolios (#)” in the header and then select “View full portfolios list”, that resulting list is sorted by portfolio ID, just as the Electronic Portfolios search is. But that is an unnecessary extra click when there is a small number of portfolios to view.

This would be beneficial to electronic resource managers for consistency in evaluating portfolios for currency and accuracy.

When working with user management it is sometimes relevant to include/exlude users that has a course association. The reason is that a user can be a 'legnato-user' and not a 'library-user'.
As patron activites on the user profile are connected to library activities only, it's a way to identify if a user has any leganto activity.

A simple Yes/No ' Has Course' column in analytics could be a solution to the problem.

Situation - We are currently giving a list of staff a new desk operator role for another library. As part of a library refurbishment move. We assumed this process could be done by the Alma user update job. However, soon realised that this process has its own Load Desk Operator job. When testing this process, we found it clunky and actually didnt work.

Solution - Could the Alma user update job give staff the option to give users a desk operator role attach to specific desks.

Situation - Currently users can have a proxy borrow an item for them. However, for library staff at the library desk it is not always clear that the users account allows for a proxy to borrow. Or that the loan has been borrowed by a proxy.

Solutions - make this more clear in the system.

Situation - We currently use the bulk due date job in Alma to change loan due dates. However, at the moment you can only run the job on one library and/or one user group at a time. We would like to be able to run the job on a list of user groups for one library. or multiple libraries on one user group and visa versa.

Solution - Could the options in the bulk due date job be changed to allow staff to pick multiple user groups and/or multiple libraries and locations.

The display of Inventory Groups in Alma is not predictable or sortable in any display that they appear in Alma.

Description:

In the Electronic Service Editor > Group Settings tab, there’s no consistent order for the display of associated Inventory Groups, and there is no way to sort them. The Groups should at least be sortable by Group Name so that it is easier to find a specific group entry.

The list of groups in the Inventory ‘Available For’ Management Groups (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Inventory Network Groups) is also in no discernible order and is not sortable. The Groups should at least be sortable by Group Name so that it is easier to find a specific group entry.

Further complicating management of these groups, the display of the Inventory Groups is not consistent from one e-collection service editor to another. When viewing the Inventory Groups of an e-collection or in the ‘Available For’ list, the groups are not in alphabetical order by Group Name nor by Group Members, nor are they in the order in which they were entered, and the columns in this table display do not allow for sorting. Being able to sort the list would remove this inconsistency.

Justification/Impact:

This random sorting without the ability to re-sort the list makes maintaining the list challenging and time consuming for staff when there are many Inventory Groups. This is especially true for consortia with many member libraries that are managing electronic resources from the Network Zone. Staff cannot easily identify if a group for a library is already present in the list or not when the groups are not in any order, which may lead to duplication or unintentional omission. Also, without order to the list, it takes more time to locate a single group when you need to make configuration changes to that group.

Example screenshots showing the issue and the variation in ordering of Inventory Groups in attached file.

Communication from Alma to users is based on "preferred" type contact user information in user details. Should the incorrect "Addresses" or "Email Addresses" type be selected as the preferred option, this could lead to email communication and/or postal communication not being sent to the correct email and/or postal access. Of benefit would be the option to bulk update the addresses and email addresses type to preferred using the "Update/Notify Users" job in Alma.

If the 'Place on hold' option is ticked when placing an order in Rialto, there is no notification in the Tasks widget in Alma to let Library staff know when an item has arrived. This means we are unable to prioritise the processing of those newly arrived, requested items. If we were to use 'Place on hold' in Rialto, then we wouldn't find out an item had been requested until we happened to scan it in. We would like an integration between Rialto and the requests functionality putting in place to make it apparent to Alma users when items received have been requested.

We would like additional Purchase Order fields added to the XSL available for the ‘Interested In Letter’ please, specifically the Order Status field. This will enable us to use conditional statements in the letter template so that certain blocks of text can be included or hidden depending on a given field. We take that approach already with other Alma letters. For example, in the ‘On Hold Shelf Letter’ template, we use <xsl:if> statements to draw on the Pickup Location available in the XSL and display different guidance to recipients depending on the location from which they are collecting a request.

The ‘Interested In Letter’ is triggered by any change of Order Status. Currently, not being able to change the contents of the letter in relation to status means that the wording has to be so generic that it isn’t helpful to our Interested Users.

If the Order Status field were available as part of the ‘Interested In Letter’ XSL, we could include <xsl:if> elements in the ‘Interested In Letter template to send different text out to Interested Users depending on the Order Status. This would make the email more relevant for each person who receives it.

Situation - We have recently started to use calendar closures for Christmas and Easter periods. The majority of our loan rules use the Closed Library Due Date Management rule to go to the next day the library is open. This means that loans cannot land on a closed date.

Current workarounds - This has meant we have had to change specific short term loan rules to land on closure days. Which ultimately either causes issues through the year (or means we have to enable and disable these rules before and after enabling the calendar closure). Or we have used rules with a statistical category. So that users are given the stat cat to change their loaning options over this period (this also has issues - as it needs to be removed once the vacation period is over).

Solution - We are asking for a specific circ desk roles to be able to change a loan due date to a day the library is closed and override the policy that says they cannot land on a day the library is closed.

Problem: Users can place borrowing requests for items (such as DVDs) held at other institutions in an Automated Fulfillment Network. However, they can only use the booking module within their own institution.

If a user needs a specific DVD, and the library does not own that DVD but other institutions in the network do, the library will prefer to borrow the DVD rather than purchasing it. But if the user is an instructor who wants to show a DVD in class on a specific date, the user’s library must contact the item-owning library off-system and ask them to reserve the DVD for that date separately. This is time-consuming and prone to errors or confusion on the part of both libraries.

Solution: Enable the booking module to work across institutions in a Network Zone.

The addition of a sortable Fund Code column within Manage EDI Tasks would be incredibly useful for us. We use two strands of ordering at our institution, depending on if a title is required for research or teaching. The addition of a fund code column would allow staff to easily identify the EDI Tasks for their area.

Ideas Exchange: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/44803732-manage-edi-tasks-addition-of-fund-code-column

Describe the functionality being requested:

Adding the AFN linked user’s home institution to the fields available on the active and expired hold shelf would allow library staff to locate the linked user’s record without needing to call the item’s home library for the information, and to have in-Alma confirmation of the user’s home institution readily available when completing the loan transactions.

When an Automated Fulfillment Network allows users to pick up materials at any institution in the Fulfillment Network, the user may select an institution other than the user's home library as a pickup location. Staff at the pickup location must know the user’s home institution to complete a loan transaction in Alma, or to look up the user’s record to contact the patron with any questions about the on-hold item. Without knowing the user’s home institution, the user record cannot be searched.

Technical Requirements:

Alma itself is already aware of the user’s home institution. This enhancement would be to provide the information in the display for staff use.

User Story:

Adding the AFN linked user’s home institution to the fields available on the active and expired hold shelf would allow library staff at a third pick-up institution (neither the patron’s home library, nor the item’s home library) to locate the linked user’s record without needing to contact the item’s home library for the information. It would also save the item’s home institution the multiple, additional workaround steps of looking up the request information in the item record, then searching for the user record to find the linked user’s home institution affiliation.

Other Documentation:

https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/40297720-afn-fulfillment-network-add-patron-s-home-institu - This was accepted in August 2022. Support told us in January 2025 that the Alma product team has assured them it is on the Alma roapmap, but it does not appear on the public 2024-2025 Roadmap that we can find.

If we want to view PO lines of titles that were ordered for a library or lecturer in a specific language(s), we have to view all the PO lines of them and sort them according to descending sent date or other criteria. There's no language category in the facets that we can sort the PO lines according to specific language same as in All titles search as it makes it easier to view titles in a specific language, i.e. in French.

It will be beneficial to the circulation staff if the Contact Information Pop-Up will contain a "Sponsor primary ID" field. This will save time searching for the sponsor in case the user is a proxy.

Describe the functionality being requested:

When running a search in the Courses search index and arriving at the Courses page, the 'Unarchived' filter is applied by default. When subsequent filters are applied, the Unarchived filter gets removed. We then need to re-add the Unarchived filter, which is an unnecessary additional click.

It would be preferable for the Unarchived filter to remain sticky when subsequent filtering actions are taken after arriving at the Courses screen. The ability to remove the Unarchived filter by clicking on the grey x should also remain for those who need to see archived courses for troubleshooting or maintenance purposes.

Use Case:

Note: see attached document for screenshots

Staff member runs a search for courses by Searchable ID 2 value. The default set of results shows four unarchived Courses. After adding a filter to refine the list of courses by those that have associated reading lists, the search results expand to include archived Courses. The staff member must then re-click the Unarchived filter to get a list of current courses filtered by the “associated lists: exist” value.

The Register button(*1) is displayed even if the logged-in user is set to "Restricted Users"(*2).

Primo VE checks with Alma whether the FN function is available after pressing the Register button.

We think this button control is not designed with the User experience.

This is because the existence of the register button is meaningless for users who cannot use this feature.

To improve the UX, the Register button should not be displayed to users who are set as Restricted Users.

As an improvement proposal, since Primo VE's "Display Logic Rules" settings have the ability to hide settings by user group, we would like to expand this functionality so that it is possible to select the Fulfilment Network's Register button for the service. I will.

https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/080Configuring_Delivery_Services_for_Primo_VE/Configuring_Discovery_Interface_Display_Logic_for_Primo_VE

This functional improvement was put on the agenda at the IGeLU 2023 meeting at 9/12/2023.

This meeting was attended by Mr.Guy, Mr.Yisrael, Mr.Erez and others.

Primo VE was the main focus of this meeting and we were instructed to make a case for this issue as it belongs to Alma by Mr.Yisrael.

For this reason, I created this case.

Please refer to the IGELU meeting saying the new cases should be forwarded for review by Alma Product Management, according to information provided by Primo Support in SF case #06824542.

Reference (*1) Fulfillment Networks Fulfillment Networks - Ex Libris Knowledge Center (exlibrisgroup.com) (*2) User Management > Collaborative Networks > Restricted Users

Situation - Ex Libris have created the library independence process. Where User blocks can be made to be library level specific. We have many different scenarios where one library wants to block a user from one date in an academic from borrow (so they can get their books back before graduation). But other libraries would like the user to still be able to loan or access their library.

Solution - if the user blocks at library level could be enabled for Alma without needing to enable library level independence. This would mean individual libraries could block users. Or we could bulk block/unblock specific lists of users, using the Alma user update job.

Currently patrons may place a request in Primo even if their account is blocked due to a limit set by the library. According to Ex Libris, this is by design, so that patrons have a chance to rectify the block on their account. In practice users often do not realize their account is blocked, which leads to frustration for both the patron and the circulation desk operator. While it is possible to define a block that can be applied to a patron's account which will suspend them from all borrowing activities, including requests, that process requires either placing the block on the patron's account individually or identifying a set of patrons that need the block and placing it on their accounts via an Update/Notify Users job; then removing the block either one-by-one in bulk. In either case, this involves unnecessary work when the system should be able to place and remove a block automatically, just as it does for loans. An institution should be able to decide for itself whether requests should still be allowed when a user is blocked by a system limit. See the idea exchange for "Add Request as a block option in Block Preferences", which has been marked as planned since 2018. This request is a modified version of an archived request from 2022, #7754.

Alma Enhancements Admin 27. Feb 2025

Alma 2025 Enhancements cycle: This functionality is on the current Alma Roadmap [H2 2025]. Submitter asked to take request of the ballot.

The functionalities from the Item List should also be possible directly from the Receiving Workbench, for example “Open Predicted Items”, “Withdraw Items”, “Run a Job”, …

Alma Enhancements Admin 3. Feb 2025

Alma 2025 Enhancements cycle: AENH-I-36394 and AENH-I-36337 describe a highly similar enhancement request. AENH-I-36394 will be included in the upcoming ballot as Votable, incorporating necessary aspects from AENH-I-36337, and AENH-I-36337 is Not Votable.

(Based on Req 6564 from 2021 submitted by University of Haifa Library and 35855 by University of California.) The description fields in the POL details are based on a static version of the bibliographic record that existed when the POL was created. If that record gets edited or overlaid via an import profile, the POL description can be updated manually through the "Reload Bib Data" function, but this is time-consuming and inefficient. The latest version of the bibliographic record should be reflected automatically.

Alma Enhancements Admin 3. Feb 2025

Alma 2025 Enhancements cycle: Considered as Not Votable. Functionality implemented with the Alma February 2025 Release ("Changes in Bibliographic Records Reflected Automatically in PO Lines")

Currently, assigning an e-resource to an Alma user from the Activation Task List must be done one at time, and it takes three or four clicks to do for each. This becomes laborious when the task list has a lot of entries. We would like to be able to select multiple entries in the task list and then select an Alma user from a dropdown to assign the resources all at once. The selection could also include the option to email the user and include a note, as the current one-by-one process does.

Alma Enhancements Admin 20. Feb 2025

Alma 2025 Enhancements cycle: AENH-I-36439 and AENH-I-36412 describe a highly similar enhancement request. AENH-I-36439 will be included in the upcoming ballot as Votable, incorporating necessary aspects from AENH-I-36412, and AENH-I-36412 is Not Votable.

Situation - Some staff have started to use the new All Titles search UI. However, many of them use Alma to see whether an item is on a course or not. However, in the new UI this is not as clear. Whereas Collections have been added next to whether item is a physical or electronic record. The Course information only shows in the record itself.

Solution - Make it more clear that a record is on a course in the new UI. And add it to the brief results section.

Alma Enhancements Admin 26. Feb 2025

Alma 2025 Enhancements cycle: A similar function was implemented in the February 2025 release. AENH-I-36464 is "Not Votable."

When searching for books with new edition and want to check which editions we have in the catalog we can see the edition number, but we also have to check the number of pages to compare between them as sometimes the publication claims they published a new edition, but according to number of pages and table of contents they are the same, and there's no need to purchase a "new" edition. In many other cases we receive books as gifts and would like to know if we have copies, so we also check the number of pages to verify if these are the same books and also go to the library where they placed and if the copy we have is a worn copy, we decide to replace it with a new or copy in better condition.

Currently, the number of pages doesn't appear in the brief record, only in the bibliographic record which we need to click on one of the records and find 300 field. Thus, it would be very useful to add the number of pages to the brief record, and while we view the search results as a list of a table see the number of pages of each title as an overview without a need to click on each of the titles and scroll down to find it in the bibliographic record section or click on the title hyperlink.

Alma Enhancements Admin 13. Feb 2025

Alma 2025 Enhancements cycle: Functionality implemented with the Alma February 2025 Release