Alma June 2018 Release Notes
This Alma release provides numerous new features and enhancements. Some of these enhancements are a result of Idea Exchange or NERS initiatives.
Download a PDF of the Release Notes – Note that the PDF includes the online help pages that describe the core functionality of the new features.Check it out! The Alma release notes are also available in a great new look and feel that provides enhanced search and filter options. Note that this new format will replace the current one as of the July release.
Make the Most of This Release
| Action Items |
|---|
| Authority Control Task List – The addition of facets and filters to the Authority Control Task List enables you to focus on relevant changes, making it easier to manage cataloging maintenance tasks. |
| Using the Other System Number (035) as Matching Criteria – The addition of this new matching method improves your ability to import records whose identification is based on the other system number 035 field using the portfolio loader. |
| Import Data from a Bursar System – Libraries that export patron fees to external bursar systems can now expand the bursar integration to include an import action as well. In this case, fees exported to the bursar remain active in Alma until feedback is imported from the bursar system indicating that the fee was paid. |
| Normalization Rules Creation for Dublin Core Records – The additional normalization rules support in this feature allows staff to automate MD normalization for Dublin Core records at various stages in the system. |
| Inventory Actions Added to MD Editor for Dublin Core Records – Inventory information and actions are available from the MD Editor for Dublin Core records, allowing staff to perform as many digital-related actions as possible from a single location. |
| Internet Archive Book Reader – The newly embedded Internet Archive Book Reader enhances delivery capabilities, enabling full-text search in image files. |
What's New
The following sections present the new and changed features in this release of Alma. For information on Primo VE new release features, see the Primo VE June 2018 Release Notes.
Acquisitions
- New Fields on the Order List Letter – The 490 and 830 fields are now available on the Order List Letter (letter code: OrderListLetter).
- Patron Purchase Request Enhancements – The Alma patron purchase request process was enhanced with a number of new features such as a new multi-selection field on the User Details page and the Purchase Request Library field on the Primo Purchase Request form.
- Normalize the Historical Titles from COUNTER Loads – Titles from COUNTER loads run prior to the January 2018 release are now included in the Normalized Title field in the Usage Data subject area.
- Inventory Tabs in the PO Line Review Page - Inventory information appears in tabs under each PO line, except for service line types.
- Additional Acquisitions Enhancements
Resource Management
Idea Exchange: Filtering the Authority Control Task List – Facets were added to the Authority Control Task List to filter the lists that appear on the Review and All tabs and enable you to more easily manage the page.
Watch the Filtering the Authority Control Task List video (1:00 min.).- Idea Exchange: Deleting Multiple Fields in the MD Editor – In the MD Editor, multiple fields (rows) can be deleted by selecting them with Ctrl+click and then selecting the Remove Field option (Edit > Remove Field) or Ctrl+F6.
Watch the Deleting Multiple Fields in the MD Edtior video (1:00 min.).
- Using the Other System Number (035) as Matching Criteria – When using the portfolio loader template/Excel file to import records, you may now use the 035 field other system number for your match criteria (in your import profile).
- Alma Link Resolver Support for Electronic Collections with No Portfolios – The Alma Link Resolver and Primo View It now support the display of electronic collections with no portfolios when certain additional openURL attribute-related conditions are met.
- 249 Field – The 249 field (Titles for parts of compilations lacking a collective title etc. (NR)) is now configurable in the MARC 21 Bibliographic profile using Metadata Configuration.
- Additional Resource Management Enhancements
As of July, repository searches for Keywords, Creator, Uniform Title, Names, Subject, and Subject (LC) will be able to include matches to non-preferred terms in any associated authority records. For example, if there's an authority record Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich, 1840-1893 (MMS ID 98124867430000041) that includes Ciaikovsky as a non-preferred term, a search for Ciaikovsky will be able to find a matching bibliographic record linked to this authority record, even though the bibliographic record itself does not include the term. To activate this new functionality, you will need to enable a customer parameter that will become available with the June hotfix release, before the July re-indexing process takes place.
Digital Resource Management
- Full Text Support for Digital Inventory – You can upload a plain or ALTO fulltext file to accompany a digital file and search for the text in the file using the newly embedded Internet Archive Book Reader.
- Normalization Rules Creation for Dublic Core Records – You can now create normalization rules in the MD Editor for Dublin Core records.
- Inventory Actions Added to MD Editor for Dublin Core Records – You can now perform additional inventory actions on Dublin Core records from the MD Editor.
- Additional Digital Resource Management Enhancements
Fulfillment
- Idea Exchange: Import Data from a Bursar System – You can now import files from a bursar system to update Alma on the transactions that were exported from Alma to the bursar system.
NERS Enhancement (Request #5109) Calculate an Item's Queue Place in Primo's Get It Tab – On the Primo Get It tab, a patron may now view his or her request's place in the queue before submitting the request.- Configuring Fulfillment Networks – The following configuration pages are now visible to users with administrator roles: Fulfillment Member, Fulfillment Network Groups, and Institutions Relations.
- Additional Fulfillment Enhancements
Resource Sharing
- Support ItemRequested to Create a Borrowing Request in NCIP v1.0 – Alma now creates a borrowing request when a broker system sends an ItemRequested message to the borrowing institution.
- Additional Resource Sharing Enhancements
Course Reserves
- Searching for Citations – You can now search for citations in the persistent search box located at the top of most pages.
- Campus Associations for Courses – If you have defined campuses in your institution, you can associate these campuses with your courses.
- Additional Course Reserves Enhancements
Analytics
- Analytics Enhancements – Several enhancements were made to Analytics for the June release.
Administration and Infrastructure
- Idea Exchange: Expand All Tabs in a Record List – On pages with record lists that have an Expand table action menu, the option Expand all was added to this table.
- Idea Exchange: Select All Items for Itemized Repository Sets – When adding items to a repository set, you can now click Add All to add all items on all results pages to the set.
- Additional Administration and Infrastructure Enhancements
APIs
- The fields Chapter author, Chapter title, and Editor were added to the resource sharing borrowing and lending APIs so that they are now in line with the Alma UI.
- The PUT and GET physical Item APIs were updated to support the new physical item's Physical condition field.
- In a fulfillment network, a linked patron account can now be implemented using an API.
- The Create Citation API now supports secondaryType for POST/PUT operations.
Content Operations
- Library of Congress Authorities Community Zone Updates
- New Electronic Collections Added to the Alma CKB
- No new external search resources were added.
Known Issues
There are no known issues for the June release.
Next Release Sneak Preview
View a list of the features that are planned for the July 2018 release.