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    Configuring Remote Storage Facilities

    Translatable
    To configure the remote storage facilities, you must have one of the following roles:
    • General System Administrator
    Libraries may have remote storage facilities where some of their resources are stored. Patrons do not have direct physical access to these remote storage locations. Instead, a patron must place a request for an item that is in a remote storage facility. The requested item is then delivered to a location from which it can be picked up by the patron. For more information, see Requests to Remote Storage Facilities.
    You define which remote storage facilities exist within the institution. When you add a physical location to a library, you can specify that the location has a remote storage facility. For details, see Configuring Physical Locations.
    You configure the remote storage facilities from the Remote Storage List page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Locations > Remote Storage) or (General System Administrator only) Configuration Menu > General > Locations > Remote Storage)
    remote_storage_list_ux.png
    Remote Storage List Page
    Remote storage facilities can be configured at the institution level only. Select the required institution from the Configuring filter on the Configuration page.
    The following actions can be performed on this page:

    For information on how items requested from a location with "remote storage" checked are added to the xml file that Alma uses to communicate with third-party inventory products, see the Developer Network.

    Adding a Remote Storage Facility

    You can add a new remote storage facility to the institution. After you add a remote storage facility, the facility will be included in the Remote storage drop-down list when you add a physical location to one of the institution’s libraries. For details, see Configuring Physical Locations.
    To add a new remote storage facility:
    1. On the Remote Storage List page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Locations > Remote Storage), select Add Remote Storage. The Add Remote Storage dialog box appears.
      add_remote_storage_ux.png
      Add Remote Storage Dialog Box
    2. Enter a code (required), name (required), and description (optional) for the new remote storage facility.
    3. Select Prefer over other locations for the specified remote storage location to take priority over non-remote storage locations when fulfilling a request.
      • When you select this option, the Managed By Library value on the Resource Request Monitoring page is the remote storage location.
      • When you do not select this option, the Managed By Library value on the Resource Request Monitoring page is the non-remote storage location.
      For details on the Resource Request Monitoring page, see Managing Requests and Work Orders.
    4. Select a priority for the storage facility from the Priority compared to other remote storages drop-down list. If a patron requests a specific title, and the title exists in more than one remote storage facility, the system places the request at the remote storage facility with the highest priority.
    5. Select an integration profile for the storage facility from the Integration profile drop-down list. If a remote storage system is managed by a system other than Alma, Alma uses the specified integration profile to communicate with the other system. For information on configuring a remote storage system profile, see Requests to Remote Storage Facilities.
    6. Select the transit scheme for the remote storage facility. The transit scheme defines the location to which to deliver an item that is requested from the remote storage facility for pickup by the requesting patron:
      • Owning desk – A requested item is transferred to the owning desk of the facility that supplies the request.
      • Requested pickup – A scanned item is sent directly to the remote storage desk (i.e. the desk that has a reshelving relation with the item's location) for re-shelving, even if the scan-in desk is not the owning library.
    7. Select the Handles digitization requests locally check box if you want the remote storage facility to digitize requested items.
    8. Select the Define as In Transit to Remote Storage at return check box to set the item process type to In Transit to Remote Storage when returning an item. This option is used when working with items whose locations are connected to remote storage. When the item is returned to an ASRS, a message is sent indicating that the item is in place; the item's status then changes to Item in Place and the In Transit to Remote Storage process type is removed.
      If this option is not selected, Alma indicates that the item is in place even before the item has actually returned to the remote storage location.
      This option is available only for an ASRS that supports the IR message.
    9. Allow Manual Description Requests is selected by default. If the check box is deselected, requests with manual descriptions may not be entered for remote storage. In this case the Manual Description option will not appear on the request form.
    10. Select Add and Close to close the dialog box. The new remote storage facility appears at the bottom of the list of remote storage facilities on the Remote Storage List page.

    Editing Remote Storage Facility Details

    You can edit the details of any remote storage facility.
    To edit the details of a remote storage facility:
    1. On the Remote Storage List page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Locations > Remote Storage), select Edit in the row actions list for the specific remote storage facility record whose information you want to update. The Edit Remote Storage Facility page appears.
      edit_remote_storage_facility_ux.png
      Edit Remote Storage Facility Page
    2. In the Edit Remote Storage section, edit the details as required. See Adding a Remote Storage Facility for details.
    3. In the Calendar Management section, select Full Calendar and Add Record, as needed, to edit the details that define when the remote storage facility is open and closed. For details, see Adding/Editing Calendar Details.
      When adding a record of type Event, you can define the hours that a shuttle leaves the remote storage facility to bring items to the library.
    4. Select Save to store your changes to the remote storage facility details.
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