Alma 2021 Release Notes
Release:
As many of you already know, Alma development periodically needs to take a "back seat," and maintenance, cloud infrastructure, and other important tasks need to be handled in order to ensure that Alma meets the highest standards of performance and high availability. The September 2021 release is devoted to such tasks.
We would also like to take this opportunity to update you on the following:
Alma Announcements
Alma Announcements is a new feature that will display as an icon 
on the Persistent Menu Bar in Alma. It enables Ex Libris to update users about important issues, unusual occurrences, or major feature rollouts, as well as ad hoc updates and announcements.
While there are a number of channels for communicating with our Alma community, most of these channels have various limitations, which prevent us from reaching the widest audience possible. For example, only one email per institution is sent from Salesforce; not all users subscribe to the Alma list-serv.
While some announcements are relevant for all users, the aim is to filter other announcements by roles and privileges, so that only relevant staff users will see these topic related announcements. For example, an announcement reminding users to activate fiscal rollover will only display for users with fund related privileges. In addition, in the same way that announcements can be filtered by roles and privileges, they can also be filtered by region.
Alma Announcements will be turned on for all users in October.
Alma Updates
NERS (New Enhancements Request System)
The NERS 2021 voting process has been completed. The Alma community voted for the following enhancements to be developed. Delivery will be by the end of H1, 2022:
- Add option to configure Process Types for Unavailable Physical Items, without creation of requests
- Ability to Move/Re-Order Requests
- Restricting the number of fields that show when manually creating new users via Register New User
- Disable Item description confirmation message
- Provide the ability to batch-edit electronic collections
User Experience is very close to our hearts and as such, in addition to the ongoing planned UX improvements, we conducted a Pixel Perfect day!
You may well be thinking ‘What is a Pixel Perfect day?’
In the Alma context, a Pixel Perfect day was when all Alma developers spent a whole day improving and correcting User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) issues.
The team worked hard, and resolved an impressive number of issues, but at the same time had lots of fun.
We hope that you will see the benefit of this day in the coming releases where many of the small – but sometimes annoying - UI/UX issues will have been resolved.
Alma Analytics
Data Visualization Reports
An exciting new tool Data Visualization (DV) was added as part of Alma Analytics’ move to the newer Oracle Analytics Server (OAS). It can be easily accessed for users with the Analytics designer role from the Analytics menu.
DV reports offer a rich variety of visualization options from simple tables to rich visual charts.
For example - In the "Loans" dashboard below, three charts, all created in minutes, present clear trends:
- a bar chart representing material type loans by year,
- a treemap chart presenting loans by classification and,
- a pie chart presenting loans by user groups.
With just a few minutes of simple drag and drop actions, staff users can immediately identify usage trends and get a clear overview of the activities in their libraries.
2022: Analytics User Experience Enhancement
2022 will be devoted to improving the user experience for Alma Analytics, helping users to access and share reports quickly and intuitively.
These improvements will be done with the close cooperation and input of the Alma user community.
The first step in this exciting process was the survey that recently took place focusing on how Alma users interact with Alma Analytics. We received a great number of important insights and comments from this survey which will help us as we plan our next steps.
Watch this space for more updates.
Cloud Apps
Usage of Cloud Apps is growing! Over 500 institutions have enabled Cloud Apps and are used by more than 2000 users.
There are now 35 Cloud Apps available, 17 of which have been developed by customers.
Our Cloud App of the month is Change RS Request Type.
This popular app (it has been activated more than 240 times) allows changing a Resource Sharing 'book request' to 'article request' and vice versa.
Check out more exciting Cloud Apps here.
Global Knowledge Delivery
1. Training
a. Close to 6,000 Ex Libris customers attended the 2021 Knowledge Days webinar series hosted in June of this year. Follow the link to find the recordings and supporting documents for each of the 10 webinars, each subject selected based on submissions to our annual customer interest survey.
b. Alma Essentials, the re-designed training kit, released towards the end of 2020 is now available in 6 translated versions - Polish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified) and Chinese (Traditional). Italian and German will be released by end of August 2021. The entire kit has been modularized and organized in order to make the content more approachable and easier to consume. It contains shorter sessions (averaging ~5 min) with more demo and workflow driven content.
c. Check out the recently completed Implementing Acquisitions in Alma webinar series! This five-part series walks you through the benefits of using acquisitions, gives you guidance on getting started, and helps you discover workflows that will ultimately save you time and effort when it comes to acquiring physical and electronic resources.
2. Education and Knowledge Webinars
You can see our full list of upcoming webinars and recordings of past events on our Education & Knowledge Webinars page on the Ex Libris website. We also encourage you to sign up for our Global Knowledge Delivery updates and pass this on to interested colleagues.
3. GuideMe
We're happy to introduce two new GuideMe walkthroughs. These and more step-by-step walkthroughs are available in Alma, accessible from the GuideMe menu in the Alma help menu, try them out!
a. Test Access to an Activated E-Resource
b. Testing Loan Policies with the Fulfillment Configuration Utility
Administration & Infrastructure
Transport Layer Security (TLS) Support – call for action
This is a reminder that you might need to take necessary actions in order to avoid service disruptions. TLS is a cryptographic protocol that provides authentication and data encryption between different endpoints. Various vulnerabilities have been found in TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 in recent years. As previously announced in the latest security update, to avoid security vulnerabilities and to align with industry standards, Ex Libris will block TLS 1.0 and 1.1 traffic for Alma API in production environments and will support only TLS 1.2. The deprecation plan will begin by October 2021 and will be concluded by May 2022.
For more information, please review Ex Libris Higher Education Platform API - deprecation of TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1
Top Trending Books
Starting with the October release, the Top Trending Books dashboard widget will be removed from the list of available dashboard widgets. The Top Trending Books dashboard widget is currently available for institutions that opted into sharing their anonymized data (Configuration menu > General > Data sharing Selection and development section). The deprecation of this dashboard widget is done due to the low adoption of institutions who opted into the "Selection and Collection Development" functionality and this is imperative in order to conduct analysis and provide reliable and effective data to be presented within the widget.
October Sneak Preview
Click here to view the October sneak preview.
As many of you already know, Alma development periodically needs to take a "back seat," and maintenance, cloud infrastructure, and other important tasks need to be handled in order to ensure that Alma meets the highest standards of performance and high availability. The April 2021 release is devoted to such tasks.
We would also like to take this opportunity to update you on the following:
Chat Support
On February 14th, we were excited to roll out online chat support for Alma and Leganto in our European instances. And on March 15th we expanded this service to our North American Alma and Leganto customers. This is a gradual rollout, with chat support for all regions as our end vision.
We have received over 100 chat sessions with a 100% satisfaction rate in the last week.
In addition, we're happy to share with you some of the great feedback posted:
- "The chat function is user friendly, quick and efficient. So is the representative who assisted."
- "Quick reply and help, excellent service for simpler questions."
- "Pleased to be able to get quick answers to small questions without having to open a case."
User Experience
Through 2019 and 2020 new UI concepts were introduced, in different areas of Alma. We will be implementing additional new UI concepts throughout 2021such as side-by-side display. For more information see Alma new UI concepts.
With the April 2021 release, the New Metadata Editor reached an important milestone of providing full functionality by enabling the Rules management model. At this time, the New Metadata Editor became the default editor; we encourage all catalogers to use this new editor. Catalogers can still switch to the classic Metadata Editor if they come across issues that hinder their workflows. In these cases, please open a support case. Ex Libris is doing its best to address all critical issues before the new Metadata Editor becomes the only editor by June 2021 release.
Analytics
Look out for some important changes coming up regarding Alma Analytic dashboards in the May and June releases of Alma.
In May, the following new dashboards will be available.
- Fulfillment - Loans Returns and Overdue
- Acquisitions – Claims
- Acquisitions – Fund
These dashboards were made together with Ex Libris and a group of institutions who contributed their ideas and analytics knowledge to the project. Each of the dashboards will have a default Analytics Object of type Dashboard.
Additional dashboards with an Analytics Objects of type ‘Dashboard’ will be available as part of the June Release, enabling them to be used via a menu option from the Analytics menu in Alma. All analytics objects can be customized by the institution.
Cloud Apps
Cloud Apps were released in the second half of last year. Already there are 24 apps released and available for use! This includes apps written by Ex Libris, by partners, and by members of the community.
Apps have been installed thousands of times by hundreds of users. If you’re just getting started with Cloud Apps in your institution, check out the announcement blog and promotional video, the directory of currently available Cloud Apps, and instructions for enabling Cloud Apps for use in your institution.
If you’re interested in developing an app, check out the Developer Network. This month the Australia/New Zealand User Group is sponsoring a hackathon to encourage the community to write apps that address the specific needs of their members. If you’re interested in sponsoring a hackathon in your region, we’re happy to help- reach out to us!
This month’s Cloud App is the Interlibrary Add-on, an app that helps to handle Borrowing Request activities more smoothly.
Idea Exchange
We have created a chart of completed ideas by subject area. As you’ll be able to see by the highest number of completed ideas, Fulfillment is still a very important area of a library’s activities. Analytics, Resource Sharing and Acquisitions are the next areas with the most completed ideas.
Global Knowledge Delivery
eLearning
A re-designed Alma Essentials training kit was recently released as well as new modules for Rialto kit. We continuously update existing content and release new eLearning modules and courses, across all products, moving away from long tutorials towards micro learning, short and specific videos.
Customer Education
Primo VE: Become an Expert webinar - a 12-part webinar series is currently in progress, with over 4,500 registrants to date. You can sign up for future sessions or watch recordings here.
Premium Services
To support the evolving needs of libraries, Ex Libris offers an array of Premium Services for libraries that are in production with Ex Libris solutions. These services will help you to improve efficiency, deploy new features or services, and learn more about functionality.
Learn more about our various offerings through the links above, or contact us for more information: Premium.Services@exlibrisgroup.com
Alma Documentation Update
The Resource Management section of the Alma Documentation has been split into smaller sections and reorganized to make it clearer where information is, making it easier for you to find content when you need it.
The new sections are:
- Resource Management
- Electronic Resource Management
- Physical Resource Management
- Digital Resource Management
- Metadata Management
GuideMe
Recently, we released new walkthroughs on CDI, SUSHI Account, Course Management, Activating an Electronic Collection and more, check them out. See full list and more information here.
May Release Sneak Preview
Click here to view the May release sneak preview.
Main Features
Support for the Safari Browser
Alma is now certified to run Safari browser on Apple OS (in addition to the existing certification for the Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers).
Sharing Letter Customizations within Alma
To learn more, watch Contributing Letter Configurations to the Community Zone and Copying to Your Institution (5:30 mins)
In addition, get the presentation: How to contribute letter configurations to the Community Zone and copy them to the institution
See the online help at Contributing Letter Customizations to Community Zone.
"Update from Central Catalog" Job Schedule Change
Excel Report Enhancements
- Headers have the options to sort / filter
- Column width is auto-adjusted to fully display the contained information
- Content is wrapped in a cell - specifically important for cases where the cell contains multiple lines separated by Alt+Enter
- Hebrew & Arabic text (right-to-left direction) is aligned to the right
This functionality is enabled by default. To disable it and return to the previous way Excel reports were exported, contact Ex Libris Customer Support.
Counter Added to Printouts Queue in Task List
The Tasks List widget and the Tasks panel now display the items currently in the Printout Queue, including names of letters and how many there are of each letter. This helps Operators to work more efficiently, as printing is not always automated via email.
GetIt Libraries - Customized Display Order
NERS Enhancement (ID #6676)Now customers can define a list of libraries and list of locations within a library in a prioritized order, and have this order reflected in Primo or Primo VE search results. This enables more meaningful sorting of locations in the Get It menu.
When displaying a list of locations in the GetIt tab, if the record has multiple holdings, they will be listed in the order that has been defined by the institution.
To support this, a new option "Use Custom Sorting" was added to the Locations Ordering Profile page (Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Locations Ordering Profile). Once you select this option, you can customize the order in which the libraries will be displayed in the discovery system.
The priority of each location within the library can also be determined by configuring the 'Discovery Priority' attribute of a location (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Locations, when the selected configuration scope is a library).
See Configuring the Order of Locations in Primo Search Results.
For more information on the new options for customizing the order of libraries in Primo VE, see Get It - Custom Order of Locations.
Proxy Requesting
Idea ExchangeURM-149101
A new type of proxy user is introduced, that will function as an extension for the sponsor user: Fulfillment proxies will have a proxy account (separate from their personal account, if exists), with which they'll be able to log into Primo or Primo VE, place hold and resource sharing requests on behalf of their sponsor user, follow up on these requests, be notified when they reach the hold shelf, and check out items on behalf of the sponsor user.
To create a fulfillment proxy user, check the "Add as a fulfillment proxy" when adding the new user, and select the sponsor user from the list. The new account created will only be able to perform fulfillment activities on behalf of the sponsor.
See Managing Proxy Users.
Reshare Integration — Push Borrowing Request
Alma enables you to push user borrowing requests to Reshare (Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Partners). Alma can check whether the resource is found in the ReShare network without your users needing to leave their known discovery system. Additionally, your users do not need to enable Alma to search for the resource they need via the various resource sharing options that your institution supports.
Enter the ReShare credentials in the Parameters tab.
Network Member Can See Physical Usage Information for an Item
Now users of consortia members can see physical usage information for items available in other institutions, including last loan date and the number of loans. This enables staff users to give a good recommendation from which member to loan an item, based on better availability prognosis due to the lower frequency of lending.
To view this information, when searching in the Network Zone, go to the 'Held By' tab under the Title search, select one of the institutions from which this item can be loaned, and open the new Physical Usage tab:
This functionality is disabled by default. To enable it, set the share_item_usage_across_network customer parameter to true in the Network Zone (see Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management)).
See Repository Search when Using a Network Zone and Searching in Alma.
Automatic Deletion of Network Zone Bibliographic Record not Held by Other Institutions
Now when you delete a bibliographic record in the Institution Zone, and you're the last library in the consortium to hold it, the bibliographic record is deleted in the Network Zone.
This happens only for Network Zones where the withdrawn inventory is linked to a Network Zone-cached record.
This functionality is disabled by default. To enable it, set the delete_nz_bib_without_inventory customer parameter to true (see Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management)).
See Withdrawals, Working with Bibliographic Records and Manual Jobs.
Libraries Sorted by Relevance as Default
To facilitate the work of Inventory Operators, who are interested first and foremost in seeing inventory within the library they work in, the sort_library_by_relevance customer parameter (Configuration > Resources > General > Other Settings) is now set to True as default.
Now the below functionalities within Alma are sorted first by "Physically At" location of the user:
- Metadata Editor Holdings 852 $b:
Now when you press Ctrl+F, the "Library" dropdown "Sublocation or collection(b)" displays first the library that is selected as your "Physically at" location:The library option of Physically at (My Library) is preassigned/preset/auto-set to the 852 field ("Sublocation or collection(b)" based on the Currently at functionality. This is true only when there is no value in field 852 $b. If the holdings record already has a value in field 852 $b (opened from template), the value in the template remains as is and is not changed.
- "Libraries" Facet in Physical Item search and Holdings search:
Now when doing a Physical Items search and Holdings search, the "Library" facets in the search results displays first the library that is selected as your "Physically at" location.
- Holdings list in the "Physical" tab in Physical Titles search:
Now in the Physical tab that appears under each title, the holdings records that appear first are the Holdings records for the library selected as your "Physically at" location.
For additional details, see Support for Libraries Sorting by "Physically At" Location in August 2021 release notes.
Support for Related Record Enrichment as part of General Publishing
Related records can now be republished to external systems, so that the external catalog has a full representation of the catalog and inventory of your library. You can include the related record information (bibliographic and physical inventory). If the institution is part of a consortium, then when publishing bibliographic records from the Network Zone to an external system, the related records information can also be published to the external system.
The section Related Records Enrichment was added to the Publishing Profile Details page > Step 2. On this page you can define the information that will be added to the published bibliographic record from its related records. This new section is relevant for all types of publishing levels and all output formats, except Dublin Core simple / qualified.
To deploy this feature for existing profiles, running Republish Entire Index is required.
See Publishing and Inventory Enrichment (General Publishing).
UNIMARC / Marc21 Bibliographic/Authority Crosswalk Enhancements
A number of enhancements were introduced to the UNIMARC/MARC21 crosswalk to handle missing/new/incorrect fields mapping. This includes the following enhancements (not an exhaustive list):
-
Authority MARC21 to UNIMARC - New Authority crosswalk was added both directions for the below subfields:
UNIMARC Authority
MARC21 Authority
280
$a
$j
$x
$y
$z
155
$a
$v
$x
$y
$z
480
$a
$j
$x
$y
$z
$6
455
$a
$v
$x
$y
$z
$6
580
$a
$j
$x
$y
$z
$6
555
$a
$v
$x
$y
$z
$6
-
Authority UNIMARC to MARC21 - UNIMARC AUTH 822 is now crosswalked to MARC21 AUTH 922. Indicators and subfields are copied as is.
-
Authority UNIMARC to MARC21 - UNIMARC AUTH control X10 $8 (language code of cataloging) is NOT mapped into AUTH MARC21 $9.
Authority Control Task List Enhancements
Major performance improvements were introduced on the Authority Control Task List, enabling the staff users to access it in a much shorter time.
In addition, three filters were added on top of the table instead of the facets:
- Brief Level – Use this option to view records for a specific brief level. This can be configured to appear as an additional column of information in your authority control task list.
- Suppressed from Discovery – Use this option to view only the records that are suppressed from discovery (Yes) or to view only the records that are not suppressed from discovery (No).
- Linked to Community Zone – Use this option to view only the records linked to the Community Zone (Yes) or to view only the records that are not linked to the Community Zone (No)
MARC21 Updates
The following MARC21 bibliographic and holdings configuration profile updates have been completed:
- MARC 21 Bib – Update No. 32 (June 2021)
- MARC 21 Holdings - Update No. 32 (June 2021)
Metadata Editor Accessibility Improvements
- The blue color on text/icons/buttons was replaced to provide a better contrast with their surroundings.
- When opening tow records side by side, the user can zoom out to 200%.
- When the Metadata Editor is loading for the first time, the screen reader says “Metadata Editor loading alert, please wait” for the benefit of screen user users.
Alma Accessibility Improvements
The following improvement was done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions:
- In records lists with checkboxes, a label was added to every checkbox for screen reader users with the relevant title. This helps users know what they are selecting or clearing when focused on the checkbox, without needing to go ahead in order to hear the title and then go back to checkbox.
Patron Waitlist Notification By SMS
Patrons waiting for a resource with the Patron Waitlist feature now have an option to be notified by SMS when it becomes available.
To configure this option, enable the new Delivery Registration Status Letter that is sent by SMS (Configuration > General > Letters > Letters Configuration):
When a logged in user requests a resource that has reached its maximum number of concurrent users, the waitlist registry page now displays an option to receive availability notification via SMS:
When the patron selects the checkbox, a notification is sent by SMS to the phone number in the user's profile when the resource is available.
Add Watermark to Digital Image Files
For a PowerPoint describing how to add a watermark, see Alma Digital - Copyright Watermarks for Image Files.
You can now add a watermark image to digital image files.
You configure watermarks from Configuration > Fulfillment > Copyright Management > Digital Watermark:
Load an image from the Image field to select it as a watermark.
To apply a watermark to the images of a representation, add the watermark to a copyrights statement associated with the representation. To support this feature, the Watermark field was added to the Digital Copyrights configuration page (Configuration > Fulfillment > Copyright Management > Copyrights Statements - Digital:
Select a watermark from the Watermark field to add it to the copyrights statement.
As part of this feature, the procedure for configuring obtrusive copyrights for boilerplate copyrights statements was aligned to match the procedure for custom copyrights statements. To configure obtrusive copyrights for boilerplate copyrights statements, edit the copyrights statement and select the Obtrusive checkbox.
API Restrictions for Loans and Fees
The API restrictions Integration profile enables limiting the get loans API and the GET fees API to specific libraries. It is possible to set the fulfillment API restriction to a specific library or a few libraries.
This refers to the APIs related to the user’s activities: Requests, loans, Resource Sharing requests, Fine & Fees.
For more information, see: Working with API Restriction Profiles in the Developer Network.
Added CDI Group Settings Fields in Electronic Collection API
The Electronic Collection API is enhanced to include CDI group settings fields. These fields are: cdi_collection_id, number_of_records_in_cdi, cdi_update frequency, full_text_linking_in_cdi, cdi_newspapers_search, provider_coverage, resource_types, full_text_rights_in_cdi and cdi_type.
For more information, see: Rest Electronic Collection in the Developer Network.
Attachments Enabled for Invoice and License API
The invoice and license APIs include expand parameters for attachments. A GET API will return the number of attachments for invoices and licenses.
For more information, see: Acquisitions in the Developer Network.
Add Historical Loans to the getLoans API
An option has been added to provide historical loan information in the get Loans API. There are two possible use cases for this option:
- Historical Loans for a User - subject to Anonymization
- Historical loans for an Item
For more information, see: Users and Fulfillment in the Developer Network.
OpenID Connect (OIDC) Integration Profile Enhancements
- New fields were added to the OpenID Connect Integration profile to enable you define additional OIDC information: "Scopes", "Additional Claims", "Matching claim", "UserInfo Endpoint".
- You can now populate the integration profile by using the .well-known URL.
- More than one OIDC profile can now be configured in Alma.
Job Results Displayed on the Monitor Jobs Page
Link Resolver ViewIt Online Service Order - Preference to Electronic Resources with Orders
NERS Enhancement (ID #6941)When presenting Electronic Services via Alma Link Resolver, Alma now gives the library the option to prefer services of collections/portfolios that have a linked PO Line (i.e., subscribed services or owned ). Once enabled, services for portfolios that have a PO Line, either at the level of the collection or at the level of the portfolio itself, are displayed above all the other services. This preference overrides both the default alphabetic sorting order and the list of services listed in the Top Services section.
To support this feature, a new option "Prefer Ordered Resources Option" was added to the Online Services Order page (Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic> Online Services Order).
Holdings Search Introduced
A new search option "Physical Holdings" was added to Alma repository staff search. The holdings search provides the ability to search holdings based on title, holding, and item information. The retrieved results provide the list of holdings records that match the defined search criteria, along with the titles for these holdings, and the items that are associated with these holdings. This search option allows librarians to have direct access to multiple titles and provides more accurate results for holdings-level records by library.
Although physical inventory does not exist in a Network institution, the Physical Holdings option still appears in Network Zone (similarly to the existing Physical Items option).
The "Physical Holdings" search option and the search results panes are based on new-generation infrastructure, which offers more convenient and user-friendly user interface, and quicker performance.
In the November release, only the simple search is available for this search option. The advanced search will be introduced in upcoming releases.
Viewing Items per Holdings Record
To view the list of items associated to a particular holdings record, select the holdings record. The Details pane opens that displays the information for that holdings record, including the list of all items associated with it.
To view the information for a particular item, select View Items. A sliding pane opens above the search results where you can sort the items, search for items, and perform the different actions on the list of items (for details, see Working with the List of Items). The sliding pane allows you to view and work with items, and then resume your ongoing work without interrupting its context. The items list displays up to ten items. There is a pagination option if there are more than ten items.
When you add a new item from the sliding pane (by selecting the Add Items option), the new item is immediately added to the list of items on the right pane of the search results.
Enhanced Staff Navigation in Alma for Related Records and Inventory
In the Physical Title search results, all possible inventory is now accessibleto the Inventory Operators. This allows the Inventory Operator would like to check possible availability in holdings and items in its hierarchy, and also in related holdings or items. This improves the staff user’s ease of use and efficiency.
The Inventory Operator can navigate to related items for the specific title and see them as physical items search results. Navigation links to related records and associated inventory were now added similarly to the links that appear for the main record.
Similarly, the related holdings are displayed as search results using the new Holdings search.
In addition, the navigation between the related record and the main records items and holdings was enhanced, such that when a specific item or volume or issue are being referenced in the related record (the 77X field contains a $g with specific item information, or even when $g is unspecified), only the relevant holding or item record is shown when using these new navigation links.
See Searching in Alma.
MARC21 Updates
The following MARC 21 updates (for bibliographic, holdings, classification, and community information formats) have been added to Alma:
Authority records:
- Profile updates - New fields were added: 147, 447, 547, 747
- Display - New fields were added: 147, 447, 547, 747
- Search - New fields were added: 147, 447, 547
- Headings - New fields were added: 147, 447
- F3 functionality for "See Also" (5XX) fields in authority records used for linking between two authority records now applies to 547 as well
Bibliographic Data and functionality:
- MARC21 Bibliographic Profile updates:
- Field 335 was added.
- Field 345 was renamed.
- Search - New field was added: 647
- Headings - New field was added: 647
- Browse bibliographic headings - New source code 'Even Name' was added to heading types Names and Subjects.
- Browse bibliographic headings - Name / Subject - Field 647 was added.
Authority Control:
- Field 647 was added to the list of authority-controlled fields.
See MARC 21 Search Indexes, Browsing Bibliographic Headings, Working with Authority Records.
UNIMARC / CNMARC Updates
UNIMARC and CNMARC updates (for bibliographic, holdings, classification, and community information formats) have been added to Alma in the November 2021 release to keep them up to date with the latest (same updates to both formats).
These updates include, among others (not an exhaustive list):
- New values e-j were added to the position 1 of subfield a of bibliographic CN/UNIMARC 135 field.
- New value '2' was added to the second indicator of the authority 801 field.
- Authority fields 231, 431, 531 with all subfields were added to the CNMARC profile.
Support for Lithuanian Alphabet
Alma now supports the Lithuanian language, including repository search, user search, browse bibliographic and authority headings, using F3, and sorting results.
As part of the release of this functionality, re-indexing is automatically triggered for the customers that use the Lithuanian search settings. Until re-indexing completes, inconsistencies may appear.
See Lithuanian Characters, Browsing Bibliographic Headings and Configuring Institution Languages.
Semi Annual Re-indexing
During November, the semi-annual re-indexing (described in greater detail in Updates) will be run. Features or resolved issues that require re-indexing to be fully functional will be addressed by the November semi-annual re-indexing. See the list below.
Change the CDI Option 'Do not show as full text available in CDI even if active in Alma' for Alma Consortia
In the CDI tab of the Electronic collection editor, in case on ‘Available for’ activation exists for a member institution, campus or library, the option 'Do not show as Full text available in CDI even if active in Alma' is disabled for this member institution, campus or library. In addition, when hovering over the option checkbox, a message is displayed stating: 'This option cannot be used because there is no corresponding 'Available for' activation for this collection'.
Metadata Editor Accessibility Improvements
- Level A - The correct HTML tags were set on Records/Template/Rules items and on the buttons of the Browse Bibliographic Heading form to improve Metadata Editor readability to screen reader users.
- Level AA - Color-contrast issues were fixed for icons and on the frames of the Browse Bibliographic Heading form and the indicators and fields in the Editing area.
Darker frames on the Browse Bibliographic Heading form
Alma Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions:
Visibility:
A high-contrast color scheme was added to aid users with eyesight disabilities who have difficulty using the standard color scheme. A high-contrast color scheme helps users better distinguish between different visual elements.
This is currently available in the following browsers:
- Chrome - standard extension both on Windows and MacOS
- Firefox on Windows
- Issues in main pages such as home page, search, and editors.
In future releases, this will be made available for Safari on MacOS as well.
Facets:
-
Text was added to the below button for screen reader users to know whether the facets area is open or closed.
- Colors were changed to increase the contrast ratio between text and its background to at least 4.5:1.
Default Display Now Configurable in Internet Archive Book Reader
You can now configure the default display for the Internet Archive Book Reader (Configuration > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Viewer Services > Internet Archive Book Reader) to be Single-page, Two-page, or Thumbnail view:
Run "Filter Set by Indication Rule" Job from API
Alma's API now enables filtering a set by indication rule(s). This feature is helpful when you need a set that is based on metadata elements that are not indexed.
For more information, see https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis/docs/conf/UE9TVCAvYWxtYXdzL3YxL2NvbmYvc2V0cw==/ in the Developer Network.
API for Circulation Desks
A new API enables retrieving a list of circulation desks for a given library.
For more information, see https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis/conf/ in the Developer Network.
RFID Connector Popup Now Served Over HTTPS (Secure) Protocol
Following recent security related modifications in Chrome and Edge, the RFID connector popup is now served over https (secure) protocol.
'Requester Note' Displayed in Purchase Requests List
In Alma, the Requester note has been added to be displayed in the list of purchase requests. The note adds helpful information for managing requests to users who will be approving or rejecting the request. The requester note contains information about the course, instructor, number of copies, and number of participants.
Alma Announcements Now Available in Alma
Alma Announcements are now available by selecting the 
icon on the Persistent Menu Bar in Alma. This now allows Ex Libris to update users about Release announcements, new feature rollouts, important issues, unusual occurrences, as well as ad-hoc announcements. This is in addition to the existing Ex Libris communication channels (SalesForce emails, list-serv groups, etc.), which are still in place and have not changed.
While some announcements are relevant for all users, other announcements will be sent only to specific roles or specific geographical regions, so that only relevant staff users receive these announcements.
Alma Announcements are enabled on the institution level. The individual staff user has the option of hiding the Announcements icon.
See Alma Announcements and The Alma User Interface.
Sending Emails to Multiple Recipients via CC Email Accounts
Idea Exchange URM-103396Now Alma can send emails to multiple recipients simultaneously, for example emails addressed to under-aged patrons can also be sent to their legal guardians. To enable this, Alma now supports a new type of email "CC address" for public and staff type users only. When an email is sent to the patron, it is sent to all of the CC addresses, in addition to the address that is marked as Preferred.
Managing the CC emails is currently possible using the Alma UI , Create User API and the SIS load. Primo VE will enable managing CC emails in an upcoming release.
See Managing User Contact Information.
Changes to Resource Sharing Facets
On the lender task list, there is a newly added facet labeled External System Status. This new facet will include updates from broker systems that support request updates with Alma. On the borrower side, the existing 'BL status' field was renamed to 'External System Status'. In addition to BL, other broker systems that support updating Alma on changes to the borrower requests may also update this field.
Joint Inventory Workflow - Purchasing Items for Another Institution in the Consortia
Now one institution can order for another institution in the Consortia. When the resource arrives, the ordering institution can transfer the resource to the other institution, by a dedicated action for a single resource, or in batch using the 'Change Physical Items information' job (see Moving Items to Host Location in Batch below). This enables a single workflow for joint use of inventory, so that all consortia members can have one streamlined method for transferring inventory between them.
See Joint Use of Inventory in Consortia, Configuring Physical Locations, Manual Jobs, Working with Items, and Performing Actions on the Repository Search Results Page.
Moving Items to Host Location in Batch
Now users can copy items to a hosting library in bulk. To support this, the Copy Items to Host action was added on the 'Change Physical Items information' job. This copies a set of items to the host location (with or without changing their location data by the job).
This functionality supports the joint use of purchasing inventory in Consortia, where one member of Consortia purchases items for another (see Joint Inventory Workflow - Purchasing Items for Another Institution in the Consortia above). However, this functionality can also be used for simple transfer of items from one institution to another, when the bibliographic record is an Network Zone record.
Switch to the New Metadata Editor and Classic Metadata Editor Availability Extension
In October release, all users will be switched to the new Metadata Editor, while the classic Metadata Editor is still available. The "Switch to old" button continues to be available in the new Metadata Editor, and users can switch to the classic Metadata Editor. In the near future. Ex Libris will inform on a new date for the end of classic Metadata Editor availability.
See Usability Improvements and Navigating the New Metadata Editor Page.
Limiting Actions Related to Portfolios and E-collections According to User Role's Scope
Idea Exchange URM-152833Various staff users actions such as editing, updating, deleting, activating, deactivating, etc., are now enabled/disabled based on the library scope of the user role (whether a specific library or institution level (across libraries)). This functionality provides better control over staff activities across libraries.
As part of this development, library ownership defined at the level of the collection is now inherited by all portfolios under the collection. This means that a portfolio cannot be owned by a different library than the library defined at the collection level. The release of this functionality includes the removal of any library defined at the portfolio level (unless there is no library defined at the electronic collection level).
To know if your institution has cases in which the library at the level of the collection is different than the library at the level of the portfolios, Ex Libris recommends that you run the following report: "Ex Libris - Portfolios with portfolio library unit different than electronic collection library unit" in the folder: /shared/Community/Reports/Shared Reports/Reports/Inventory – Electronic. This will give you the option to review the library setup of the electronic resource in your institution, and allow you to do the data corrections necessary before the release of the new functionality.
This functionality is disabled by default. To enable it for your institution, please contact Customer Support.
For Q&A regarding this functionality, see Q&A: Limiting Actions Related to Portfolios and E-collections According to User Role Scope.
See Managing User Roles, Managing Electronic Resources, Working with the Community Zone Updates Task List, Activating Electronic Resources and Activation Task List, Working with Records, Purchase Requests, Managing Licenses and Amendments, Searching in Alma, Manual Jobs, Managing Import Profiles.
Binding of Items Not in Place Now Allowed
- For in-process items, if the original items are attached to open PO lines, Alma will attempt to remove the PO line, or remove the item from the PO line to allow the binding process.
- The work order processes that the items are in will be completed.
- Alma will attempt to move item-level requests from the items to be bounded to the new item. If the new item cannot fulfill the request, the request is canceled.
Improved Modal Forms for Rules
In the Rules area of the Metadata Editor, the visual appearance of dialog boxes that pop up when modifying rule properties and when creating new rules was revamped.
Alma Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions:
- Facets:
- The description of the "X" button were made clearer.
- Navigation between the search results list and the facets list by shortcuts was improved: press ALT+Shift+S to focus on search results or press ALT+Shift+F to focus on facets.
- Date picker:
- Visual tooltips were added to “From” and “To” inputs.
- The pressed state was exposed to screen reader users:
- Roles were added to calendar dates:
- Visual tooltips were added to “From” and “To” inputs.
- Records list – The state of additional action buttons for screen reader users was fixed, to indicate whether the state is open or close:
- Tables – Grouping labels were added to the Customize Table box:
No Limit Option Now Available for Maximum Number of Deposited Files
You can now configure patron deposits to have no maximum limit as to the number of deposited files per deposit. This is configured on the Deposit Profile page (Resources > Deposit > Manage Deposit Profiles) under the Validation section in the Maximum number of files field:
Select No Limit from the drop-down list to configure no maximum limit as to the number of deposited files per deposit.
For more information on Configuring Deposit Profiles, see Managing Deposit Profiles.
Customizable Notification Letter Now Available When Downloading Digital Files
The new Download Files Job Letter is now sent after running the Download Files job to download the files of a digital title into a zip file (see Download Files). The letter is customizable from the Letter Configuration page (Configuration > General > Letters > Letters Configuration). This letter informs you that the job is completed.
For more information on configuring this letter, see Download Files Job Letter.
Expiration Date Now Available as a Digital Access Rights Policy
Idea Exchange URM-156375URM-50712You can now configure access rights to expire for a patron according to a time period after a certain date. To support this feature, the Expiration option is now available when configuring parameters for access rights rules (Configuration > Fulfillment > Copyright Management > Access Rights):
Select a date from the files metadata on which to base the expiration date, such as the Publication Year or select a fixed date.
Enter the time period after the date you selected for access to the digital file to expire.
For more information on Configuring Access Rights, see Access Rights Policies for Digital Objects.
Local Authorities Alma Analytics Subject Area
Idea Exchange URM-138937The Local Authorities subject area is now available in Alma Analytics. Using the Local Authorities subject area you can create reports and dashboards for Local Authority records that are defined locally in the institution.
Authority records are part of process that organizes bibliographic information to create uniformity in the names of people, topics, and places in a bibliographic record so that it is easy to search for the record in the repository. This creates a single, distinct spelling of a name (heading) or a term for each topic.
Each Authority record contains a subject, such as an author, topic, series, or corporation and a particular unique identifier or heading term which is then used consistently, uniquely, and unambiguously for all references to that subject.
You can use the Local Authorities subject area to answer the following types of business questions:
- How many local authority records are created, deleted, and revised on monthly and annual basis?
- How can I generate reports that allow counting authority records and listing the detail of these records, for example: by creator, date of creation or modification, heading type, etc.?
- Which bibliographic headings or records are linked to an individual authority record?
- Which authority records are not linked to any bib headings searchable authority RDA elements, for example, records that contain keyword from MARC tags 37X, 667, 670 and some local fields?
For more information, see Local Authorities.
DARA Alma Analytics Subject Area
The DARA subject area is now available in Alma Analytics. Using this subject area, you can create reports and dashboards concerning the use of the DARA recommendations received by your institution and can answer the following types of business questions:
- How many recommendations were used?
- How many recommendations were dismissed?
- What were the recommendations?
- What was the dismissal reason for the recommendation?
- Who made the changes to the recommendation?
- When was the recommendation created and when was it changed?
For more information, see DARA.
User Registration Rules for Create User API
Alma's user APIs enable registering a user that not only creates a user record, but also assigns a patron role and potentially creates fees using rules. The API enables a process exactly identical to registering at a circulation desk and triggers the user registration rules, including setting the relevant library to trigger rules configured at the library level. Libraries will be able to implement this for self registration from their library portal. For more information, see: https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis/docs/users/UE9TVCAvYWxtYXdzL3YxL3VzZXJz/ in the Developer Network.
Creating a User via API for Centrally Managed Users
Alma enables using the Create User API to create user accounts that are linked to the "Network Zone" copy of the user account for libraries in a centrally managed user network (see Centrally Managed Users for consortia with a network zone).
When a Create User API call is sent to a member institution, it can be sent with '&source_institution_code=AAA_NETWORK' and '&source_user_id=XXX' where XXX is the ID of the user in the Network Zone and the user will be copied over to the member institution. For more information, see: https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis/docs/users/UE9TVCAvYWxtYXdzL3YxL3VzZXJz/ in the Developer Network.
'Invoice Due Date' Field Added to Invoice Editing Screen
Alma has added a new field, "Invoice due date", to the Invoice editing screen. The Invoice due date is used mainly for ERP export purposes and does not affect the invoice progress within Alma.
Once the invoice's status is "Ready to be paid" or "Waiting for payment", the invoice due date field is not editable (as the invoice was exported to the ERP already).
The field is populated in two ways:
- When an invoice is created manually.
- When an invoice is created automatically via EDI. The date information is populated from the "DTM+13" field of the EDI file.
An invoice due date can not be earlier than the "Invoice date" defined in the invoice.
Additionally, the invoice date and invoice due date information is added to the invoice main list (to be used when searching for invoice and when using the invoice links from the Acquisitions menu).
The "Invoice due date" field can also be updated (POST, GET, PUT) via API.
Define a Specific Time Frame While Manually Harvesting R5 SUSHI Data
Idea ExchangeURM-134451
In Alma, a new option is included enabling users to define a specific time frame while manually harvesting SUSHI data. This is only available for SUSHI Release 5 accounts. The existing "Harvest Now" function remains and will harvest usage from the past 12 months while the new "Custom Harvest" function presents users with a pop-up window allowing them to define the exact time frame for the harvest period. The "Custom Harvest" operation can run on the entire SUSHI account or on a specific report within the account. Users can define multiple harvest time frames.
If the selected date range(s) contain months previously uploaded to Alma, these will get overridden.
Watch the Harvest SUSHI Data from a Specific Time Frame video (1:18 minutes).
New SAML Certificate
The current DigiCert SAML Certificate will expire on December 1st 2021. If your institution uses this certificate, Ex Libris recommends that you consult with the IT dept. in your institution, and if required, replace the certificate for Alma and/or Primo VE. If replacing the certificate, this must be done in coordination with your IDP. For more information, see Replacing a Signed Certificate.
If your institution uses ADFS, Ex Libris highly recommends that you replace the certificate to avoid any complications.
No immediate action is needed. Replacing the certificate can be done at any time till its expiry on December 1st, 2021.
Support 'Partial' Network Unique Item Barcodes in SIP2
Alma now allows institutions to select whether to allow SIP2 transactions for items of other institutions in networks where barcodes are fully or partially unique (this option can be set by Ex Libris support). This is done by enabling/disabling the “Allow Fulfillment Network Items” option in the self-check integration profile. If self-check is configured to allow items from other institutions, the existing behavior for network items is maintained. Alma checks if there are duplicate barcodes in the network and if so the self-check transaction is refused and the item must be loaned at the desk. If self-check is configured not to allow items from other institutions, then only items of the local institution will be handled by SIP2.
The new option appears only for institutions that are set up to allow fully or partially unique barcodes.
Resource Sharing Integration - Netpunkt - OpenReceipt Enhancements
Resource sharing integration with Netpunkt (a Danish ILL system) was enhanced to update existing borrowing requests. Alma will identify the resource sharing borrowing request using Alma Internal Identifier.
Resource sharing staff will need to include Alma’s Internal Identifier in the note field of the Netpunkt request form.
Resource Sharing Integration - LIBRIS -Improved Import
Alma has improved the workflow of how imports from LIBRIS (A Swedish ILL System) are performed. Previously, if an import request already existed or if the partner or patron of the request were unknown in Alma, the import process would not complete. The enhanced workflow now incorporates the following:
- Alma now checks for an existing match on request IDs (External Identifier) with an active request. If there’s a match, then the rota of the matched request is updated with the rota information provided in the imported request.
- If the partner record on the imported requests rota is not known to Alma, then the request will be imported and a note will be added to indicate that some partners were not identified in Alma.
- If the requester one the imported record is not known to Alma, the request will be imported with a general configurable patron.
The incoming patron information will be saved as a note.
Resource Sharing Directory
The Resource Sharing Directory is a global Community Zone based repository with up-to-date information about resource sharing libraries in Alma. Libraries can use this directory in order to create a resource sharing partner record and locate profile based on information that has been contributed to the repository by the peer library itself. This greatly simplifies the process of creating resource sharing partners and reduces the chance of errors that result in no communication between borrower and lender. Pulling a partner record from the community is described in Resource Sharing Partners.
For the peer to peer process to work, the borrower must pull the lender’s partner record, and the lender must pull the borrower’s partner record.
A library can contribute its own information to the repository. Once enabled, you can contribute your own resource sharing library information to the repository. See Contributing to the Resource Sharing Directory.
Support for Libraries Sorting by "Physically At" Location
To facilitate the work of Inventory Operators, who are interested first and foremost in seeing inventory within the library they work in, now the below functionalities within Alma support sorting by "Physically At" location of the user:
- Metadata Editor Holdings 852 $b
- "Libraries" Facet in Physical Item search
- Holdings list in the "Physical" tab in Physical Titles search
To enable this new sorting, set the sort_library_by_relevance customer parameter to True (Configuration > Resources > General > Other Settings). When the parameter is set to False, the previous sorting order is used. See Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management).
Metadata Editor Holdings 852 $b - Support for Libraries Sorting by User Location
When cataloging the holdings record and updating the 852 field in the Metadata Editor, now when you press Ctrl+F, the "Library" dropdown "Sublocation or collection(b)" displays the available libraries in the following fashion:
- The library that is selected as your "Physically at" location.
- Other libraries in the scope of your user roles that are assigned the PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE privilege (for the roles assigned this privilege, see below). Note: If you have only one library in the scope of your user roles assigned the PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE privilege, this library is selected automatically when editing 852 $b.
If the holdings record already has a value in 852 $b (if the field was opened from a template), and the library is not in scope of your user roles assigned the PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE privilege, Alma issues an error message and you need to select a library that is in the scope.
When cataloging without using CTRL+F, Alma now allows to modify the value of $b field only if both the existing library and the new library are in the scope of your PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE privilege.
The privilege PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE is part of the below roles:
- PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_OPERATOR
- PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_OPERATOR_LIMITED
- PURCHASE_MANAGER
- PURCHASE_OPERATOR
- REPOSITORY_MANAGER
Physical Item Search - "Libraries" Facet Sorted by User Location
Idea ExchangeURM-1633When doing a Physical Items search, the "Library" facets in the search results can now be ordered as follows:
- The library that is selected as your "Physically at" location.
- Other libraries in the scope of your user roles that are assigned the PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE privilege.
- Other libraries, sorted alphabetically.
Watch the Physical Item Search – "Libraries" Facet Sorted by Relevance video (1:21 minutes).
"Physical" Tab in Titles Search - Holdings Sorted by User Location
In the Physical tab that appears under each title, the holdings records can now be ordered as follows:
- Holdings records for the library selected as your "Physically at" location.
- Holdings records for the other libraries in the scope of your user roles that are assigned the PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE privilege.
- Holdings records in other libraries, sorted alphabetically.
See Searching in Alma.
Publishing Profile Information Added to Publishing Information Page
The Publishing Information page (Resources > Publishing > Publishing Information) displays the publishing information of specified identifier and chosen publishing profile. Now this page also displays general information of the selected publishing profile and enables the user to jump to the profile in order to edit it.
Additional Columns added to the "List of Holdings"
Three new columns were added to the List of Holdings:
- Summary Holdings: field 866 $$a,x,z,9
- Supplementary Material: field 867 $$a,x,z
- Indexes: field 868 $$a,x,z
The subfields are extracted according to the original cataloging order. Repeatable fields are separated by a semicolon. The new columns are hidden, to display these fields, select the 
icon and select these columns from the list.
Alma Link Resolver Supports CDI incoming OpenURLs with Multiple ISBNs
Alma Link Resolver now supports incoming CDI OpenURLs with multiple ISBNs and eISBNs. Alma will use these ISBNs and eISBNs to match bibliographic records and return all relevant electronic services.
Support for Icelandic Special Characters
As part of the release of this functionality, re-indexing will be automatically triggered for the customers that use the Icelandic search settings.
Until re-indexing completes, inconsistencies may appear.
See Icelandic Characters, Browsing Bibliographic Headings and Configuring Institution Languages.
Alma Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions:
-
Recent entities area - focus indicator were added to all elements:
- The content of feedback messages is now exposed to screen reader users:
Metadata Editor Accessibility Improvements
- Keyboard navigation over the list of Records/Sets/Templates/Rules:
- Use Tab to focus on the first element in the list for record, set, or folder. For templates and rules, Use Tab to focus on the first element in Private/ Shared/ Community lists.
- Use Up and Down arrows to navigate across a list. It may be a top-level list (in Records tab), or a nested list in a set or folder.
- Use Enter to open/close a set or folder.
- Use Enter to open a record/ template/ rule.
- Use Right arrow to dive into an open nested list of a set or folder.
- Use Left arrow to zoom out of an item within nested list of a set or folder, and close it.
- Use Space bar to dismiss tooltips of any item.
- Tooltips in the Metadata Navigation lists now matches the level-AA behavior:
- Use ESC to dismiss tooltips (with the exception of tooltips that are dismissed by Space bar).
- Hover over tooltips with the mouse to view without dismissing.
- Tooltips are dismissed automatically when the focus moves to the next element.
Default Cataloging Level Applied to New Records Created by Metadata Import
Now whenever a new record is created from the input file, the cataloger level of this record is the default cataloger level, or "00" level if no default is defined.
It is recommended to set a default value in the "Cataloger Permission Level" configuration. See Cataloging Privileges for more information.
Configure Copyright Statements Independently of Access Rights
Idea ExchangeURM-144900Previously, copyright statements for digital representations were configured through the access rights functionality. This required separate access rights for each copyright statement that was associated with a representation. Now, in addition to the previous functionality, you can configure copyright statements directly on a representation, independently of the access rights.
To support this feature, the following changes were made:
- The Copyrights field was added when adding representations to a title:
Copyrights - Copyright statements are now configured to be obtrusive per statement on the Configuring Copyright Statements – Digital page (Configuration > Fulfillment > Copyright Management > Copyrights Statements - Digital):
- For boilerplate copyright statements, select Make Obtrusive. A check mark appears in the new Obtrusive column:
Make Obtrusive – Boilerplate Copyright Statements - For custom copyright statements, select the new Obtrusive checkbox when editing the statement:
Make Obtrusive – Custom Copyright Statements
- For boilerplate copyright statements, select Make Obtrusive. A check mark appears in the new Obtrusive column:
- You can now run the Global Representation Changes job with Copyrights as an input or output parameter:
Global Representation Changes Parameters – Copyrights - You can now search for copyright statements that were configured independently of access rights.
Search Copyrights
Patron Waitlist Management for Controlled Digital Lending
You can now configure a waitlist for patrons when applying concurrent users access rights to support controlled digital lending flows. When the access rights blocks a patron from accessing a digital resource because the limit of concurrent users is reached, the patron is given the opportunity to join a waitlist. When a slot opens, the patron is notified that the resource is now available.
To support this new functionality, a new Waitlist Management section was added when configuring concurrent users access rights (Configuration > Fulfillment > Copyright Management > Access Rights):
From this section you can:
- Select a grace period during which the patron must access the resource or lose the place in line
- Limit the waitlist to specific hours outside which the functionality is first come, first serve
When a waitlist is configured and the maximum number of concurrent users was reached, the following appears to the patron:
The patron selects Join the Waitlist to be notified when the resource is available.
Alma sends emails to notify the patron when the patron joins the waitlist, when a resource becomes available, and when the grace period expires.
After the patron receives access to the resource, the patron can display the time remaining in the session by selecting the hour glass icon and return the resource before the time available is over by selecting Return Early.
For more information, see Configuring a Patron Waitlist.
Watch the Patron Waitlist for Digital Lending video (4:38 minutes).
Copyright Symbol in Public Note Now Configurable
Idea ExchangeURM-151564You can now configure or remove the copyright symbol © that appears in the public note when selecting ViewIt and a copyright statement is associated with a representative:
To configure the copyright symbol, the following parameters were added:
- For Primo at Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Labels:
Copyright Symbol Configuration – Primo - For Primo VE at Configuration > Discovery > Display Configuration > Labels > Viewit Labels:
Copyright Symbol Configuration – Primo VE
To remove the symbol, set the code table value to NOT_DEFINED.
Create or Update a Proxy User Via API
Alma enables users to create or update a proxy user via API. Previously, the proxy segment for updating users was not supported. Now, when a customer wants to load a new user as a proxy, the user is created/updated with the "Proxy for" users in the XML.
Recommendations for Jobs that Stopped Working
DARA now identifies if the Student Information System (SIS) job stopped working and recommends that you check the relevant job reports.
There are three recommendations related to this development:
- Job failure – if the SIS synchronization job fails 3 times in 10 days
- No data processed – if no user/researcher was processed in the last 5 days
- No job instance – if there is no job instance in the last 3 days
For more information, see DARA – Data Analysis Recommendation Assistant.
Default Type For Disabled PO Line Types
A new functionality will verify that the "PO Line Type" is active for orders created via API/purchase request. If a certain PO Line type is disabled, Alma will automatically look at the new "default" column and create the PO Line type according to it. These PO Lines will be added with an assertion (alert).
This functionality can be configured in Configuration Menu > Acquisitions > Purchase Order > PO Line Types as follows:
- Add a default type for the disabled PO Line type ("Default PO Line Type" column).
Selecting a "Default" value will affect the following workflows:
- When an order is created via API, Alma will validate that the specified "PO Line Type" is actually enabled by the institution, If Yes, Alma will continue.
- If the PO Line Type is not enabled but does have a "Default" type, Alma will add a new assertion to the PO Line that will state that the order's original "Type" is not enabled and the PO Line was created with the default "Type" value.
- If the PO Line Type is not enabled and a default value was not selected in the "PO Line Types" table, Alma will add a new assertion to the PO Line stating that the order's original "type" is not enabled, and no "default" value was selected the PO Line was created with the original "type".
- When an order is created via Purchase Request, currently the "type" for the PO Line which will be created once a purchase request is approved is determined based on the user selection within the Purchase Request form. If the institution would like approved purchase requests to create a PO Line type different from the default stated above, see Configuring default "types" for disabled PO Line types.
Control "Interested User" Options For Automatically Created PO Lines
Idea Exchange
An enhancement in the PO Line's "Interested Users" management area allows institutions to control whether to disable/enable the interested users options for PO Lines created via Purchase Request and EOD process. Additionally, a new job was created to provide institutions the ability to update the Interested users options on a set of PO Lines. Below is a short explanation for each option:
- When working on a purchase request, a new "Interested Users" field allows users to define the options that will pass to the PO Line which will be created once the purchase request is approved.
For backwards compatibility (previously the first two options below were always selected by default) the parameters controlling these options are now set to 'True' by default. The default selection of options can be defined by the institution (Configuration Menu > Acquisitions > General > Other Settings). For this purpose, the following customer parameters were created:
| Parameter | The option it controls | Default value of parameter |
|---|---|---|
| po_line_hold_item_for_interested_users | Hold Item | False |
| po_line_notify_interested_users_upon_cancelation | Notify upon cancelation | True |
| po_line_notify_interested_users_upon_receiving_activation | Notify user upon receiving/activation | True |
| po_line_notify_interested_users_upon_renewal | Notify upon renewal | False |
- PO Lines created via EOD process (new order import profile) has a new control over the interested users options for PO Lines created via this process.
- A new job, "Update PO Lines Interested Users" located within the "Update PO Line" jobs area (Admin > Run A Job) provides institutions the ability to update the "Interested users" options on a set of PO Lines (the new Job does not handle closed and canceled PO Lines).
See Manually Creating a PO Line and Configuring Other Settings (Acquisitions).
CDI New Information Field, Search Fields and Facets
A new field has been added in Alma: ‘CDI Last Market Update’. This field will indicate the 'last update date' for an electronic collection in CDI.
Alma has incorporated new CDI related search fields that are available in the Advanced Search for Electronic collections.
- CDI Activation required (This search field is visible for EasyActive customers only)
- CDI Provider Coverage
- CDI Type (Alma subscribes to only some titles in this collection)
Support for Swedish and Norwegian Special Characters
Idea ExchangeThe handling of Scandinavian characters was enhanced as follows:
- Special characters cataloged in non-Scandinavian languages (such as French letters with accents), are now normalized during indexing. This means that a search for a term including these special characters now behaves as if the search was done without them. (However, the opposite does not happen: a search for a term without these special characters is not treated as if done with these special characters.)
- Support for Swedish and Norwegian special diacritics in Browse Bibliographic and Authority Headings was added.
- Sorting of Swedish and Norwegian/Danish special characters in Staff Search & Browsing was added.
As part of the release of this functionality, re-indexing will be automatically triggered for the customers that use the Swedish and Norwegian search settings.
Until re-indexing completes, inconsistencies may appear
Alma Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions:
- Color contrast - the colors of low-contrast elements were changed to more prominent.
- An indication for active state or hover was added.
- 200% zoom with no content loss is now supported.
- Increased text spacing with no content loss is now supported.
- The loading blocker for screen reader users was exposed.
- Recent entities – support for keyboard navigation in entities filter is now supported
- Date picker – keyboard navigation and labels for screen reader users is now supported. To open the calendar, press Enter on the Calendar icon.
Metadata Editor Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions.
- Menu actions - screen-reader related improvements
- Navigation panel - keyboard navigation is now supported on the displayed registry tabs (using tab key) and on the collapsed registries list (open using Enter, navigate using up/down arrows, select with Enter)
- Panels of the Editing area - keyboard navigation between the two panels (in case of a split screen) and the Alerts area is now supported. Use tab/Shift +tab to move between the elements.
- Browse Bib Headings - support for tab navigation
- "Open in Repository Search" is now accessible via tab navigation
New Metadata Editor: Improved Display of Format Tabs
In the Records area, the format tabs are now displayed in two rows instead of one--this enables you to see more formats, and removes the need to select the icon when opening one of these tab.
In addition, the default order in which tabs are displayed is now the following: the sets, the bibliographic formats, the holdings, the authorities, and finally the DC formats (select to display them).
Enhanced Ability to Filter a Set Using an Indication Rule
NERS Enhancement (ID #6795)Filtering logical sets using indication rules can now be done faster and with less clicks, and each set now displays a link to the set it was filtered from or a link to its filtered sets (as appropriate for the set).
The button for saving a query that appears for all types of repository Title searches (All Titles, Physical Titles, Electronic Titles, Digital Titles), is now called "Save and Filter Query" (previously was called "Save Query"). This was done only on repository Title searches since filtering logical sets is possible only on these search types.
Once you select this button, the Set Details page opens where you define the set to create from the search results. On this page, a new button "Save and Filter" allows you to initiate the process of saving a set that is to be filtered.
Once you select this button, a new page opens where you can create the filtered set of that main set. The main set is created in the background in the meantime. Select "Filter This Set" to create an itemized set that consists of the filtering done on the main set according to the selected rule.
When the new set is ready, it appears on the Set Details page of the main set; click on the link to open it. A similar section appears for the original set from which this set was created, listing all its filtered sets. The row actions list for the new set contains all the actions that can be achieved on this set, identically to the actions available from the Manage Sets page.
See Filtering Sets.
Automatic Generation of Call Number Prefix and Suffix
The mechanism of generating call numbers and temporary call numbers for items and holding records was enhanced as follows:
- You can now enter a new prefix on-the-fly when working with items and holding records. Alma generates the call number based on that prefix and saves the prefix in the list of prefixes for future use. This speeds up call number generation.
- You can now concatenate a suffix to the call number.
- To enable the method of call-number generation on-the-fly, contact Ex Libris staff.
- Suffix concatenation is disabled by default. Contact Ex Libris staff.
Call numbers and temporary call numbers are generated on the fly as per the below:
- Physical item's call number generation: The Physical Item Editor > Location Information tab allows you to update item-level information for physical items and generate the call number. If the prefix does not exist in Alma and you want to set it, enter the desired prefix for the sequence in the "Choose Prefix" field, and select Generate. The system presents the following message: "An accession number sequence with the prefix <prefix> was selected and will be used to generate the call number upon save. The expected value is <expected value>." In addition, Alma saves this prefix for future use in the Accessions Numbers configuration table, see Configuring Accession Numbers.
- Holding-level Call Number Generation: The 852 field $h allows you to update holdings-level information for items and generate the call number. If the prefix does not exist in Alma and you want to set it, enter the desired prefix for the sequence in the 852 field $h, and then enter '?' (question mark), and (optionally) the suffix. Then select Generate Accession Numbers (in Record Actions menu) or press Ctrl+Shirt+A.
The system populates the 852 $h with the specified prefix + sequence (+ suffix). In addition, Alma saves the prefix for future use in the Accessions Numbers configuration table.
To change the accession number, delete the value in 852 $h. You are redirected to the Accession Configuration page, where you can select a different accession number. Clicking Select automatically returns you to the Metadata Editor and populates the 852 $h with the selected value.
- To apply the 'Accession Number' on holding level, the 'Physical Location' configuration for the Library+Location should be set with 'Accession Placement'. See Configuring Accession Numbers.
- The 852 subfield that stores the generated number can be $h OR $j OR $p--the exact field is set at the Physical Location table > "Accession Placement" field. The above refers to 852$$h as the placement of the accession number; however, the same logic applies also when other placement ($j OR $p) is defined in the Physical Location table.
(URM-149538) Default Cataloging Level to Be Applied to New Records Created by Metadata Import
This is an advanced notice for a future release. The below development is not being released in July 2021.
In an upcoming release, Ex Libris will introduce the following new functionality for the Metadata Import: Whenever a new record is created from the input file, the cataloger level of this record will be the default cataloger level, or "00" level if no default is defined.
It is recommended to set a default value in the "Cataloger Permission Level" code table.
Download Digital Files in a Set
Idea ExchangeYou can now download the digital files of a digital title set into a zip file. To support this feature the new Download Files job is now available (Admin > Manage Jobs and Sets > Run a Job > Download Files.
After the job runs, you receive an email with a download link to download a zip file with the digital files.
For more information, see Download Files.
Add/Renew Patron Role from Circulation Desk
Alma now enables staff operators to easily add a patron role to a user, as well as view and update the patron role's expiration date. Previously, this functionality was only possible by User Managers and is now attainable by operators in the circulation desk. The new functionality performs the following:
- Adds the new patron role either in the institution or the scope the desk operator is currently in (depending on the User Registration Rules).
- Renewing a patron role is only allowed if the scope is at the "institution/specific library" which the operator is currently at.
This is possible by using the new "Add/Renew Role" button at the Manage Patron Services page.The button appears only in the user's Circulation Desk Operator role has a 'renew patron' privilege.
In addition, the Expiration Alert Period that is defined in the User Registration Terms of Use will be used to warn (in the User Notes area of the Patron Services Workbench) about an expected expiry of the patron role in the current library or institution. This is in addition to the previous behavior where this parameter warned about an expected expiry of the user account.
Add Library Input Parameter to User Registration Rules
User registration rules have been enhanced to support library-specific registration rules (to support different registration fees to different libraries). Previously, user registration rules could be used to add a patron role at the physical library. However, the rules are sensitive only to a user group as input. Therefore, different registration fees could not be automatically applied to the same user when registering at different libraries. The new functionality supports different registration fees to different libraries.
- If patron role is created using the Renew Role option (for example, when a loan is blocked due to missing patron role), then the user registration rules use the physical library of the loaned item as the scope and not that of the 'currently at'.
- If patron role is created using the 'Register User' option, then the user registration rules use the scope of the 'currently at' library.
Creating Fines/Fees at Library Level
Alma now allows the option to have fines and fees related to a user to be created in relation to a specific library. Previously, manually assigned fees were only attainable on an institution level or derived from the item barcode they are attached to. The new enhancement enables the following:
- Ability to manually add a library-owned fine/fee.
- Ability to add a library-owned fine/fee using API.
Description Column Added to the Patron Services Workbench
Idea ExchangeURM-145632
A new 'Description' column can be added to the list of loan items in the Manage Patron Services page. The column shows the value of the physical item's 'Description' field.
View Digitized Content in 'My Account' (Primo VE)
Completed digitally received resource sharing requests will allow downloading the file from Primo VE and remain accessible in Primo VE as per the number of days that the library has configured to keep the file. This depends on the 'Document delivery files cleanup' job being active in the institution. For more information, see the Primo VE 2021 Release Notes.
Quick Access to RapidILL Requests
Alma now enables users to easily and quickly access RapidILL requests in the system by introducing new tasks showing unassigned resource sharing requests (borrowing and lending) attached to RapidILL partners. Previously, to view RapidILL requests, users had to access the task list. The newly added quick access tasks add benefit to RapidILL requests which require a quick turnaround for both lender and borrowing sides.
Convert 'Hold' to 'Resource Sharing' Requests for Personal Delivery
Idea ExchangeURM-46550
In Alma, institutions can now convert 'Hold' requests to 'Resource Sharing' requests if the pick-up location is personal delivery and the resource sharing library supports personal delivery. Whenever a convert action is triggered, either by a request expiry or as an online action, it will successfully convert a personal delivery request. Previously, Alma did not allow personal delivery requests to be converted to resource sharing requests.
The conversion will only work if the resource sharing policy allows the same personal delivery (home/office) as the converted request.
See: 'Automatically Converting a Hold Request to a Resource Sharing Request' for more information on converting hold to resource sharing requests.
Push User Records to ILLiad
Alma can now use ILLiad APIs to push user records to ILLiad (a resource sharing management system). The push will only occur if this is configured by the library and the user does not already exist in ILLiad. Before pushing a request to ILLiad, Alma will verify that the account exists and create a user account if not.
The resource sharing partner record for ILLiad API was enhanced to allow configuring the following API values:
- Search user in ILLiad using – the value which Alma will use to locate / create a user in ILLiad (user identifier or preferred email)
- NVTGC -free string
- Status - free string
- NotificationPreferences - repeatable free text field with two comma separated values. The first will be sent as ActivityType and the second as NotificationType. For example - {RequestPickup,Email},{RequestOverdue,Email}.
- Notification method - 'Electronic', 'Phone' or 'Mail'
- Delivery Method - 'Hold for Pickup' or 'Mail to Address'
- Loan Delivery Method - 'Hold for Pickup' or 'Mail to Address'
- Electronic Delivery
- Authtype - 'Default','ILLiad'
Alma will look up for the user in ILLiad. The value that will be used for the match will be from the above mentioned 'Search user in ILLiad' using mapping.
The ILLIAD response will either provide details of their user record or will indicate a user cannot be found, in which case, Alma will attempt to automatically create a user record in ILLiad.
‘Convert to Resource Sharing’ Option Available for ‘In Transit’ Requests
Idea ExchangeURM-147573
In Alma, the ‘Convert to resource sharing’ option is now available for ‘In Transit’ requests. Previously, this option was available only if the request was in "pick from shelf" or "not yet active".
Customization of the Genders Code Table
Idea ExchangeInstitutions can now change the values of the list of user genders to conform with their local legislation. This can be done in the Genders table (Configuration > User Management > User Details > Genders). Once gender values have been defined, they can be assigned to users in the User Details page.
The Genders table contains four default genders: male, female, other and none. These values can be disabled and their description can be altered. In addition, the institution can define its own gender values in the "Additional" fields, up to total of 10 gender values in a list.
Every change to the gender values will affect existing users to which this gender is assigned.
In a Network Zone, genders can be defined from the Network institution, in which case the gender values defined from the network are locked for editing by the member institutions.
See User Details, Configuring User Genders.
Fund Management APIs - Full set of Management APIs
Alma now incorporates a full set of CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) APIs for managing funds and ledgers. Previously, Fund APIs were limited to just GET services. The new set enables institutions to integrate financial systems and be able to create, modify and delete library ledger/fund structure as needed.
Fund Management APIs:
- Search and retrieve ledgers and funds
- Search and View transactions for a fund
- Create/Update/Delete Funds
- Business functions: Allocate, Transfer
Item API - Generate Description
Alma's user interface (UI) currently has a specific function to generate "item descriptions" when handling items received. This operation of generating an item description has now been extended to be performed via the API.
Manage the Price Threshold and Amount Threshold for PO Lines and Invoices at the Library Level
Alma has now enhanced the configuration of PO Line and Invoices price and amounts threshold to also be managed at the library level. The previous configuration was at the institution level only. This level is retained as the default option. If a value is configured on both the institution and on the library level, Alma will prefer (select) the PO Line/Invoice owning library definition (if it has been defined). For more information, see: Manage Price Threshold and Amount Threshold for PO Lines and Invoices at the Library Level.
The existing customer parameters; assertion_over_po_line_price [POLine] and invoice_high_total_price [Invoice], will be removed and replaced with 2 new configuration tables:
- PO Line Price Threshold configuration table (Configuration Menu > Acquisitions > Purchase Orders):
- High -Level price allows institutions to define the threshold amount on a PO line/invoice which will trigger an alert for the PO line/invoice, for example, institutions may want to prevent orders (PO lines) created in the system automatically (API/EOD) from progressing in their workflow in case the order's amount is higher than 100 USD (or any other default currency the institution had defined) so the institution can configure a High -Level price of 100 which will add an alert to any PO line created with an amount exceeding 100 USD.
- High -Level price allows institutions to define the threshold amount on a PO line/invoice which will trigger an alert for the PO line/invoice, for example, institutions may want to prevent orders (PO lines) created in the system automatically (API/EOD) from progressing in their workflow in case the order's amount is higher than 100 USD (or any other default currency the institution had defined) so the institution can configure a High -Level price of 100 which will add an alert to any PO line created with an amount exceeding 100 USD.
- Invoice Amount Threshold configuration table (Configuration Menu > Acquisitions > Invoices):
- Alma has now enhanced the configuration of High-Level price PO Line and Invoices to also be managed at the library level. Previous configuration of High-Level price was at the institution level only. The new configuration maintains that the institution level is the default High-Level price, but with an added option to add a High-Level price at the library level. In case there is a value configured on both the institution level and on the library level, Alma will check the PO Line/Invoice owning library, if there is an entry within the new configuration table for the owning library, Alma will use it, if there is no entry fir the specific library, Alma will use the value defined on the institution level.
- Alma has now enhanced the configuration of High-Level price PO Line and Invoices to also be managed at the library level. Previous configuration of High-Level price was at the institution level only. The new configuration maintains that the institution level is the default High-Level price, but with an added option to add a High-Level price at the library level. In case there is a value configured on both the institution level and on the library level, Alma will check the PO Line/Invoice owning library, if there is an entry within the new configuration table for the owning library, Alma will use it, if there is no entry fir the specific library, Alma will use the value defined on the institution level.
Existing Customer Parameters for Invoice and PO Line have been deprecated (assertion_over_po_line_price [POLine] and invoice_high_total_price [Invoice]) and are not functioning.
- In case the institution already had a value customized within one of the Customer Parameters (Configuration Menu > Acquisitions > Other Settings table), this value will pass automatically to the new configuration tables. To update the values, go to the new configuration screens.
- In case no value was customized by the institution, the default value (institution level) will be:
- Invoice = 2,500
- PO Line = 10,000
Two New PO Line Types for Digital Inventory
Idea ExchangeAlma now supports acquisition workflows for digital material that enables institutions to manage ordering and receiving of digital material. To enable this functionality, two new PO Line types were created:
- Digital One Time (DIGITAL_OT)
- Digital Continuous (DIGITAL_CO)
Enable the new PO Line types for the functionality to work. By default, they are disabled.
PO Line type "Digital" is created with no inventory (both One Time and Continuous), there is a need to associate a representation with the PO line. There are 2 ways to associate a representation with a PO line:
- From the PO Line editing page, there is an option associate a new representation. When selecting the +Add Representation action from the PO line's "Ordered Representation" section, the Representation editor screen will open for the creation of a new representation. Title, Library and PO Line number will be pre-populated in the representation when it is created via the PO Line, as they are inherited from the PO Line. The digital title will need to be associated with a collection and the representation must contain files. Once users create the representation and click Save, they will be redirected to the PO line and the representation will be attached to it. To complete the process, click on Save and Continue located on the top right corner of the PO line's editing page.
- From a new/existing representation, to add a PO Line to a representation, the representation must be associated with an existing Title. Once the user edits the representation, adds a PO line and clicks Save, Alma will automatically attempt to push the PO line to the next step of the workflow.
After a Digital PO Line is created, the workflows differ for One Time and Continuous:
- One Time PO Line: In review > Closed
- Continuous PO Line: In review > Waiting for renewal OR Waiting for manual renewal
To provide purchasing roles the ability to edit a representations from the PO Line, a new privilege is added: UPDATE_REPRESENTATION_FROM_ACQ.
A PO Line can not be "Saved and continued" without a representation. If user attempts to "save and continue", the PO Line will prompt the user with a warning message that the information is missing.
Extended Availability for the Classic Metadata Editor
The availability of the Classic Metadata Editor was extended for users in production till October 2021 release. It will give more time to the users in production to test all changes that were done in the new Metadata Editor. Also this will allow more time for the users to be educated on and get used to the new Metadata Editor.
Improved Integration with SBN Italian Union Catalog
SBN MARC Version Upgraded to 2.03
Alma now supports the SBN MARC format, version 2.03.
To upgrade your system to this version, contact Ex Libris customer support. Note that upgrading to this version means that you will get different results when searching authority records of the Titoli Uniformi type: the uniform title term will be in 231/431/531 fields and not in 230/430/530 fields.
Merge Records In Central Catalog
Institutions working with the Italian Central Catalog SBN on level 4 now can can perform a fusione (merge) operation in SBN. This is available for both SBN bibliographic and authority (AU,MA,TU,UM,SO,CL) record types. To support this, a new option "Merge Records in Central Catalog" was added to the Metadata Editor (MD Editor > Editing Actions menu). Note that this option is available only for UNIMARC bibliographic and authority records.
If the records to be merged do not have a counterpart in SBN database, the operation does not take place, and you receive an error message.
- The option is visible only if a Central Catalog integration profile for SBN is defined.
- To perform a merge of records in SBN, the "Merge Records in Central Catalog" privilege must be selected for your user role. Currently the Catalog Manager role has this privilege enabled by default. Other roles must have enable this privilege.
For details, see Menu Bar of the Records Area, Contribution of Redirection to SBN.
Metadata Editor - Color Improvements
The color-coding on the Metadata Editor was made consistent across all tabs and registries.
The color-coding of the Metadata Editor now consistently indicates the following:
| Color | Sample | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dark Blue |
 |
The records currently displayed in the Navigation Pane are from this tab. |
| Light Blue |
 |
The record being edited in the Editing pane, and its pane is currently in focus (when the Editing pane is in split mode). If there is no light blue record, this means that the record being edited (marked in dark blue color) is the record currently focused as well as belongs to the tab currently displayed in the Navigation Pane. |
| Grey |
 |
The record being edited in the Editing pane, but its pane is currently not in focus (when the Editing pane is in split mode). |
| White |  |
There are no opened records under this tab in the Editing pane, and it is not currently selected to display in the Navigation pane. |
Metadata Editor Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions.
- The filtering area of the Navigation panel is now accessible by keybord keys:
- To navigate within the Filter and Sort selection box by arrows
- To select or clear a checkbox option, press the Space key.
To select or clear a radio-button option, navigate with arrows. - To apply your selection, press Tab to focus the "Apply" button, and press Enter to perform the action..
- Tp close the Filter and Sort selection box, press Esc.
- To go back to the previously selected element, press Shift+Tab.
- Once you closed the Filter and Sort selection box, press Tab to move to the other elements of the Navigation Panel.
- Now you move between registries in the Navigation panel using keyboard keys. The selected registry is highlighted in light gray color, so you can always know where the focus is. In addition, the name of the currently selected tab will now be read by the reader, so that you know what the selected tab is.
- Now the reader can read every section of the Browse Bibliographic Heading form.
Alma Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions:
Color Contrasts
- Visual boundaries and colors of screen controls were adjusted to maintain 3:1 contrast ratio with its background.
Lists
- "Search in List" button – Triggering operation by keyboard button (Enter), and discernible text with the explanation of the purpose of the button were added to the reader:
- Customize list – Group labels were added to the checkboxes list in the reader
- "Select All" checkbox and "Select Record" checkbox – A label for screen reader was added with explanation of the purpose of the checkboxes
- "More Actions" button – The state of the button (collapsed or expanded) was exposed in the reader:
- Drawers – The tabs were made accessible and the currently-chosen tab is exposed:
- Pagination - adding accessible names to "Next", "Previous" and “Jump To” buttons and exposing which page is currently displayed.
- "Results per page" – the selected amount of results to display is now exposed in the reader.
Forms
- Combo-box – attributes were added to explain to screen reader that there is a list with options in clicking
- Checkboxes – Group labels were added to screen reader
- An accessible name was added for the Back button:
- Chosen facets - Accessible names were added and keyboard navigation was added for the "Remove Facet" button:
Facets
- The state of panel (collapsed or expanded) is now exposed and the buttons all have descriptive text.
- Every facet group now has a correct count with the number of items in group.
- The state of every facet group (collapsed or expanded) is now indicated:
- Focus order – a shortcut was added when focusing on title for focus on facets and back to title.
Advanced Notice! Limiting Actions Related to Portfolios and E-collections According to User Role's Scope
This is an advanced notice for a future release. The described development is not being released in June 2021.
In an upcoming release, Ex Libris will introduce new functionality that will enable limiting electronic resource management actions according to user role’s scope. Various staff user's actions such as editing, updating, deleting, activating, deactivating, etc., will be enabled/disabled based on the library scope of the user role (whether a specific library or institution level (across libraries)). This functionality will provide better control over staff activities across libraries.
As part of this development, library ownership defined at the level of the collection will be inherited by all portfolios under the collection. This means that a portfolio cannot be owned by a different library than the library defined at the collection level. The release of this functionality will include the removal of any library defined at the portfolio level (unless there is no library defined at the electronic collection level).
To know if your institution has cases in which the library at the level of the collection is different than the library at the level of the portfolios, Ex Libris recommends that you run the following report: "Ex Libris - Portfolios with portfolio library unit different than electronic collection library unit" in the folder: /shared/Community/Reports/Shared Reports/Reports/Inventory – Electronic. This will give you the option to review the library setup of the electronic resource in your institution, and allow you to do the data corrections necessary before the release of the new functionality.
For Q&A regarding this functionality, see Q&A: Limiting Actions Related to Portfolios and E-collections According to User Role Scope.
For a full description of the functionality, see Limiting Actions Related to Portfolios and E-collections According to User Role Scope.
Additional Sorting and Filtering Abilities for Sets
Idea ExchangeThe following enhancements were introduced on the Manage Sets page, Run a Job page, and on Publishing Profiles page > Select Set list:
- Now you can sort the list of sets by any of the existing fields. This helps you easily locate sets, for example, if you sort by date, you can find the latest created sets. To sort, select the
icon in the heading of the column by which you would like to sort. Once a column displays sorted information, its icon changes to
.
- Now you can filter the list of sets by content origin (to display only sets that were created by the institution or in the Community Zone). To do so, use the "Content Origin" filter above the table.
Once you sorted or filtered the list, these sorting and filtering options are used in the next Alma sessions as well.
All Users Allowed to Manage Their Own Sets
All roles who can perform a repository search were now given the ability to do the following:
- Save a query in order to create a set,
- Manage sets - have the link shown, and relevant options of set management open
Saving a query
- When performing a search in the repository, the Save Query option is now enabled for all users for any entity available in the search options.
Adding a set
- The user can now add sets, as long as the set belongs to the content types types that the user is allowed to work with according to the user's roles.
Managing sets
- The "Manage Sets" link is now open to all users
- Manage Sets page - for sets created by the user, all of the actions are now enabled.
For sets created by other users - the user can view and use the set (but not to edit the set).
For details, see Managing Search Queries and Sets.
General Publishing Profile - Option to Include Authority Headings
The General Publishing profile now supports the ability to enrich the published data with Authority headings. Any update to the selected authority headings triggers re-publishing of the data. The functionality of updating a record when preferred terms are updated will keep its current functionality.
This is useful, for example, when the name 'Mark Twain' is embedded within a bib record and library would like to publish both 'Mark Twain' and the non-preferred term 'Samuel Clemens'.
Institutions interested in this feature need to re-publish the data to apply the new policy.
To support this development, the Authority Enrichment section was added to the General Publishing Profile. Here you can set up your authority enrichment scheme.
See Publishing and Inventory Enrichment (General Publishing).
Courtesy Letter Indication for Block on Patron
Alma's courtesy letter, which is sent to patrons when a loan due date is about to arrive, can include the reasons renewal of the loan is not possible. Previously, this included only blocks on the specific item. Following June release, it will also include an indication of blocks on patrons (such as too many overdue items or a manual block).
'Type of request' indication on loan block pop-up
A new block preference, “Item is requested by the library”, was added, to allow libraries to let operators override internal library requests, such as; move request, work order, etc. but not fulfillment requests, for instance; patron physical item request, resource sharing ship physically, etc., which are still controlled by the “Item is requested by another patron” block preference.
Alma will also display the type of request blocking a loan, to give operators more information when deciding whether or not to override the block.
'Notify Users' on Cancellation Requests for Staff Requests
Idea ExchangeURM-150132
Alma now sends cancelation notices to requesting staff via email when a move or work order request is canceled. Cancelling any non-patron request (such as work orders or move requests) with the 'Notify User' checkbox enabled will send the cancelation letter to the request creator, such as the operator who placed it.
Ability to Change Alma Full Text Activation to CDI -Only Full Text Activation
In cases where an electronic collection is active for full text you can now change it so it will only be active in CDI using the action 'Change to CDI-only full text activation'
When using the option 'Change to CDI-only full text activation', the following will occur:
- The collection will be activate for full text in CDI only.
- In case of aggregator/selective collection:
The full text service will be deactivated, and a confirmation pop-up message will be shown:
"The service of this collection will be deactivated. The collection will be active for full text only in CDI, not in the Alma link resolver." - In case of database type of collection:
The BIB record will be suppressed, and a confirmation pop-up message will be shown:
"The collection will be deactivated. The BIB record will be suppressed. The collection will be active for full text only in CDI."
User Details Subject Area Enhanced
Idea ExchangeThe User Details subject area has been enhanced with the following improvements:
- You can now create reports with fields from different folders as is possible in other subject areas.
- The User Measures dimension was added, which contains measure fields relating to the number of users.
- The following fields were added under the User Details dimension:
- Cataloger Level – the cataloger level of the patron
- Patron Letters Opt In – the letters for which the patron has opted in
- Patron Letters Opt Out – the letters for which the patron has opted out
- Has Role Other Than Patron – indicates if the patron has a role other than Patron
- Has Role Other Than Patron and Instructor – indicates if the patron has a role other than Patron and Instructor
- Is Blocked – indicates if the patron is blocked
- The Proxy For dimension was added, which contains fields that indicate for whom the patron is a proxy.
- The names of the various Status, Type, and Note fields were expanded to include the dimension name to clarify which fields are intended.
Enhancements to Scheduled Report Configuration
The following enhancements were added to the configuration for Scheduled Dashboard Alma Analytics Objects:
- You can now produce scheduled reports in CSV format.
- If you configure Alma to place the report on an FTP server, you can now have a timestamp included in the file name of the report. This prevents the file from being overwritten the next time the report is run.
For more information, see Scheduling and Subscribing to Alma Analytics Reports.
New Dashboards Added to Alma Analytics
The following new dashboards were added to Alma Analytics. For each dashboard, a new analytics object of type Dashboard was added. The dashboards are now available as links from the Analytics menu in Alma according to specific roles that you can configure:
- Acquisitions Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Analytics Objects Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Analytics Usage Tracking Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- API Usage Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Benchmark Analytics KPI Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Cost per Use for Electronic Inventory and COUNTER reports Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Cost per Use for Physical Inventory and loans Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- E-Inventory Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Fines and Fees Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Physical Items Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Licenses Analysis Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Purchase Requests Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Overlap Analysis Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Usage via Alma Link Resolver Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Usage via COUNTER Reports - Release 4 Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Usage via COUNTER Reports - Release 5 Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Monthly Usage Data - Release 5 Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- Vendor analysis - physical one time Dashboard (Ex Libris)
- YoY (Year over Year) Dashboard (Ex Libris)
New Reports Added to Consortia Folder
The following out-of-the-box reports were added to the Consortia folder. These reports can aid an institution in evaluating overlap as well as unique titles across the consortia:
- Titles with inventory in only one institution based on field 035 subfield a with library and location – displays titles held by only one institution in the consortia. The analysis uses the field 035 subfield a as a basis for determining the uniqueness of the title. This report is designed to be run in the Network Zone.
- Duplicate electronic collections in different member institutions linked to Community Zone – displays a list of electronic collections that were activated from the Community Zone from multiple member institutions. The electronic collections were not activated from the Network Zone using the Available For functionality and therefore cause many duplicate titles across the member institutions.
- Duplicate titles by ISBN for NETWORK institution – displays duplicate titles by ISBN in a Network Zone institution and excludes titles linked to the Community Zone. This report is designed to be run in the Network Zone.
- Duplicate titles by ISSN for NETWORK institution – displays duplicate titles by ISSN in a Network Zone institution and excludes titles linked to the Community Zone. This report is designed to be run in the Network Zone.
- Duplicate titles by Title Author Combined and Normalized for NETWORK institution – displays duplicate titles by the field Title Author Combined and Normalized in a Network Zone institution and excludes titles linked to the Community Zone. This report is designed to be run in the Network Zone.
- Duplicate titles by 035a for network institution – displays a list of titles that exist in the Network Zone institution and are duplicate titles. The records are determined to be duplicates based on the 035 field subfield a.
Enable Easy Rollover of IDP Certificate
When a SAML IDP changes their certificate (for security reasons), the certificate needs to be updated on the integration profile. If the certificate is not updated at the same time on both systems, this can cause downtime, since Alma does not trust the response from the IDP that was signed with the "wrong" certificate.
Now Alma allows holding two certificates simultaneously, and tries to authenticate using both certificates. This allows the institution to add the new certificate ahead of time, without removing the old certificate until after the IDP has made the switch.
To support this, a new set of fields was added on the SAML intergration profile that enables uploading the second certificate. In addition, now the information describing each certificate (thumbprint, expiry date and upload date) are displayed for easy recognition of each certificate.
Assigning Recommendations
You can now assign recommendations to a specific user. This can be done both for a specific recommendation and for all the recommendations of a type. This can be useful in the following ways:
- Administrators can assign individual recommendations to be handled by a specific user in the library.
- Users can assign a recommendation to themselves and prevent it from being displayed to other users.
- A user that handle all of the recommendations of a specific type can have all those recommendations automatically assigned to that user only.
To support this feature, the following enhancements were implemented:
- A new Assign To option was added to the Actions menu for recommendations:
Assign ToAfter selecting this option, a drop-down list is displayed from which you can select a user to which to assign the recommendation.
Assign To Drop-Down ListOnly users with roles configured to view the recommendation are available in the drop-down list.You can also add a note.
- After assigning a recommendation to a user, the assignment is indicated in the information of the recommendation:
Assigned To Information - You can filter recommendations to display only recommendations assigned to you, unassigned recommendations, or all recommendations:
Assigned To Filter - Users with the new Recommendation Manager role can view recommendations assigned to others:
Assigned To Others - You can assign recommendation types to a specific user. This allows only that user to view all the recommendations of that type. To support this feature, a new Assign To field is available when configuring DARA (Configuration > General > General Configuration > DARA Recommendations):
Assign To - Recommendation TypeOnly users with roles configured to view the recommendation type are available in the drop-down list.
4th and 5th reporting codes added to acquisitions entities
- These new options within the PO line, Invoice line and Fund transaction screens (4th and 5th reporting codes).
- Two new menu links in Alma configuration menu (4th and 5th reporting codes).
- The names of the fields in the Alma UI have been modified and are now called "1st reporting code, 2nd reporting code, 3rd reporting code, 4th reporting code and 5th reporting code".
- There is a new dedicated section for the reporting codes in the POL.
- Only the UI labels have changed. The tags for API and EOD remain the same.
Receiving workbench incorporates sticky filters
Idea Exchange URM-113263Alma's receiving workbench (Manage items screen) now incorporates sticky filters. These sticky filters (Sort Routine, Receiving Status and Location) enable users to easily re-access these workspaces when either a user leaves the screen and returns after a short while or logs in again to Alma. The filters remember the selections made by users so that they don't have to be re-defined when re-accessing the system.
The Filter "Location" will be sticky only if there are items with the same location as previously selected. If a POL, which was opened, does not have items which match the value in the "Location" filter, the filter will automatically move to "All".
If a "Sort Routine" is selected by the user and then deleted by the system administrator, the user who will login to the receiving workbench will not see the Sort Routine name listed. The user will need to select a new sort routine.
Changing Holdings or Relinking Item is Possible Only in User Role Scope
Now when changing holdings for an item or relinking item to a bibliographic record, the target library must be within the scope of the user role. This prevents moving item or changing holdings for an item, if a new holding is not in user scope. When attempting one of these actions and the target library is not in scope, the user receives an error message "You are not allowed to move items to the selected holdings library" and the action is aborted.
This functionality is disabled by default. To enable it, contact Customer Support.
See Moving Items Between Holdings and Deleting Holdings Records and Moving Holdings Between Bibliographic Records (Relinking).
'Suppress from Discovery' is Available for Unsaved Records
The 'Suppress from Discovery' option is now available in the Record Actions menu of the Metadata Editor for new records before they are saved. This allows you to suppress from discovery new bibliographic records while creating them in the Metadata Editor. In addition, now you can use the new keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+S to suppress records.
Discovery and Research Rules in the Rules Area
Now the Discovery Display rules (rules that control the display of information from Alma in Primo VE) and Research rules are easily accessible and easily distinguishable in the Metadata Editor. To create these rules, when clicking New, now users can select Normalization (Discovery) (appears only if Primo VE is defined in the system) or Normalization (Research) (appears only when Esploro is defined in the system).
Each rule that you create has an appropriate badge (for example, "Normalization (Discovery)"), and appears in a dedicated tab (bearing the same name as the badge).
See Working with Normalization Rules (Alma), Working with Normalization Rules (Primo VE), and Managing Asset Normalization Rules (Esploro).
Heading Information in Metadata Editor and Repository Search
The ability to search for bibliographic records that are related to a specific heading was improved as follows:
- In the Metadata Editor: When you search for bibliographic records related to a heading by Browse Bibliographic Headings > View, now you can open the results that display in the Bibliographic Records tab in the repository search. To do that, select the new option Open in Repository Search.
Once the results are in the repository search, you can create a set that would include all these results, and work with the set as usual. This significantly improves the workflow for browsing bibliographic headings.
- A new option Heading Information was added to the Advanced Search. This option allows searching for bibliographic records related to a specific heading in the same way as by using Browse Bibliographic Headings in the Metadata Editor.
See Browsing Bibliographic Headings and Performing an Advanced Search.
Information Loss Prevented when Changing Item Location by Moving the Last Item to a New Holdings
When a holdings record holds only a single item, and you move this item to a different location (via the "Change Physical Items" job), now the item remains associated to the same holdings record, and only its details are modified. Previously a new holdings record would be generated, and the information related to the previous holdings record, such as versions, notes, etc., would be lost. Now this information loss is prevented.
To notify users that there have been recent changes to the holdings record, an indication now appears in the History tab of the Physical Item Editor that states "There have been Holdings changes in the past 6 months". This indication appears when any type of change in the holdings took place, not only when the location has changed. Click the Holdings changes button to view the history of item changes.
Note that this behavior only takes place for a holdings record with a single item. When the holdings record has several items and you want to move some of these items, the existing functionality remains - a new holdings record is created and all the selected items are moved to that holdings record.
Field 060 Added to Search Index 'National Library of Medicine Call Number'
MARC 21/KORMARC field 060 $$a,b was added to the index "NLM (National Library of Medicine)-Type Call Number". This in addition to MARC 21 field 096 $$a,z, which continues to be available for this index. Now searchers retrieving records from NLM can find records by using "NLM-type Call Number" index based on both fields 060 and 096.
Full inventory indexing must be run for this development to take effect.
Metadata Editor Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions.
On the search result panel in the Metadata Editor (for example, Browse Shelf Listing panel), the users can use the mouse to navigate between the records and pages. However, some users might find the repetitive use of the mouse problematic. Now, these users can navigate the results list by using the keyboard's keys.
You can navigate as follows:
- Use Tab/Shift +Tab to navigate from the fields panel to the results panel.
- Use Tab/Shift +Tab to navigate the different results panel tabs.
- Use Tab/Shift +Tab to browse next and previous pages. Press Enter to open the desired page.
- Use Tab/Shift +Tab to navigate between results in the panels. Press Enter to open the desired result.
- Use the Enter to open the ellipsis button, and use the up/down arrows to move between the options. To close the options, press Esc/Tab (focus on the next button) or Shift +Tab (focus on the previous button).
In addition, more accessibility improvements were made to improve the ability of screen readers to correctly convey the state of elements to the reader, on Browse Bib Heading panel, in the Editing panel and in the Filter and Sorting panel.
Alma Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma meet Level A and AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions:
- Form fields – A label was added for the "X" button.
Page sections now have group labels. - Record List View – In internal search the labels of the search box and the search icon are now accessible by keyboard.
The Sort Routing action is now accessible by keyboard:
The Expand action is now accessible by keyboard, and you can open and close the list using keyboard keys, see the selection there (if any), and remove or change it:
- Floating Messages – the floating messages are now accessible by keyboard navigation. You can press on the icon to open the message and to navigate to the Collapse and Close buttons with keyboard keys. In addition, now the message indicates if there is a list of comments in the message or a single comment.
Holding Search - Additional Indexes
Additional indexes were added to holdings search. This allows you to conduct a more refined search for physical title and physical items. All these indexes are part of Advanced search only.
New indexes
|
Index name |
Taken from |
Possible Values |
Show in | Part of Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encoding level | LDR pos17 |
1 - Holdings level 1 |
Advanced | no |
| Type of record | LDR pos06 | u - Unknown v - Multipart item holdings x - Single-part item holdings y - Serial item holdings |
Advanced | no |
| Receipt, acquisition, or access status | 008 pos06 |
0 - Unknown |
Advanced | no |
| Method of acquisition | 008 pos07 |
c - Cooperative or consortial purchase |
Advanced | no |
| Completeness | 008 pos16 |
0 - Other |
Advanced | no |
| Creation date (physical holdings) | HOL creation date | date field | Advanced | no |
| Modification date (physical holdings) | HOL modification date | date field | Advanced | no |
| URL method | 856 $2 | text | simple and advanced | no |
| URL materials specified | 856 $3 | text | simple and advanced | no |
| URL access status | 856 $7 | text | simple and advanced | no |
|
Pattern first level of enumeration |
853 $a | text | simple and advanced | no |
| Pattern second level of enumeration | 853 $b | text | simple and advanced | no |
| Pattern third level of enumeration | 853 $c | text | simple and advanced | no |
| Pattern fourth level of enumeration | 853 $d | text | simple and advanced | no |
|
Pattern fifth level of enumeration (NR) |
853 $e | text | simple and advanced | no |
| Pattern sixth level of enumeration (NR) | 853 $f | text | simple and advanced | no |
| Pattern frequency | 853 $w | text | simple and advanced | no |
|
Textual holdings |
866 $a 867 $a 868 $a |
text | simple and advanced | no |
| Linkage Number | 014 $a | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| Control Number (Holdings) | 001 | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| Other System Number (035a) | 035 $a | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| Other System Number (035z) | 035 $z | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| Other System Number (035a+z) | 035 $$a,z | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| OCLC Control Number (035a) | 035 $a (OCLC prefix) | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| OCLC Control Number (035z) | 035 $z (OCLC prefix) | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| OCLC Control Number (035a+z) | 035 $$a,z (OCLC prefix) | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| Action note note | 583 $$x,z | text | simple and advanced | yes |
|
Action Note Authorization |
583 $f | text | simple and advanced | yes |
|
URL |
856 $u | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| URL non public note | 856 $x | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| URL link text | 856 $y | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| URL public note | 856 $z | text | simple and advanced | yes |
| Textual holdings nonpublic note |
866 $x 867 $x 868 $x |
text | simple and advanced | yes |
| Textual holdings public note |
866 $z 867 $z 868 $z |
text | simple and advanced | yes |
Full inventory indexing must be run for this development to take effect.
See Search Indexes.
Overlap Analysis Tool - Support for Sites with Distributed Electronic Resources
Sites who manage distributed electronic resources using the 'Available For' group setting can now use the Overlap and Collection Analysis tool for collection development analysis. Using the Overlap and Collection Analysis tool it is possible to analyze the overlap of electronic resources for specific library/campus according to the 'Available For' group settings.
See Working with Overlap and Collection Analysis and Overlap and Collection Analysis Job Reports.
This feature is not activated by default. Please contact Ex Libris support in order to enable it.
Semi-Annual Re-indexing
Solution for Institutions with 'Active for Search' restricted collections
May 2021 Resource Management
URM-142654Alma now allows institutions to use the search activation function for collections that require a subscription for search (for example, A&I databases). Such collections are marked on Alma as 'CDI search rights: Subscription'. Previously, it was only possible to activate these collections in Alma in the same way you activate a full text collection (or use the ‘CDI only full text: Yes’ setting) to indicate the institution had a subscription and the collection would become searchable in CDI. This was not intuitive and led to a lot of confusion, not least because such collections do not usually contain any full text. With this release, both types of activations are now possible. No changes are needed for collections that you already activated, and you can continue to fully activate these types of collections. Additionally, activation for search in CDI is now also possible and has the same effect as the full activation: both types of activations will ensure the collections will be discoverable in CDI.
This change is relevant for Fully Flexible setting customers only.
Generate Representation Labels from Templates
Idea Exchange URM-134626You can now add labels to representations based on a template that you configure. The labels can be fixed text or based on a field from the bibliographic record with an optional regular expression. Labels can be added to representations individually or in bulk using a job. In addition, a job can be used to remove the labels from representations in bulk.
You configure the representation templates from the Representation Label Template Setup Editor (Configuration > Resources > General > Representation Label Templates). To create a template for representation labels, create a parameter with an entity type equal to None.
The following fields are displayed.
Enter information in the fields to determine the text of the label. For more information, see Configuring Representation Label Templates for General Representations.
You can add the labels defined in the templates to representations:
- To a single representation:
The Auto-Generate Label button now appears for all representations.
Auto-Generate LabelSelect the button to add a label to the representation according to the template you configured.
- To a set of representations:
Create the set of representations to which you want to add the labels. Configure the Global Representation Changes job to run on the set.
Global Representation Changes
From the Label row, select Generate.
To remove labels from the set, from the Label row, select Empty.
For more information, see Global Representation Changes.
Suppress Bibliographic Records Without Active Inventory
Idea ExchangeURM-105189You can now configure the Global Representation Changes job to suppress bibliographic records that have no active inventory after the job is run. To configure this feature, select the Suppress bib without active inventory option when selecting Inactive from the Label row.
For more information, see Global Representation Changes.
Additionally, when manually setting an individual representation to Inactive, if there are no other active representations on the bibliographic record, a pop-up appears asking if you want to suppress the record.
In addition, a parameter was added to the Update Representation Rest API to suppress bibliographic records without active representations.
Support ability to Waive All/Large lists of Fines/Fees in User Record (Fines and Fees tab)
Alma now enables user to select fines and fees across the full paginated fees list (among multiple pages) and waive them. A 'Waive All' option is added to the Fines\Fees tab. Previously, users could only waive selected fines and fees on a currently displayed page.
For more information, see Managing User Fines and Fees.
The new ability to select fines and fees across the full paginated fees list (i.e. selecting from different pages) implies that any personalization a user may have previously done for the fees' list columns will have to be redone following this release.
It is not possible to waive more than 100 selected fees in one action.
Search user records by phone number
In Alma, phone numbers are now a searchable user field. Phone numbers can now be entered in the simple or the advanced search to find users. Previously, this was not a supported search user field in Alma.
Since phone numbers are encrypted upon save, a phone search will be an exact match search (e.g. if country code is entered in the phone number it should be used when searching), on numeric values only (any non-numeric values, e.g. hyphens, spaces or brackets, will not affect the search).
Sort user list by User Group Code and Expiration/Purge Date
Idea ExchangeURM-140301Alma now enables the User List to be sorted by User Group Code, Purge Date and Expiration Date. When using the advanced search, a set can be created to include multiple user groups. These groups or the expiry/purge date can now be sorted. The purge date column is hidden by default and can be added to the displayed columns.
Pop-up message when scanning in an item with a request note
Idea ExchangeURM-138658
A new 'Requester Note' message has been added to the Scan In Messages Configuration screen. By default, this message is enabled and will appear as a 'Pop-Up'. The message will be displayed when an item that is scanned in has a 'Requester Note' associated to it.
Enhanced export when sending requests to remote storage
The integration profile for exporting requests to remote storage was enhanced in the following ways:
- Privacy enhancement: For integration types XML and XML/NCIP (regardless of system type), a new configuration, "Include patron info in physical item requests", now allows libraries to have patron information in the exported XML for physical requests.
For digital requests, patron information is controlled by an existing configuration (‘Handles digitization requests locally' in the remote storage). In the past, this affected physical requests as well - this was fixed, and digital requests handling will no longer affect physical requests. Libraries that wish to include patron information in physical requests will need to enable the new checkbox in the integration profile.
It is our recommendation that libraries that choose to export patron information will use an encrypted sFTP connection (see FTPing encrypted files to Alma using PGP).
- XML file changes: For integration types XML and XML/NCIP (for system "BIBSYS" and "XML" only), the following information is added to the exported file:
- Request note
- Title (exists today for manual description requests only, will be added for all request types)
- Author
- ISSN/ISBN
- Place & date of publication
- When patron information is exported, it will now include requester's preferred address
- Request itemization enhancement: A new "itemize remote storage requests" option was added to the remote storage integration profile (export request section). This allows libraries to choose if remote storage requests are itemized upon export (as today) or when waiting for export to remote storage.
For more information, see Requests to Remote Storage Facilities. - The label "System (for EXL purposes...)" is modified to "System" – as the remote storage system may impact the XML file format for integration types XML and XML/NCIP.
Locate status added to the audit trail of borrowing and lending Resource Sharing requests
Locate status has been added to the audit trail of borrowing and lending RS requests. This allows librarians to see when locate status changed between "Locate not run", "Resource located" and "Locate failed". This change in the 'locate status' is reported in the request history.
Prefer electronic format in lender locate
Alma can be configured to show preference to electronic format articles in the lender side locate process. If a requested article is found in electronic format then that resource will be considered the only option for the lender. Other potential physical options are considered only if no electronic resources are found.This behavior is activated by the new "Prefer Uresolver locate results" switch that can be switched on at the Lending Setup section of the resource sharing library. Note that electronic resources are considered a match only if their coverage matches the details of the request.This affects both the automatic and the manual locate process on the lender side.
For more information, see Configuring Parameters of a Resource Sharing Library.
Combined Search - Support For Electronic Collections of Type Database
Electronic collection of type 'Database' (electronic collection with no portfolios) managed in the Network Zone for all members or for specific members (using an 'Available For' group) will now be included in the Institution Zone's combined search for the relevant member.
Using combined search results provides consortia members quick access to electronic resources that are managed for them in the Network Zone.
This functionality is supported for institutions where combined search is enabled. Contact Customer Support to enable combining Institution and Network Zone search results. For details, see Combining Institution and Network Zone Search Results.
New Acquisitions and Fulfillment Dashboards
The following new out-of-the-box dashboards were added to Alma Analytics. For each dashboard, a new analytics object of type Dashboard was added. The dashboards are now available as links from the Analytics menu in Alma according to the following roles:
- Acquisitions – Claims Dashboard (Ex Libris)
and - Acquisitions – Fund Reports (Ex Libris):
- Acquisitions Administrator
- Fiscal Period Manager
- Fund Manager
- Invoice Manager
- Invoice Operator
- Invoice Operator Extended
- Ledger Manager
- Purchasing Manager
- Purchasing Operator
- Purchasing Operator Extended
- Receiving Operator
- Receiving Operator Limited
- Vendor Account Manager
- Vendor Manager
- Fulfillment Loans Returns and Overdue Dashboard (Ex Libris):
- Circulation Desk Manager
- Circulation Desk Operator
- Fulfillment Administrator
- Fulfillment Services Manager
- Fulfillment Services Operator
The old Acquisitions – Claims dashboard is now marked to be deprecated and will be removed for the June release.
Improved Letter XML Examples
Idea ExchangeURM-142450When configuring letters, users can make use of out-of-the-box XML examples. These examples were now enriched to provide more detail that can help uses to customize the letters. To view these examples, open the DefaultLetter.xml file that is located in the Letter Examples tab of the Letters Configuration page for the desired letter.
Testing Authentication on SAML Integration Profile
Alma supports the SAML 2.0 Web Browser SSO profile. This enables Alma to exchange authentication and authorization information, allowing a user to sign in or out of an external system and be automatically signed in or out of Alma, or vice versa. For the details of configuring this profile, see SAML-Based Single Sign-On/Sign-Off.
The Save And Test button has been added to the log-in integration profiles (SAML, CAS, LDAP and social log-in profiles). This removes the need to log out from Alma and log in again, and if the authentication fails, provides a clear indication of what went wrong.
Currently, this is available for the SAML integration only. In the upcoming releases, this will be supported on all authentication integrations.
Download Staff Login Report via API
Previously in Alma, creating a login report required a staff member to login, produce and download the Excel spreadsheet, and convert it to CSV. Alma now enables institutions (via API) to retrieve staff login data via a new API and further execute processes as they desire, e.g. export it to a CSV file. For more information on creating the report via the API, click here and scroll to section labeled Staff Login Report.
Fund Management APIs
Alma enables institutions to create a richer integration with their finance systems with updated capabilities of retrieving funds and associated transactions. The Fund Management APIs have added the following two capabilities:
- Search and Retrieve Ledgers and Funds
- Search and View Transactions for a fund
For more information, see Fund Management APIs.
API for running Import profile on a single BIB record
Alma introduces a new API designed for running Import profiles on a single BIB record. The new API, labeled "Importing a single record" will execute the following:
- Receive an import profile ID as a parameter
- Receive a BIB record as payload
- Run the import profile on the BIB and return the resulting BIB record:
- If no match found - a new record is created.
- If match found - the matched record is used.
This will be done in a similar way to the existing "Import a single record" option in Alma: In order to run the API you will need to have a defined import profile. The API will import a bibliographic record only – not inventory records.
This API is intended for individual record imports. Bulk imports should be performed via the MD Import functionality.
New fields added to the REST Item APIs
A number of existing item fields in Alma (previously not supported by API) have now been added and are supported in the REST Item APIs. Listed below are the added item fields:
- Issue date (get, put, post)
- work_order, process_at (currently will be added only to GET and will not be supported in PUT/POST)
- temporary location source (get, put, post)
- break indicator (get, post, put)
- pattern type (get, post, put)
- linking number (get, post, put)
- type of unit (get only)
Chat with Support
Staff users who have been assigned chat permissions can now chat with our Support team regarding the following types of Alma and Leganto issues directly from within the Alma management interface:
- Simple how-to questions and configurations
- Behavior and general inquiries
- Known issues
This functionality is disabled by default. Only staff users who have been assigned the Chat with Support role will be permitted to open a Chat session with our Support team. For more configuration information, see Managing User Roles.
For more details, see Online Chat Support and Chat Support Availability.
Beginning on March 1, 2021, Chat will be available for Alma and Leganto customers who are in production in the European region. For production customers in the North American region, Chat will become available a couple of weeks later. Chat will not be available for customers in implementation.
PO Line Infrastructure Upgrade
New Option To Replace Resource Associated With An Electronic PO Line
Utilizing the "Replace Resource" function will prevent the users from the need to delete a PO line in case it was associated with the wrong electronic resource. Institutions who are part of a Network Zone and their Electronic resources are managed by the Network Zone (but their purchases are handled locally) will be able to:
- Create a local PO line associated with an electronic resource.
- Send the order to the vendor.
- Once the resource is available for them, ask the Network institution to enable the electronic resource in the Network Zone and have it "Available for" them.
- Use the new function to replace the resource associated with the PO line with the Network Zone resource made available for them.
In case the PO line doesn't have a license and the Network Zone resource has a license - the Network Zone license will be associated with the POL. In case the PO line has a license and the Network Zone resource has a license as well - the Network Zone license will not be associated with the POL.
This operation is available for any resource type of type "Electronic" and the resource type for the replaced resource must be with the same "Type". For example: if the source resource is "Electronic Portfolio", only "Electronic Portfolio" can be selected as the new resource.
In case the resource replaced is associated with a different bibliographic record, the POL will be associated with this new bibliographic record and the user will be prompted with a pop-up asking whether to keep the detached resource or delete it. In case the user selected to delete the electronic resource and the bibliographic record for that resource has no other inventory associated to it, the a pop-up will also present the user with the options to handle this bibliographic record (depending on the settings done for pol_handle_bib_record_without_inventory.
Read more about this parameter here.
Multiple runs per day for PO packaging and EDI jobs
In order to improve communication between Alma and vendors, additional scheduling options were added to the PO packaging job so that PO lines can be packed automatically to a PO several times a day and ready to be sent to the vendor. For institutions using EDI to communicate orders with their vendors, institutions now can have the EDI job run a few times a day. This will result in orders being sent to vendors closer to the time the orders were actually created in Alma. The 2 new scheduling options for both jobs are "Every 2 hours" and "Every 4 hours".
"PO Line package" job which handles purchase order lines that are not marked for manual packaging was added with two more scheduling options in addition to the existing job scheduling options (located in Configuration > Acquisitions > Job configuration):
Read more about PO packaging job.
"EDI" job runs to communicate with vendors configured to work with EDI. Two more scheduling options were added in addition to the existing job scheduling options to allow the communication to run multiple times per day (located in Vendor > EDI information > Input job parameter):
Read more about EDI job scheduling.
New "Survey Language" field in the trial surveys editor
In order to allow Survey composers the ability to send a survey form in a dedicated language (other than English), institutions utilizing the Trials functionality in Alma now have a new field "Survey Language" which was added to the survey editing form ("form configuration" section), this new field supports selecting the language in which the survey is sent to the user (up until today users which received the survey had the option to view it only in English).
When creating a new trial or editing an existing trial, the default language in this field will be the institution's default language.
Text for questions that are composed by the creator of the survey should match the language selected in the new "Survey Language" field.
Read more about Managing Trials in Alma.
New Metadata Editor
New Metadata Editor Layout Turned On as Default for All Users
Continuing the rollout of the new Metadata Editor, starting from this release, the new Metadata Editor opens up for all Alma users as the default.
Users can switch back and forth between the new and the original Metadata Editors.
- to the new Metadata Editor, select
on the right-hand side of the top toolbar of the Editor. - back to the original Metadata Editor, select
Old Editor on the right-hand side of the top toolbar of the Editor.
Ex Libris recommends that all relevant users become familiar with the new Metadata Editor prior to it becoming exclusive use, which is planned to take place with the deployment of the June 2021 release.
Rules Management in Metadata Editor
Ex Libris continues the rollout of the new Metadata Editor. In the current release, the Rules Management core functionality was introduced (the functionality available in the original Metadata Editor plus new features).
Rules Right-click Menu
You can now perform actions in the Rules area from the right-click menu in the new Metadata Editor. See below for the list of right-click actions:
| Action | Available for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Edit | Private rules, Shared non-default rules |
Select to edit the rule (not available for out-of-the-box (default) rules and Community Zone rules). |
| View | All rules | Select to view the rule in cases when you cannot edit it. |
| Duplicate | All rules | Select to duplicate the rule to modify the copy and create another rule based on this rule. |
| Contribute to CZ | All rules | Select to contribute this rule to Community Zone (if you have this capability). The contributed rule appears both in the Shared folder and in the Community Zone folder. |
| Properties | All rules | Select to view and modify the rule properties, such as its name. |
| Delete | Institution rules, CZ rules contributed by your institution |
Select to delete the rule (available for local rules and rules in the Community Zone that were contributed by your institution). |
| Test external records | Institution rules | Select to save and test the rule in Primo-VE. For details, see Testing Normalization Rules for External Data Sources. |
Message to Users Opting-out from New Metadata Editor
Starting from the March release, only users with the below roles can opt-out from the new Metadata Editor and work in the classic Metadata Editor:
- CATALOGER
- CATALOGER_EXTENDED
- CATALOG_ADMINISTRATOR
- CATALOG_MANAGER
- PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_OPERATOR (users with this role can switch back to the class Metadata Editor only if they have a cataloger role as well)
- PURCHASE_MANAGER
- PURCHASE_OPERATOR
- REPOSITORY_MANAGER
Users who haven't opted-out or did not switch to the new Metadata Editor yet, will get a message with a link to opting-in and a warning that the classing Metadata Editor is only available till June 2021.
Enhanced Message Display
The display of messages in the new Metadata Editor was enhanced. Notification messages that appear in a specific context (related to records, rules, etc.), now appear in the relevant panel of the Metadata Editor:
Opening New Holdings from the Add Inventory Menu
Idea ExchangeThe ability to add new holdings was added under the Add Inventory menu (in addition to the existing ability to add them under the New menu). This makes it more intuitive for operators to create new holdings.
The same Holdings section that appears in the New menu now also appears in the Add Inventory menu. You can choose which template to use for creating the holdings in the same way as it is done in the New menu.
See Add Inventory Menu.
Accessibility Improvements in the New Metadata Editor
The below improvements were done with the purpose of making the new Metadata Editor compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The improvements include:
- Ability to close the Navigation panel using keyboard, when it is opened in hover above the Metadata Editor. To close it, press Escape. Note that if a tooltip is opened in the Navigation panel, you have to press Escape twice - the first closes the tooltip, the second closes the Navigation panel.
- You can now navigate up and down within the lists of items in the Navigation panel using the keyboard.
- You can now open the Alerts panel and navigate within it using the keyboard.
- Unique IDs were added to Html elements of each record/template/rule in the Navigation Panel and within the Editing area.
- The page title was set to "Metadata Editor" for screen readers.
Editing Tasks from Authority Control Task List in the Metadata Editor
Now when you review tasks in the Authority Control Task List, you can edit the relevant record directly in the Metadata Editor. To support this, a new type of set "Authority Controlled Task List" was created under Sets in the Records area. To open records in the Metadata Editor, select the desired records in the Authority Control Task List and select Edit in the row list actions, or Edit Selected above the list.
Managing Brief Levels in Record Header
The brief level indication now appears in the record header for all MARC bibliographic formats.
Side-by-side Editing of Primary and Searched/Browsed Records
Now you can view the searched/browsed record alongside your primary bibliographic record, whether on the right of the primary record, or on the left. This allows you full flexibility in how you want to display the records, while also providing easy navigation back to the search form to refine your search if needed.
Use Existing Bibliographic Record when Creating a PO Line via "New Order" Import Profile
Continuing the enhancements to the "New Order" import profile (see Associate a PO Line Created via the Import Profile to an Existing Portfolio), now you can use the existing matched bibliographic record without modifying it, and associate the newly created resource and PO line under this matched bibliographic record. In case a matching resource is also found under the bibliographic record (see Associate a PO Line Created via the Import Profile to an Existing Portfolio), only a PO line will be created.
To support this, a new radio button "Use Existing Record" was added to the Match Profile tab of the Import Profile (New Order profile only). When this radio button is selected, Alma does not update the bibliographic record and and only creates the resource and the PO line.
Community Zone Update Task List Improvements
Idea ExchangeThe Community Zone Update Task List is used to display all changes that were made to to your Community Zone activated electronic resources as a result of Community Zone updates. The Community Zone was enhanced to enable faster and more efficient access to the data included in it. This includes new access points, information fields, actions, as well as more filters and sorting abilities. All the new features apply to both the Review and All tabs.
Enriched Title Display
The Title of the portfolio is now identical to the way the portfolio's Title is displayed in the Service editor Portfolios list.
Enhancements to Columns
All new columns are hidden by default.
- Submit Date (enhanced column) - now displays date and time of the change. When portfolios are added or deleted, this helps you know which came first from the task list, thus letting you know if content was removed without being re-added. The date and time formats are defined by customer parameters system_date_format and system_time_format.
- Resource ID (new column) - displays the local ID of the resource (portfolio ID / electronic Service ID / Electronic Collection ID), depending on the resource level of the selected Report Type.
- Resource Type (new column) - displays Electronic Portfolio / Electronic Service / Electronic Collection to let you know the resource level of every entry.
- Is Free (new column) - displays the electronic collection/electronic service's 'Is Free' parameter value (if the override is populated, displays the override value). For every Collection/Service, state Yes/No, and for Portfolio states the portfolio's Service's 'Is Free' value (inherited).
- Collection Type (new column) - displays the electronic collection's type: Selective package / Aggregator package / Database.
- Collection content type (new column) - displays the electronic collection type: Book Package / Journal Package / Mixed Package / Abstract & Index Package / Web Service / Database.
- Library (new column) - displays the library of the resource. If the library is inherited from the e.collection, displays "<Library_Name> (e.collection)".
- Orders (new column) - displays the number of the resource's PO Lines. The number is a link, select it to view the relevant PO Lines. Select Back to return to the Community Zone Update Task List.
- Local Information (enhanced column) - previously appeared only on the Review tab. Now it was added to the All tab as well.
- Edit Electronic Portfolio / Electronic Service / Electronic Collection - Select to open the resource in its editor (if you have the required permissions).
If you do not have editing permissions to the resource, you will be able to view the resources but not edit them.
This option is not available for deleted resources.
To return to the Community Zone Update Task List after editing/viewing the resource, select the new "Review CZ Updates" button that appears at the top of the resource (see below for details). - Report To ExLibris - Select to send a report for Ex Libris, in case of any issue.
Enhancements to Reports
- Portfolio deleted from non auto-active electronic service - The report 'Portfolio deleted from non auto-active package' was renamed to 'Portfolio deleted from non auto-active electronic service'. This is because an electronic collection may have more than one electronic service, with one service set to auto-active and the other to non auto-active, so the portfolio inherits its auto-active status from the electronic service, not the electronic collection.
- Portfolio deleted from auto-active electronic service - This report was available previously in the All tab. Now is is available on both tabs. The report lists the portfolios deleted from electronic services that are defined as "Activate new portfolios associated with service automatically" = Yes.
New Filters
New filters were added:
- Electronic Service - Include the values All / Auto-Active / Non Auto-Active. This filter displays only entries of the Service level. This filter has no corresponding column.
- Resource Type - Includes the values All / Electronic Portfolio / Electronic Service / Electronic Collection. If any of the resource types is not displayed in the table, the filter does not provide the option to filter by it.
- Has Order - Include the values All / Yes / No. If any of the resource types is not displayed in the table, the filter does not provide the option to filter by it.
- Is Free - Include the values All / Yes / No on the electronic service and electronic collection levels only.
- Has Local Information - Includes the values All / Yes / No.
- Library - Includes the available libraries of the institution.
- Collection content type - Include the values All / Book Package / Journal Package / Mixed Package / Abstract & Index Package / Web Service / Database. If any of the resource types is not displayed in the table, the filter does not provide the option to filter by it.
- Collection Type - Include the values All / Selective package / Aggregator package / Database. If any of the resource types is not displayed in the table, the filter does not provide the option to filter by it.
New Search Options
New search options were added to enable searching for a specific identifier, MMS ID, and Resource ID.
Default Time Range Modified
The table's time range now defaults to the last 30 days.
New Sorting Options
The table now supports the ability to sort from additional column headers:
- Identifier
- Resource Type
- Is Free
- Package Type
- Collection Type
- Library
- Orders
New Selection Counter and Ability to Clear Selection
On the Review tab, a selection counter was added. The counter supports multi-page selection. Also, an action Clear selection was added, to enable easily clearing of the selected rows across pages.
New Access Points to the Community Zone Update Task List from Electronic Resource Editors
New access points were added to the electronic resource editors (Electronic Collection Editor / Service Editor / Portfolio Editor) that enable navigating from the editors to the Community Zone Update Task List page. The access point is the button "Review CZ Updates (X)", where "X" indicates the number of CZ updates available in the Review tab of the Community Zone Update Task List for that resource.
This button appears for resources linked to the Community Zone, including portfolios that were linked to CZ in the past and got localized due to portfolio deletion from the CZ. This button appears only for users with Repository Manager role (regardless if the role's scope is library-level or institution-level).
See Accessing the Community Zone Update Task List from Electronic Resource Editors.
User Interface Improvements in Accession Number Generation Configuration
The user-interface that supports the generation of call numbers and temporary call numbers for items was enhanced to enable you to work quicker with a large number of call numbers:
- Pagination and search were added to the Accession Configuration page (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Accession Number) and to the Accessions Number list that opens when generating a call number from the Metadata Editor.
- In the Accession Configuration page, saving is now automatic, which means all data that you enter is saved without the need to select the Save button (which was removed from this page.)
Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making Alma compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):
- Recently used options in dropdown lists are now labeled with a recently-used indication.
- The Clear button in the search bar is now accessible by keyboard navigation and is labeled.
- The Selection History button in pickup fields is now a label and complies with the screen reader expectations.
- The Search bar input field now displays an explanation of what to do in the field.
- All options in dropdown lists are now enabled to keyboard navigation, the screen reader reads the correct number of options.
- Input fields in the Advanced search were labeled appropriately.
- Group fields in the Advanced search are now marked as a group.
- When multiple buttons exist in the Advanced search, each now has its own label.
Denied Note for Unregistered Users
When defining access rights for digital objects, you can now configure a separate Denied Note for unregistered users. This allows you to have one note configured to inform unregistered users of the need to log in and a separate note for logged in users to inform them of additional conditions required for viewing the resource. To support this development, a new Denied Note (override for unregistered users) field was added to the Access Rights Policy page.
Enter the note in this field that you want to appear when access is denied for unregistered users. If no note is configured, the note configured in the Denied Note field is displayed.
For more information, see Access Rights Policies for Digital Objects.
PDF.js Viewer now Available to Display PDFs
Alma now uses the PDF.js viewer when displaying PDFs to provide a rich tool set of viewing capabilities.
Enhanced request cancelation after “date needed by” has passed
Idea Exchange URM-23558
The "Date needed by" field (also known as “Not Needed After”), which can be populated by the patron, was taken into account only in the "pick from shelf" workflow step, cancelling the request when the date was in the past without sending a cancel notification (since the patrons indicated that hey are no longer interested).
Following this development, this behavior will be applied in other workflow steps in the request lifecycle:
- Queued requests that are not yet active but are past their date needed by will now be canceled by the "Request - handle last expiration STEP" (to avoid recalling items to fulfill requests that are no longer relevant).
- When an item is scanned in, if the "date needed by" of the request had passed, the request will be canceled.
- When an item is placed on the hold shelf, if the date needed by is earlier than the regular hold shelf expiry, the hold shelf expiration date will be populated by the date needed by (so that the request will not remain on the hold shelf after the patron is no longer interested).
A new cancelation reason, “date needed by has passed”, was added for requests that were canceled because the date needed by indicated by the patron was reached before the item could be placed on the hold shelf.
Requests in transit will not be canceled when their date needed by is past, as the transit step needs to be completed. The cancelation will happen when the item is scanned in at the destination.
If a library is not interested in working with Date Needed By, it can hide the "notNeedAfter" field from the patron’s request form. See: Customizing Primo Request Forms, Configuring Request Forms for Primo VE or Configuring the Request Forms for Alma-Summon.
If date needed by is enabled on RS requests, the requests will also be affected. Customers who wish to prevent automatic cancellation of requests that are no longer required by patrons can remove the field from the request form.
Refresh "linked accounts" when using Primo VE My Account
In Primo VE, when a Fulfillment Network patron uses the Primo VE My Account to view activity in another Alma institution, their linked account in that Alma institution is now refreshed using the user record at the patron's home institution. Refreshing the account allows an up to date assessment of the patron's eligibility to renew loans (e.g. if the patron is blocked).
Temporary renew of a Resource Sharing loan
NERS Enhancement (ID #6962)
In Alma, when asking a lender to renew a RS loan that is about to become overdue, it is now possible to have the loan due date extended by a configurable short period (up to 9 days after the request renew date). This will prevent the loan from becoming overdue and accruing fines while the lender is contacted to arrange a renewal and new due date. Once the renewal has been confirmed with the lender, the loan and the borrowing request will be renewed to the agreed upon due date (using the existing workflow). The option is activated by selecting the new 'Extend due date when renew requested' checkbox and populating the new ''Extend due date by (days)' field on the resource sharing library configuration page.
Borrowing and lending request lists to display create and update time
Idea ExchangeURM-124170
In Alma, the borrowing and lending resource sharing requests lists will now display the time as well as the date in the create and update date. This feature will enable institutions to sort borrowing and lending requests by date and time, to help libraries that want to handle digitization requests quickly and efficiently. The time display will depend on the institution’s system_time_format customer parameter.
Recall process for SLNP requests
A lender using Simple Library Network Protocol (SLNP) can now recall items by sending a recall email to the email address configured in the SLNP partner of the borrower. When recall is allowed in the partner’s workflow and triggered by the operator or an incoming request, the Lending Recall Email Letter email is sent to the borrowing library and the lending request is considered recalled.
Primo VE Blank Request DOI/PMID Lookup Options
It is now possible to add ‘Auto Fill’ buttons to the DOI and the PMID fields of the article request form. When clicked, Alma uses the value in the DOI or PMID fields to search for the article information and auto-completes the remaining form fields (such as article name and pages) based on these identifiers.
Activate this feature by enabling the new ‘DOI Auto Fill’ and ‘PMID Auto Fill’ fields on the Discovery > GetIt Configuration > Resource Sharing Request configuration form.
Additional Chapter and Article Information in Primo VE My Account Requests Lists
Resource sharing requests listed in Primo VE’s My Account requests lists are now richer with more information describing the requests’ publication date, pages, and name of the journal.
Book chapter requests include their chapter title, author, and number in addition to the requested pages. The fields only display if they are populated.
New System Events Subject Area
The new System Events subject area is intended to replace the current Events subject area. The current Events subject area reports on a very large number of events, some of them redundant or not used, which makes it very difficult to produce effective reports on events that run in a reasonable amount of time. The new System Events subject area includes only a select number of events so that reports can be run quickly and efficiently. For a period of time, both subject areas will be available to allow customers to adjust to the new System Events subject area.
The following events are available in the System Events subject area:
- Events that are used in reports that the institution created and ran at least once in the past year.
- Events in out-of-the-box reports under Alma/shared/events/reports
- Events related to the creation, deletion, and update of invoice lines and invoices
For more information, see System Events.
Borrowing and Lending Request Time in Hours and Minutes
Previously, it was only possible to calculate borrowing and lending request time in terms of days. The following fields were added that enable you to create reports that calculate the borrowing and lending request time in hours and minutes:
- In Borrowing Requests > Borrowing Request Details:
- Hours of Request for Partner
- Hours of Request to Material Arrival
- Hours of Request Sent to Material Arrival
- Hours of Request Sent to Non-Fulfilled
- Hours of Arrival to Patron Loan
- Hours of Patron Check-In to Return
- Minutes of Request for Partner
- Minutes of Request to Material Arrival
- Minutes of Request Sent to Material Arrival
- Minutes of Request Sent to Non-Fulfilled
- Minutes of Arrival to Patron Loan
- Minutes of Patron Check-In to Return
- In Lending Requests > Lending Request Details:
- Hours of Request
- Hours of Request Created to Material Sent
- Hours of Material Sent to Return
- Minutes of Request
- Minutes of Request Created to Material Sent
- Minutes of Material Sent to Return
Support Discontinued for Internet Explorer
Starting from the March 2021 release, Alma no longer supports the Internet Explorer browser, including no longer fixing potential display and performance issues on IE.
Enhancements to Letters Configuration Table
The Letters Configuration code table was enhanced to enable you to find the desired letter quicker:
- You can now search for letters by name.
- Pagination enables you to jump between pages.
- Filters enable you to see a subset of relevant letters:
- Enabled: To see letters you enabled during implementation and need to configure.
- Channel: To filter letters by email, SMS or Webhook.
- Patron Facing: To easily disable patron-facing letters if you do not want to send them out to patrons.
- Customized: To see only letters that were customized or were not customized.
See Configuring Letters.
Importing Code Table UILeganto Labels
Now you can import the UILeganto Labels code table. This enables you to update the Leganto labels elsewhere and then import all of them into Alma. Note that the number of rows in the imported table must be identical to the number of rows in the table in Alma.
It is advised that you export the existing Alma table (select ), make your changes and import it back to Alma.
Support for Campus Name Translation
Idea ExchangeNow you can translate Campus names (Configuration > General > Libraries > Define Campuses) to the languages defined in your system. The translated campus names subsequently appear in Alma and in Primo VE, for example in the pickup locations list, in Get It Request Form, and more, if you choose to display Primo VE in the interface language to which campus names were translated. This is an important ability for multilingual Primo VE sites.
See Configuring the Institution and Its Libraries.
New Alma Layout - Exclusive Use
Finalizing the rollout of the new Alma layout, the new layout is now exclusively available for Alma users. Users can no longer switch back and forth between the new and the old Alma layouts. For instructions on working with the new layout, see The Alma User Interface.
To switch back to the old Alma layout in case of specific needs, please contact Ex Libris customer support.
Physical Inventory Viewer Privileges Added to All Relevant Roles
Now all staff users can view all inventory (physical, electronic and digital), across the entire institution, regardless of the user role's scope. Users who do not have the permissions to edit the inventory can only view it.
To limit the ability to view holdings and items in your institution only to certain roles, contact Ex Libris customer support.
See Managing User Roles.
The Licenses API was enhanced to support retrieving additional types of Licenses
It is now possible in Alma for the GET licenses API to retrieve a list of negotiations and amendments. Previously the GET licenses API returned a list of licenses of type='LICENSE' only and not negotiations or amendments.
The following newly added parameter 'types" are used to retrieve the license types:
- type=ALL (will return both licenses & negotiations)
- type=NEGOTIATION (only negotiation)
- type=LICENSE (only licenses)
- type=ADDENDUM (only amendments)
Amendments can also be retrieved using GET /almaws/v1/acq/licenses/{license_code}/amendments ).
Negotiation type licenses are only available in a Network Zone (NZ).
The Electronic Portfolio API now supports the "Public access model" field
Users now have the ability to use 'GET/PUT/POST' API for Electronic portfolios in order to create/update the Public access model field in portfolios. Previously, the API for electronic portfolios did not include information/update ability to the Public access model field which is found within the Acquisition tab of the Electronic Portfolio Editor.
Valid values for the Public access model field can be found in the "Code" column of the "Access Model" table located in Alma->Configuration->Acquisitions->Licenses -> Access Model.
The access model code can be edited by the user. When using the create/update API, in case the access model code in the API does not match a code in Alma, this will not prevent the creation of the POL.
Enhanced Library Calendar
The availability calendar in booking requests was enhanced to also reflect the times when the library is closed. If a pickup location is selected before checking the availability calendar, the calendar will show when the library is closed, in addition to when no item is available for booking. This will help patrons to better understand when an item is available for booking. The closed times and the unavailable times will differ in color, and new customizable labels were added to specify in writing the time and nature of closed/unavailable windows in order to improve the availability calendar’s accessibility.
As part of the May release, the “Check Availability” label’s OTB value will change to inform patrons that in order to see the library's opening hours, they should first select a pickup location. As this is a patron-facing change, it will not be reflected in existing environment – libraries that wish to implement it will need to configure this label. For more information on customizing labels, see: Modifying Display Labels or Configuring Display Labels for Primo VE.
Associate a PO Line Created via the Import Profile to an Existing Portfolio
When a PO line is created via the "New order" import profile, Alma can now locate and use existing inventory and associate the newly created PO line to it. Once matching inventory is found, a PO line is created and associated to that inventory item, instead of creating a new resource for each order.
To support this, a new checkbox "Locate Existing Resource" was added to the "New Order" import profile > PO Line Information tab. This checkbox is only visible for electronic type of inventory (import types Electronic/Mix).
PO Line Infrastructure Upgrade
View Invoice when Editing a PO Line
Idea Exchange NERS Enhancement (ID #7049) URM-130717Now, when editing PO lines, and accessing the Invoice Lines tab, the invoice numbers on invoice lines are clickable and linkable to the invoice. The invoice opens in a view mode. Note that only users with roles that allow viewing/editing invoices can view the invoice via this link. Click "Back" from the invoice page to be directed back to the location from which you clicked the invoice line.
This was done in the following locations:
- On invoice lines in the Purchase Order Line Details page > Invoice Line tab
- On the Invoice Line Details page > Summary pane was made clickable and linkable to the invoice as well.
See Orders Associated with Requests When Receiving Multiple Orders
In the Receive page, when receiving one or more PO lines from the main receiving screen, the existing pop-up message (which indicated that one of the orders has a user request associated with the order) was enhanced to present the users with a clear indication of the PO line that is associated with a user request:
This enhanced message can be disabled from the Manage Acquisitions Alerts configuration page. Another message, which was also added to the "Receiving Alerts" section, is the confirmation message that appears when receiving items from the Receiving > Manage Items page (item that has a request associated to it).
Assign Holding Records to Another Cataloger by Scope
Now when assigning a holding record to another cataloger using the Assign Record to Another Cataloger dialog, you can only assign it to users who have the privilege to work with holdings in the scope of the record (Physical Inventory Manage privilege).
For details on the scope of holdings records, see the following presentation: Holdings record management on the library level.
Reload Record from the SBN Central Catalog
The following enhancements were done in the SBN Integration profile:
- Ability to select the desired merge routine when contributing records to SBN - A checkbox "Use this Merge Routine in Contribution" was added to the Contribution Configuration section of the SBN Integration Profile. This determines how the SBN record will be merged with the existing one when contributing a record to SBN:
- When this checkbox is selected, then the merge routine for copy cataloging is used during contribution as well.
- When this checkbox is clear, then the merge routine defined in the repository import profile that is configured on the Integration profile is used in contribution.
- Preferred Record when Reloading from SBN in MD Editor- A checkbox "Preferred Record when Reloading from SBN in MD Editor" was added to the Bibliographic Alignment Configuration section of the SBN Integration Profile. This allows you to select which is primary record during reloading from SBN ('SBN' is the default option).
Merge and Combine Process
The Merge Records and Combine Inventory tool was added under Resource Management > Advanced Tools. The Merge Records and Combine Inventory tool allows you to handle duplicate titles by merging them and combining their inventory.
The duplicate records to be merged are taken from the report file (.csv) of your Duplicate Title Analysis job (see Using Duplicate Title Analysis).
See Using Merge Records and Combine Inventory and Using Duplicate Title Analysis.
Additional Fields for Inventory Import
Idea Exchange URM-41382Additional fields were added to the Import Profile page > Inventory Operations tab for physical inventory. You can map item-level information from these fields in the input file, or indicate a value to be placed in the imported records.
See Creating/Editing an Import Profile: Inventory Information.
Support for Cataloger Level in Authorities (New MDE)
Now the Cataloger Level is displayed in the new Metadata Editor for authorities. For this to display, you need to have cataloging levels configured for your institution (see Configuring Cataloging Levels for Contribution to Externally Managed Authorities).
When Cataloger Level is displayed in the Metadata Editor, and your cataloging level is lower than the authority record you are trying to edit, a message is displayed providing you insight as to why you cannot edit the record.
This functionality is available only in the new Metadata Editor layout.
See Assigning Cataloging Levels Upon Save and New Metadata Editor Functionality.
Support for Czech Alphabet
Alma now supports special Czech language characters for staff searches in the following areas: repository search, user search, purchase and fulfillment requests, and deposits. It also applies to browse bibliographic headings, using F3, and sorting results. If you are interested in this capability, contact Ex Libris Support to configure this for your institution.
To apply the above changes for Bibliographic/Authority/Inventory data, the following indexing jobs must be run for Czech institutions:
- Full Indexing Job
- Full Inventory Indexing Job
A more detailed explanation of this process can be found here.
Accurate Partial Linking Indication
In some cases, the MDE showed a partial linking icon instead of the full linking icon
. During the February release, Ex Libris will run a data correction job that will fix the data, to align the data with the actual link in all these cases.
New Alma Hot Key
The following hot key was added to Alma, to allow you to work faster.
- Alt+M - Press to toggle the Metadata Editor open/closed.
See Global Alma Hot Keys.
Shared MD Import Profiles in the Community Zone are Now Published to the Developer Network
To help users share Metadata Import profiles in the Community Zone, Ex Libris now publishes the list of shared Metadata import profiles in the Developer Network: https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/integrations/sharedmdimpprof/.
This is the same list that can be viewed from Import Profiles page > Community tab. Publishing this list in the Developer Network enables both Alma users and others who cannot log in to Alma to see the sharing that is done within the system. The list updates automatically whenever new MD Import profiles are shared in the Community Zone.
New Metadata Editor - Accessibility Improvements
The improvements were done in the new MDEditor with the purpose of making it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The improvements include addition of labels and tooltips where they were missing, and in the the ability of screen readers to convey the state of elements to the reader. This was done in the following areas of the MDEditor:
- Tabs:
- Filter and sort:
- Buttons on the Navigation panel header:
- Item list (records/templates/rules)
- Record validation
Fulfillment Administrator Role Support for Library-Level Scoping
February 2021 Fulfillment URM-101627
The Fulfillment Administrator role can now be scoped to a specific library within an institution. This affects the Alma links that are accessible to the user with this role. To support this feature, you can now select a library from the Scope drop-down list when configuring the Fulfillment Administrator role for a user:
For a user whose role is scoped to a specific library:
- In the Fulfillment menu:
- The following links are not visible:
- Distribute Fulfillment Network Configuration (only for network institutions)
- Distribute Resource Sharing Network Configuration (only for network institutions)
- Resend Printouts/Emails
- Loans Overdue Notification Status Update
- View Overdue and Lost Loan Jobs
- The following links remain visible:
- Create Fines and Fees Report ( The Received by Library drop-down list and the Fine Owner drop-down list are not limited to libraries in the role's scope)
- Create Fulfillment Sets
- Citation Alternate Suggestions
- Pages that currently enable library level management remain visible.
- The following links are not visible:
- In the Fulfillment configuration menu:
- The Configuring drop-down list displays the library for which the configuration links are displayed.
- If the user has another role besides the Fulfillment Administrator role that allows access to all of the Fulfillment links (for example, the General Admin role), all the menu options appear.
For more information on User Roles, see Managing User Roles.
Limit Loan Renewal Time Frame
February 2021 Fulfillment URM-109366
You can now limit the time period during which a user can renew a loan to a specific number of days before the loan is due. You do this with the new Time frame when loan renewal is allowed policy type.
When selecting a Value Type of Other, the Days before due date field appears. Enter the number of days before the loan is due that you want users to be able to renew the loan.
For more information on Fulfillment policies, see Adding Fulfillment Policies.
Limit Courtesy Notifications for Daily Renewal Attempt to Once Per Loan
February 2021 Fulfillment URM-109366
A new Handle loans option, Daily within range without repeating notification, was added to the Send Courtesy Notices and Handle Loan Renewals Fulfillment job:
For more information on configuring fulfillment jobs, see Configuring Fulfillment Jobs.
Identifier Based Locate
February 2021 Fulfillment-Resource Sharing URM-138275
You can configure Alma’s locate by fields from both the borrower side (Configuration > Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Locate Profiles) and the Lender side (Configuration > Fulfillment > Library Management > Library Details) to find a matching record by matching one of the selected identifier fields. The new Locate only if all fields match option was added to allow this.
If set to Yes, the existing behavior of successful locate only when all selected fields match is maintained. If set to No, then:
- If the request has identifiers (such as ISBN, OCLC number or LCCN), locate is successful if any of the selected identifier fields finds a match. Other fields such as Title and Author are not used for the match.
- If no identifier fields exist on the request, locate is only successful if all of the other selected fields match.
For more information concerning Resource Sharing Locate by Fields, for the borrowing library side, see Adding Locate Profiles and for the lending library side, see Configuring Parameters of a Resource Sharing Library.
New Checkbox to Display Chapter Fields in Primo VE Request Form
February 2021 Fulfillment-Resource Sharing URM-139694
A new checkbox appears at the top of the Primo VE book request form that allows you to indicate that you only need a specific chapter or pages. Selecting this checkbox displays fields for requesting book chapters (Chapter and Pages). In this way you can display these fields only when they are relevant.
To configure the checkbox to appear, select a checkbox next to the new Specific Chapter or Pages option from the Resource Sharing Form Customization page (Configuration > Discovery > GetIt Configuration > Resource Sharing Request). If the Specific Chapter or Pages option is not selected, there is no change in the behavior of the request form, and the chapter fields always appear if activated for the book request form.
For more information, see Primo Book Chapter Request.
Allow automation of branch requesting for RS serial requests
The process for automatically creating an internal ship physically/digitally request for a serial/multi volume resource was enhanced. Before, when the lending request was for a serial/multi volume resource, Alma supported either mediating the request or have a title level request created automatically. A new option was added which will automatically create requests with a manual description containing the relevant metadata from the lending request (if exists), providing the librarian picking the item from the shelf with information to help select the required volume/issue.
This can be done by setting the values of the rs_auto_request_lending_with_serials and rs_auto_request_lending_with_volume_issue parameters to 'general'.
SIP2 Certificate Updated to SHA-256
In order to provide improved security and integrate with the latest versions of Stunnel, the certificate used to integrate between Alma and Stunnel was updated to the SHA-256 standard. If you would like to upgrade to the latest Stunnel version, you can now download a new certificate from Alma which is compatible with this version.
Stunnel is software used as a proxy between self-check machines and Alma (for details, see Stunnel). It is configured to listen on a defined port (e.g. 5003) over TCP/IP and routes the request to Alma port 6443 over SSL using a pem file used as key&cert download from the Self-check integration profile.
Accessibility Improvements
The following improvements were done with the purpose of making it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):
- In the Summary section (that appears above the page when viewing on small-sized window):
- "More Info" button is now available by keyboard
- More Info popup (after clicking) is now available by keyboard
- The "Close" button of the More Info popup is now available by keyboard
- The user card that opens from the More Info popup is now available by keyboard
- "Collapse" button now indicates the real meaning and the expanded/collapsed state of the section.
- In the Summary panel (that appears to the right of the page when viewing on normal-size window):
- "More info" button is now available by keyboard, and describes the real meaning and the current state of section (expanded/collapsed).
- "Collapse" button now indicates the real meaning and the expanded/collapsed of the section.
- Correct contrast was added to dropdown hover:
Enhanced Code Table API
Idea ExchangePO Line Infrastructure Upgrade
PO Line confirmation messages to include the owning library
In Alma, the existing pop-up message for the "Create PO Line" workflow was enhanced to notify users to which library the existing PO line is associated and with which library the existing item is associated with (when creating a physical PO line).
Additionally, these 2 alerts was added to the 'Manage Acquisitions alert' configuration screen (Configuration Menu -> Acquisitions > Manage acquisitions alerts) so that institutions can set it not to appear:
Control Availability Status of Electronic Resources created via Real Time Ordering
A new customer parameter (acq_activate_portfolio_from_API) was added to enable institutions to decide if electronic resource orders created via Real Time Ordering will create the Community Zone (CZ) linked portfolio as 'available' or as 'not-available'.
In case the parameter is set to 'true', institutions are no longer required to go via the E-Activation task list in order to make the resource available as it is created as such when the order enters into Alma.
The Out of the Box (OTB) value for this parameter is set to "False" and will create the e-resource via the Real Time order process as "Not Available" to modify the parameter go to Configuration menu -> Acquisitions -> Other settings -> acq_activate_portfolio_from_API (set this to 'true' for portfolios to be created as 'Available').
Additional collections for activating OASIS 'Real Time' Ordered Portfolios from the Community Zone
Five new collections were added to the 'Real time Order' workflow of activation of Community Zone resources for orders originating from OASIS.
The collections are:
| Provider Name | Collection Name | Collection ID |
|---|---|---|
| Brill Online | Brill Online Books | 613170000000000148 |
| De Gruyter | De Gruyter eBooks Complete | 611000000000002268 |
| IGI Global Online | IGI Global InfoSci-Books | 611000000000002255 |
| JSTOR | JSTOR Books | 613170000000000272 |
| Oxford Scholarly Editions Online | Oxford Scholarly Editions Online | 613840000000000106 |
| Project MUSE | Project MUSE - EBA All Single Title Collection | 615410000000000517 |
See OASIS vendors list for full list of Community Zone collections which supports this functionality.
Email Notification from CDI Publishing Profile
The Alma Publish Electronic Records to Central Discovery Index job now has an Email Notification button for users to opt in to automated emails updated when publishing runs.
New Holdings Management Privilege
To make sure that holdings management is only done by authorized users, the following changes were made to Alma roles:
- New privilege PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE is now part of the following roles:
- PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_OPERATOR
- PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_OPERATOR_LIMITED
- PURCHASE_MANAGER
- PURCHASE_OPERATOR
- REPOSITORY_MANAGER
- Users with PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_DELETE role can delete a holdings record.
- Users with CATALOGING privileges only will no longer be able to manage holdings. They will need to be given a role that has the PHYSICAL_INVENTORY_MANAGE/DELETE privilege.
Users without CATALOGING privileges cannot open and work in the Metadata Editor in its classic layout. They can only work in the new MDE layout.
See Metadata Editor and Navigating the MD Editor Page, Working with Holdings Records, Searching in Alma, Viewing Read-Only Records in the Simple Record View Page.
New Metadata Editor
Enhancements to the New Metadata Editor Layout
The following changes were made:
- The three functional areas of the MDEditor - Records, Templates and Rules - are now located on the Navigation pane as tabs, and not as a dropdown, for better visibility and quicker access.
- Under each functional area, the tabs of the new MDEditor are now located in the Navigation pane. This frees valuable real estate on the MDEditor that can be used for cataloging work. The new compact design allows quick access for users who work with few record types, while still providing full access for users who work with many record types.
Each tab represents a different type of records (Sets, DC, MARC21, UMIMARC and the other formats, Holdings, Authorities formats). To open records of a certain record family, click the tab. The tab changes its color to blue (see Holdings in the screenshot below) to indicate that its records are currently displayed in the Navigation pane. To view other record types, select the
arrow, and select the desired type of records from the list.
See Draft Records, Metadata Editor, Records.
Template Management in Metadata Editor
Ex Libris continues the rollout of the new Metadata Editor. In the current release, the Template Management core functionality was introduced (the functionality available in the original Metadata Editor plus new features). Rule management will be rolled out in the upcoming releases (see Rollout Plan), giving users enough time to adjust to the changes.
Alma users can switch back and forth between the Records and Templates areas in new and the original Metadata Editors.
- to the new Metadata Editor, select on the left-hand side of the top toolbar of the Editor.
- back to the original Metadata Editor, select
Old Editor on the left-hand side of the top toolbar of the Editor.
Ex Libris recommends that all relevant users start familiarizing themselves with the new Metadata Editor prior to its Go-Live, which is planned to take place with the deployment of January 2021 release.
See New Metadata Editor Functionality.
Side-by-side Editing of Primary and Searched/Browsed Records
Now you can view the searched/browsed record alongside you primary bibliographic record. This allows you to compare your bibliographic record with the searched record, while also providing easy navigation back to the search form to refine your search, if needed.
When you have a bibliographic record open in the MDEditor, and you trigger Search External Resources, the search form opens in the right pane. Search Results cover the search panel with the option Back to Results that allows you to go back to refine your search. When selecting View on one of the results, the viewed record now covers the left pane, with an option to go back to results. The bibliographic record that you had open in the right pane appears again, allowing you to compare both.
Improved Inventory Import
As part of the import profile, you can define how to map the imported records to existing records in Alma (if there are such). This is done on the Inventory Information tab of the Import Profile page (Resources > Import > Manage Import Profiles or Acquisitions > Import > Manage Import Profiles).
The following changes were made to the Inventory Information tab:
- For physical inventory, you can now map the inventory information in the input file either from a single field or from different fields.
- The tab was redesigned to display information clearer.
Search Index Operators for Local Call Numbers
Search operators were added to the local call numbers index.
Community Zone Updates - Remove Bibliographic Records With No Inventory
Up till now, when a Community Zone portfolio was updated to relink to a different bibliographic record, the Community Zone Update process updated the Institution Zone portfolio to point to the new bibliographic record, but the old bibliographic record remained in the Institution Zone even if it no longer had inventory.Starting from this release, if the bibliographic record does not have any inventory, the Community Zone Update process removes it.
Community Zone Task now includes a dedicated report type for this type of Community Zone updates, "Portfolio bibliographic record updated". This report type shows the MMS ID of the deleted bibliographic record and MMS ID of the new bibliographic record to which the portfolio was relinked.
New Alma Hot Key
The following hot key was added to Alma:
- Ctrl+Alt+C - Press to toggle the Configuration menu open/closed. When pressing to close the Configuration menu, you are taken to the Alma homepage.
See Global Alma Hot Keys.
Collection of Type ‘Search Rights in CDI: Subscription’ Require Activation
Collections that are defined as ‘Search Rights in CDI: Subscription’ can only be activated for search in CDI if your institution subscribes to the collection
As of this release CDI Fully Flexible customers can indicate that they have subscription for these type of collections by activating the collections in Alma or by setting them up as 'Full text in CDI Only; it will no longer be possible to 'Activate for Search in CDI'
example:
Enhancements to Digital Copyright Statements
Several enhancements were implemented for configuring Digital Copyright statements:
- Digital copyright statements were separated from the general copyright declarations and now has its own page: Copyright Statements - Digital.
- The out-of-the-box set of boilerplate copyright statements now includes all Creative Commons licenses, Rightsstatements, and US Code. These statements are view-only and are available in the Boilerplate section of the page.
- A new Custom section is available on the Copyright Statements - Digital page where you can add an unlimited number of custom made copyright statements.
For more information, see Configuring Copyright Statements – Digital.
New circulation desk configuration to control the appearance of the 'Override return Date and Time' field in the 'Return Items' page
Institutions now have the ability to configure that the circulation desk does not display the Override return date and time field in the 'Return Items' page.Previously, this field was displayed at all times and scenarios for user roles where this was enabled, because the field was not associated to any circulation desk configuration. Institutions now have control and can limit the appearance of the field.
To set this configuration, go to the relevant location in the 'Configuring' dropdown menu on the top of the configuration menu then go to Fulfillment->Circulation Desks-> Add/Edit the relevant desk and see the 'Supports overriding return date' field (enabled by default):
Automated Resource Sharing Request Digitization Process
Alma now allows the resource sharing request digitization process to be automatic even when there are multiple branch library level digitization departments. Previously, the process of creating a request could work if there was only one digitization department at the institution. If there were branch library digitization departments then the digitization requests needed to be created manually by the resource sharing staff and manually assigned to the relevant branch library.
To enable this functionality go to the Configuration menu->Fulfillment->General->Other settings, customize the 'rs_default_digitization_department' parameter and set its value to 'prefer_local':
The new configuration is currently not supported for AFN requests. If your consortium is working with AFN, a specific digitization department needs to be used.
Alma to Alma - Send digitized content directly to patron
In Alma ISO resource sharing, digitized content provided as a link by the lender can now be sent to patrons without the email address of the patron being shared with the lender. The shipped digitally message from the lender triggers the borrower side to send an email to the patron with a link that requires authentication on the borrower side, which then directs the patron to the document the lender uploaded. Before, this process required sharing the patron email with the lender by setting the partner to support ADD address, which raised a privacy concern for libraries. The email with the link to the digitized content is now sent regardless of the ADD address configuration. The customer parameter borrower_document_delivery_send_automatically (on the borrower side) determines whether the document delivery email is sent automatically to the patron when resource is shipped by the lender, or will be sent manually by the librarian on the borrower side using new 'View File' and 'Send File to Patron' row actions in the borrowing request task list.
Send digitized content to patron - Upload file
Idea ExchangeURM-109783
Library staff is now able to upload a file to a borrowing resource sharing request in Alma and have Alma send the document delivery email with a controlled link to the file. When a non-Alma library sends a digital file to an Alma library the file has to be sent as an attachment to an email. Before, forwarding this email to the patron had to be done using tools outside of Alma. Librarians can now use Alma to send patrons uniformed emails and not different emails depending on how the file was obtained, using new 'Upload File' and 'Send File to Patron' row actions in the borrowing request task list
Retry Rapid request
In Alma, when a borrowing request is sent to Rapid using the API, the operator is now notified by Alma that Rapid found a local match for the request. The operator is then given an option to override this and send the request to Rapid anyway. If the request is sent to Rapid and rejected because of a local match then the request is assigned the new 'Local Holding' status. This allows to easily identify automatic send attempts to Rapid that were rejected because of local holdings. The new "Override local holding" action allows to override the Rapid rejection.
Allow automation of branch requesting for RS serial requests
This feature has been deactivated and will appear in the February release.
The process for automatically creating an internal ship physically/digitally request for a serial/multi volume resource was enhanced. Before, when the lending request was for a serial/multi volume resource, Alma supported either mediating the request or have a title level request created automatically. A new option was added which will automatically create requests with a manual description containing the relevant metadata from the lending request (if exists), providing the librarian picking the item from the shelf with information to help select the required volume/issue.
This can be done by setting the values of the rs_auto_request_lending_with_serials and rs_auto_request_lending_with_volume_issue parameters to 'general'.
New Alma Layout - Hurry to Opt In for a Better Working Experience
The rollout of the new Alma layout continues, and the new layout is already the default for thousands of Alma users.
The new layout increases your working area, improves navigation, gives you more options to customize your menus, and facilitates improved user workflows. For a full list of changes and opt-in instructions, see Layout Improvements.
Consortia CDI Inheritance
The CDI inheritance indication has been added to the Network tab making it visible and easy to understand whether the institution inherits the collection CDI setup from the Network Zone (NZ) or not. CDI inherited collections will be presented in the combined search results and the Network Zone tab with the specific CDI related setup present in a new dedicated CDI drawer.
The example above shows that the collection 'Scholars Portal Books: Springer-Religion and Philosophy 2017' was activated in Alma for 'Alma Academy' but the Network decided not to mark its content as Full Text Available in CDI.
The CDI drawer will indicate the following information (when relevant):
- Available for: Contains the Alma full text activation.
- Do not show as full text in CDI even if active in Alma: Lists all member institutions / campuses for which ' Do not show as full text in CDI even if active in Alma' is selected.
- CDI only full text activation: Lists all member institutions / campuses with FT in CDI only activation.
- CDI search activation: Lists all member institutions / campuses with CDI search activation.
The CDI drawer will also be displayed for institutions with distributed management of electronic resources. In this case, it will present the CDI setup for the relevant "Available For Groups".
Re-assign MMS Records in Network Shared Catalog
The Assign Record to Another Cataloger action in the Metadata Editor now provides the ability to assign Bibliographic and Authority Network Zone records to a cataloger from another institution within the network.
This functionality is available only in the new Metadata Editor.
The new functionality is available only when the new customer parameter enable_nz_record_assignment in NZ environment is set to True (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Other Settings). This parameter is available only for the Network Zone, since the network sets this policy for all its member. Stand-alone institutions and NZ members do not have access to this parameter.
See Assigning a Network Zone Cataloging Record to a Cataloger of Another Institution, Contributing to the Community Zone – Bibliographic Records and Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management).
New Alma Analytics Dashboard for Analytics Objects
A new Alma Analytics dashboard is now available for the Analytics Objects subject area. It contains the following reports that display information concerning the Analytics Objects of your institution:
- Customized objects with at least one user
- Customized objects with no users
- Number of objects created per user
- Objects breakdown by type
- Objects created in the last year (last 365 days)
- Top 5 most popular scheduled reports and widgets
For more information, see Out-of-the-Box Reports.
Configuration Change Tracking in Code and Mapping Tables
Now you can see the history of changes made by your staff to code and mapping tables (but not the full details of the change). This helps you know what configuration changes were made, and by whom, for audit purposes.
The decision of whether to store these events and the period during which they are kept is controlled by the institution. The customer parameter code_and_mapping_table_log_retention_period (Configuration Menu > General > General Configuration > Other Settings) controls the duration of days for which this data is stored. The default is 0 (data is not stored), and you can change it to any number of days.
When the parameter value is higher than 0, Alma now supports storing events when changes are made to the Code or mapping tables. Events include the user that made the change, the table where the change was made, and the action (new row, row update, row deletion). You can then run a report of these events via Alma Analytics.
Support for Authentication Forcing in OpenID Authentication
Now the OIDC (OpenID Connect) authentication of Alma supports authentication forcing when Alma authenticates users via OIDC. If you want to force authentication when Alma authenticates users via OIDC, select the "Force Authentication" checkbox in the Actions tab of the OpeinID Connect integration profile.
See OpenID Connect.
Additional Recent Entities Added
Actions performed on the following pages are now listed on the Recent Entities pane:
- Mapping tables
- Code tables
- Integration Profiles
This provides quick access to the entities you updated recently, without having to go through the entire list of tables or integration profiles. For more information, see Recent Entities List.
Set related APIs have been enhanced to include retrieve (GET) and creation of itemized sets (POST) for vendors
In Alma, it is now possible to manage itemized sets of vendors via the API.
For further details, click here.
The Items API was enhanced to include a new option for Sorting by Expected Receive Date
The Get-Items API now supports sorting by the expected received date. When working with continuous orders and prediction patterns, this enables fetching the items that should be received next and helps to identify items that should be claimed.
Allow Multiple RolloversURM-154445
NERS Enhancement (ID #7334)Alma now enables the institution to run the rollover job multiple times without fear of unintentionally duplicating reading lists that have already been rolled over. The Course Loader integration profile (Configuration Menu > General > External Systems > Integration Profiles) now includes an On rollover copy only lists created before field. By default, the calendar field is empty. Institutions that run the rollover job more than once per term can enter the date of the previous rollover to ensure that reading lists that were previously rolled over will not be rolled over again.
The job checks if the reading list associated with the COURSE_CODE was created before the date defined in the field. If the reading list was created prior to the defined date, the reading list associated with the OLD_COURSE_CODE is rolled over to the course defined in COURSE_CODE. Otherwise, the reading list is not rolled over.
For more information, see Configuring Course Loading.
Copyright Issue Supports Alpha Characters
- March-April is the same as March-april
- March April is not the same as March-April
- March is not the same as Mar
For more information, see Copyright Management.
Streamlined Digitization Workflow for Course Materials
If the copyright status of a citation is approved, or the copyright workflow is configured to happen in parallel to the digitization workflow, upon selecting Deliver Digital Documents, you are prompted to upload the digital file. After uploading and selecting Done, the attachment is added to the citation and the request is marked as complete.
Attach Citations Manually to a Specific Bibliographic Record
You can now manually attach a citation to a specific bibliographic record. Use the Manual Locate action to manually select or change which record the citation is attached to.
The Manual Locate action is always available, regardless of if a citation is located.
Search for the bibliographic record you want to attach the citation to, then select the relevant bibliographic record from the search results.
If the citation selected is already associated with an MMS ID, the following confirmation message appears:
If you select Confirm, the citation is detached from its current MMS ID and attached to the new MMS ID.
Alert for Duplicate Purchase Orders
You now see an alert before submitting a duplicate purchase request from a citation. When selecting Citation > Purchase Request, if an unapproved purchase request already exists with the same MMS ID, the following message appears:
Upon selecting Confirm, the purchase request form opens.
Upon selecting Cancel, you are returned to the previous screen.
Run Course Loader in Report Mode
Update Citation Type in Bulk
July 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-139271
- book chapter, article, and electronic article cannot be updated in bulk as they require an additional title
- citations associated with a copyright request or license type-CLA cannot be updated in bulk
Updating the type using the Reading List Citation Update task will not trigger a resource locate or change in the citation status.
For more information, see Running Manual Jobs on Defined Sets.
Bolk Copyright Service: Extend Right Clearance
When the Bolk status changes to Approved, the user sees a price per page and required fee in order to make the material available to students. The Copyright Status at this stage maintains the status of Waiting for Approval.
Two new actions display in the citation menu:
- Accept Bolk Right Clearance — you agree to the terms of use. The material will be available for students. The Copyright Status updates to Approved.
- Reject Bolk Right Clearance — you do not agree to terms of use. The Copyright Status updates to Declined and the material will not be available for students. You can then update the Bolk request.
- Bolk Right Clearance Approved
- Bolk Right Clearance Rejected
These alerts were also added to the user task list:
Bolk Copyright Service: Update Excerpt Requests
Bolk Copyright Service: Limitations
When a second request is submitted containing the same ISBN as a previous request, the initial request is resubmitted to Bolk as well. Upon submitting a second request, a dialog box displays informing you that an approved request already exists:
Upon selecting Confirm, you are prompted to enter the pages you are requesting and reconfirm that all requests related to this ISBN are resubmitted.
Bolk Copyright Service: Curriculum Locking
Upon selecting Lock Bolk request from a course, Leganto checks whether there are any outstanding requests still awaiting processing. If there are any outstanding requests, the following message is displayed:
Enable Adding a Course to a List with an Approved Copyright in Alma
You can now add or remove courses from reading lists with citations that have an approved copyright. The recalculation will be done overnight.
- You cannot remove an association in bulk if a copyright on the list is approved.
- To remove a course from the list, there must be another course already attached to the list.
This does not apply to lists with a License Type of Bolk, CLA, or CCC.
Option to Attach Files to Citations Automatically as Part of the Digitization Workflow
Alma will now attempt to automatically add the file to the citation at the completion of the digitization workflow, in addition to the existing notification email that is sent to the library staff that manages the list.
If the citation has no file and only one file was digitized:
- The digitized file is added to the citation associated with the request.
- The existing email is sent with a notification that the digitized file was added to the citation.
If citation has no file and multiple files were digitized:
- The digitized files are not attached to the citation.
- The existing email is sent with a notification that the digitized files were not added to the citation because the digitization request contains multiple files.
If citation has already a file:
- The digitized file is not attached to the citation.
- The existing email is sent with a notification that the digitized file was not added to the citation because the citation has an existing file.
If file could not be uploaded (in instances such as a communications error):
- An email is sent with a notification that the file was not added to the citation due to a general error.
The citations can be tracked using the following facets:
- Citation Digitization Request Completed
- Citation has a new file
|
File_not_uploaded_file_exists |
The digitized file was not uploaded because another file is already attached to the citation. |
|
File_uploaded |
The digitized file was uploaded to the citation. |
|
File_not_uploaded_multiple_files |
Because the digitization request contains multiple files, they could not be automatically uploaded to the citation. |
|
File_not_uploaded_general_error |
Due to a general error, the file could not be uploaded to the citation. |
Recalculate Copyrights of Multiple Citations (Job)
You can now recalculate the copyright rules in bulk for a set of citations. To do so, select the Bulk Citation Copyright Recalculate job from Fulfillment > Advanced Tools. The job will not recalculate the following types of citations:
- Citations that are not associated with a copyright request.
- Citations that have a copyright request in the past (the copyright has ended).
- Citations that have a License Type of Bolk, CLA or CCC.
Automatically Calculate Total Chapter Count
In the Copyright Attributes tab of a Reading List Citation, the Total Chapters Count is now automatically calculated from the Required Chapters field. The calculation is performed only if Required Chapters contains numbers, Roman numerals, '-' or ','. You can override the automatically calculated value by typing over the number.
DCS Create Courses
The UK CLA Digital Content Store (DCS) now includes support for adding courses. If a copyright request is created in Alma/Leganto and the course does not exist in DCS, then the course is automatically created in DCS using the Submit Course API.
Additional Enhancements
- December 2021 Digital Resource Management URM-157329
The following labels for the Internet Archive Book Reader and Universal Viewer are now customizable (similar to the Alma Viewer) from Configuration > Fulfillment > Digital Fulfillment > Alma Viewer Labels.- Renew
- Your session will expire in {0} seconds
- Your session has expired
- Time Remaining
- Return Early
- Remaining session time: {0}
- Confirmation Message
- Cancel
- OK
- Zoom in (for IABR)
- Zoom out (for IABR)
- December 2021 Digital Resource Management URM-159975
The Internet Archive Book Reader was updated to the latest version, which provides an enhanced user experience through an improved full text search function, better accessibility, and more. - December 2021 Analytics NERS Enhancement (ID #7421) URM-152493
The PO Line Notes field was added to the PO Line dimension in the following locations. It contains the notes on the PO line. Multiple notes are separated by a semicolon.
- E-Inventory
- Funds Expenditure
- Physical Items
- Purchase Requests
- December 2021 Analytics URM-155953
The Expenditures Per Reporting Code - 4th and Expenditures Per Reporting Code - 5th reports were added to the Reporting Code tab of the Acquisitions dashboard as pie charts and to the table:
Expenditures Per Reporting Code - 4th and Expenditures Per Reporting Code - 5th - December 2021 Fulfillment - Resource Sharing Idea ExchangeURM152745
When configured (Configuration > General > Letters > Letters Configuration > Resource Sharing Request Confirmation Letter), Alma now sends a confirmation email when a request is placed. This letter is disabled by default.
Confirmation LetterFor more information, see Letter List (Alma) or Rapido Letters (Rapido).
- November 2021 Digital Resource Management URM-157810
The functionality of all digital viewers was aligned so that when no share options are configured (Configuration > Fulfillment > Digital Fulfillment > Viewer Share Buttons), the Share icon does not appear in any of the viewers. - November 2021 Analytics URM-155064
The date filter fields in the various subject areas can now be filtered by Current Academic Year.
Current Academic YearThe current academic year of your institution is determined by your country, according to the following table:
Current Academic Year Country Code Start Month End Month Argentina 54 March February Australia 61 January December Austria 43 October September Belgium 32 August July Botswana 267 August July Brazil 55 January December Canada 01 August July Chile 56 January December China 86 September July Colombia 57 January December Czech Republic 420 September August Denmark 45 August July Ecuador 593 September August Finland 358 August July France 33 September August Germany 49 October September Hong Kong 852 August July Ireland 353 September July Israel 972 October September Italy 39 September August Japan 81 April March Luxembourg 352 September August Macau 853 August July Malta 356 September August Mexico 52 January December Netherlands 31 August July New Zealand 64 January December Norway 47 July June Peru 51 January December Philippines 63 September August Poland 48 October September Portugal 351 September August Qatar 974 September August Singapore 65 August July South Africa 27 January December South Korea 82 March February Spain 34 September August Sweden 46 August July Switzerland 41 September August Taiwan 886 September August United Arab Emirates 971 September August UK 44 September August USA 01 August July Vietnam 84 January December - November 2021 Analytics URM-158982
The Object Type field was added to Analytics Usage Tracking > Query Details. It indicates if the object type is dashboard or widget. - November 2021 Analytics URM-155930
The Rep Availability field was added to Digital Inventory > Representation Details. It indicates if the representation is active or inactive. - November 2021 Analytics URM-152090
The number of retrieved titles now appears at the top of each tab of the Title Level Overlap Analysis dashboard:
Number of Retrieved Titles - November 2021 Analytics URM-148352
Additional security enhancements were implemented to block reports to which you are not allowed access. - November 2021 Analytics URM-157274 URM-156650
In continuation from the October release, additional irregularities across several subject areas, including typographical errors, inconsistencies between common fields, and missing fields were corrected.
- October 2021 Resource Management
The following improvements have been made in CDI:- The CDI holdings file export has been enhanced to include active collections with the 'We subscribe to only some titles in this collection’ option set to ‘No’ in the <INST_code>_INST_db_ids.xml file. See more information about the 'We subscribe to only some titles in this collection’ setting.
- The CDI option, "Do not show..." check box that is displayed in the CDI tab of the Electronic Collection editor is now disabled (read-only) for collections that are not active in Alma. When the option is disabled, the following message is displayed upon hovering over the checkbox; "This option cannot be used because the collection is not currently active in Alma."
CDI Options Disabled - The Network Zone in Alma now generates a tar.gz with holdings for the Publishing Electronic Records to CDI Job.
- Added "hybrid" value for CDI related descriptive fields for Alma electronic records. For more information, see Hybrid Collections in CDI.
- October 2021 Digital Resource Management URM-156335
An information icon was added to the File Details section on the Representation Details page (Resources > Create Inventory > Add Digital Representation):
Information IconIt instructs the user to Specify the directory containing the files to upload.
- October 2021 Analytics URM-152112
The Num of Recalled Requests field was added to Lending Requests > Lending Requests Details. It indicates the number of recalled lending requests. - October 2021 Analytics URM-153438
The Invoice-Due Date field was added to Funds Expenditure > Invoice Line. It indicates the due date of the invoice. - October 2021 Analytics URM-152524
The following fields were added to Users > User Details:- Can't edit restricted users – indicates if the user can edit restricted user groups
- Disable All Login Restrictions – indicates if the user has IP login restrictions disabled
- October 2021 Analytics URM-156971 URM-155028
Irregularities across several subject areas, including typographical errors, inconsistencies between common fields, and missing fields were corrected. - October 2021 Analytics URM-157027
The Borrowing Institution and Borrowing Library fields (Lending Requests > Lending Request Details) were renamed to Borrowing Library (Rapid ILL) and Borrowing Institution (Rapid ILL) to indicate that these fields are related exclusively to Rapid ILL. - October 2021 Analytics URM-URM-155895
The following out-of-the-box Acquisitions reports were renamed:- P and E Expenditure Trends was renamed to P and E Expenditure Trends - last 8 quarters
- Expenditure Trends for Physical and Electronic Resources was renamed to P and E Expenditure Trends
- October 2021 Analytics URM-154625
Linked reports that open in a new window are a security risk and are no longer supported. If you have any such reports, you must change them to be either Embedded in Section or Link – Within the Dashboard:- From the Compound View of the relevant report, select the Properties icon:
Properties Icon - From the Display Results drop-down menu, select either Embedded in Section or Link – Within the Dashboard:
Display Results
- From the Compound View of the relevant report, select the Properties icon:
- August 2021 Resource Management SF: 00877677 URM-139422
All instances in the Alma UI that refer to "Full text active in CDI only" have been changed to "CDI-only full text activation". - August 2021 Analytics URM-151780
The date filter fields in Alma Analytics (such as the Fulfillment Due Date Filter) can now be filtered according to the Older than 7 Days filter. Select this option from the New Filter pop-up to apply this filter:
Older than 7 Days - August 2021 Analytics URM-88987
The Uniform Resource Identifier Exists field was added to the Bibliographic Details folder for all subject areas for which it exists. It indicates if 856 subfield u contains data. - August 2021 Analytics URM-148218
The Chapter Number field was added to Borrowing Requests > Borrowing Request Details. - August 2021 Analytics URM-139696
When calculating the cost-per use (E-Inventory > Cost Usage), matching is now done using the ISBN Valid and ISSN Valid fields. - August 2021 Analytics URM-152968
The following reports were added to the Consortia folder:- Number of fully processed COUNTER files per institution in current calendar year
- Number of fully processed COUNTER files per institution in previous calendar year
- August 2021 Analytics URM-153110
Alma now supports the display and export to CSV format of 10 million rows. - August 2021 Analytics URM-152823 URM-154624
Several security enhancements were implemented when viewing reports in Alma Analytics:- Previously, it was possible to alter the URL of an accessible report to view a report that should be blocked. This is no longer possible.
- Linked reports that open in a new window are a security risk and are no longer supported. If you have any such reports, you must change them to be either Embedded in Section or Link – Within the Dashboard:
- From the Compound View of the relevant report, select the Properties icon:
Properties Icon
- From the Display Results drop-down menu, select either Embedded in Section or Link – Within the Dashboard:
Display Results
- From the Compound View of the relevant report, select the Properties icon:
- August 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves SF: 00808972 URM-130012 Idea Exchange
When copying a citation with a public note, the note is copied in the following scenarios:
- Duplicating a list
- Copying a citation
- July 2021 AcquisitionsURM-147560
When searching for a PO using a Pickup (List of POs presented in a lightbox), the pickup field presents all POs except those in Closed status. The pickup POs are:- Change vendor in order
- Create invoice from PO
- July 2021 Digital Resource Management URM-147560
The display of the Alma Viewer in landscape mode for mobile devices was improved. - July 2021 Analytics URM-88987
The following fields were added to the E-Inventory subject area:- No. of Portfolio (In Repository Contributed to CZ) – the number of portfolios in the repository contributed to the Community Zone
- Portfolio Contributed to CZ – indicates if portfolios were contributed to the Community Zone
- No. of Electronic Collections (In Repository Contributed to CZ) – the number of electronic collections in the repository contributed to the Community Zone
- Electronic Collection Contributed To CZ – indicates if electronic collections were contributed to the Community Zone
- July 2021 Analytics URM-143885
The Num of Locate Failed Requests field was added to Lending Requests > Lending Request Details and Borrowing Requests > Borrowing Request Details. It indicates the number of failed locate requests. - July 2021 Analytics URM-143885
The following fields were added to User dimensions located in subject areas besides the Users subject area:These fields were added to:
- Cataloger Level
- Has Role other than Patron
- Has Role other than Patron and Instructor
- Is Blocked
- Patron Letters Opt In
- Patron Letters Opt Out
- Borrowing Requests > Requester
- Course Reserves > Librarian
- E-Inventory > Cost Usage POL Approver
- E-Inventory > Electronic Collection PO Line Approver
- E-Inventory > Portfolio PO Line Approver
- Fines and Fees > User Details
- Fulfillment > Borrower Details
- Funds Expenditure > PO Line Approver
- Leganto Student Usage > Student Details
- Physical Items > PO Line Approver
- Purchase Requests > Purchase Request Approver
- Purchase Requests > Purchase Request Assigned To
- Purchase Requests > Purchase Request Creator
- Purchase Requests > Purchase Request Modified By
- Purchase Requests > Purchase Request Requester
- Requests > Requester
- July 2021 Analytics URM-96443
On the Alma Analytics Object page (Analytics > Analytics Objects > Analytics Objects List), the Analytics Folder and Name fields are now on their own lines which gives these fields additional space to display values. - July 2021 Analytics URM-151339 URM-151349
The following three new tabs were added to the Consortia Network dashboard:The Logins to Alma per institution tab was removed.
- Logins in last 30 days – the number of logins in the last 30 days
- Logins in last 365 days – the number of logins in the last 365 days
- Bibliographic records – the number of active (not deleted) bibliographic records per institution in consortia
- July 2021 Analytics URM-147302
Reports created with the Institution Name field that was filtered to a specific institution now run faster. Reports that were created before this enhancement require the filter to be reapplied to benefit from this enhancement. An indication that the report is now benefiting from the improved speed is that in the filter text under the report, the institution code is displayed and not the institution name.
Filtered Institution Field
- February 2021 Resource Management URM-140976
Various issues related to accessibility in the Metadata Editor were treated, with the purpose of making the MDE compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). - February 2021 Fulfillment-Resource Sharing Idea Exchange URM-112144
The Automatically Print Slip option in the resource sharing receiving interface was enhanced. This option is used when printing the Resource Sharing Receive Slip Letter when receiving a physical item. It now retains the last value you selected for this option. - February 2021 Analytics URM-138124
The following fields were added to the Fulfillment subject area:- The Loans (Not In House) from Resource Sharing Borrowing Request field was added to the Loan dimension. It indicates the number of not in house loans that came from a resource sharing borrowing request.
- The Is Resource Sharing Borrowing Request Loan field was added to the Loan details dimension. It indicates if the loan was initiated by a resource sharing borrowing request.
- February 2021 Analytics URM-139428
The Active for Fulltext In CDI field in E-Inventory > Electronic Collection was renamed to CDI-only full text activation to be consistent with the naming style of the other CDI fields. - February 2021 Analytics URM-141963
The In CDI field in E-Inventory > Electronic Collection was renamed to CDI - Available for CDI search activation to better explain the purpose of the field.
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December 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves Idea Exchange
When a purchase request is created from a citation, a new bibliographic record is created if one does not already exist. If the purchase request is rejected, the bibliographic record is deleted. Previously, the citation remained attached to the MMS_ID of the deleted bibliographic record. Now, the MMS_ID is also detached from the citation.
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December 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves Idea Exchange
Institutions now have the option to set the DCS Synchronize job to run every six hours, in addition to the existing option of running it once a day.
For more information, see DCS Synchronize.
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December 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves Idea Exchange
When rolling over a course, Alma now enables you to Copy (Configuration Menu > Leganto > List Management > Instructor Rollover Operations) an:
- internal library note
The option is disabled by default.
For more information, see Configuring Course Loading.
- November 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-156618
The Section ID field, already in Leganto Student Usage and Leganto Instructor Usage Events > Reading List Sections, was added to Course Reserves > Leganto Reading List Section. - November 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-158676
The Citation Material Type Code field was added to the following subject areas under the Citations or Reading List Citations dimensions:- Course Reserves
- Purchase Requests
- Leganto Student Usage
- Leganto Instructor Usage Events
- October 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves
Alma now supports itemized Reading List sets containing more than 1000 Reading List IDs. - October 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves SF: 00924743 URM-150320
The following changes were made in the Reading List dimension of the Course Reserves, Leganto Student Usage, and Leganto Instructor Usage Events subject areas:- The Leganto Date Sent For Library Review and Leganto Date Sent For Library Review (Calendar) fields were renamed to Leganto Last Sent for Library Review Date and Leganto Last Sent for Library Review Date (Calendar) respectively.
- The Leganto First Sent for Library Review Date field and Leganto First Sent for Library Review Date (Calendar) field were added
- August 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves SF: 00924743 URM-152506
The Leganto List Library Notes and the Leganto List Library Notes Last Update fields were added to Course Reserves > Reading List. They indicate the reading list library notes and the date that the notes were last updated. - August 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-151990
If the reading list has no citation, the Librarian > First Name and Librarian > Last Name fields now contain the librarian name. However, if there is no reading list, the value of these fields is unassigned. In this case, the Librarian > User ID field is also unassigned. -
July 2021 Fulfillment - Course ReservesURM-152351
A new event was added to the DCS synchronize job report to include copyrights whose statuses remain unchanged. - June 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves
The following DSC system tags can be used when creating a rule to auto-generate a purchase request (Configuration > Fulfillment > Courses > Citation Processing Rules):- Digitisation Approved
- Digitisation Rejected
- Digitisation Removed
- Digitisation Sent
- Digitisation In Progress
Digitisation
- April 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-148969
You can now control whether there will be an option to automatically attach files to a citation in a digitization request. When the auto_attach_digitization_to_citation parameter is set to true (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > General > Other Settings), the option is available. When set to false, the option is unavailable. See Configuring Other Settings (Fulfillment). - February 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-143162
You can now create a set of courses by uploading a file that contains the course IDs. For more information, see Creating Itemized Sets. - January 2021 Fulfillment - Course Reserves SF: 00855648 URM-136134
When a user is added as an instructor to a course in Alma, the instructor role is added if it was not already present for the user. The role expiration date is calculated based on the instructor_role_expiration_months parameter (Fulfillment > General > Other Settings).