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    Acquisitions - April 2016 Enhancements

    Patron Purchase Requests

    Patron purchase requests is a feature that enables librarians using Alma and patrons using Primo to request that a library purchase an item. When enabled for display in Primo, a Primo user can request an item for any reason, for example:
    • The library does not have a copy.
    • The library does not have enough copies or in the right format or edition.
    • The existing copy is damaged.
    A librarian can enter a user's purchase request in Alma, even when the feature is not enabled in Primo. An Alma user with the Selector role (Selectors) can view the list of requests and assign them to a Selector. Selectors can edit a request, email a requester for more information, and approve or reject requests. Approved requests become purchase order lines.
    For detailed information, see Patron Purchase Requests.

    Additional Invoice Charges

    Until now, the special invoice lines Shipment, Insurance, Overhead, and Discount automatically appeared for each new invoice, and you could add additional lines of these types, as well as lines of type Other or Regular.
    An administrator can now configure additional special invoice line types and then add up to five of these line types to invoices. For the list of types and how to configure them, see Configuring Invoice Line Types.
    To configure line types, you must enable the invoice_split_additional_charges parameter on the Acquisitions customer parameters page. Note that this parameter also affects how additional charges are handled in incoming EDI invoices. For more information about both of these issues, see the invoice_split_additional_charges parameter.
    After configuring additional line types, an invoice operator or invoice manager can add invoice lines of these types when creating or editing an invoice.
    For example, if the administrator enabled Sleeving as a line type, Sleeving appears as an option in the PO Line dropdown box Add Invoice Dialog Box (click Add Invoice Line on the Invoice Lines tab of the Invoice Details page). The operator can then add Sleeving as an invoice line type.
    add_invoice_dialog_box_with_sleeving_highlighted.png
    Add Invoice Dialog Box
    To add the new additional charges to invoices:
    1. While creating or editing an invoice, click Add Invoice Line in the Invoice Lines tab of the Invoice Details page. The Add Invoice Line dialog box appears.
    2. Select the line type from the Type drop down list. In this example, Sleeving is selected as the line type.
    3. Enter any other required information, and click Add and Close. The line appears in the list of invoice lines.
    invoice_details_invoice_lines_tab_with_sleeving_line_highlighted.png
    Invoice Details, Invoice Lines Tab
    You can add up to five special invoice line types in each invoice. Alternately, the operator can add additional charges using pro rata over all invoice lines.
    To add the new additional charges pro rata over all invoice lines:
    1. While creating or editing an invoice, click Use Pro Rata on the Summary tab of the Invoice Details page. The additional charges fields appear.
      invoice_details_summary_tab_with_additional_charges_highlighted.png
      Invoice Details, Summary Tab
    2. Select the type from the Additional Charge dropdown and enter the value in the Amount field.
      If you have enabled multiple additional line types, each time you select one of the line types from the Additional Charge drop down list, another Additional Charge drop down appears, up to the total number of additional line types that are enabled or until you have added five types of additional charges.
    3. Make any other required changes and click Save or Save and Continue.
    For more information on creating or editing invoice lines, see Creating Invoices.

    Encumbrances Recalculated According to Current Exchange Rates

    Open encumbrances and disencumbrances based on PO lines with different currencies than their associated funds are now calculated according to the correct exchange rates. The exchange rate and exchange rate date of open encumbrances is updated by a job every week; the exchange rates and exchange rate dates of their associated disencumbrances are always the same as the encumbrances.
    For detailed information and an example, see Managing Funds and Ledgers. The job is Recalculate PO Line Encumbrances Based on Current Exchange Rates; see Viewing Scheduled Jobs.

    Additional Acquisitions Enhancements

    • Alma configuration is now available only on the institution level.
    • The Owner field was added to the top of the Invoice Details page.
      invoice_details_invoice_lines_manually_added_with_owner_highlighted.png
      Invoice Details Page - Invoice Lines Tab
    • When attaching a PO line to an invoice line, the PO line owner appears in the list of PO lines and the list is restricted to PO lines relevant to the invoice owner.
      attach_po_line_to_invoice_owner_highlighted.png
      Invoice Details Page - Invoice Lines Tab
    • When an EDI invoice is loaded, if all of the associated PO lines of an invoice are owned by a particular library, the invoice is also now owned by the library. Otherwise, the invoice is owned by the institution.
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