Licenses
How are license records managed in Alma?
Alma features a dedicated license management module which conforms to the DLF-ERMI standard. In addition to these standard license fields libraries may also add their own library defined fields to the license record:
Libraries can customize the staff-facing user interface forms so that only relevant license terms display to staff.
Alma enables staff to quickly and easily create a license record that captures detailed information about the terms of a license or contract. It also enables the creation of an addendum or amendment for a license which serves to identify additional titles covered by the existing license (e.g., when a library adds new titles and overall license terms do not change), or to modify the terms associated with a particular resource or group of resources.
The License Details in Alma is comprised of several tabs:
- A summary tab, which gives information such as the name, status, and start and end dates of the license;
- A License Terms tab, which gives information regarding the Terms of Use, Restrictions, Perpetual Rights, etc. of a license;
- An Inventory tab, which lists the active and historical packages associated with the license;
- A PO Lines tab listing all PO Lines linked to the license
- An Amendments tab link amendments to the master license record
- A History tab recording all changes made to the license record
- A Notes tab for registering notes about the license
- An Attachments tab for where electronic versions of the license can be uploaded
An example of the inventory tab on the license record:
An example of the Notes tab:
Alma supports managing licenses and amendments, including active dates, statuses associated with the negotiation process, notes, and an audit trail of edits. Staff may also upload one or more digital files to a license, which may then be viewed at any time through Alma. The following image shows the ease of use of uploading digital licenses:
In the repository search, a staff operator can easily navigate to the license details of a particular electronic resource by clicking on the “Other Details" hyperlink in the record.
The license management functionality is seamlessly integrated into the acquisitions process, making it simple for library staff to conduct trials, place orders, activate, evaluate, and renew electronic resources in an ongoing cycle:
It is also possible for the library to configure and display license terms to end users in the Primo discovery interface. The library determines the information that is displayed:
Does Alma support amendments to licenses?
Alma supports the option for creating amendments to a license. The amendment will be linked to the original license record, but can be populated with all the elements relevant for license definition – e.g. defining license terms, license status, etc.
The default status values for licenses are:
- Active
- The license is activated and in use
- Deleted
- Marks the license as deleted. Deleted licenses can be re-activated. Relevant only when updating an existing license.
- Draft
- The license is created but not in use
- Expired
- Retired
In the History tab, users can view changes to licenses.
Can templates be created as a basis for defining new license records?
A license can be saved as a license template or a license negotiation template. Saving a license as a template saves the license summary, license terms, group settings, and administrators information for use when creating a new license or a new negotiation license.
Does license management include fields for signatory and signing date?
Alma supports these fields. Please see the screenshot below:
Does Alma create an audit trail of changes made to a license?
Alma tracks all changes made to a license in the History tab of the license record:
Changes either of the license or the license terms can be viewed as show in the the screen capture above.
Can digital copies of license agreements be uploaded and stored in Alma?
Staff may upload one or more digital files to a license record, which may then be viewed and/or downloaded at any time:
Can licenses be retrieved by specific criteria?
The list of licenses can be filtered - for example by status (as seen in the following screen capture). Specific licenses can be retrieved using the search function. The Advanced Search option allows for retrieving licenses by a number of different parameters:
How can license terms be displayed or suppressed from public view?
Library staff are able to configure and display license terms to end users in the Primo discovery interface. The configuration table allows for defining the license terms that will display to the public.
The library determines the fields that display in the “View It” tab of a search record’s results
Can Alma display only those fields that the library uses and not the rest?
License configuration in Alma allows for the non-display in the license record of unwanted fields.
An example of customized licensing elements can be seen below:
Does Alma support loading licenses in ONIX-PL format?
Alma supports the integration of ONline Information eXchange for Publication Licenses (ONIX-PL) with license standards that conform to Digital Library Federation (DLF) standards. Alma maps fields from the ONIX-PL XML file to fields in the DLF-based license template.
Fields that are mapped from ONIX-PL take on the attributes and characteristics of the DLF fields (such as Order and whether or not a field appears in the license itself), as configured by the Alma Acquisitions Administrator. Thus a field that has been mapped from ONIX-PL to Alma may not show in the license even though it is in use, depending on the settings of the DLF field to which the ONIX-PL field is mapped.
Total views:
4457