Renewal Workflow
This page describes the renewal workflow in Alma. For instructions on how to process renewals in Alma see Processing Renewals. For information on the overall purchasing workflow see Purchasing Workflow. For an overview of working with acquisitions in Alma, including links to relevant sections such as Infrastructure, Invoicing, Configuration, etc., see Introduction to Acquisitions.
Alma handles subscriptions for both electronic and physical material, such as magazines, journals, or periodicals, through automatic or manual renewals.
The following is an illustration of the renewal workflow that governs the way in which a PO line is marked for renewal, from its creation until the material is renewed:
Renewal Workflow
The following is a detailed description of the steps within this workflow (with the numbers corresponding to the numbers in the diagram):
- Pre-workflow – A PO line enters the Alma system in one of the following ways:
- Automatically, using an embedded order data (EOD) import. An EOD import sends PO lines either as a one-time occurrence, or continuously.
- Manually, as a PO line created by ordering a resource.
For information on creating a PO line automatically, see Importing Records Using an Import Profile. For information on creating PO lines manually for both physical and electronic items, see Manually Creating a PO Line.The PO line is normalized, validated, and then processed to determine whether there are elements that require special attention based on rules that are pre-configured by an administrator. These activities are performed automatically by Alma.If there are data issues or alerts that require attention, the PO line is sent for review. For information on this manual activity, see Reviewing PO Lines. Once all data issues have been resolved, the PO line proceeds to step 2. - All PO lines that have been normalized and validated are stored in Alma.
A PO line that is fully processed and received/activated is marked Recurring Renewal automatically. Continuous physical PO lines that are sent to the vendor have Recurring Renewal status even if renewal is done manually, as long as the renewal date has not yet arrived (see Processing Renewals). Continuous electronic PO lines receive this status once they are activated and the user selects Done in the Electronic Resource Activation Task List page (Resources > Manage Inventory > Manage Electronic Resource Activation; see Activating Electronic Resources and Activation Task List).On a daily basis, Alma checks for all PO lines whose status is Recurring Renewal and whose renewal date is equal to the current date. For the purposes of this calculation, the renewal date refers to the renewal date (according to the PO line) minus the renewal notification period.
- Renewals are processed as follows:
- If the PO line is marked as automatic, the Renewal date is automatically incremented according to the Renewal cycle. The PO line is then saved back in the repository for further processing (step 4).
- If the PO line is marked as manual, when the renewal date arrives, its Workflow Step is changed to Waiting for Manual Renewal. You must then manually update the Renewal date and/or any other fields in the Renewal Information section of the PO line's Details pane. After you do this, the Workflow Step of the PO line is once again set to Recurring Renewal.
- When the PO line qualifies for renewal, a renewal notification is sent to the vendor if the po_line_send_notification_to_vendor_on_renew parameter is set to true (see Configuring Other Settings).