2020-21 Round 2 Alma Enhancement Descriptions

ReqID

TotalVotes First Round

Requesting institution

Requester email

FuncArea

Title

Description

Impact of Problem

Expected Outcome

EXL Complexity Points

Solution

5860

992 

The University of Western Australia

kirstie.nicholson@uwa.edu.au

Fulfillment

Resource sharing requests submitted through Primo check against holdings and alert user to possible matches before submitting request

It is common to receive resource sharing requests from users for items that are already available in Primo. It would be beneficial to both the user and library staff if Primo was able to match the information entered into the form by users with holdings and identify items which might fulfill the request, similar to a Find Item search. This match would be done before the request is properly submitted through to Alma. If a match was found, users would be presented with an alert with text like 'Is this what you were looking for?' and the option to either proceed with the request or go to the item/s presented by Primo. Only if they confirmed that the item found did not meet their needs would the request go through to Alma.

It s common to receive resource sharing requests from users for items that are already available in Primo.

Primo was able to match the information entered into the form by users with holdings and identify items which might fulfill the request, similar to a Find Item search. This match would be done before the request is properly submitted through to Alma. If a match was found, users would be presented with an alert with text like 'Is this what you were looking for?' and the option to either proceed with the request or go to the item/s presented by Primo. Only if they confirmed that the item found did not meet their needs would the request go through to Alma.

6221

809 

University of Haifa Library

mkalach@univ.haifa.ac.il

Fulfillment

Free text communications with patrons

We would like to be able to send a patron an email (free text /template) straight from his account, and have it added to his attachments immediately.

Sometimes there is a need to communicate with our patrons, via email, and it would be helpful if these communications will be added to the patrons' card in Alma with their other attachments.

6564

1162 

University of Haifa Library

mkalach@univ.haifa.ac.il

All

Changes in the BIB records should be reflected automatically in the POL and Citations

We need that changes in bibliographic record will be automatically reflected in the POL and Citations. (Note: Ex Libris found that digital representations were too complicated. They were removed from this request after consultation with the submitting library.)

As an example, we found a typo in record title (245 field), which was corrected immediately in the BIB. record. We need this change to appear in auxiliary records (revised request limited to POLs and Citations)

Changes done in the BIB records, and especially in the 245 fields, should be reflected immediately and automatically in POLs and Citations.

POL New functionality: As the requirement is to have the POL updated once the Bib information is updated, the suggested approach is to eliminate the "Description" tab located within the POL editing page and essentially have the PO line associated directly with the Bib record, any updates on the Bib record will affect the PO line (no matter in which status the PO line is). User will be able to review the Bib information from the POL editing page but will not be able to edit any information.

Citations New functionality: Any updates on the bib associated with he citation will be reflected on the citation immediately.

6664

1232 

Harvard University Library - E

corinna_baksik@harvard.edu

Resource Management

Disable Item description confirmation message

Anytime you save an item that has a description, you get a pop-up message that reads "The description may need to be updated as well..." This occurs even if you have just updated the description manually. It is unhelpful, and is a bane for staff who work with serial items or multi-part works. It increases the time it takes to save an item and adds unnecessary keystrokes. The only time it does not occur is if you have clicked the Generate button in advance of Saving, but this button isn't generally used by our staff because there are too many bugs with the item description templates, and in other cases the Generate button is not appropriate, such as when you are cataloging a 9-disc volume set and the descriptions read "Disc 9," etc.

This pop-up should be disabled, or there should be an institution-level configuration option to turn it off.

Here's a video showing some of the latency. The pop-up adds several seconds to the transaction, which is a lot for staff trying to process hundreds of item records: https://www.screencast.com/t/MlZglIMmZz

The pop-up is not helpful and adds to the length of time it takes to update and save an item record, and adds unnecessary keystrokes.

Either remove the pop-up for all customers, or add a configuration option at the institution level to disable it.

The suggested solution is to display this message as an info feedback message. Info messages already have the option to hide it by default.

6737

1441 

Brandeis University

meparis@brandeis.edu

Fulfillment

Change due dates when patrons expire

We would like the due dates of a patron's books to be changed to their account Expiration Date if this is reduced. For example, if a book is issued to a student for 10 weeks and they withdraw or go on a leave of absence, the original due date remains which can be some weeks after they have left. This can cause confusion for library staff and the patron.

Users no longer part of the institution that still have books in good standing per Alma.

The due date is rolled back to the expiration date when the expiration date is changed to before the due date.

When a loan due date is shortened due to patron expiry, the loan should have an indication for that, so that when the patron expiry is updated (shortened OR extended) the loan due date is recalculated using the loan's original date.K10

This way, the due date may be extended or shortened according to the new expiry date.

6969

1367 

Rutgers University Libraries

jdeodato@libraries.rutgers.edu

Electronic Resources

Provide the ability to batch-edit electronic collections

Allow library staff the option to batch update multiple electronic collections at once.

Use cases provided by requester below:

1) We subscribe to several collections on the same platform. The platform vendor announces site maintenance which will make the platform inaccessible for several hours. We want to be able batch-apply to all the collections on that platform the same Authentication Note stating that the platform is unavailable. Then, when the maintenance is over, we want to be able batch-remove the same note.

2) We subscribe to several collections on the same platform. The platform vendor announces that the URL syntax is changing from http to https. We want to run a job to batch change the Electronic Collection Level URLs. This would be something like "delete or replace portfolio's prefix" in the Change Electronic Portfolio Information job.

3) We subscribe to several collections on the same platform. The platform vendor announces that these collections' names have changed: Database A is now: Platform Name Database A. We would like to be able to update these names in a batch so the new names display to users. Perhaps if there were a ";collection editor" spreadsheet with columns for collection ID and all the other collection fields, we could enter the new names in the Public Name (override) column, upload the spreadsheet, the spreadsheet would match on Collection ID, and all our collections would have their new values in Public Name (override) applied.

4) We want to make sure that the collections we need to proxy all have the same proxy sever settings. For these collections, we want to run a job to batch enable proxying (at the collection and the service level) and batch set the proxy server (at the collection and service level) to our default proxy server.

The ability to batch-edit collections would be useful for making edits such as changing names, updating URLs, or assigning a public note.

From within Alma:

A) Update electronic collection job that will allow setting the same value to a set of electronic collections:
1.update of all relevant attributes
2. clear electronic collection attributes values
B) Update electronic collection job that will allow setting different values to a set of electronic collections by uploading a file that will include the electronic collection ID and new values

6983

1179 

Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire – Lausanne

sophie.delarze@bcu.unil.ch

Fulfillment

Anonymize loans for a single patron and allow him to do it himself from his account

We need to have an option in the patron services page to allow our staff to anonymize a patron's inactive loans, if he ask to. We would like also that the patron could do it himself from his Primo account. This option should exist at the institution zone level and every institution could choose if activate it or not.

The Alma anonymization job allow us to set a retention period for a specific set of libraries or user groups to anonymize inactive loans. The needs of our single patrons are very different from one another, and the retention period that we have chosen follows the requirements established by our national Data Privacy policy (6 months). This period may be too long for some of our patrons that are concerned with their data privacy. If a patron ask to delete his loans history today, the only option that we have is to delete his account and to create a new one.

The patron can anonymize his inactive loans before the retention period set in the loan anonymization rules.

40 for Alma, Primo and PrimoVE

7173

1104 

University of Wisconsin System

curran.riley@wisc.edu

Resource Management

Add an easy way to suppress collections and all items within that collection

This is an enhancement request to check an easy way to suppress collections as well as any item that is contained within that collection.

Currently you can suppress items, but not the entire collection. This is crucial as currently the only way to suppress a collection is to delete and then recreate it.

Add an easy way to suppress an entire collection within the Alma/Primo interface

This request would add functionality to the collection tree redesign that is planned for 2022

7177

1556 

University of Queensland

s.vangroll@library.uq.edu.au

Resource Management

Add option to configure Process Types for Unavailable Physical Items, without creation of requests

Alma Process Types and the associated Base status of 'Item not in place' or 'Item in place' are hardcoded, as are the automated workflows within Alma and the flow-through to Primo for the availability status to be set to 'Not Available' or 'Available'.
This is extremely limiting, as there are scenarios when a Library might want their physical resources to still be discoverable in Primo ie not suppressed, but also be marked as Unavailable.
Being able to control availability by configured Process Types will allow us to communicate to users that we hold resources already, so that they don't waste time submitting purchase requests or thinking that we have a poor collection, while also avoiding user confusion with resources set to 'Available', when they actually aren't.
Use cases for the need for this option are closures due to mould outbreaks and closures for physical distancing requirements related to COVID-19.
Outcome: A configuration option is added to Alma whereby a site can add, edit, and subsequently delete new Process Types, as a static status added to an item, with no associated automated workflows triggered or requests created within Alma. A discovery label can be added to each Process Type by code table, for the Get It display. The configured Process Types are available in the Change Physical Items job, allowing for sets of items to have this type added and also then removed easily in bulk by job. The assignment of the Process Type to a physical item in Alma would immediately flow-through to Primo to mark these resources to be 'Unavailable' by the availability status, and display the associated label in the Get It by Real Time Availability. These Process Types would also be ETL'd to Analytics, along with the existing hardcoded Process Types, in the Physical Items subject area, for tracking and ease of management.
Note: The current configuration option of Work Orders are not suitable to fulfill this submission, as they create a request for each resource, which then cannot be removed in Alma by bulk job, and incorrectly inflate Analytics data for requests. In the use cases provided, we do not need Alma's help in managing our resources beyond making clear to users in Primo that the resources are not available currently.
See Idea Exchange submission at 98 votes as at 5.1.2021: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/41022703-add-option-to-configure-process-types-for-physical

No autonomy of control over availability status in Primo, for Library communication to our users

* A configuration option is added to Alma whereby an institution can add, edit, and subsequently delete new Process Types, as a static status added to an item, with no associated automated workflows triggered or requests created within Alma (aka Work Order)
-- Add a new code table
-- Add the new code table to the work order types page as a new section
-- Retrieve both code table of work order types and stand-alone process types for presenting in physical item editor and Exclude Process Types from Publishing
-- Retrieve only stand-alone process type for Change Physical Item Job
* A discovery label can be added to each Process Type by code table, for the Get It display
* The configured Process Types are available in the Change Physical Items job, allowing for sets of items to have this type added and also then removed easily in bulk by job.
* Based on 'Exclude Process Types from Publishing' mark the item both in search result and item edit as suppress and indicate it in the tooltip
* These Process Types would also be ETL'd to Analytics, along with the existing hardcoded Process Types, in the Physical Items subject area, for tracking and ease of management.
* All Process Types configured in this manner via the new code table will have a Base Status of 'Not in Place'
* If the new Process Type on 'Exclude Process Type from Publishing' code table is set to:
-- true - all records with this Process Type are suppressed from Primo\n
-- false - all records with this Process Type are not suppressed ie will continue to publish and appear in Primo, with an availability status of Not Available (in keeping with the 'Not in Place' Base Status), and Get It will display the configured label for each type as per the associated discovery labels

7181

1472

The University of Western Australia

kirstie.nicholson@uwa.edu.au

Fulfillment

Increase customisation options for the resource sharing request form

User experience testing that we conducted showed that most users prefer to place resource sharing requests via the resource sharing request form in Primo. Users also expressed frustration with some aspects of the form including the format of the fields. They also expected that the Library could add notices relevant to the resource sharing service to this page. The current options for configuring this form do not allow us to meet the expectations of our users. We would like to have more options for customising the page the form is on and the form itself. Specifically we would like : 1) The ability to customise the format and appearance of the page (e.g. the width of form fields, the positioning of the radial buttons) 2) The ability to add a notice or message to the form (this is crucial to communicate important information about the service to our users) 3) The ability to add custom fields to the form 4) Enable a user to upload a snip or screenshot to the resource sharing request form

During user experience testing, our users have expressed frustration on some aspects of the resource sharing form. The limited customisation options for the form mean that we cannot provide to users the options they would like, cannot communicate to them about the resource sharing service in the place that they expect to see messages, and cannot configure the form in a way that promotes best use of the fields.

Improved user experience and more relevant metadata for resource sharing requests

7185

828 

University of Liège Library

francois.renaville@uliege.be

Resource Management

Allow Collections to be dynamic (based on a logical set)

It is currently possible to add Itemized or Logical sets as titles to a Collection that will appear in Primo. Unfortunately, when a logical set is used, it is not dynamic and the content of a Collection is not updated in Alma (and in Primo Collection Discovery).

We would like to make it possible to create dynamic Collections whose content (titles) are automatically updated when new items are added to the logical set.

Right now, as the logical set changes, the Collection contents remain unchanged.

Proposed solution: Each collection level could be categorized as either logical or itemized. Once defined as logical, the collection resource editor will include an attribute of a logical set of titles, which would be the only source populating the collection. Titles will not be able to be associated with that collection in any other way. An itemized collection, on the other hand, will continue working as of today.
A periodic system job, eg nightly, will run all logical collection queries and add / remove titles which were added / removed from each corresponding logical set.
Naturally, this will impact the collection discovery in Primo.

7240

811 

University Library Basel

manuela.schwendener@unibas.ch

Administration

Staff user accounts – allow proxies and duplication

We recently switched from Aleph to Alma and really miss

--the proxy function for staff users *
--the possibility to duplicate a staff user to create a new staff user account

* If using an existing staff user account as proxy is not possible, please allow the staff user accounts to only be linked to their profiles, so that an update of the profile updates the related staff user accounts (https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/34682068-role-profiles-enhancement, did not make it through NERS 2019).

Staff user management in Alma is a big step backwards compared to Aleph (z66, z67).

Make staff user management at least as easy as it was in Aleph.

7251

883 

State Library of New South Wales

lynne.billington@sl.nsw.gov.au

Fulfillment

Prioritise fulfilment of holds by physical location code

Add the ability to prioritise by physical location which item should be preferred when a reader uses a title level physical hold request for a title with multiple holdings.

Currently Alma is issuing items that are heritage legal deposit or rare books in preference to less valuable lending copies when a reader places a title level hold in primo with multiple holdings. We want to choose which location fulfils the request first and which is next to be issued if that item is not available.

In fulfilment administration, Alma should have an optional table of location codes which the Library can customise to choose the order of the Library's preference to fulfil the hold, rather than Alma deciding the order of items to fulfil the hold. This will help libraries with only one Library and many physical locations under that Library.

See attachment for proposed solution.

7277

1091 

University of Washington

annepep@uw.edu

Fulfillment

Add preferred pronoun field that displays in Fulfillment Manage Patron Services display

We need a configurable field (i.e. we can add the categories of preferred pronouns) that displays in the patron info section of the Fulfillment Manage Patron Services display. Much like the preferred names functionality, this is a companion piece that should be implemented.

The impact of not having preferred pronouns in Alma causes a large equity issue. Without the ability to enter preferred pronouns we fail to respect someone else's gender identity, which is not only disrespectful and hurtful but also oppressive. Libraries aim to be a welcoming and safe place for all, and pronouns are a concentrated step in that direction.

Expected Outcome would be a configurable field in the fulfillment module under Manage Patron Services within the display. The functionality would be similar to the preferred names functionality in Alma where we could have a field to populate data into or manually input.

7306

837 

Boston University

jekblaw@bu.edu

Fulfillment

Send Courtesy Notices when Patron Loans are Auto-Renewed

When loans are successfully auto-renewed in the system, the patron does not receive an email notifying them that the loan has been renewed. Therefore, it is possible after a while that the patron forgets they have the item. We would like the option to have a notice to go to the patron when an item is auto-renewed, and have a letter that is customizable for this purpose so that we could expand our use of auto-renewals.

We are uncomfortable expanding our use of automatic renewals to larger user groups because there is no way to notify patrons an item has been renewed (and remind them they still have it).

7307

1217 

Fullerton College

tream@fullcoll.edu

Fulfillment

In the Patron Services Requests area, please add item barcode as an available field.

After an item is requested by a patron and scanned onto the hold shelf, the item's barcode does not appear when looking at a patron's Requests in the Patron Services area of the Fulfillment module. Adding the item's barcode would help Circulation Staff identify exactly item a request is in reference to. This would be especially helpful when managing multiple items with similar titles.

Many academic libraries are working in an environment where there are very few librarians or staff members physically present in a library to manage fulfillment requests. When they are available, they are often tasked with distributing items that were requested and processed remotely. Given this type of environment, it would be helpful to be able to quickly see exactly which item (with accompanying barcode) that a patron requested. This would greatly help our very few on-the-ground library staff distinguish between the multiple requests coming in for our most popular reserve titles--which often have titles that are difficult to distinguish from one another. The majority of these reserve titles also have multiple copies and editions; which is another reason why having an item barcode number available would be helpful.

When using the Requests tab under Patron Services, the library staff would be able to quickly identify which item had been requested and placed on the hold shelf.

The solution concept will be to add the barcode at the Requests tab of the Patron Services area like it is shown in the the Active Hold Shelf task list.

7340

1136 

The Education University of Hong Kong

hork@eduhk.hk

Resource Management

Append notes of any kind instead of overlaying the original note

The Change Physical Items job allows you to add notes to Internal notes 1-3 or Statistical notes 1-3 as the only value in those fields, and there are options to not add the note if text already exists, but there is no option to add the note IN ADDITION TO notes that already exists. In other words, append additional text either before, or after, text already existing in the field. Also, when you choose the option to skip adding the note if the field is not empty, there is no report identifying which records were skipped. The addition of a report would provide evidence that the current text has not be inadvertently changed. Both of these conditions should be addressed.

The Change Physical Items job allows you to add notes to Internal notes 1-3 or Statistical notes 1-3 as the only value in those fields, and there are options to not add the note if text already exists, but there is no option to add the note IN ADDITION TO notes that already exists. In other words, append additional text either before, or after, text already existing in the field. Also, when you choose the option to skip adding the note if the field is not empty, there is no report identifying which records were skipped. The addition of a report would provide evidence that the current text has not be inadvertently changed. Both of these conditions should be addressed.

7343

1489 

The Education University of Hong Kong

hork@eduhk.hk

Fulfillment

Ability to Move/Re-Order Requests

We would like the ability to move/re-order requests within an item's queue.

We would like the ability to move/re-order requests within an item's queue.

7350

1870 

The Education University of Hong Kong

hork@eduhk.hk

Resource Management

Suppressing individual item records from Primo display

Suppressing individual item records from Primo display.

Suppressing individual item records from Primo display.

It will be possible to add a new Process Type without an assigned workflow. It will allow the inventory operator to set either manually or via bulk a process status for the item which will cause it to be suppressed.

7419

819 

Rutgers University Libraries

megan.oconnor@rutgers.edu

Acquisitions

View electronic collection portfolios from the POL view.

We are able to search for an electronic collection and find a link to the order, however when we are viewing the order, we cannot click into the electronic collection to see the portfolios. We have to copy and paste the title, leave the order, and search electronic collections to view the portfolios.

It will save time and significantly reduce the number of clicks.

Proposed solution: 'view portfolios' link will be made available within the collection's summary section to reduce the number of clicks

7421

1169 

Rutgers University Libraries

megan.oconnor@rutgers.edu

Analytics

Reportable POL notes

We would like PO Line level notes to be reportable in Analytics

We run procurement reports where we regularly need to reference information in the PO Line notes, which at this time is all done manually. Reportable POL notes would also help with subscription reporting, we store critical information, such as multi-year renewals and non-standard pricing deals in the notes. It would eliminate the need to keep a separate spreadsheet to track these outliers.

1. A new attribute would be added to the PO Line dimension
2. This attribute would be populated with all the notes of the PO Line (the general notes that are in the Notes tab, not the existing special note fields), concatenated one after the other with a delimiter between them+K18
3. This field would be limited to 4000 characters. In cases where the overall length of the notes is over 4000 characters, then it will be cutoff at that point.

7451

1206 

CARLI (Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois)

khammer@uillinois.edu

All

Develop a set of APIs to support reporting of Alma configuration settings

Develop a set of APIs to support reporting of Alma configuration settings. (The original request was to allow reporting of Alma configuration settings in Analytics. This request was denied by Ex Libris as taking more development time than 200 complexity points allows for. This alternative was developed in consultation with the library that submitted the original request)

Example use cases: 1) Provides the ability to save record of configuration settings for changelog tracking, 2) When making changes, working from a report is more efficient than clicking between screens or screenshots, 3) Provides a way for a consortium to compare settings across the consortium members.

Should be available for both institution zones (IZ), as well as Network Zones (NZ).

The original request was for Analytics reporting of configuration settings. The proposed solution is, instead, for development of a set of APIs for reporting configuration settings. See attached document for the details of the proposed solution.

7456

1298 

San Jose State University

jeff.frank@sjsu.edu

Fulfillment

Restricting the number of fields that show when manually creating new users via Register New User

Library staff regularly create a variety of new users in Alma. When we create these records via Register New User, there are a total of 34 text boxes to navigate. At most, only 16 are needed--not even half. This doesn't include the check box for 'Find user in other institution', the required checkboxes for the email, postal address, and phone # and the Yes/No radio button selection to designate 'Patron has institutional record', all of which we still need. Would it be possible to limit the number of available fields, by allowing the institution to customize the form in Alma to only relevant fields. For example, relevant fields for our institution would be: (under User Information) First Name, Last Name, Primary Identifier, User Group, Expiration Date, Purge Date; (under User Management Information) Password, Verify Password; (under Email Addresses) Email Address; (under Addresses) Address line 1, Address line 2, City, State/Province, Postal Code, Country; (under Phone Numbers) Phone number.

The impact of having to navigate through these unused fields is to the efficiency in the creation of these new user records.

Reduced data entry and processing time in order to make this process more efficient for staff.

7491

1001 

Skyline College

nocitog@smccd.edu

Fulfillment

Enhanced functionality to manage holds queue in Alma

The functionality being requested: The option to pause or suspend holds that a patron does not want until a future date and the option to move or skip over requests in the holds queue to accommodate changes in patron needs or item availability.

Technical requirements: When making a hold request in Primo, patrons should have the option to indicate a “not needed before” date, in effect suspending the hold. The patron should also have the option to pause the hold at any time it’s in the queue before it is fulfilled and be able to select a date to re-activate the hold. While holds are suspended or paused, the patrons would not lose their place in the queue. Other patrons would “leapfrog” the paused holds in the meantime.

In Alma staff should have the option to suspend or pause a hold for a patron or to lift a suspension and be able to see if a hold has been suspended and for how long. Staff may also need to suspend a hold for operational reasons.

In addition, staff should have the option to adjust the position of holds anywhere in the queue. The "activate" feature will only push a request to the top of the queue, not allow the queue to be manipulated. Activate also doesn't apply if the items are available (see User Story below.)

User Story: Recently, a patron made two hold requests but didn’t want the items for two months. Another patron made a separate request for one of items. Although there are two copies of the item, the second patron’s request could not be fulfilled without filling the first patron’s request. Nor could the “activate” feature be used because two copies of the item were available. Only with a third hold request could activate be used and then it would bump that third request to the top, not the second one. The solution was to cancel the first patron’s hold and replace it so that it showed up second in the queue and to manually put a note in the request with instructions on when to pull the hold. In the meantime, if someone else places a hold on the item, the process will have to be repeated. This extra work could be avoided by having the functionality for patrons and staff to pause and suspend holds and for staff to manually adjust the position of holds in the queue.

How all customers would benefit: People go on vacation or get sick and want to suspend their holds so the items don’t arrive when they can’t pick them up. Students may want to reserve an item for a future time when they need it and make the request now so they don’t forget or end up at the bottom of the queue. Staff may need to adjust someone’s place in the queue because of item availability, an emergency, or other extenuating circumstances. In these situations and more, enhanced holds queue functionality would save time for staff and be a benefit to patrons. There is an Alma Idea Exchange request for this functionality that is supported by more than 260 votes (“Add functionality to better manage queue for reserves/holds”). A couple of the comments note that “we are having to cancel all requests and re-add them in the order we want them to be in which is very time consuming” and “I know in some other libraries I've worked in, I was able to change the requests queue manually by selecting the users name/account, and then moving them up or down as needed. This would be a great feature to have.” Other library systems such as Sierra and Voyager have this functionality and it is used frequently and is very popular with patrons and staff alike.