Skip to main content
ExLibris
Back
Alma
Ex Libris Knowledge Center

Best Practice Toolkit: Resource Inventory Optimization

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF

What is it? 

Directions for optimizing the library’s inventory and checking specific amounts of bibliographic titles, e-journals, and digital resources based on Alma institution subscription parameters. 

Why Resource Inventory Optimization? 

Optimizing the amounts of resource inventory provides an overview of the library’s bibliographic data and frees up space in Alma to accommodate the amount of content based on Alma inventory licensing subscription parameters below: 

  • Number of unique electronic journal titles 

  • Number of bibliographic titles (including e-books and local authority records) 

  • Number of digital resources (Alma D only) 

Before You Start 

Make sure to have the following User Roles required to manage inventory: 

  • Physical, Electronic, and Digital Inventory Operator – required for adding and editing resources 

  • Physical, Electronic, and Digital Inventory Operator Extended – required for delete operations 

  • Repository Manager – required for authoritative inventory-related actions 

  • Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator – required to run specific jobs 

 

Note: ignore the Alma D references if your institution does not subscribe to the service. 

Resource Inventory Optimization  

Follow the below Advanced Searching steps at Institution Zone while noting down the number of results: 

 

Step 1: Calculate the number of Unique Electronic Journals 

  • Search for Electronic titles where the (Electronic Portfolio) Material Type = Journal 

Graphical user interface, text, application, email Description automatically generated

Step 2: Calculate Number of Bibliographic Titles and Authorities 

  • Search for All titles according to MMS ID > 0

Graphical user interface, application Description automatically generated

  • Search for Authorities where MMS ID > 0 

 Graphical user interface, text, application, email Description automatically generated

 

Step 3: Calculate Number of Digital Resources (Alma D only) 

  • Search for Digital titles where Title: MMS ID > 0 

 

As the subscription parameter for bibliographic titles is calculated by excluding unique e-journals and digital resources (if the institution subscribes to digital), you would need to add the amount of All titles plus Authorities together and subtract from the total amount the number of unique e-journals (then add digital resources for Alma D only), see below example: 

 

(2,308,077 + 907,004)               - (132,989 + 9,200)                  = 3,091,292 

(all titles + authorities) - (unique e-journals + digital resources) = bibliographic titles 

 

Step 4: Compare the results based on your Alma subscription agreement and optimize resource inventory by using the following tools: 

 

Additional Information