Physical Items
- How many physical Items exists per Library/Location
- List of all the titles based on their process type
- Number of Physical Items per material type
- How many times each item was loaned
- What is the last date that the item was loaned

- For information on how to use Analytics to find duplicate titles with both physical and electronic inventory, see Overlap Analysis and Physical Item Usage for Weeding (Deselection) in Alma Analytics.
- Do not create reports with attribute fields (yellow fields) from the Physical Items subject area and fields from the Funds Expenditure subject area or you will receive incorrect results.
Field Descriptions

Physical Item Details
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Barcode | The unique identifier of the specific physical item | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Base Status | Indicates the availability of the item in its permanent location (in place/not in place) | |
Chron I | The main level of chronology - usually the year | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Chron J-M | Additional chronology fields | |
Committed to Retain | Indicates if the library has committed to retain the item. This enables librarians to mark items and prevent them from being withdrawn. | This feature is also supported in import, export and API workflows. |
Creation Date | Holds the date the physical item was created | This date is assigned by Alma when the physical item is created. |
Creator | Holds the username of the operator that created the physical item | |
Description | Description of the item | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Display Temp Call Number | A normalized temporary call number for display | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Due Back Date | Indicates the date that an item in a temporary location is due back to its permanent location | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Enum A | The main level of enumeration - usually the volume | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Enum B-H | Additional enumeration fields | |
Expected Receipt Date | The date when a purchased item is expected to arrive at the library | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below (Expected Receipt Date). |
Fulfillment Note | The Fulfillment note | For more information, see the Physical Item Editor Page - Notes Tab table in Updating Item-Level Information. |
IEP | The IE number for physical items | You can use this identifier to reconcile Analytics data, which has only MMS IDs, with the number from record IDs supplied to Primo from Alma. You can then pass the results to a reading list system in order to make relegation and capacity decisions. This number is essential for reports on Fulfillment activity where this number is the only common ID between the two systems.
This is the PID or Publishing ID in Alma.
|
Internal Note 1-3 |
Internal notes 1-3 | For more information, see the Physical Item Editor Page - Notes Tab table in Updating Item-Level Information. |
Inventory Date | The last time inventory was checked | This field is a calendar field that can be edited manually using the item editor. It can be used for any need. The common use is to track missing items. To do this, enter the date that a missing item was last searched for in the Inventory Date field. |
Inventory Number | The inventory number | |
Inventory Price | The price of the physical inventory for each physical item | |
Is Magnetic | Whether the item is magnetic material or not. | This is used in the circulation desk in order not to desensitize magnetic material
See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below.
|
Item Call Number |
The item call number for display
|
See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Item Call Number Type |
The item call number type
|
See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Item Copy ID | The ID of the copy of the item | The field “Item Copy ID” folder comes from the item record and not from the holdings record. It is visible in the physical item editor in the “general” tab and is called “Copy ID”. |
Item Issue Date (Calendar) | The issue date of the physical item. | Calendar Date fields consist of a month, date, and year. If the information is not provided, 01 is added, so that a date of 2020 is rendered 01/01/2020. This date format is useful when filtering the report by date. |
Item ID | Stores the unique ID of the physical item | See the field location in Alma in the Physical Item Editor figures, below. |
Item Policy | Defines the conditions under which a request for this item can be fulfilled | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Last Loan Date | The last time the item was loaned | This loan measure includes migrated data, |
Last Loan Date (In House) | The last time the item was used in the library, but not actually loaned | This field is available only for loans that were handled in Alma and does not include migrated data. |
Last Loan Date (Not in House) | The last time the item was actually loaned | This field is available only for loans that were handled in Alma and does not include migrated data. |
Lifecycle | Indicates whether the item is active or deleted | The following are possible values:
|
Material Type | Describes the nature of the material represented by the item record | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Modification Date | Holds the date the physical item was modified | |
Modified By | Holds the user name that modified the physical item | |
Num of Items (Deleted + In Repository) | Stores the number of deleted + in repository items (one for each item) | See the field location in Alma in the figure List of Holdings, below. |
Num of Items (In Repository) | Stores the number of in repository items (one for each item) | |
Num of Loans (In house + Not In House) | The sum of the in house loans and the not in house loans. |
This number includes loans with a loan status of inactive as well as in-house loans. This number includes loans that were handled in Alma and includes migrated data. |
Num of Loans (In House) | The number of items that were used in the library, but not actually loaned | This number includes loans that were handled in Alma and includes migrated data. |
Num of Loans (Not In House) | The number of items that were actually loaned | This number includes loans that were handled in Alma and includes migrated data. |
Num of Requests (Booking) | The number of booking requests | |
Num of Requests (Digitization) | The number of digitization requests | |
Num of Requests (General Hold) | The number of general hold requests | |
Num of Requests (Physical Item) | The number of physical item requests | |
Num of Requests (Total) | The total number of requests | |
Originating System ID | The ID of the item in the source system from which it has been imported | See the field location in Alma in the figure MARC Record Simple View, below. |
Physical Condition | The physical condition of the item. | Possible values:
|
Pieces | The item’s number of pieces. | |
Process Type | When the item is being processed (acquisition/loan/bindery/etc) this indicates the type of processing | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Process Type Date | The date that the process type was changed | Data for this field is available from August 2017 and later. |
Provenance Code | A code used to identify separate items that belong to different groups (but may be shelved together) | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Receive Number | A sequential number assigned by the library to help maintain inventory. | For more information, see Configuring Physical Item Sequences. |
Receiving Date | The date the material was actually received/activated for the first time | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Receiving Date and Time | The date and time the material was actually received/activated for the first time | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Replacement Cost | The replacement cost | In order to filter your report based on the Replacement Cost field, you must add a second copy of this field and edit the formula with the following CAST("Physical Item Details"."Replacement cost" AS DOUBLE). This causes Alma Analytics to treat the field as numeric. |
Retention Note | A free-text note concerning the library's commitment to retain the item. | |
Retention Reason | The reason the library has committed to retain the item. | The list of reasons can be configured by an administrator. |
Statistics Note 1-3 | Holds statistic notes | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Item Editor – Notes Tab, below.
For more information, see the Physical Item Editor Page - Notes Tab table in Updating Item-Level Information.
|
Storage Location ID | The ID of the storage location. | |
Temporary Call Number Type | A call number type provided when the item is in a temporary location | See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Temporary Item Policy | The temporary item policy | |
Temporary Physical Location In Use | Whether the item is currently (at the time at which the report is run) in a temporary location or in a permanent location.
For example: An item was moved from a permanent location to a temporary location on November 28, 2017. It was loaned on November 29, 2017, and when it was loaned, it was still in a temporary location. It was returned from loan on December 13, 2017. On December 14, 2017 it was returned to its permanent location. If an Analytics report was run between November 28 and December 13, the Temp Physical Location In Use is Yes. If the report was run before November 28 or after December 13, the Temp Physical Location In Use is No. |
See the field location in Alma in the figure Physical Items Details Fields in Physical Item Editor – General Information Tab, below. |
Times Loaned | The number of loans including pre-migration. The Num of Loans measures include all loans in Alma, while "Times Loaned" includes all loans in Alma and also loans from pre-migration. | |
Weeding Date | A date assigned by the library as the weeding date. By default it is the date that the weeding number was assigned | |
Weeding Number | A sequential number assigned by the library to help maintain inventory. | For more information, see Configuring Physical Item Sequences. |



Holding Details
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
852 MARC | The first value in the 852 MARC field. | |
Accession Number | A sequential code used to file items on the shelf. | |
Binding Information | The binding information. | From MARC holdings record 563 field |
Call Number Prefix | The call number prefix. | From MARC field 852, subfield k. |
Call Number Suffix | The call number suffix. | From the holdings record 852 field subfield m |
Copy and Version Identification Note | The copy and version identification note. | From the MARC holdings record 562 field |
Copy ID | When multiple copies of the same title exist at the same library/location, the copy ID is used to identify each of the copies. | See the field location in Alma in the figure List of Holdings, below. |
Creation Date | The creation date of the holdings record | |
Creator | The creator of the holdings record | |
Electronic Location and Access | The electronic location and access. | From the holdings record 856 field |
HOL 008 MARC | The contents of the MARC 008 holdings field | |
HOL LDR MARC | The contents of the MARC LDR holdings field | |
Holding ID | The unique identifier of the holding | See the field location in Alma in the figure List of Holdings, below. |
Holding Lifecycle | Indicates if the holdings record is active or deleted. | |
Holding Local Param (1-10) | Customizable fields (any local holdings field and not just a 9XX field)
In order to make use of this field, you must contact Ex Libris Support and supply them with a three-digit MARC field code (Dublin Core is not supported). Following configuration of this field by Ex Libris Support, its value will be available in Analytics. Subfields can be maintained in the Analytics fields identified for Local Param. When this capability is implemented, fields/subfields appear in Alma Analytics with the Alma subfield delimiter (either $$ or ‡) used to delineate the subfield content. Contact Support to enable this feature. Note that reindexing is required to fully implement this capability.
Note that the local param fields are not related to the MARC type of the record. For example, if field 913 is defined to be in local param 1 then field 913 will always be in local param 1. This is the case if the record is of the type KORMARC, CNMARC, UNIMARC, MARC21, and so forth. It is not possible to have different sets of Local Param 1-10 for different types of MARC.
The data in the local parameters is limited to 3900 characters.
|
|
Immediate Source of Acquisition Note | The immediate source of the acquisition note. | From MARC holdings record 541 field |
Method of Acquisition | The method of acquisition. | From MARC holdings record 008 field position 7 |
Modification Date | The date the modification record was changed | |
Modified by | The user who modified the holdings record | |
Non Public Note | The non-public note. | From MARC holdings record 852 field subfield x |
Normalized Call Number | Holds the normalized call number | |
Ownership and Custodial History | The ownership and custodial history. | From MARC holdings record 561 field |
Permanent Call Number | A code used to file the items on the shelf | See the field location in Alma in the figure List of Holdings, below. |
Permanent Call Number Type | The call number type. | Possible values are:
|
Permanent Dewey Classification Top Line | Store the first 3 digits of the Dewey Classification | |
Permanent LC Classification Code | Stores the letters that the LC class number start with such as BF, QA, etc. | |
Permanent LC Classification Number | Stores the numbers that follow the letters until the first period that is followed by a letter | |
Permanent LC Classification Top Line | Stores the LC class number top line that represents the code and numbers until the first period followed by a letter. | For example, when lc_class_number is NB933.F44, the top line is NB933). |
Public note | The public note. | From MARC holdings record 852 field subfield z
For more information, see the Physical Item Editor Page - Notes Tab table in Updating Item-Level Information.
|
Summary Holding | Free-text enumeration and chronology data | This information comes from the 866$a field. If the record has multiple 866 fields, the information is separated by a semicolon delimiter. |
Suppressed from Discovery | Indicates if the bibliographic record is suppressed from discovery | From the holdings record Suppressed From Discovery option in the MD Editor |
Suppressed from Discovery by Suppressed Location | Indicates if the holdings record is suppressed from discovery because the location is suppressed (but not necessarily the record) | From the Suppress from Discovery checkbox for the location in the configuration of the location |

Item Creation Date
- Calendar Fields – These are date fields as they display in the calendar.
- Fiscal Date Fields – These are date fields that match the institution's fiscal period. In the examples below, the fiscal period of the institution is for fiscal year 2012 that starts June 1, 2011 and ends May 31, 2012.
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Item Creation Date | Stores the item creation date in a date format such as 2/29/2014. | All date dimensions include dates up to and including 30 years back and 20 years forward. So, for example, if today is March 17, 2021:
|
Item Creation Start of Week | The date of the first business day of the week | |
Item Creation Week Number | The number of the week of the year | |
Item Creation Month Key | Stores the month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | This field is useful when you want to sort by the month, which does not work properly when using the alphabetical field. |
Item Creation Month | Stores the month of the date in month description format such as February | |
Item Creation Full Month | Stores the month and the year of the date in a display format such as Feb 12 | This field is useful when comparing data on a month basis between years. |
Item Creation Quarter | Stores the quarter of the date in a display format such as Q1 | |
Item Creation Year | Stores the year of the date in number format such as 2012 | |
Item Creation Fiscal Month Key | Stores the fiscal month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | This field is useful when you want to sort by the month, which does not work properly when using the alphabetical field. |
Item Creation Fiscal Year | Stores the fiscal year of the date in a string format such as 2012. | If the fiscal year description is stored in the institution fiscal period configuration table. This value is taken from there. |
Item Creation Date Filter (under construction) | Used to filter the item creation date.
The functionality of this field may change in the future, so this field should not be used for saved reports.
|
|
Creation Date | Stores the Hierarchy column that allows the user to drill down from the year to the month to the specific modification date. | This column provides you with the option of viewing the accumulative measures in each level of the hierarchy. |
Item Modification Date
- Calendar Fields – These are date fields as they display in the calendar.
- Fiscal Date Fields – These are date fields that match the institution's fiscal period. For the examples below, the fiscal period of the institution is for fiscal year 2012 that starts June 1, 2011 and ends May 31, 2012.
Manually saving a holding record will update the modification date for physical items.
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Item Modification Date | Stores the item modification date in a date format such as 2/29/2014. | |
Item Modification Start of Week | The date of the first business day of the week | |
Item Modification Week Number | The number of the week of the year | |
Item Modification Month Key | Stores the month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | This field is useful when you want to sort by the month, which does not work properly when using the alphabetical field. |
Item Modification Month | Stores the month of the date in month description format such as February | |
Item Modification Full Month | Stores the month and the year of the date in a display format such as Feb 12 | This field is useful when comparing data on a month basis between years. |
Item Modification Quarter | Stores the quarter of the date in a display format such as Q1 | |
Item Modification Year | Stores the year of the date in number format such as 2012 | |
Item Modification Fiscal Month Key | Stores the fiscal month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | This field is useful when you want to sort by the month, which does not work properly when using the alphabetical field. |
Item Modification Fiscal Year | Stores the fiscal year of the date in a string format such as 2012. | If the fiscal year description is stored in the institution fiscal period configuration table, this value is taken from there. |
Item Modification Date Filter | Used to filter the item modification date.
The functionality of this field may change in the future, so this field should not be used for saved reports.
|
|
Modification Date | Stores the Hierarchy column that allows the user to drill down from the year to the month to the specific modification date. By using this column it provides the user the option to view the accumulative measures in each level of the hierarchy. |
Item Receiving Date
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Item Receiving Date | Stores the item modification date in a date format such as 2/29/2014. | |
Item Receiving Start of Week | The date of the first business day of the week | |
Item Receiving Week Number | The number of the week of the year | |
Item Receiving Month Key | Stores the month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | This field is useful when you want to sort by the month, which does not work properly when using the alphabetical field. |
Item Receiving Month | Stores the month of the date in month description format such as February | |
Item Receiving Full Month | Stores the month and the year of the date in a display format such as Feb 12 | This field is useful when comparing data on a month basis between years. |
Item Receiving Quarter | Stores the quarter of the date in a display format such as Q1 | |
Item Receiving Year | Stores the year of the date in number format such as 2012 | |
Item Receiving Fiscal Month Key | Stores the fiscal month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | This field is useful when you want to sort by the month, which does not work properly when using the alphabetical field. |
Item Receiving Fiscal Year | Stores the fiscal year of the date in a string format such as 2012. | If the fiscal year description is stored in the institution fiscal period configuration table, this value is taken from there. |
Item Receiving Date Filter | Used to filter the item receiving date.
The functionality of this field may change in the future, so this field should not be used for saved reports.
|
|
Item Receiving Date | Stores the Hierarchy column that allows the user to drill down from the year to the month to the specific receiving date. By using this column it provides the user the option to view the accumulative measures in each level of the hierarchy. |
Bibliographic Details
Library Unit
Location
LC Classification
Dewey Classifications
Other Classifications
Temporary Location
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Campus Code | Stores the code of the campus where the physical item is located. | This value is calculated through the library campus. |
Campus Name | Stores the description of the campus. | This value is calculated through the library campus. |
Campus Description | Stores the name of the campus. | This value is calculated through the library campus. |
Library Code | Stores the library code to which the location of the physical item belongs. | It is recommended to use the Library Code field of the Library Unit dimension instead of this one. |
Library Name | Stores the library name to which the location of the physical item belongs. | It is recommended to use the Library Name field of the Library Unit dimension instead of this one. |
Library Desc | Stores the library description to which the location of the physical item belongs. | |
Location Code | Stores the code of the location of the physical item. | |
Location Name | Stores the name of the location of the physical item. | |
Location Type | Stores the type of the location of the physical item, whether it is open stack or closed stack. | |
Call Number Type | Stores the call number type used by the location of the physical item. | |
External Name | Stores the name to be displayed to patrons for the location of the physical item. | |
Remote Storage Code | Points to a remote storage location where the physical items are stored, if one exists. | |
Location | Stores the Hierarchy column that allows the user to drill down from the campus to the library and then to the location of the physical item. | This column provides the user with the option to have the user view the accumulative measures (num_of_items) in each level of the hierarchy. |
PO Line
PO Line Approver
PO Line Creation Date
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
PO Line Creation Date | Stores the date in the date format 2/29/2012 | |
PO Line Creation Start Of Week | The date of the first business day of the week | |
PO Line Creation Week Number | The number of the week of the year | |
PO Line Creation Month Key | Stores the month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | |
PO Line Creation Month | Stores the month of the date in month description format such as February | |
PO Line Creation Full Month | Stores the month and the year of the date in a display format such as Feb 12 | |
PO Line Creation Quarter | Stores the quarter of the date in a display format such as Q1 | |
PO Line Creation Year | Stores the year of the date in string format such as 2012 | |
PO Line Creation Fiscal Month Key | Stores the fiscal month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | |
PO Line Creation Fiscal Year | Stores the fiscal year of the date in string format such as 2012. | |
PO Line Creation Date Filter | Used to filter report results by date. |
Fund Information
- What is the number of physical items purchased with specific funds during the past year?
- What is the number of loans by fund that purchased the loaned item?
- What is the average number of loans per physical item for physical items purchased in the past year with specific funds?
- Which funds used to purchase items in the last year had the lowest rate of circulation for those items?
- How much money was expended on items acquired in a given fiscal year that have not circulated within X number of years, with a breakdown by fund, call number, and location?
- Attributes (grey fields) from all dimensions, including the Physical Item Details dimension can be used together with measures and attributes from the Fund Information dimension.
- Do not use the measures (yellow fields) from the Physical Item Details dimension together with measures (yellow fields) or attributes (grey fields) from the Fund Information dimension. This produces incorrect results.
- This dimension is only for expenditure type transactions.
- Fund Instructions (Tooltip) - A tooltip that explains how to use the Fund Information dimension
- Fund Measures
Fund Measures Field Description Additional Information Fund Expenditure When an item is retrieved, this is the amount that came out of the specific fund for the specific item. It is a transaction of type Expenditure. Num of Items per Fund When a specific fund is retrieved, this is the number of items ordered from that fund. (One item can be for multiple funds.) Num of Loans per Fund (In House + Not in House) When a specific fund is retrieved, this is the number of in house + not in house loans for items ordered from that fund. (Since one item can be for multiple funds, one loan can also be from multiple funds.) Num of Loans per Fund (In House) When a specific fund is retrieved, this is the number of in house loans for items ordered from that fund. (Since one item can be for multiple funds, one loan can also be from multiple funds.) Num of Loans per Fund (Not in House) When a specific fund is retrieved, this is the number of not in house loans for items ordered from that fund. (Since one item can be for multiple funds, one loan can also be from multiple funds.) % from Funds When a specific fund is retrieved, this is the percentage of the price of the item that came from that fund. If there is one fund, it will be 100%. If the item cost is 100 USD and fund A spent 30 USD on it and fund B spent 70 USD on it, the % from Funds is 30% for fund A and 70% for fund B. Num of Requests (Booking) The number of booking requests Num of Requests (Digitization) The number of digitization requests Num of Requests (General Hold) The number of general hold requests Num of Requests (Physical Item) The number of physical item requests Num of Requests (Total) The total number of requests - PO Line Type, Fund, Fund Fiscal Period - For more information, see the Funds Expenditure subject area.
Receiving Operator
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Campus Code | The campus code of the receiving operator | |
External ID | The external ID of the receiving operator | |
First Name | The first name of the receiving operator | |
Gender | The gender of the receiving operator | |
IdP Service in Use | Indicates if an identity provider service is in use | |
Job Description | The job description of the receiving operator | |
Job Title | The job catagory of the receiving operator | |
Last Name | The last name of the receiving operator | |
Last Activity Date | The last date that a patron made a request or borrowed or returned an item | |
Middle Name | The middle name of the receiving operator | |
Preferred First Name | The preferred first name of the receiving operator | |
Preferred Last Name | The preferred last name of the receiving operator | |
Preferred Middle Name | The preferred middle name of the receiving operator | |
Primary Identifier | The primary identifier of the receiving operator | |
Status | The status of the user with the receiving operator role | Possible values are:
|
User Group | The user group of the receiving operator | |
User Record Type | The user record type of the receiving operator | |
User Type | The user type of the receiving operator |