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    Changing TOUs - Is it retroactive?

    • Article Type: Q&A
    • Product: Alma

    Question

    If a TOU (Terms of Use) is changed - will existing loans operate under the new parameters or do the changes only apply to future loans?

    Answer

    The TOUs are calculated "on-the-fly".

    This approach began in the February 2014 Release. The Release Notes say -

    "The purpose of this enhancement is to calculate the terms of use (TOU) each time an activity is performed on a loaned item (such as renewal). Previously, each activity on a loaned item referred to a TOU contract that was created and stored at the time of the item’s original loan. With this enhancement, any change in a policy, terms of use, fulfillment rule, patron information, or item information will have an immediate effect on a loan's or request's terms of use."

    Additional Information

    One library explained this in Alma-L:

    When we were training to go live we were told that the TOU is checked by Alma each time something happens with a loan.
    So existing loans will operate under the old parameters until the item is renewed, recalled or returned. Any new loans will use the new TOU.


    (3 December 2014)

    Category: Fulfillment infrastructure - Alma

    Subject: Loans - Alma


    • Article last edited: 12/6/2014