Repository Search when Using a Network Zone
Bibliographic data can be shared between member institutions in a collaborative network for cataloging and inventory purposes. See Network-Managed Records in a Collaborative Network.
When searching in a collaborative network, Alma includes a Network tab on the Repository Search page. This tab displays resources managed in the Network Zone. The Network tab appears only when searching in member institutions. This tab does not appear when searching in the Network Zone. For more information, see Institution, Community, and Network Tabs.
You can ask Ex Libris to enable a feature that allows you to display results from your Network Zone in the Institution tab; see Combining Institution and Network Zone Search Results.
- Since inventory is not maintained in the Network Zone, a Physical Titles search using the Network tab produces no results. Use the All Titles search when doing a search from the Network tab.
- When enabled by Ex Libris, you can combine the network results in your Institution tab. See Combining Institution and Network Zone Search Results.
The Institution tab includes records that are linked (or not) to the Network and Community Zones. The Network tab presents all bibliographic records that are linked to the Community Zone. The links to the Community Zone are the same for the Institution tab and the Network tab.
The following is an example of search results in the Network tab:
See Held By Details for information regarding the Held by information.
Network Tab Actions
The following actions are available from the Network tab; see Performing Actions on the Repository Search Results Page for details:
- Edit Record
- Order
- Resource sharing request
- Linked Data
- Add Reminder
- Portfolio List (Electronic Titles)
- View It (Electronic Titles)
Other actions you can perform on Network Zone records include:
- Merge duplicate Network Zone bibliographic records – The records must both be Network Zone bibliographic records. For more information on merging records, see Merging Bibliographic Records.
Before merging, Alma displays a note with a list of the other member institutions that also have inventory for the secondary record, and which will be moved to the primary record. When you are logged in to the Network Zone, the note includes the number of bibliographic record changes specific to the Network Zone's inventory. When you are logged in to a member institution, the note includes the number of bibliographic record changes specific to the local, member institution’s inventory.The changes to the primary bibliographic record are immediately available at the local institution at which you perform the change. For other member institutions that hold the primary bibliographic record, there may be a slight delay (up to five minutes) while Alma synchronizes the changes.
- Link to the shared bibliographic record – Select the record title link in the Network tab. On the MARC Record Simple View Page, select Link. Alma displays a message indicating that the item was linked to the local institution.
- Configure error messages for 9XX fields added to Network Zone records.
- Identify brief records – If Alma is configured for identifying brief records (see Identifying Brief Records), the MD Editor provides a Brief indicator for brief records (see Brief for more information).
The Network Zone and each member institution may be configured (by Ex Libris) to identify brief records. The brief record algorithm configured for the Network Zone affects only Network Zone records. Local records are defined as brief according to the brief record algorithm configured for the local member institution.In general, it is suggested that member institutions use the same brief record algorithm for all members and for the network.
- View network members’ order details – When you open the Held by Details page by selecting a member’s Held by link in the search results, the Orders tab on the Held by Details page shows the order information for that member.
Held By Details
If inventory exists for the resource at one of the network member institutions, including your own, then the Held By tab appears in the Network tab. Select it to open the Held By Details page, which provides additional information for each institution in the Held By list:
The Held by tab in the Network does not display the institution if the inventory comes from a related record.
When you select the link for one of the institutions displayed in the Held by list, the Held By Details page appears:
The left pane on the Held By Details page lists all the institutions in hyperlink format, so that you can easily switch from institution to institution, while the page refreshes to display the selected institution's holdings. In addition, this page provides the following tabs that contain detailed resource information:
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| Holdings |
Displays the following information about each holdings record for the institution that you selected in the Held by search results:
|
| Portfolios |
Displays the following information about each portfolio record for the institution that you selected in the Held by search results:
|
| Representations |
Displays the following information about each representation record for the institution that you selected in the Held by search results:
|
| Electronic Collections |
Displays the following information about each electronic collection record for the institution that you selected in the Held by search results:
|
| Orders |
Displays the following information about each orders record for the institution that you selected in the Held by search results:
|
| Physical Usage (appears only when the share_item_usage_across_network customer parameter is set to true in the Network Zone (see Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management)). |
Displays physical usage information for items available in other institutions:
This enables staff users to make a better decision regarding from which member to loan an item from, based on a better availability prognosis due to the lower frequency of lending. |
For more information, see the Enhanced Network Search Results video (1:28 min.).
Other Details in the Network Tab
The following information is provided on the Other Details tab for Network tab search results:
-
Related records count that links to another search results page that displays the related records.When there are blended search results in the Institution tab, additional information provided for Network Zone records includes the related records in the Network Zone.
- Reminders count that links to the List of Reminders page
- Publishing information for physical and electronic inventory with an ID number that links to the published record page
Other Details Tab in the Network Tab Search Results
The links on the Other Details tab connect to data in the Network Zone. For example, the Related Records link points to related records in the Network Zone. The Publishing information for physical and electronic inventory link only appears when network publishing to Primo is enabled in the Network Zone.
"Available For" Information in Search Results
In multicampus and collaborative network environments, Alma includes portfolio coverage information as it relates to the inventory management groups in Repository Search results (marked as Available For). For more information, see Configuring Distributed Access to Electronic Resources When Working with a Network Zone.
Inventory Management Group Coverage Statement