How to - A cheat sheet for Alma record numbers
This cheat sheet brings together various OLH information on Alma record numbers, as useful for record management, building sets and Analytics queries, and finding Alma records in Primo for troubleshooting.
Alma generates a 15-17 string long unique ID for every bibliographic, authority, holding and item record.
The first two digits of IDs represent the record type, and the last four digits represent the institution, for example UQ is 3131.
All the entries in the table bar MMS ID are PIDs, aka Alma system number for an inventory entity.
All of the prepend type Record IDs are searchable in Alma, but often Alma Analytics is to desired go-to system depending on the need, such as if you want to easily export data in bulk.
If dedupmrg in Primo, all Primo published prepends for all original records are still searchable, but not the dedupmrg number as added too late in the PNX creation process to be added to a search field (happily corrected if anyone has managed to figure this out, as it defied me!).
Systems Specs
Single institution Alma with Primo Back Office (IZ and CZ, but no NZ)
Type |
Level |
Alma prepend |
Analytics field |
Primo prepend |
Primo Search |
Notes |
Bibliographic |
MMS ID |
99 |
MMS ID |
99 |
By 99 addsrcrecordid |
|
Physical |
Holdings |
22 |
Holding ID – 22 IEP – 21 |
21 |
By 21 recordid |
|
|
Items |
23 |
Item ID – 23 IEP – 21 |
21 |
By 21 recordid |
|
Electronic |
Portfolios |
53 |
Portfolio ID – 53 IEE – 51 |
51 |
By 51 recordid |
|
|
Electronic Collection |
61 |
Electronic Collection ID |
61 |
By 61 recordid |
|
Digital |
Representations |
12 |
Representation ID – 12 IED – 11 |
11 |
By 11 recordid |
|
|
Files |
13 |
File ID – 13 IED – 11 |
11 |
By 11 recordid |
|
Collection |
Collection |
81 |
Collection ID |
81 |
By 81 recordid |
|
Authority |
Authority |
98 |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
|
No inventory |
n/a |
71 |
n/a |
71 |
By 71 recordid |
|
OLH
- https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Training/Extended_Training/Presentations_and_Documents_-_Miscellaneous
- Misc - Understanding the Alma record numbering system.docx
- https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Materials/050Alma_FAQs/Metadata_Management/01_General
- https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/040Resource_Management/050Inventory/010Introduction_to_Alma_Inventory
- https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/050Administration/070Managing_Jobs/060Managing_Search_Queries_and_Sets#Creating_Itemized_Sets
Changes or suggestions
- Stacey van Groll
- Discovery and Access Coordinator
- University of Queensland
- s.vangroll@library.uq.edu.au