Purchasing Workflow

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This page describes the overall purchasing workflow including the steps required to create the different types of purchase orders (physical/electronic/digital).

For a list of links to pages with instructions for purchasing in Alma including creating PO lines, renewals, working with vendors, etc., see Purchasing.

For an overview of working with acquisitions in Alma, including links to relevant sections such as Invoicing, Renewals, Configuration, etc., see Introduction to Acquisitions.

Purchasing Workflow General Explanation

The following is an illustration of the purchasing workflow that specifies the way in which a purchase order line (PO line) is handled from its creation until it awaits activation or receipt. This workflow does not cover patron-driven acquisitions and it does not cover the Rialto purchasing workflows. For Rialto purchasing workflows, see Rialto End-to-End Order Lifecycle.

For more information, watch Purchasing Overview. (4:06 min)

For an explanation of the physical, electronic and digital purchase types and PO line types that can be created, and the ramifications of the purchase type and PO line type on both the purchasing workflow and resulting inventory, see Explanation of Purchase Types Workflow and Inventory, below. For information on determining which workflow to follow when acquiring electronic resources, see Electronic Resources – Scenarios and Workflows.

Purchasing Workflow

The following is a detailed description of the steps within this workflow (with the numbers corresponding to the numbers in the diagram):

A PO line enters Alma, typically through one of the following:
- Automatically through an embedded order data (EOD) import
- Real-time API through a Library Service Provider (LSP)
- Manually as a result of the creation of a PO line, including from purchase requests (see Working with Purchase Requests)
  
  For information on the three order types (electronic/physical/digital) and how to create them, see the Required Steps to Create an Order section below.
  For information on other purchase types such as legal deposits and patron driven acquisitions see Creating PO Lines.
Alma normalizes, validates, and processes the PO line to determine whether there are elements that require special attention. This process is based on the review rules pre-configured by an administrator (see Configuring Purchase Review Rules).
If there are data issues (including invalid or missing information) or alerts that require attention, Alma sends the PO line for review (see Reviewing PO Lines).

Manually created PO lines skip the review process if you select Order Now or Save and Continue. If you do not select these options (for example, if you only select Save), then the manually created PO line remains In Review.
The PO line is packaged into a Purchase Order (PO). The purchasing configuration, configured in the PO line's Information section (see Manually Creating a PO Line), determines if the packaging is automatic or manual.
If, during the packaging process (manual or automatic), any of the mandatory fields (required in this step) are incomplete, the PO is sent back for review (see Reviewing Purchase Orders). After reviewing the PO and entering the missing information, the PO proceeds to where it is approved and sent to the vendor.
- Automatic – PO lines are automatically packaged according to the rules in a PO (see Packaging PO Lines into a PO).
- Manual – The PO line is packaged manually (see Packaging PO Lines into a PO). When the person performing the manual packaging selects Create New PO Package in the Actions menu of the PO Lines task list, the PO line is packaged into a PO.
The PO proceeds to ERP approval if required, and then Alma validates whether to implement automatic or manual approval as described in the next step.
Alma decides whether the approval and sending is automatic or manual depending on the purchasing setup (configured by Ex Libris).
The PO is subject to approval whether the PO was created manually or using EOD, and whether it is configured with manual or automatic packaging. However, if the user selects Order Now for a PO line, the PO is approved automatically, regardless of the purchasing configuration.
- Automatic – The PO is approved automatically and sent to the vendor.
- Manual – The PO must be approved manually before it is sent to the vendor. For information, see Approving and Sending POs. When the person performing the manual approval selects Approve and Send on the Approve Purchase Orders page, the approved PO is sent to the vendor.
The PO line proceeds to the final stage of the purchasing workflow, where it is checked to verify whether it is for electronic, physical, or digital material.
- Electronic – The PO line proceeds to the activation stage (see Activating Electronic Resources and the Activation Task List).
- Physical — The PO line proceeds to the receiving stage, where it is handled according to its type, as described in Receiving Material. Post-receiving processing may also be performed after the material is received (see Post-Receiving Processing).
- Digital — The PO line does not have an activation or receiving process. Its final stages depend on whether it is a One-Time or Continuous PO line:
  - One-Time – The PO line closes when the representation(s) have been uploaded and Save and Continue is selected.
  - Continuous – After a representation is uploaded, and Save and Continue is selected, the PO line is marked either as Recurring Renewal or Waiting for Manual Renewal, depending on whether it is configured for manual or automatic renewal (see Manually Creating a PO Line). It closes when it is either closed manually, closed because its Subscription to date has arrived, or closed by the Change PO Line Status job.

Checklist of Steps Required to Create an Order

There are three main methods of creating an order:

Manually - For details see Manually Creating a PO Line. (For creating a service subscription PO line without inventory, see Creating Service Subscription PO Lines Without Inventory.)
EOD - For details see Importing Records Using an Import Profile.
Real-Time - For real-time ordering via API (through library service provider) see Real-Time Ordering.

The above three methods can create an order for both physical and electronic resource material types. For digital resource material types, the manual and API methods are supported. See below the checklist of steps required to create an order for each of the material types:

For electronic orders originating from OASIS it is recommended to use the API approach for complete descriptive information and access information.

For the full list of the ways to create a PO line including legal deposits, purchase requests and patron driven acquisitions (PDA) see Creating PO Lines.

Physical Resources Order Methods

Physical – Manual Order

Configuration action	Description
No special configuration is needed for manual ordering.

Physical – EOD (Embedded Order Data)

Configuration action	Description
Configure default Metadata template	Ensure that a default metadata template is configured (see Working with Record Templates). Open Metadata Editor > Template. Choose the template you want to define as a default. Select Properties. Select as default.
Vendor settings	Make sure that the vendor in Alma is configured not to send outgoing EDI messages for POs. Other EDI messages (e.g. for invoices) can be sent if this is your workflow. Read more about vendor EDI
Provide the vendor with relevant ordering information	The following parameters must be provided in order for the vendor to create an order: Owning Library code(s) – The library that the created PO line is assigned to. You must supply a list of possible owning library codes to the vendor. The implementation on the vendor side might be to provide a drop-down on the ordering form, to choose the relevant owning library. Another implementation might be to associate an account to a single owning library. In this case, the operator has to be logged in to the relevant account. The vendor can use the Retrieve libraries API in order to get full list of libraries, or the Get library API in order to check a code of a library. Location code(s) – The location in which the related item(s) will be created. Relevant only for physical material. The vendor can use the Retrieve locations API in order to get the list of locations. Fund code(s) – The fund from which payment is generated. The vendor can use the Retrieve funds API.
Create a New Order import profile or copy an existing profile	Go to Acquisitions > Manage import profiles. Ensure that the Vendor reference number information received from the EDI invoice is mapped to Alma. See Managing Import Profiles.
Ensure that you have the correct Submission Format option selected
Configure an Update inventory import profile	Go to Acquisitions > Manage import profiles. When the invoice is received for order created with EOD, the vendor places a full MARC record file on the FTP server. Alma imports the full MARC record, uses the update inventory import profile to match that record to the PO line, and overlays the brief record. A match is done either by PO line number or by vendor reference number.

Physical – API

Configuration action	Description
Configure default Metadata template.	Ensure that a default metadata template is configured (see Working with Record Templates). Go to Metadata Editor > template. Choose the template to define as a default. Select Properties. Select as default.
Send vendor the API key (see REST PO Line).	An API key should be generated by the institution and supplied to the vendor. Each vendor should be supplied with a unique separate API key. In this way, in the event that the institution wants to discontinue working with a specific vendor, that specific API key can be disabled via the developer's network. Other API keys will continue functioning as usual. Login to the Developers Network using the institution account. Define an application with the name, Integration with vendor. Add Acquisition API to the application, with read/write permissions. Add Configuration API to the application, with read only permissions. You can define the API with your sandbox or with production environments. Copy the API key of the application. This is the API key that will be used as part of the vendor API calls in order to identify your institution. We recommend defining an API restriction profile. For more information, see Working with API restriction profiles.
Provide the vendor with relevant ordering information.	The following parameters must be provided in order for the vendor to create an order: Vendor code and Vendor account code – These refer to the vendor record in Alma. The created PO line will be related to that vendor and vendor account. You must ensure that this vendor in Alma is configured not to send outgoing EDI messages for POs. Other EDI messages (e.g. for invoices) can be sent if this is your workflow. Owning Library code(s) – The library that the created PO line is assigned to. You must supply a list of possible owning library codes to the vendor. The implementation on the vendor side might include providing a drop-down on the ordering form, to choose the relevant owning library. Another implementation might be to associate an account to a single owning library. In this case, the operator has to be logged in to the relevant account. The vendor can use the Retrieve libraries API in order to get full list of libraries, or the Get library API in order to check a code of a specific library. Location code(s) – The location created for the related item(s). Relevant only for physical material. The vendor can use the Retrieve locations API to get the list of locations. Fund code(s) – The fund from which the payment is generated. The vendor can use the Retrieve funds API. For more information, see Real Time Acquisitions Setup for Institutions.
Create New order integration profile.	The New Order API Integration Profile determines the matching rules that you want to apply. For more information, see How the bibliographic record is determined. Validations for fund related issues can also be configured as documented here (docx).
Configure an Update inventory import profile.	When creating orders in Alma via API for physical/electronic materials, a brief record is created in Alma containing basic fields of the created MARC record. An update inventory import profile is used to find the brief record (using the purchase order line number or the vendor reference number), and overlay it with the full MARC information. See Overlaying a Brief Record.

Electronic resources order methods

Electronic – Manual order

Configuration action	Description
No special configuration is needed for manual ordering

Electronic –EOD (embedded order data)

Configuration action	Description
Configure default Metadata template	Ensure that a default metadata template is configured (see Working with Record Templates). Go to Metadata Editor > template. Choose the template you want to define as a default. Select Properties. Select as default.
Vendor settings	Verify that the vendor in Alma is configured not to send outgoing EDI messages for POs. Other EDI messages (e.g. for invoices) can be sent if this is your workflow. Read more about vendor EDI
Provide the vendor with relevant ordering information	The following parameters must be provided in order for the vendor to create an order: Owning Library code(s) – The library that the created PO line is assigned to. You must supply a list of possible owning library codes to the vendor. The implementation on the vendor side might include providing a drop-down on the ordering form, to choose the relevant owning library. Another implementation might be to associate an account to a single owning library. In this case, the operator has to be logged in to the relevant account. The vendor can use the Retrieve libraries API in order to get full list of libraries, or the Get library API in order to check a code of a specific library. Location code(s) – The location that is created for the related item(s). Relevant only for physical material. The vendor can use the Retrieve locations API in order to get the list of locations. Fund code(s) – The fund from which the payment is generated. The vendor can use the Retrieve funds API. For more information, see Real Time Acquisitions Setup for Institutions.
Create a new order import profile or copy an existing profile	Go to Acquisitions > Manage import profiles. Ensure that the Vendor reference number information received from the EDI invoice is mapped to Alma. See Managing Import Profiles.
Ensure that you have the correct Submission Format option selected
Configure an Update inventory import profile	Go to Acquisitions > Manage import profiles. When the invoice is received for order created with EOD, the vendor places a full MARC records file on the FTP server. Alma imports the full MARC record, uses the update inventory import profile to match that record to the PO line, and overlays the brief record. A match is done either by PO line number or by vendor reference number.

Electronic – API

Configuration action	Description
Configure default metadata template	Ensure that a default metadata template is configured (see Working with Record Templates). Go to Metadata Editor > template. Choose the template to define as a default. Select Properties. Select as default.
Send vendor the API key	An API key should be generated by the institution and supplied to the vendor. Each vendor should be supplied with a unique separate API key. In this way, in the event that the institution wants to discontinue working with a specific vendor, that specific API key can be disabled via the developer's network. Other API keys will continue functioning as usual. Login to the Developers Network using the institution account. Define an application with the name, Integration with vendor. Add Acquisition API to the application, with read/write permissions. Add Configuration API to the application, with read only permissions. You can define the API with your sandbox or with production environments. Copy the API key of the application. This is the API key that will be used as part of the vendor API calls in order to identify your institution. We recommend defining an API restriction profile. For more information, see Working with API restriction profiles.
Provide the vendor with relevant ordering information	The following parameters must be provided in order for the vendor to create an order: Vendor code and Vendor account code – These refer to the vendor record in Alma. The created PO line will be related to that vendor and vendor account. You must ensure that this vendor in Alma is configured not to send outgoing EDI messages for POs. Other EDI messages (e.g. for invoices) can be sent if this is your workflow. Owning Library code(s) – The library that the created PO line is assigned to. You must supply a list of possible owning library codes to the vendor. The implementation on the vendor side might include providing a drop-down on the ordering form, to choose the relevant owning library. Another implementation might be to associate an account to a single owning library. In this case, the operator has to be logged in to the relevant account. The vendor can use the Retrieve libraries API in order to get full list of libraries, or the Get library API in order to check a code of specific library. Location code(s) – The location that is created for the related item(s). Relevant only for physical material. The vendor can use the Retrieve locations API in order to get the list of locations. Fund code(s) – The fund from which the payment is generated. The vendor can use the Retrieve funds API. For more information, see Real Time Acquisitions Setup for Institutions.
Create New order integration profile	New Order API Integration Profile determines the matching rules that you want to apply. For more information, see How the bibliographic record is determined. Validations for fund related issues can also be configured as documented here (docx).
Configure an Update inventory import profile	When creating orders in Alma via API for physical/electronic materials, a brief record is created in Alma containing basic fields of the created MARC record. An update inventory import profile is used to find the brief record (using the purchase order line number or the vendor reference number), and overlay it with the full MARC information. See Overlaying a Brief Record.

Electronic Resources Order Methods for Orders Originating from OASIS/GOBI

See Real-Time Ordering for a full list of providers.

Electronic – API

Configuration action	Description
Configure default metadata template	Ensure that a default metadata template is configured (see Working with Record Templates). Go to Metadata Editor > template. Choose the template to define as a default. Select Properties. Select as default.
Send vendor the API key (see REST PO Line).	An API key should be generated by the institution and supplied to the vendor. Use OASIS-Onboarding@proquest.com to contact OASIS. For GOBI, contact your GOBI representative. Each vendor should be supplied with a unique separate API key. In this way, in the event that the institution wants to discontinue working with a specific vendor, that specific API key can be disabled via the developer's network. Other API keys will continue functioning as usual. Login to the Developers Network using the institution account. Define an application with the name, Integration with vendor. Add Acquisition API to the application, with read/write permissions. Add Configuration API to the application, with read only permissions. You can define the API with your sandbox or with production environments. Copy the API key of the application. This is the API key that will be used as part of the vendor API calls in order to identify your institution. We recommend defining an API restriction profile. For more information, see Working with API restriction profiles.
Provide the vendor with relevant ordering information	The following parameters must be provided in order for the vendor to create an order: Vendor code and Vendor account code – These refer to the vendor record in Alma. The created PO line will be related to that vendor and vendor account. You must ensure that this vendor in Alma is configured not to send outgoing EDI messages for POs. Other EDI messages (e.g. for invoices) can be sent if this is your workflow. Owning Library code(s) – The library that the created PO line is assigned to. You must supply a list of possible owning library codes to the vendor. The implementation on the vendor side might include providing a drop-down on the ordering form, to choose the relevant owning library. Another implementation might be to associate an account to a single owning library. In this case, the operator has to be logged in to the relevant account. The vendor can use the Retrieve libraries API in order to get full list of libraries, or the Get library API in order to check a code of a specific library. Location code(s) – The location created for the related item(s). Only relevant for physical material. The vendor can use the Retrieve locations API in order to get the list of locations. Fund code(s) – The fund from which the payment is generated. The vendor can use the Retrieve funds API. For more information, see Real Time Acquisitions Setup for Institutions.
Create New order integration profile	The New Order API Integration Profile determines the matching rules that you want to apply. For more information, see How the bibliographic record is determined. Validations for fund related issues can also be configured as documented here (docx). Since this workflow activates Community Zone records, the Validation and Match sections of the integration profile are not taken into account.
Activate the relevant collection from the community zone	To successfully create an electronic resource (portfolio) within a collection in Alma, the institution must have the relevant collection in their Institution Zone activated from the Community Zone. Currently, the functionality of creating the resource within a collection during the order process is available only for orders originating from OASIS and GOBI from their supported eBook platforms. See Activating Electronic Resources.

Digital resources order methods

Digital – Manual order

Configuration action	Description
Enable the relevant digital PO line type.	Navigate to Configuration > Acquisitions > PO Line Types and select Customize from the row actions menu for one or both of the following: Digital One Time (DIGITAL_OT) Digital Continuous (DIGITAL_CO) Make sure to select Save when done.
Create or search for the relevant digital title and order it.	To create a digital PO line, the PO line types must be enabled as described above. Creating a digital PO line is very similar to creating a physical or electronic PO (see Manually Creating a PO Line). One main difference is that digital PO line types are created with no inventory (both One Time and Continuous), and you need to associate a representation with the PO line. There are two ways to associate a representation with a PO line: Add a new representation when you create its PO line: The representation is automatically associated with the PO line - see Manually Creating a PO Line. From an existing representation: After creating the PO line, in the Digital Representation Resource Editor (see Editing Representation Metadata and Content), in the list of representations, select Edit from the row actions list of the representation (or select the representation ID). In the General Information tab, under PO Line, select the PO line to associate with the representation. When you select Save, Alma automatically attempts to push the PO line to the next step of the workflow. For information about creating a representation, see Adding Representations. After a Digital PO Line is created, configured, and saved, the workflows differ for One Time and Continuous: One Time PO Line: The PO line moves directly from In Review to Closed. Continuous PO Line: The PO line moves from In Review to either Recurring Renewal (if it is configured for automatic renewal) or Waiting for Manual Renewal (if it is configured for manual renewal). The UPDATE_REPRESENTATION_FROM_ACQ privilege provides purchasing roles the ability to edit representations from the PO Line. A PO line cannot be "Saved and continued" without a representation. If you select Save and Continue when no representations have been added to it, it is not saved, and a warning message appears.

Configuration action

Description

Enable the relevant digital PO line type.

Navigate to Configuration > Acquisitions > PO Line Types and select Customize from the row actions menu for one or both of the following:

Digital One Time (DIGITAL_OT)
Digital Continuous (DIGITAL_CO)

Make sure to select Save when done.

Create or search for the relevant digital title and order it.

To create a digital PO line, the PO line types must be enabled as described above.

Creating a digital PO line is very similar to creating a physical or electronic PO (see Manually Creating a PO Line). One main difference is that digital PO line types are created with no inventory (both One Time and Continuous), and you need to associate a representation with the PO line. There are two ways to associate a representation with a PO line:

Add a new representation when you create its PO line: The representation is automatically associated with the PO line - see Manually Creating a PO Line.
From an existing representation: After creating the PO line, in the Digital Representation Resource Editor (see Editing Representation Metadata and Content), in the list of representations, select Edit from the row actions list of the representation (or select the representation ID). In the General Information tab, under PO Line, select the PO line to associate with the representation. When you select Save, Alma automatically attempts to push the PO line to the next step of the workflow. For information about creating a representation, see Adding Representations.

After a Digital PO Line is created, configured, and saved, the workflows differ for One Time and Continuous:

One Time PO Line: The PO line moves directly from In Review to Closed.
Continuous PO Line: The PO line moves from In Review to either Recurring Renewal (if it is configured for automatic renewal) or Waiting for Manual Renewal (if it is configured for manual renewal).

The UPDATE_REPRESENTATION_FROM_ACQ privilege provides purchasing roles the ability to edit representations from the PO Line.

A PO line cannot be "Saved and continued" without a representation. If you select Save and Continue when no representations have been added to it, it is not saved, and a warning message appears.

Explanation of Purchase Types Workflow and Inventory

Once a PO line is created with a certain purchase type, the workflow and data implications are fixed and cannot be changed. It is therefore important to understand the impact of the various purchase types on both the purchasing workflow and the resulting inventory.

The material type is the type of material, such as a book, electronic journal, or CD-ROM, etc., from which an item takes its form. For information on all electronic material types, see Managing Electronic Resources. For information on all physical material types, see Configuring Physical Item Material Type Descriptions. The material type is part of the item record that is created, but does not control the PO line workflow. The material type can be modified when creating/editing a PO line. The material type can be modified when creating/editing a PO line.

For Digital PO lines, the material type field is not used.

Purchase types can be either physical, electronic or digital, and of one of the following continuity types:

One-time – One-time or infrequent orders, such as a printed book, an e-book, or a musical score that is not published repetitively. Physical material is received on the One Time tab on the Receive New Material page. Holdings and items are created automatically, with one holdings being created for each unique location, and one item for each copy. Electronic material goes through the standard activation process and remains activated indefinitely. Digital PO lines are created with no inventory. Once the PO line is invoiced and received/activated, it is closed.

Digital representations (Digital Non-Archiving and Digital One Time) are considered as if the "Item" is received and will push the PO Line forward in the workflow.
Continuous – Orders that are repeated on a regular basis, for example, monthly subscriptions to physical or electronic material such as journals. Physical material is received on the Continuous tab on the Receive New Material page. Holdings are created upon physical PO line creation (for each run of the series in a location) and items are created: Electronic material goes through the standard activation process and may be deactivated during the evaluation process. The PO line remains open once it is invoiced and received/activated (although it can be closed manually).

Digital representations (Digital Subscription) are considered as if the "Item" is received and will push the PO Line forward in the renewal workflow. Digital PO lines are created with no inventory.

Additional examples and workflow information:
- When using a prediction pattern: After selecting Open predicted item in the MD Editor. See Prediction Patterns.
- Otherwise: Upon receipt of the issue or bound volume.
- A serial for which you will receive items quarterly – The issues are described by the bibliographic record of the journal attached to the order. You must create an item for each issue; they are independent items until they are bound. Issues may or may not circulate, but you will still want to record information about each issue, such as whether it is lost or special in-house rules for certain issues. You should either create a prediction pattern for the delivery of the issues or receive new issues in the Continuous tab on the Receive New Material page.
- A multi-volume monograph for which you will receive volumes at unpredicted intervals, such as encyclopedia volumes – The volumes are described by the bibliographic record of the encyclopedia attached to the order. You must create items for each volume, since volumes may circulate independently. You should receive new volumes in the Continuous tab on the Receive New Material page.

Standing order – Orders that are not repeated on a frequent or regular basis. Used, for example, for purchasing all the printed books by a particular author when they are published, or where a series of books are being published, but not necessarily on a regular basis. Physical monograph material is not received on the Receive New Material page. Instead, it is created manually by creating or choosing a bibliographic record, creating a holdings record, and then creating an item record, which you associate with the standing order PO line. You set a receipt date for the item in the Physical Item Editor.

For more information on managing standing orders in Alma, see Acquisitions - Standing Orders in Alma [PPT].

You can record purchases which reflect the license upgrades purchase model. Additionally, a PO line can be created without a fund and price for the scenario where a License upgrade has no charge and needs to be recorded in the system. The option to set a PO line as no charge is compatible with the following acquisition methods: Purchase, Approval Plan, and Purchase at Vendor System. When selecting any of these values in the Acquisition Method of the PO line, the No Charge check box appears. When this check box is selected, the Funding and Pricing sections are hidden.
Non-monograph material is processed in the same manner as physical continuous material, although without a fixed sequence or frequency. Electronic material goes through the standard activation process and may be deactivated during the evaluation process. The PO line remains open once it is invoiced and received/activated (although it can be closed manually).

Additional examples and information:
- A monograph series for which you receive new titles at unexpected intervals – Each title may be published by a different author, but all are under the same series, and you are subscribed to the series. The order is linked to a suppressed bibliographic record for the series; items are not described by this bibliographic record. Each item is issued under a different title and should be cataloged separately with its own bibliographic record that is linked to the series order. Each item circulates independently.
- A subscription to an integrating resource, such as loose-leaf law materials that are delivered and then added to an existing physical item – The materials are described by the bibliographic record of the physical item attached to the order; each one is an update to this item. You do not have to create new items for each material that is delivered, since they are not circulated independently. If the materials are received in a predictable interval, update the expected receiving date on the order each time the material is received.

The table below presents the recommended purchase types that are available for each type of repository search (see Manually Creating a PO Line for an explanation of the search and PO line creation process).

Repository Search, Recommended Purchase Types, Workflow & Inventory
Find	Select Type	Recommended Purchase Type	Order Continuity	PO Line Workflow	Created Inventory
All Titles	Journal (ISSN)	Electronic Journal	One-time	An Activate task is created when the PO line is sent	Standalone Portfolio
		Electronic Journal	Continuous	An Activate task is created when the PO line is sent	Standalone Portfolio
		Print Journal	One-time	Received on Receive New Material page	Item type - Journal
		Print Journal	Continuous	Received in Continuous tab on Receive New Material page. Item is created upon receipt.	Holdings
	Book (ISBN)	Electronic Book (Title)	One-time	An Activate task is created when the PO line is sent	Standalone Portfolio (E-book)
		Electronic Book (Title)	Continuous	An Activate task is created when the PO line is sent	Standalone Portfolio (E-book)
		License Upgrade	One-time	None	None
		Print Book If the only physical items that you order are books, then any Print Book order type (such as Print Book - One Time) is essentially the same as the equivalent Physical type (such as Physical - One Time).	One-time	Received on Receive New Material page	Item type - Book
			Standing Order (monograph; non-monograph acts as continuous)	Material is not received on the Receive New Material page, but rather through a unique workflow. For details, see Receiving Standing Order Monograph Material.	Holdings
Electronic Collection	Journal Package	Electronic Collection	One-time, Continuous	An Activate task is created when the PO line is sent	Electronic Collection (Central Knowledge Base-based)
	Book Package	Electronic Collection	One-time, Continuous
	Mixed	Electronic Collection	One-time, Continuous
	Database	Electronic Collection	One-time, Continuous
	License Upgrade - only available as "Additional order"		One-time	None	None
Service order (without inventory)	Access service	No inventory is created. The PO line workflow depends on the continuity (a renewal is needed for subscription type orders). See also Creating Service Subscription Lines Without Inventory. These PO line types cannot be the main PO line of inventory, but can be added as additional PO lines to inventory. A one time PO line moves to the "Waiting for Invoice" workflow step once its PO is approved. A subscription PO line moves to the "Recurring Renewal" workflow step once its PO is approved. See Manually Creating a PO Line for more information.
	Database service
	Other service
	Article Processing Charges (APC) - One Time
	Article Processing Charges (APC) - Subscription

If you order an item on the title level, it will only display the order link for that item in all title search. If you order an item on the electronic collection level, it will only display the order link for that item in a electronic collection search.

For more on purchasing workflows, watch:

For information about the PO line types that can be created for each material type and context in Alma, see Enabling/Disabling PO Line Types.