Alma 2022 Release Notes
Release:
Main Features
Item Call Number and Remote Storage ID Can Be Included in Item-Level General Electronic Service URLs
It is now possible to configure item-level General Electronic Services to include the item's Item Call Number and its remote Storage Location ID in the generated URL.This new feature provides more accurate linking from Primo GetIt to third-party applications (such as Aeon) via a General Electronic Service. For information about these fields, see Working with Items. For more information about item-level General Electronic Services, see Item-Level General Electronic Service.
New UI for Resource-Sharing Task Lists for Borrowing Requests and Lending Requests
The next-generation Alma UI design is now activated by default for the Borrowing Requests and the Lending Requests task lists. Individual users can opt-out to use the previous version of the layout during this quarter.
The main new features of the new UI are:
- Details pane: A work area can be opened in a pane on the right side of the request list. This makes it possible to edit most aspects of the request without losing sight of the request list, and also speeds up the editing process.
- Multiple facet selection: Multiple criteria can be selected in each facet category, providing more flexibility in the creation of a filtered request list.
- Streamlined access to notes and patron queries: Notes and patron queries can be seen, added, and edited in the new right pane. This makes these important elements more noticeable and easier to manage when reviewing the request list or processing requests.
- Status and assignee information as facets: Activity status and assignee information are facet categories, enabling searching for requests by specifying multiple activity statuses and a number of specific assignees.
- Sliding panel: When access to the full request form, with all of its tabs, is required, it opens in a panel that "slides" out from the right side of the right panel, only partially covering the task list. This enables work on all aspects of the request without losing sight of the request-list context.
By default, in this release the request lists open in the new UI. However, users can opt-out to use the old layout if they wish. For more information about opting into using the new UI for features for which it is available, see Opting In or Out of a New Feature.
Option to Push Borrowing Requests for Further Processing in Relais
Borrowing requests can now be sent to Relais broker systems through Alma, as they can with ILLiad and Tipasa/WorldShare ILL. This new option enables requests that have not been fulfilled by a local peer-to-peer rota to be automatically pushed to the Relais system, where they are further processed as broker-managed requests, eliminating the need to manually transfer such requests.
For more information, see Resource Sharing Partners.
Restrict Editing Bibliographic Metadata Fields
Idea Exchange URM-175533Consortia central office is now able to control which Network Zone Bibliographic metadata fields can be added, edited, or deleted by Network Zone members and Network Zone institution
allowing the consortia office to maintain the quality of it's Bibliographic records by preventing unwanted edits of specific fields.
In addition, there is an option to define a restriction based on a user's cataloger level.
Example use cases:
- Consortia Central Office wants to protect the Network Zone bibliographic record 035 field from any edits by the consortia members.
- Consortia Central Office wants to prevent consortia members from editing Bibliographic 6XX fields of a certain vocabulary.
For more information, see Restrict Editing of Metadata Fields.
To watch a video, see Restrict Editing Bibliographic Fields by Network Zone Members.
Community Zone Restricted Fields
Field restrictions are in place for Bibliographic Community Zone records:
- Field 022 cannot be added, edited, or removed.
- Fields 020 and 776 cannot be deleted but can be added/edited to existing records.
Indication Added to Verify No Proxy Used in CDI Links for OA Links
Alma now verifies that links returned by CDI do not use a proxy for OA links. This is especially useful for customers that have a proxy set up but do not want to use the proxy for OA links.
For more information, see Access to Services.
CDI Linking Preferences to be Configured in Alma and Transferred to CDI
You can now set the preferred order of links to the electronic full text in CDI (Link in Record and Quicklinks) if more than one link is available. Prior to this release, this configuration option was available only for links using the link resolver. Note that this setting is separate from the link resolver settings because preferences are configured at the collection level for the link resolver, while they are configured at the platform level for CDI. The new CDI linking preference options are configured on the new Central Index and proxy set-up page (Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Central Index) and applied to single link display (Link in Record links and Quicklinks) as well as multiple links display (see Display All Links setting). If no preference is set, the default provider preference is alphabetical by provider. For more information, see View It.
This feature will not be fully functional until the CDI December release on December 7. Additional details will be provided at that time.
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:
- Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) include headings from field 651_2.
- Bib headings created from 730 and 630 fields linked to local authorities.
- Records with 092/082 are found with Dewey Decimal Class Number,.
- Physical holdings index search with pattern levels of enumeration.
- Annual changes to the UNIMARC/CNMARC/KORMARC Format & Crosswalk, see here.
- Japanese characters are searchable for solr_searching_language HK (Chinese-Hongkong).
- New authority index Other Standard Identifier (024), see here.
Normalization of UNIMARC and CNMARC 1XX Fixed Position Fields
Idea Exchange URM-119674
A new function was added to enhance the Alma DROOLS to support the normalization of UNIMARC and CNMARC 1XX fixed position fields. As a result of the enhancement, UNIMARC and CNMARC tag 1XX are treated as Control Fields in Normalization Rules and no error messages are displayed.
For more information, see Working with Normalization Rules.
Exclude Heading from Linking
It is now possible to exclude specific headings from being linked to an authority record by automatic processes.
This is especially useful when a field contains data that is similar to an existing heading but is not really related to that heading. This prevents the field from incorrectly getting associated with the heading and improves the integrity of the library's metadata.
This is advantageous in cases where a creator's name is identical to an authorized creator, and not enough data exists to distinguish the two and prevent linking (for example, a library catalogs an old thesis work by John Smith and has no further biographic information on the creator).
This functionality is not available for Community Zone records or Community Zone-linked bibliographic records.
GND Profile Updates
Some changes were introduced to the GND format:
- $i and $4 are added to fields 700, 711 and 730
- The subfield names are identical to the ones in $i and $4 in fields 710, 750, and 751, that were provided in the last version of the XML profile.
New Authority Index Other Standard Identifier (024)
A new authority index Other Standard Identifier (024) is added to the staff search. The new index "Other Standard Identifier" will be activated by default in the February 2023 release. Existing data will be indexed gradually with the semi-annual indexing job in the following weeks. These records will be available for search in the Keywords search.
If you are willing to enable the new index option in the Repository Search UI, configure Resources > Search Indexes > auth_other_standard_identifier.
Portfolio Loader/Export - Support Split Coverage
Idea ExchangeURM-157136
When using the Extended Export function (E.Collection search > Portfolio list > Extended Export), the exported file now supports the export of portfolios with multi-coverage (in addition to the existing support for single-coverage). The exported file is structured and formatted so that it is suitable for use in the portfolio loader (E.Collection search > Edit Service > Portfolios (tab) > Load Portfolios).
This enables users to utilize the exported file, easily edit it and upload it using the portfolio loader. The portfolio loader loads all of the date ranges for the various coverages and does not require the user to manually update multi-coverage portfolios.
See here for an example file that presents the structure of the Export/Load file. In this example you can see a single portfolio with multi coverage, each row represents different coverage information for the same portfolio.
Enable the Improved ProQuest Ebook Central Upload Electronic Holdings
For institutions utilizing ProQuest Ebook Central Upload Electronic Holdings and that have not yet moved to the improved process, we recommend you to do so. Doing this will have multiple advantages:
- Frequency
Ex Libris moved from full synchronization on a weekly basis to daily incremental processing, which is faster and keeps your collection as up-to-date as possible. - Subscription Titles
In addition to the activation of ProQuest Ebook Central Owned and DDA titles, the integration now supports the activation of Subscription titles. - Purchase Model Indication
Each Portfolio will include an indication of ProQuest Ebook Central Purchase Model: Owned, DDA, or Subscription (including the subscription collection names). - Titles that are missing from the Community Zone at the point of the daily integration are automatically activated once added to the Community Zone.
Customers that are currently not using the PQ EBC Upload Electronic Holdings integration, and would like to utilize it, can enable the integration according to the instructions outlined here.
Customers who are already using the PQ EBC Upload Electronic Holdings integration, and would like to utilize the improved one, will be moved to the new integration by Ex Libris. For details, please contact Ex Libris Support.
For more information, see Upload Electronic Holdings from ProQuest Ebook Central for Subscriptions/Owned/DDA.
Report to Ex Libris Action Removed from Electronic Collections Whose Management Level is not "Ex Libris"
Electronic collections with the following Management Level will have the "Report to Ex Libris" action removed:
- Community
These collections’ titles are fully managed by the community, with available functionality to add, edit and delete titles independently. - Not maintained
These collections have no current/active source/provider for Ex Libris to maintain the title list and/or linking. So long as the collection is useful and functional, we keep it in the Community Zone to avoid disruption, but there is no provider/source to maintain the title list and therefore cannot be further supported. If the collection becomes non-functional, Ex Libris will consider its removal from the Knowledgebase. - Pending deletion (deletion date is added next to this value)
These collections are deleted within 4 weeks, in alignment with our existing procedure. This information will continue to be published also in the Alma CKB Release Notes. - Contributed by Institution
These collections have been contributed by an institution and any questions can be addressed by them. Ex Libris is working on generating contact information for those institutions, should they need to be reached.
Management Level Indication Labeled "Pending Deletion" Added for Community Zone Electronic Collections
A new collection Management Level indicator, "Pending deletion", is being added as part of the existing Collection Management Level feature released in August 2022.
The Pending Deletion status indicates that this collection is planned to be removed in the coming 4 weeks, in alignment with Ex Libris's existing procedure of notification. The benefit of this feature is that it is in-product as well as indicates the planned deletion date. This information will continue to be published as part of the Alma CKB Release Notes as well.
Usage Reflection for Community Zone Collections
Each Community Zone Collection now has 2 new indicators:
- Usage - how many times the Community Zone collection/portfolio was activated for full text .
- Region - From which region this collection was activated from.
There are 3 main regions:
- Asia Pacific
- Europe, Middle East, and Africa
- North America & Latin America
Adding these two pieces of information enables users (that browse the Community Zone in order to activate resources) to better understand which resource is most suitable for activation.
An "Active" collection is a collection that was activated from the Community Zone (in the Institution Zone) and has a condition that causes it to be available for discovery and full text . This happens in these two scenarios:
- The electronic collection has an available service and has at least one available portfolio.
- The electronic collection has no service but its level URL is not empty and its Bibliographic record is not suppressed.
The information regarding the number of activation(s) and region(s) is refreshed every one week.
The information is reflected in the Community Zone collections search results only.
For more information, see Managing Electronic Collections.
Automatic Registration of Handle URLs for Digital Files
Alma now supports the automatic registration of Handles with an Ex Libris hosted Handle.Net server. Until this development, institutions had to set up their own Handle server along with an FTP/SFTP site to transfer and register the Handles with their Handle server. This process is now automated using a new Ex Libris hosted Handle server and a new Handle integration profile to allow a smooth and easy integration without any servers set up from the customer’s side. The new Handle integration profile integrates directly with the hosted Handle server and creates the Handles using the existing control number functionality (see Configuring Control Numbers).
The following options are available on the integration profile:
After scheduling the integration profile to run on a set of digital titles with the chosen control number, the invoked job creates the Handles for each digital title in the set and updates the Handle server with each Handle pointing to its respective record page in Primo VE.
In addition, the Handles Migration Task is now available for normalization processes when migrating bibliographic records. The task copies Handle from the bibliographic record's metadata to the record's Handle identifier field. Once this is done, the Handle integration profile needs to be run on the relevant records to update the hosted Handle server with the migrated Handles.
You can now also search for digital titles according to their Handle identifiers:
Customers wishing to activate this new functionality are requested to open a support ticket with their Handle.Net prefix in order to register it with the hosted Handle server.
Repeatable Fields Available for Staff Deposit Forms
Idea Exchange URM-175469You can now configure fields in digital forms for staff mediated deposits and when adding a representation to be repeatable. To do this, select the Repeatable checkbox for the field. Note that the repeatable fields appear at the end of the form and cannot be configured to be displayed higher up.
For more information about forms, see Working with Forms.
Captions Now Supported for Universal Viewer and IIIF Manifest
The Universal Viewer and IIIF Manifest now support the display of captions for video files. To display captions, you must upload a captions file in .vtt format that contains the captions. For more information, see Managing Digital Files from the Digital Representation Resource Editor.
Users can toggle the captions to be on or off from the viewer by selecting the closed captions icon and selecting captions on/captions off.
Single Claim Letter for Multiple Claims from a Vendor
This functionality will only be made available with the Alma Release Update on November 13.
When the PO Line – Claiming - Process Automation job runs, it checks if there are multiple claims from a single vendor. If there are, and the claim notification is going to be sent by email, Alma combines the notifications for all of the claims from that vendor into a single claim letter. A new letter, the PO Line Aggregated Claim Letter, was created for this purpose. Both physical and electronic items can be included in a single notification of this type. If your institution has customized the PO Line Claim Letter, it is recommended to also customize the PO Line Aggregated Claim Letter (see Configuring Alma Letters).
Note that claim notifications that are sent by EDI cannot be combined, and are always sent individually for each PO line, as before. In addition, in the Receive New Material page (Acquisitions > Receive), the Claim missing items action is continuing to use the existing PO Line Claim Letter.
Institutions can opt out of this feature by changing the value of the claim_aggregated_letter to FALSE (Configuration menu > Acquisitions > Other settings (General)). When this value is FALSE, separate claim letters are sent to vendors for each PO line, as before.
For additional information on this new feature, see Processing Claims.
New Layout for PO-Line Task Lists
Idea Exchange URM-152063, 109753
We would like to thank all the institutions who volunteered to participate and become early testers. At this point we have reached full capacity and will no longer be accepting additional participants. Stay tuned for additional updates.
The new unified PO-line task list, built on Alma's New Layout, is now available for institutions that would like to become early testers. If your institution would like to test the new design in production, please email earlytester.support@clarivate.com.
The layout is designed to facilitate an enhanced user experience across Alma navigation in general and specifically in the PO-line management area. This initiative is the outgrowth of cooperation with Alma working groups and a response to feedback from the wider community of Alma users.
See this short video for a preview of the new interface.
Features of the New Layout for PO lines include:
- Information about all PO lines is presented in a single task list that can include PO lines in all workflow stages and assigned to any users.
- Search results can be refined through facets in which multiple values can be selected simultaneously, such as three workflow stages or a number of specific vendors
- Assignment properties have been moved to the facets, where users can filter based on general categories of assignees (Unassigned, Assigned to me, Assigned to others) and/or specific assignees (e.g., "me, Bob, or Jane," but no one else)
- A new "side-by-side" layout option enables users to view a list of PO lines on one side of the window and detailed information regarding the currently selected PO line on the other side. The information in the Details pane is editable within the pane itself, so that users do not have to navigate to a special PO-line editing screen in order to perform basic tasks.
- Alma pages related to the currently selected PO line can be opened in a slide-out panel on top of the PO line page, enabling users to view and work on them while keeping the PO line in the background, so that they don't lose their place in the PO-line list. For example, a user working on a PO line can view and modify the information about the item itself in a sliding panel.
As part of the upgrade to the New Layout of the PO-line task list, the search options for PO lines have also been expanded. In particular, the advanced search options now support both AND and OR relationships between search conditions. The new search interface is based on a condition-writing concept that employs a query builder; this foundation made it possible to create a more convenient and user-friendly interface in which it is easy to compose complex queries. For additional information, see Searching for PO Lines - New Layout.
To activate the New Layout for PO lines, from the User menu, select Feature Rollout Configuration (persistent menu > 
> Feature Rollout Configuration), and then, in the left panel, select the on-off switch (
) beside New Unified PO Line Task List Category Acquisition.
For a general overview of the New Layout, see New Layout 2022. For additional information about turning the New Layout on and off, see Opting In or Out of a New Feature.
For additional information about the new unified PO-line task list, see the overview in New Unified PO Line Task List, and the online help at Purchasing - New Layout.
- The current user interface will remain available and easily accessible in order to allow gradual acclimation if needed.
- The New Unified PO line task list was covered in a webinar in May 2022, click here to view it.
- If your institution would like to test the new design in production, send an email to earlytester.support@clarivate.com.
Support for Remote Storage Name in Multiple Languages
In Alma, the Remote Storage Name field now supports multiple languages. The field now displays in various languages depending on the current user-language selected in the interface.
Letters Configuration with More Options
It is now possible in Alma to use functions in XSL version 3 or lower for letters configuration. It enables creating letters that are more dynamic. For example, using regular expression to adjust the letter according to the type of the resource.
Existing letters configured with XLST version 1 continue to work without changes.
Clear Form Button Added to Next Generation "Advanced Search" as Included in Physical Holdings
Staff search areas that include the new advanced search such as Physical Holdings and now "the new POLine" have a "Clear form" button such as the one that exists in the existing advanced search enabling users to clear all the lines of the query created.
NLM Classifications Added to Alma Analytics
The NLM Classifications sub-folder was added to the Other Classifications dimension in all subject areas in which it appears to support creating reports containing the classification codes of the National Library of Medicine.
The NLM Classifications dimension contains the NLM Classification Code, NLM Classification Number, and NLM Group 1-5 fields, taken from the 060 or 096 fields of the bibliographic record.
Oracle Analytics Server Updated to Latest Version
From September to November, OAS (Oracle Analytics Server) will be gradually updated to its latest version (6.4) in our data centers. This version includes includes many long-standing OAS bug fixes allowing a more streamlined user experience for Analytics Designers using OAS, as well as some UI improvements and additional functionality.
For more information, see New features in OAS 6.4 for Alma and Primo Data Visualization.
Option to Get Resource-Sharing Requests Per User
The option to use GET to retrieve all resource-sharing requests for a specific user has been added to the User API. Previously, it was only possible to retrieve information about user IDs and purchase-request IDs.
User GET API Expanded
The Alma User GET API now includes all libraries in the institution, user attachments, and both active and inactive user accounts. For additional information, see Users and Fulfillment in the Developer Network.
Simplify the Data Managed in Alma Using Course Archiving
You can now archive courses in Alma, enabling your library to reduce the amount of data you view in Alma without deleting historical information. Archived courses are still available for reference purposes, and you can view statistical data on archived courses via Alma Analytics. Courses can be archived and unarchived individually or in bulk.
An Archive action is now included in the course action list to easily archive a single course. Marking a course as archived immediately filters the course from the current course list visibility, removing it from view.
When marking a course as archived, any reading list associated with the course is also archived. Therefore, a confirmation message appears confirming that all reading lists associated with the course are archived as well.
Courses where the reading list is linked to additional unarchived courses cannot be archived. If you attempt to archive a course with a reading list that is linked to additional courses, you receive an error message:
This course cannot be archived because it has [number] unarchived reading lists that are linked to other courses. You should either archive the reading lists or remove the course association, then try again.
When viewing an Archived course, you can use the Unarchive action to unarchive the course. The course is then restored, but the associated reading lists remain archived, and you need to unarchive them separately.
You can also archive/unarchive courses in bulk using the Course Bulk Update job (Admin > Manage Jobs and Sets > Run a Job). When selecting the Set course visibility checkbox, you can select Archived/Unarchived from the adjacent dropdown list to archive/unarchive courses in bulk. By default, no option is selected.
Courses that are archived/unarchived successfully are counted in the Total records processed and Total records updated.
When courses fail to archive/unarchive, the job completes with a warning. You can select the warning to view which courses were not archived/unarchived and why.
Alma now includes a new Visibility facet, for Archived and Unarchived courses so that you can filter your course list according to current or archived courses. By default, the course list is filtered to Unarchived courses and the facet is hidden from the left panel.
The default Visibility filter can be removed which displays all courses and displays the Visibility facet with the option to filter to either Archived or Unarchived courses.
Archived courses are hidden from view in Leganto. When attempting to access an archived course from the Learning Management System (LMS), you receive a message that no lists are associated with the course.
Archived courses are not included in the Manage course association and Roll Over lists in Leganto.
For more information, see Archiving Reading Lists.
Re-Order Request Queue
Idea Exchange 
NERS Enhancement (ID #7343)URM-170213
It is now possible to re-order the requests in a title's queue. Previously, it was only possible to override which will be the currently active request. This is possible by setting the new 'Manual Priority' field on the request form which is used to create a new request or to update an existing request.
Editing a request (including its 'Manual Priority') is now also possible from the Request Queue page (Fulfillment > Resource Requests > Monitor Requests & Item Processes; by selecting the Place in Queue value in one of the items).
The new option makes it possible to determine the sequence of requests that receive an item, without having to manually re-do the work every time the item becomes available.
Contact support to activate the Circulation Desk Operator roles, Fulfillment Services roles, and/or the Requests operator role with the ‘Prioritize Requests Privilege’ privilege.
Disable Submit Button When No Known Partner Exists
It is now possible to configure the Primo request form not only to indicate whether there are known partners that can fulfill the request, but also to prevent submitting the form if indeed no known partners have been found.
This enables libraries to prevent patrons from placing requests for resources that are known not to be held by any potential lender in the network, avoiding the frustration of placing a request that cannot be fulfilled.
For more information, see Configuring Resource Sharing Requests Forms.
Improved Handling of Publication Dates in Resource Sharing Copyright Rules
The improvement is aimed at making the resource sharing copyright rules work better with article requesting. Prior to this improvement, a rule that would be defined to block the 6th request for a title published within the last five years worked well with books. However, it did not calculate correctly the publishing date of a requested article. With this improvement, article publication date is also correctly calculated.
Note: Before this development, article publication dates were not recorded in Alma. Therefore, a new parameter (copyright_default_publication_date) can be configured in the Fulfillment configuration > Other Settings menu to determine how such past requests should be considered. For example, setting the parameter's value to 2017 will make Alma consider these requests as requests for 2017 articles, and a rule with 'publication date > 2017' will consider the old requests to not be a match. The default empty value means old requests will always be considered a match to the copyright rule.
In addition, a new 'Years Since Publication' option in the Copyright Rules enables defining the publication date criteria based on the time since the item was published.
This improvement enables the copyright rules to control resource sharing requests for articles. For example, the rule successfully blocks the 6th request for an article published within the last five years only when the previous five requests are also for articles published within the last five years. The new 'Years Since Publication' option in the Copyright Rules makes it easier to define rules based on when the item was published than the current 'Publication Date' option.
For more information on copyright, see Configuring Copyright Management
New UI for Resource-Sharing Task Lists for Borrowing Requests and Lending Requests
The next-generation Alma UI design is now available for the Borrowing Requests and the Lending Requests task lists. Individual users can opt-in to use the new task list layout, or continue using the previous version of the layout.
The main new features of the new UI are:
- Right pane: A work area can be opened in a pane on the right side of the request list. This makes it possible to edit most aspects of the request without losing sight of the request list, and also speeds up the editing process.
- Multiple facet selection: Multiple criteria can be selected in each facet category, providing more flexibility in the creation of a filtered request list.
- Streamlined access to notes and patron queries: Notes and patron queries can be seen, added, and edited in the new right pane. This makes these important elements more noticeable and easier to manage when reviewing the request list or processing requests.
- Status and assignee information as facets: Activity status and assignee information are facet categories, enabling searching for requests by specifying multiple activity statuses and a number of specific assignees.
- Sliding panel: When access to the full request form, with all of its tabs, is required, it opens in a panel that "slides" out from the right side of the right panel, only partially covering the task list. This enables work on all aspects of the request without losing sight of the request-list context.
By default, in this release the request lists continue to be opened in the previous UI. However, users can opt-in to use the new layout if they wish. For more information about opting into using the new UI for features for which it is available, see Opting In or Out of a New Feature.
A webinar on the new Resource Sharing task lists will be delivered as part of the Alma 2022 Roadmap and Webinar Series on August 10. You can register on the Education and Knowledge Webinars page or the Alma 2022 Roadmap and Webinar Series page.
Retrieve Most Up-To-Date Record from Central Catalog
Idea ExchangeURM-171585
This feature is applicable to institutions that synchronize their bibliographic records with an external catalog.
When opening a bibliographic record in Alma for edit, Alma retrieves the latest record version from the central catalog and compares it with the existing Alma version. In case there is a difference, the cataloger is displayed with the option to retrieve the latest record version from the central catalog. This ensures that the cataloger works with the most up-to-date records.
Call Number Type for Holdings Matches New Location's Type
Idea ExchangeURM-124089
A new configuration option was added in Alma. When holdings records are created by changing an item's location, if the location has a call number type configured, the call number type of the new holdings is updated to match that configured for the new location. This saves the manual work required to change the call number type to match the one used in the items' new location.
For instance, a relevant use case is when moving a large group of items to a new location, where they are shelved using a different call number type.
For more information, see the "update_call_number_type_upon_item_move" customer parameter on Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management).
Enhanced Copy-Paste Options in New MetaData Editor
Idea Exchange URM-105256
The New Metadata Editor now supports several copy-paste options. The options include
- The standard cut (Ctrl+X), copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) options for cutting, copying, and pasting content that utilizes the standard browser functionality and clipboard.
- The existing "cut field", "copy field" and "paste field" functionality (including the support for copying and pasting multiple fields using Ctrl+select) use dedicated clipboard and keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+Shift+X, Ctrl+Shift+C, Ctrl+Shift+V), so as not to interfere with copying and pasting other content.
GND Profile Updates
Some changes were introduced to the GND format:
- 451 $9 and 551 $9 - whole controlled vocabulary lists were removed
- 670 $b - a new controlled vocabulary list was created
- 500/510/511/530 $9, 667 $a, 670 $a - various updates made
Enhanced Scheduling Options for Publishing to OCLC
August 2022 August 2022 Resource ManagementURM-171275
Libraries are now able to configure a more flexible schedule for publishing to OCLC (Online Computer Library Center).
This is especially useful for libraries that experience connectivity issues with OCLC servers and can now schedule publishing to OCLC for times when the servers are less busy.
Native Alma Search Gateway
Alma institutes a new infrastructure for external searches sent from the New Metadata Editor. This initiative to the new infrastructure is gradual and begins with the August 2022 release. The new infrastructure provides better performance and stability, and enables enhancements in the future.
COPAC and British Library Integrated Catalogue:
As part of the improvements to the external resource search abilities, support for z39.50 search for the following two resources are terminated: COPAC and the British Library Integrated Catalogue.
These two resources use an old protocol called SUTRS (Simple Unstructured Text Record Syntax) which does not support full MARC records.
- British Library Integrated Catalogue - The Resource British Library Integrated Catalogue (MARC) can be used instead (credentials needed).
- COPAC - The resource Jisc Library Hub Cataloguing can be used instead (credentials needed).
Enhanced Change Physical Items Information Job Report
August 2022 Physical Resource Management Idea Exchange NERS Enhancement (ID #7177, 7350)
The report for the Change Physical Items Information job now includes error reporting and the items handled.
This is especially useful when a library wants to follow up on the bulk changes performed.
Item Retention Indication for Managing Collaborative Collections
August 2022 Physical Resource Management
URM-169576
This feature will be made available with the Release Update on August 14.
Alma now enables librarians to mark items as committed to retain and prevent withdrawing them. It is also possible to specify retention reason and note manually or in bulk, and this is also supported in import, export and API workflows. This is especially useful when several libraries pool their resources together and some of the library's items should be retained even when internal usage is low. This is reflected in Alma Analytics in order to help libraries to manage their collaborative collections.
The following fields were added for physical items: Committed to Retain, Retention Note, and Retention Reason (the list of reasons can be configured by an administrator).
The "is empty/not empty" search for items using the new Committed to Retain field returns accurate results only after indexing.
For more information, see Retention Information.
Accession Number - Library Level Definition
August 2022 Physical Resource Management
URM-167607
To enhance support for Library independence within an institution it is now possible for a library to define library level accession sequences for controlling automatic generation of holdings and item accession numbers. Currently, accession sequences can be auto-generated in the institution level or in the library and location levels.
This is only available for customers using the enhanced accession number generation functionality.
For more information, see Adding a New Accession Number Sequence.
New Collection Management Level Indication for Community Zone Collections
August 2022 Electronic Resource Management
A new collection Management Level indicators on Community Zone collections are set to provide better transparency for the community to understand how and by whom each collection is maintained”. Here are the Management Level options:
- Ex Libris (Managed by Ex Libris)
- Community (Managed on title level by community)
- Not maintained (The vendor no longer supports this collection - this is a dynamic list that will continue to be assessed by Ex Libris Content Operations over time)
- Contributed by Institution (Collection contributed and managed by an Alma institution)
Option to Delete Portfolios from Community Zone Collections Which are Managed by the Community
August 2022 Electronic Resource Management
-169868URM-169955
Currently, there are five Community Zone electronic collections that are managed by the Alma community whose institutions have proper Community Zone contribution settings. These users can Create (contribute) and Edit (re-contribution) Community Zone portfolios for these five community managed electronic collections. A new addition now enables these users to Delete portfolios from these five community managed electronic collections.
The option to delete portfolios from community managed collections enable full community independence over these collections and provides customers holistic control over content as now there is the options to contribute, edit and delete portfolios from community managed collections.
| Collection name | Collection Community Zone-ID |
|---|---|
| Free E- Journals | 61110976638852340 |
| Miscellaneous EJournals | 61111016833201000 |
| Miscellaneous Free eBooks | 611000000000001091 |
| Miscellaneous eBooks | 611000000000001090 |
| U.S. Government Documents | 613170000000000069 |
The option to delete a portfolio was added in 2 places:
- New action on the Community Zone portfolio.
- Enhancement to the existing Delete action on Institution Zone portfolios that are activated from the five Community Zone collections.
To delete portfolios directly from the Community Zone tab, users will need to make sure their institutions have Community Zone contribution privileges (please contact Ex Libris support to enable contribution option).
The existing privileges for deleting Institution Zone portfolios are maintained (Electronic Inventory Operator Extended role with the "Delete" privilege).
In case a Community Zone portfolio is deleted, any Institution Zone portfolio linked to the deleted portfolio will change its availability to "Not Available" and the portfolio is unlinked from the Community Zone.
BIB records are not deleted when a portfolio is deleted from the Community Zone.
The deletion of the record from the Community Zone is irreversible and is not immediate and may take a while to be reflected in the Community Zone.
In the Institution Zone - the deletion is possible from:
- Portfolio list
- Service editor
- Portfolio search
Efficient Management of Electronic Resources Using KBART
August 2022 Electronic Resource Management
-168081
Alma Portfolio Loader now supports using KBART format files for electronic resource management of electronic collection portfolios (in addition to the existing Alma Proprietary format).
Numerous providers use KBART format files to share the library electronic holding. These files can now be used directly in Alma Portfolio Loader without the need to convert the file to Alma proprietary format.
Upload Electronic Holdings from Taylor and Francis
August 2022 Electronic Resource Management Idea Exchange
-129164
Automatic Upload of Electronic Holdings enables libraries to update their holdings within the Taylor and Francis ebook electronic collection. Once the Upload Electronic Holdings integration profile is configured and enabled, the process automatically downloads a KBART formatted holdings file from the Taylor & Francis platform, uploads the file and updates your holdings in the Taylor and Francis electronic collection. This integration saves users from the need to manually update the portfolios which were updated on the Taylor and Francis side.
All portfolios that are updated via the various upload electronic holdings integrations modifies the portfolio as Available.
For more information see Upload Electronic Holdings from Taylor and Francis
Dublin Core - Enable Normalizing Metadata Fields for Search and Display
August 2022 Digital Resource Management
Libraries are now able to define how to display metadata elements from Dublin Core (DC) and which DC terms to index. This allows more flexibility when displaying or indexing DC fields (DCTERMS and DCAP - DC application profiles fields).
The flexibility extends for Dublin Core (DC) records' mapping for display, search and facet.
An option is added to include local fields with normalization rules for search and facet from DC records, and also an option to edit the existing rules for display fields.
As with MARC21 and UNIMARC, it is now possible to use the Manage Display and Local Fields pages to customize the mapping of data for the DC format.
With the new DC Normalization Rules section, you can now customize the normalization rules for the out-of-the-box Display fields (such as Description and Genre) on the "Define a Display Field" page.
Local fields enable you to create custom mappings for data from a DC source for search and facets as well as for display.
For more information, see Adding a Local Field.
Display Collection Discovery for Specific Libraries/Institutions
August 2022 Digital Resource Management NERS Enhancement (ID #7402)
Primo enhanced its ability to display Collection Discovery for Alma libraries or campuses making it more granular to the level of libraries, based on Alma’s association of collections to libraries. Previously, Collection Discovery was only at the institution level that created an undesirable display of materials for one library displaying in all other libraries when they are not owned nor accessible by any other library. The enhancement enables targeted localization of Collection Discovery by granular levels, for both individual libraries by view and institutions libraries in consortia. This enables sites to select to display Collection Discovery elements for only those selected views and libraries.
Captions Now Supported for Video Files
The Alma Viewer now supports the display of captions for video files. To display captions, you must upload a captions file in .vtt format that contains the captions. To support this, .vtt files for captions can now be uploaded in bulk as part of an import and a new Captions option was added to the actions available for a video file on the File List tab for a representation in the Digital Representation Resource Editor:
Selecting this option displays the Captions Management page where you can upload a captions file, delete an uploaded captions file, and download an uploaded captions file.
After you upload a captions file for the video, the captions appear when the video is played.
You can toggle the captions to be on or off from the viewer by selecting the closed captions icon and selecting captions on/captions off.
In addition, you can now search for files with captions in the Alma repository with the Digital File > Has Captions option.
Universal Viewer Now Supports Non-Image Files
The Universal Viewer now supports the display of non-image files such as PDFs, video, and audio files.
This was made possible by a major upgrade of the IIIF framework to Presentation API v3, in addition to a Universal Viewer upgrade, which allows for the delivery of a wider range of file formats by the Universal Viewer.
The following is an example of a video file playing in the Universal Viewer:
Additional Community Zone collections for associating OASIS/GOBI Portfolios created via Real Time Order
For orders originating from OASIS/GOBI, Alma attempts to locate the relevant portfolio located within a Community Zone collection using the vendor-proprietary identifier number or the ISBN/ISSN and activate it within the relevant collection in the institution. For this functionality to work it is important that the relevant collection is activated from the Community Zone in the institution. In cases where Alma does not find a matching portfolio in the relevant Community Zone collection or if the relevant collection is not activated in the institution, a stand-alone portfolio is created in Alma and is not linked to a Community Zone portfolio. See OASIS/GOBI vendors list for a list of Community Zone collections that support this functionality.
For OASIS, support was added for the following Community Zone collections:
| Provider name | Collection name | Collection ID |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester University Press | Manchester Hive | 615490000000000250 |
| John Benjamins | John Benjamins Books | 613820000000000062 |
| Gale GVRL | Gale eBooks | 611000000000000731 |
For GOBI, support was added for the following Community Zone collections:
| Provider name | Collection name | Collection ID |
|---|---|---|
| John Benjamins | John Benjamins Books | 613820000000000062 |
| Duke University Press | e-Duke All Books | 615410000000000518 |
| Gale GVRL | Gale eBooks | 611000000000000731 |
| Wolters Kluwer | Books@Ovid Purchase | 612430000000000018 |
| Manchester University Press | Manchester Hive | 615490000000000250 |
General Publishing Network Zone - Option to Exclude Member's Local Bibliographic Records
August 2022 Collaborative Networks
When publishing consortia records from the Network Zone it is possible to exclude local records that are managed by members.
This is especially useful when members' local records are private to the member.
For more information, see Exclude Local Bibliographic Records.
Configure the User Form
Idea Exchange NERS Enhancement (ID #7456)URM-170215
It is now possible to configure the fields that appear in the Patron Registration and the Edit User Info (from the Manage Patron Services page) forms in Alma.
The new option makes it possible to configure a form that is fine-tuned to the library's needs and manages only the information the library wants to manage.
For more information, see Configuring Patron Information.
It is also possible to determine which address/email/phone types appear on the form. This option can be activated by Ex Libris. Please contact support for assistance.
Configurable Sorting by User Name in Users List
Previously, sorting the users' list by name was only possible by the users' last name. A configuration option now enables changing the way names are used for sorting, for example, to sort by first+middle name and then by the last name.
The configuration can be done by using the User Management Configuration > User Name Display menu to configure the sort_user_list line.
This enables libraries to set the name sorting to be aligned with how they've chosen to display names in the user list, for example, first+last name or last+first+middle name.
Accessibility Improvement: Search Terms Now Emphasized with Yellow Highlight in Addition to Being Bold
To improve accessibility and clarity, search terms are now emphasized by a yellow color mark in addition to them being bold.
New Security Directives Added to Content Security Policy
This feature has been delayed and will be made available with a future release.
Content Security Policy is a layer of security that helps to detect and mitigate certain types of attacks, including cross-site scripting and data injection attacks. To enhance security, the following directives were added to the Content Security Policy:
- form-action – restricts URLs that can be the target of form submissions
- base-uri – restricts URLs that can be used in HTML 'base' element
- script-src – restricts valid sources for JavaScript
- frame-src – restricts URLs that can be loaded in nested elements such as <frame> and <iframe>
- connect-src - restricts URLs that can be loaded using a specified list of web APIs
Visual Enhancement to Alma Release Schedule in UI
Alma has visually enhanced its Alma Release Schedule from the UI's Help menu. The new tabled format and added icon enable a visual distinction indicating when the quarterly feature releases are scheduled.
New Feature Rollout Configuration
August 2022 Administration and Infrastructure
As Alma shifts more and more areas and functions to its new user interface there is a growing need to enable a controlled and gradual process for the user to learn and get used to the new features. The new feature rollout configuration is designed to respond to this need by enabling individual users and institutions to easily select whether they would like to "Opt-in" and try out and use new layouts or continue using the previous versions temporarily during their initial rollout periods. In addition to the user benefiting from a gradual learning process, this option also enables Ex Libris staff to ensure that new features are working properly and for Alma users to become acquainted with them before they fully replace any existing processes. Rollouts of new features take place over a period of at least two quarterly releases. Once the rollout period is over, new features are implemented globally and cannot be deactivated.
Individual users can activate and deactivate new features for themselves from the User menu (persistent menu > 
> Feature Rollout Configuration). For additional information, see Opting In or Out of a New Feature.
Institutions can change the default option for their institutions in the configuration settings (Configuration Menu > General > User Interface Settings > Feature Rollout Configuration). For additional information, see Feature Rollout Configuration.
New Privilege to Control Access to User History
A new Privilege has been created that makes it possible to control which user roles have access to user history. This new option makes it possible to keep private user information more secure by preventing users who do not need to see this information, such as circulation-desk operators, from being able to access it.
If your system includes roles that currently have access to user history, and you would like to limit their access to this information, please contact Ex Libris support.
Test a Printer Configuration Option
Idea Exchange URM-74273
Alma has incorporated a Test option on the Printer configuration page (Configuration menu > Fulfillment > General > Printers) that enables users to send a test HTML to the printer to verify that the printer is operational with Alma.
OpenURL Service Details Dimension Available for Reporting on Clicked Services
You can now create reports for the number of times a service was clicked. To allow this feature, the OpenURL Service Details dimension was added to the Link Resolver Usage subject area. It contains the following fields:
- Electronic Collection ID
- Electronic Collection Name
- Interface Name
- Is Clicked Service
- Is Digital Service
- Is Electronic Service
- Is Network Service
- Portfolio ID
- Service Type
For more information, see OpenURL Service Details.
Collaborative Collections Retention Item Designators - API
August 2022 API
This feature will be made available with the Release Update on August 14.
Collaborative collecting agreements are increasingly critical for libraries in managing collections and access across institutions. Formal agreements require libraries to commit to retain specific items. As a result, three new fields were added to the Item-related APIs:
- retention_note
- retention_reason
- committed_to_retain
The above mentioned fields are related to the previous release (where these new fields were added to items).
For more information, see Rest Item.
Support Copying of License Terms Using the License API
The Copy Network Zone License Cloud App now enables users to copy licenses with all attached entities including License Terms that exist in the Network Zone to the Institution Zone.
For more information, see Copy Network Zone License in the Developer Network.
Use "Demand in Other Lists" to Support Purchasing Decisions
For purchase requests created from a citation, the Course Information section of the purchase request now includes a Demand in other lists, other courses link. Selecting the link opens the Manage Resource Options window, enabling you to easily view information (such as course, number of participants, tags, etc.) about this citation in other lists and courses.
For more information, see Managing Purchase Requests Created from Citations.
View Reading List Tags in the Demand in Other Lists Table
When reviewing and processing citations, library staff can view "Demand in other lists". And use it to understand which other reading lists or courses utilize the same resource. The Demand in other lists, other courses table now includes a new Citation Tags column. This column enables library staff to easily determine which citation tags are associated with the citation in other lists. For citations with multiple tags, the tags are listed separated by a semicolon (;). The column is hidden by default.
Automatically Assign Reading Lists
For more information, see Assigning a Reading List Automatically.
Vendor-Controlled PO Line Renewal - EBSCO
EBSCO now supports Vendor-Controlled Renewals that enables customers to renew subscriptions within EBSCONET and have the matching continuous PO line in Alma renewed automatically. This integration enables EBSCONET to automatically update a PO line once a subscription is renewed and as a result, save duplication of work for the user. This integration joins the existing ProQuest RenewMe integration for subscription renewals.
See Vendor Controlled Renewals for more information on how to enable this functionality.
See here for more information on how to set this integration within EBSCONET.
Invoices - New Menu Entry to Present Invoices: Ready to be Paid
A new Ready to be Paid menu link (Acquisitions > Receiving and Invoicing) presents users a list of invoices that are approved and are now waiting to be processed by Alma and move to Waiting for Payment status.
Note to Vendor Added to the Excel File When Exporting List of PO Lines to Excel
Idea ExchangeURM-167715
An option to present the "Note to vendor" is added to the file exported to Excel when exporting a list of PO lines (Export all fields). This enables users to review PO lines more efficiently.
Alphabetical Sorting of Libraries in GetIt - Support for Languages
Previously, sorting of the item list in the GetIt section in Primo is by one of the following options:
- Priority (based on a number of available items per library) – default option
- Alphabetically
- Custom
In cases where the Alphabetical sorting was selected and there are diacritics in the location name that the item belongs to, this does not come into consideration.
Now, when the sorting is configured to be Alphabetical [Alma Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Locations Ordering Profile > Use Alphabetical Sorting Only = Yes], Alma uses the UI interface language to determine whether diacritics should be handled when sorting Alphabetically the item list in the GetIt section.
In cases where there is no 'special' diacritics handling for the selected language, the fallback behavior (sorting by priority) remains.
Work-Order-Type Name - Support Multiple Translations
Idea ExchangeURM-125744
Previously, Work-Order-Type names had a single monolingual field for their name. As a result, it is not possible to provide a translation for these labels. Now, Alma enhanced its capabilities to define language variants for the names of Work-Order-Types. The enhancements include:
- An added language (globe) icon for the Work-Order-Type field.
- Based on the current language of the staff or patron, the relevant value is displayed.
This enhancement is only relevant when multiple languages are defined for an institution.
Improvements in Import Code Tables
The importing and exporting of code tables is improved with regards to handling of translations for such tables. The improvements include:
- Making the export sensitive to the language.
- Having the Header of the column include the language.
- Full support for fixed-rows code tables and making them available for all relevant code tables.
Add Time in Loan Date Field in Courtesy Letter
Idea ExchangeURM-154860
In the Courtesy Letter, a new field element for loan date now includes time. This added field's format appears as follows:
<new_loan_date_str>05/20/2021 22:00:00 PDT</new_loan_date_str>.
The field is available in the XML of the generated letter and can be added to the letter XSL template if required.
Form Based Indication Rules for Refining Repository Search Results by MARC Tags and Subfields
Idea Exchange NERS Enhancement (ID #6795)URM-166630
It is now possible to create indication rules using a structured form, thus making the process easy and intuitive. The new format enables entering the different fields and subfields and values in a wizard-like fashion, and provides popup assistance when entering tags and tag names. This is especially useful for users who are not experts in cataloging.
Relevant use cases: Refining a set of records using values that are not part of the pre-defined index.
For UNIMARC/CNMARC, control fields work as text fields. Ex Libris plans to support working in the control tokens in a later release.
Semi-Annual Re-indexing
During May, 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 May semi-annual re-indexing. See the list below:
- Field 335 was added and field 345 was renamed. See here.
- UNIMARC / CNMARC Updates. See here.
- Support for Lithuanian Alphabet. See here.
- Configuring Browse Bibliographic Headings and Selection Display - UNIMARC & CNMARC. See here.
- UNIMARC Format (ABES and BNF) Updates. See here.
- Configuring Browse Bibliographic Headings and Selection Display. See here.
- Support for Traditional Chinese Authority URI Enrichment. See here.
- Extending Authority Fields to be Used for an Authorized Bibliographic Field. See here.
Set Unavailable Physical Items Process Types
Idea Exchange NERS Enhancement (ID #7177 7350) URM-167580
Library staff now have better control over process types: placing and removing institution-level work order types using the Change Physical items information job, searching by work order type and excluding a specific work order type from discovery. The work order types were enhanced to streamline workflows, allowing handling in bulk and without scanning items in. This is especially useful when the library needs to mark a large set of items as unavailable in a way that's reflected in discovery, such as due to renovations or COVID restrictions.
Example use case:
A room in the library has to be closed due to mold. Now staff can:
- Create a work order type called mold cleaning (configuration is minimal: Alma automatically generates a work order department, which the institution can select to use/ignore/change as needed).
- Create a set of all items in the room.
- Run a job to add the new work order type to all the items. This is immediately reflected in Get It (using the work order type label, which OTB is displayed as "In process of {mold cleaning}").
- Once the mold issue is resolved, run the job again to remove the work order and make the items available again.
After adding a new work order type, please log out and log in again in order to make the Physical Item Search > InProcess index's drop down to be refreshed.
Batch Update Electronic Collection Attributes (NERS 6969)
NERS Enhancement (ID #6969) URM-169438
With this new functionality, library staff can update attributes of a set of electronic collections in batch using a dedicated job.
Library staff can select which attributes to update and under which conditions.
This functionality is useful for various use cases such as:
- A vendor announces platform maintenance that will make the platform inaccessible for several hours. There is a need to batch-apply to all the collections on that platform the same Authentication Note stating that the platform is unavailable. Then, when the maintenance is over, there is the ability to batch-remove the same note.
- A vendor announces that the URL syntax is changed. There is a need to batch change the Electronic Collection Level URLs.
- Update electronic collections to use the same proxy server.
New field 'COUNTER Platform derived from Interface' for Future Optimization of Cost/Usage Reports
May 2022 Resource Management
The COUNTER Platform derived from Interface field is displayed in the Electronic Collection Editor and the Electronic Portfolio Editor. The field is a read-only field and is displayed in the 'General' tab of the Electronic Collection/Electronic Portfolio. Content of the field includes the Counter Platform for the resources and is calculated based on the Interface of the electronic resource to which it belongs.
How will this information be used?
In an upcoming release the COUNTER Platform derived from Interface will be used in the following way:
For cases in which there is more than one COUNTER report for the same resource, Alma uses the 'COUNTER platform' set by the library at the level of the electronic collection/portfolio. If it is not defined, Alma will use the value in the COUNTER Platform derived from Interface field.
Disable Item Description Confirmation Message
Idea Exchange NERS Enhancement (ID #6664)URM-157141
The confirmation message “The description may need to be updated as well (using the generate button)” was improved to only show when relevant fields were changed and the description was not generated or updated manually. Customers who never require a reminder for updating the description are able to disable it completely.
Customers who never require a reminder for updating the description are able to disable it completely using the new show_item_description_confirmation_message customer parameter. For more information, see Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management).
Local Call Number and Other Classification Number Now Displayed in All Titles Search Results
You can now configure the Local Call Number and Other Classification Number to appear in the brief search results of an All Titles repository search. To configure this feature, select the configuration icon from the search results page and select Local Call Number and Other Classification Number.
This feature requires indexing and will be fully available after the semi-annual indexing.
Exporting Bibliographic Records and Portfolios Now Includes Network Zone Resources
Members of consortia can now include bibliographic records and portfolios that are managed on their behalf in the Network Zone in export processes. This new functionality enables the sharing of library resources with third-party systems.
The Export Electronic Portfolios and Export Bibliographic Records manual jobs (Admin > Manage Jobs and Sets > Run a Job) support exporting sets that consist of combined Institution Zone and Network Zone bibliographic/portfolio records.
Members of consortia can create sets of records combined from the Institution Zone and the Network Zone (see Combining Institution and Network Zone Search Results.) These sets can now be exported. To support this feature, the new Content Origin drop-down list was added to the List of Sets page that enables you to display sets whose members come from the Institution Zone, a combination of both the Institution Zone and Network Zone, or All records.
In addition, when exporting combined sets with the Export Electronic Portfolios job, the new Add scope indication task parameter is now available:
Select this option to include the Institution code or the Network institution code of the electronic portfolio in the export file.
For more information, see the Export Electronic Portfolios and Export Bibliographic Records jobs on Manual Jobs.
Collection Internal Description Now Available for Publishing
You can now configure the general publishing profile (Resources > Publishing > Publishing Profile) to enrich the bibliographic record with the collection internal description when publishing. This information can be useful for sharing internal information with third-party systems.
To support this feature, the Collection Internal Description subfield field was added to the Publishing Profile Details page. Indicate the subfield to which you want the collection internal description added to in the bibliographic record.
In addition, the existing Internal Description subfield field was renamed to Portfolio/Service Internal Description subfield to distinguish it from the Collection Internal Description Subfield field.
For more information, see the Electronic Inventory Enrichment section on Publishing and Inventory Enrichment (General Publishing).
A New Page Action Save and Test Access Was Added When Creating a New Portfolio
Idea ExchangeURM-167996
A new page action is added that enables the user to save the newly created portfolio and test the access simultaneously. This functionality saves the user from the need to save the portfolio and then test the access as a separate step.
Physical Items Search by In Process Types
Idea Exchange NERS Enhancement (ID #7177 7350) URM-161512
Currently, inventory operators can search for items according to process type, but couldn't distinguish between the different custom-defined "In Process Types" (work orders). Now, a new index is added for physical items with the "In Process Type" enabling operators to commence such searches.
Metadata Editor Now Supports Safari
The Metadata Editor now supports Safari on Mac OS.
Support Overlay for MODS Import
You can now configure digital import profiles (Resources > Import > Manage Import Profiles) to overwrite existing bibliographic records when the imported record matches a record already in the repository. To support this enhancement, the Overlay option was added to the Match Actions section of the Match Profile tab. Select this option to have Alma overwrite the existing record with the new one.
Additionally, the Do not Override Originating System option was added. Select this option to maintain the originating system of the original record when it is overwritten by the new record.
In addition, you can now add a prefix to the identifier to be considered when matching records for Dublin Core records. To support this feature, the Identifier Prefix field was added.
Enter a value to match based on the prefix. Only identifiers with the prefix you entered are considered successful matches.
For more information, see Creating/Editing an Import Profile: Match Profile.
API Restrictions for User Segments APIs
The API restrictions integration profile is now enhanced to enable limiting the user CRUD APIs so that blocks and notes are affected only if their scope is the institution or a library that matches the libraries of the integration profile.
MD Import Job Now Included in Recommendations for Jobs That Stopped Working
The Job Failure, No Data Processed, and No Job Instance recommendations report when jobs are not working properly. These recommendations now include the MD Import job, in addition to the SIS Synchronization job.
For more information, see DARA – Data Analysis Recommendation Assistant.
Name Change to PO Line Workflow Step from: "Waiting for Renewal" to "Recurring Renewal"
The existing PO line workflow step (status) "Waiting for Renewal" name is modified and now named "Recurring Renewal". This workflow step is still associated with "Continuous" PO lines that have Automated renewal or Manual Renewal selected. PO lines that are set for Manual Renewal still change their status to "Waiting for Manual Renewal" when the relevant renewal time arrives. This is a label change only and is set to better reflect to the user the workflow step of PO lines that are either renewed automatically or manually.
This change will be reflected in all areas of Alma including facets and has no other implications.
Search PO Lines By Their Internal Note
Idea ExchangeURM-93055
The existing "All" index was enhanced to search PO lines by their internal notes. Users can search by the full note description or perform a search by a partial description of the note content.
This enables Acquisitions staff to find specific PO lines by searching their notes. Internal notes can also be searched using the new dedicated Internal Notes search index.
Support for 'From' Address in Letters
Idea Exchange URM-161351Library-specific patron letters/emails can now have a specific 'From' address. This allows patrons to reply back to the appropriate library.
See Configuring Institution/Library Contact Information.
Option to Set the Lender Locate to Ignore Electronic Resources for Physical Requests
It is now possible to configure the Resource Sharing library so that electronic titles are automatically bound to a new lending request, only if the request is made in digital form.
The new option makes the lender locate process more accurate by matching electronic titles only if the request is for a digital supply.
The new option is configured on the Resource Sharing library configuration. For more information, see: Configuring Parameters of a Resource Sharing Library.
Push Borrowing Requests for Further Processing in Tipasa or WorldShare ILL
It is now possible to push borrower requests into Tipasa or WorldShare ILL, where they will be further processed as borrower requests. In the case of Tipasa, NCIP updates are also sent to Alma as required. This is similar to an already existing integration option with ILLiad.
This new option enables requests that have not been fulfilled by a local peer-to-peer rota to be automatically pushed into the above mentioned broker systems, where they are further processed as a broker-managed request. This eliminates the need to manually transfer such requests to these systems.
For more information, see Resource Sharing Partners.
Regular Expression for Creating Users in ILLiad
Whenever requests are exported to ILLiad with a user ID, the user that is used can be manipulated with a regular expression in order to match the ILLiad ID structure. For example, ID may be an email address but be exported without the domain information. The regular expression may be defined on the new User identifier regex attribute of the ILLiad partner record. For more information, see Resource Sharing Partners.
Configuring Browse Bibliographic Headings and Selection Display - UNIMARC & CNMARC
Starting from February 2022, institutions that work with MARC 21 profiles can configure the mapping for bibliographic headings browsing for MARC21 profiles, based on the pre-defined mapping provided by Ex Libris out-of-the-box (see Configuring Browse Bibliographic Headings and Selection Display). Now institutions that work with UNIMARC and CNMARC profiles can also define their own mapping. This helps librarians that are browsing through bibliographic headings to see the information they find relevant for their institution.
To support this ability, a new configuration table Bibliographic Headings Display Subfield Mapping was added to the configuration of the bibliographic profiles. This table shows the out-of-the-box values and the mapping that is currently implemented for the institution and enables the institution to define a new mapping of subfields.
See Configuring Browse Bibliographic Headings and Selection Display.
General Publishing - Publish Portfolio Static URL
Library staff can now publish a static URL that is defined at the level of an electronic portfolio. This is especially useful when the library needs to share electronic portfolios with 3rd party systems that need direct access to electronic resources (as opposed to access via Alma Link Resolver).
To support this, the General Publishing page now includes an option to extract the portfolio Static URL.
See Publishing and Inventory Enrichment (General Publishing).
Defining Library as a Basic Search Scope for Physical Items Search
Continuing the development from February 2022 (see Library as a Basic Search Scope for Holdings Search), when doing a Physical Items search, the Inventory Operator and other users can now limit the scope of their search to specific libraries they always search in. This reduces the need to define the library in the Advanced search or to use facets for every search. It is mostly relevant for librarians working in institutions with many libraries, where they are responsible for just a few of them.
See Searching in Alma.
Metadata Editor: Default Action Changed to "Create New Record from Template"
Continuing the enhancement from last month (see Metadata Editor: Default Action Changed to "Create New Record from Template"), when left-clicking a template in the templates list of the Metadata Editor for a holdings record, now the default action in the Template List is Create New Holdings Record from Template. This enables Catalogers to easily create a new holdings record derived from the chosen template, without running the risk of accidentally changing it, as could be done previously, when the default action was Edit.
In case creation of a new record is not possible due to missing referenced bibliographic record, the Edit action will be performed with a confirmation message "New holdings record cannot be created due to missing relevant bibliographic record. Are you sure to continue with editing the template?" . Selecting Yes opens the template in edit mode.
The default action for the Community Zone record remains "View".
Avoid Multiple Matches by Preferring the Last Created Record for Repository MD Import
When importing titles, the goal is to automatically determine whether the title already exists in the catalog. To achieve a single match and avoid multiple matches (since this requires manual intervention), the last created record can now be preferred.
If this option is selected, then in addition to the creation date, only the "Disregard matches for bibliographic CZ linked records" filter is applied to matches.
This option is applicable only in the Repository and New Order import profile types.
See Managing Import Profiles and Monitor and View Import Jobs.
Upload Electronic Holdings from Wiley
Automatic Upload of Electronic Holdings now allows libraries to update their holdings within the Wiley journals and books offerings in a single automated process. Once enabled, the process automatically downloads a KBART formatted holdings file from the Wiley platform, uploads the file, and updates your holdings in the Wiley collections.
For this purpose, the following dedicated collections were added to the Community Zone, these collections reflect all books and journals available from Wiley:
- Wiley Online Library - AutoHoldings Books
- Wiley Online Library - AutoHoldings Journals
See Upload Electronic Holdings from Wiley and Automatic Upload of Electronic Holdings.
New Digital Waitlist Subject Area Added to Alma Analytics
The new Digital Waitlist subject area was added to Alma Analytics. With the fields of this subject area you can create reports that describe the usage of the waitlist feature in Alma, such as the session start, end, and grace period. This subject area allows you to answer the following business questions:
- How many sessions were in a specific timeframe?
- How many of those sessions were in the waitlist?
- How many session returned the resource early?
- What is the average actual session time?
- What is the average waiting for a given Rep ID?
- What is the actual session length for a given Rep ID?
- What is the average session length?
- How many users missed the Grace Period?
- What is the average Grace Period used?
For more information about the Digital Waitlist subject area, see Digital Waitlist.
For more information about the Waitlist feature in Alma, see Configuring a Patron Waitlist.
License API Enhancements
The following enhancements are made to the License REST APIs:
- PUT/POST License attachments
- Added the ability to retrieve licenses that were created/updated since a specific date, using these 4 new parameters:
- create_date_from
- create_date_to
- modify_date_from
- modify_date_toA
For more information, see: Acquisition Licenses in the Developer Network.
Safari Certification Completed
As part of our continuous effort to enhance the Alma user experience, Alma is now certified for use in Safari browsers for Mac computers and Ipad in landscape orientation.
New SAML Certificate
The current DigiCert SAML Certificate will expire on June 8th, 2022. 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.
Clickjacking Protection Open to All
Clickjacking protection (introduced in February 2022, see Clickjacking Protection) is now open to all institutions by default (no need to contact to Ex Libris Support to open it).
Integration with Swisslog SynQ Storage Management System
Alma's Remote Storage Integration Profile can now be configured to integrate with Swisslog SynQ storage management system. Setting the profile to work with SynQ enables Alma to update SynQ about inventory changes and requests using direct API communication. For more information, see Swisslog SynQ Remote Storage.
Require Explicit Confirmation of Fulfillment Messages
It is now possible to configure fulfillment messages to pop up without the Confirm or OK button being automatically in focus. This requires operators to explicitly navigate to the Confirm or OK button (using the mouse or keyboard) when confirming the message.
This new option prevents unintended confirmation of fulfillment messages resulting from hitting Enter or simply scanning in the next item. This affects pop-ups that are triggered by scan-in of an item barcode in the Return Items and Manage Patron Services pages as well as the Scan In Items page.
Activating this option is achieved by accessing the Fulfillment > Other Settings menu and setting the disable_enter_closing_fulfillment_popups parameter to 'true'.
Allowing Due Date After Patron Account Expiry Date
Idea ExchangeURM-138718
Alma now enables configuring the system to enable privileged staff members to extend a loan due date at check-out time beyond the expiry date of a patron. By setting the new extend_due_date_beyond_user_expiry parameter (using the Fulfillment > Other Settings menu) with the value of MANAGER, OPERATOR or ALL you can determine which circulation desk operator role is required to extend a due date past the patron account's expiry date. If you do not want to enable this parameter, keep the value as NONE.
This enables lending items to patrons whose account is about to expire without having to manually change the calculated due date or the user record’s expiry date.
The new parameter affects only loans in the patron workbench. The behavior of self-check loans, personal delivery loans, and renewals is not affected.
New and Improved Overlap Analysis Tool
To achieve better collection development analysis capabilities of libraries' electronic holdings, the Overlap Analysis Tool has been improved to support additional use cases by introducing new functionality.
In addition, a new interface is now introduced for the Overlap Analysis Tool to enable easy and intuitive report creation and summary results.
Main new use cases that are now supported:
- When considering to order an electronic collection, can help users establish which part of this collection is already covered in other electronic collections available in your existing library content, to learn which collection has a better value for money, and to avoid content overlap and purchasing of duplicate resources.
- When considering to cancel electronic collections, can help uses determine content overlap rate for possible resource cancellation scenarios, in order to learn what full text access would be lost if a resource were cancelled.
To support the above use cases and additional use cases, new comparing options have been added:
- Ability to select a Community Zone collection as a source for comparison.
- Ability to select the entire Institution Zone as a target for comparison.
- Add Network Zone holdings as an option for overlap analysis.
See Working with Overlap and Collection Analysis.
UNIMARC Format Updates
As part of ongoing updates of the UNIMARC format, the UNIMARC Bibliographic profile was updated to reflect the recent changes to the ABES and BNF formats. This includes:
- Adding new bibliographic 338 field (Funding note).
- Updating bibliographic field 100 with new values for positions 34-35.
- Updating bibliographic 110 with new values for position 0.
Library as a Basic Search Scope for Holdings Search
When doing a Physical Holdings search, the Inventory Operator and other users can now limit the scope of their search to specific libraries they always search in. This reduces the need to define the library in the Advanced search or to use facets for every search. It is mostly relevant for librarians working in institutions with many libraries, where they are responsible for just a few of them.
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Holdings Search My Library - collapsed
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Holdings Search My Library - expanded
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Metadata Import Profile: Multi-step Matching
When importing titles, the goal is to automatically establish whether the title already exists in the catalog. To achieve a single match, and avoid multiple matches, you can now configure multi-step match methods, by which Alma determines whether imported records already exist in the institution's catalog.
The new Multi Step Match Configuration mapping table (Configuration > Resource Management > General > Multi Step Match Configuration) enables you to define multiple match methods (from the existing list of options for match methods), which are then run in the order defined in this table.
See Multi Step Match Configuration, Managing Import Profiles, Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management).
Metadata Editor: Default Action Changed to "Create New Record from Template"
When left-clicking a template in the templates list of the Metadata Editor for a bibliographic or authority record, now the default action in the Template List is Create New Record from Template. This enables Catalogers to easily create a new record derived from the chosen template, without running the risk of accidentally changing it, as could be done previously, when the default action was Edit.
Additional Events Added to System Events Subject Area
To make the System Events subject area more usable for customers, a large number of events were added to be available for reporting. This event list was created based on internal research into existing user reports and discussions with the Analytics Working Group. Currently over 200 events are available for reporting. For a list of the available events, see System Events.
API for XSL Templates
Alma now supports REST APIs that enable to retrieve and update the XSL templates used for customizing letters.
For more information, see: Configuration and Administration in the Developer Network.
Recommendation to Group Local Standalone Portfolios into Collections
DARA now identifies if you have local standalone portfolios with the same base URL that probably belong to the same provider and recommends that you group them into a collection.
Fulfillment Library Independence
Idea ExchangeURM-154582
Fulfillment Library Independence supports better separation of private fulfillment data between multiple libraries that are grouped in an Alma institution, for instance:
- Small Universities or other organizations that are grouped into a single Alma institution
- Independent colleges that are part of a single institution
- Institutions that are organized as independent campuses
Maintaining a single Alma institution but still enabling greater independence of the libraries correctly balances the requirement for a single Alma institution with the need of the libraries to maintain their independence. The Fulfillment Library Independence enables separating fulfillment activities in one of two models:
- The Full Fulfillment Independence Model
This model restricts fulfillment data access at the highest degree, enabling access to patrons’ fulfillment activity only to staff with required roles in the owning library of the resource. For example, in this model circulation desk operators at a library have access to patrons' loans information only if the loaned item belongs to the circulation desk operator's scoped library.
- The Partial Fulfillment Independence Model
This model balances the patrons’ privacy with giving them the best service experience. It is similar to the Full model in all aspects, except that it gives more liberal access to the pickup library’s staff, as they are the ones who are in direct contact with the patron and need access to the relevant fulfillment data in order to provide better services. For example, in this model circulation desk operators at a library have access to patrons' loans information not only for loans of items that belong to the circulation desk operator's scoped library but also to loans that are picked up at the circulation desk operator's scoped library.
For more information, see Fulfillment Library Independence as well as this recording from the Jan. 18th webinar.
Job Category Added as Input Parameter for Borrowing Resource Sharing Rule
Idea Exchange URM-112997
Alma has enhanced its borrowing resource sharing rules to include Job Category. When adding a fulfillment rule of type Borrowing Resource Sharing, the input parameter options include Request Format, Resource Sharing Partner, User Group, and Job Category. Previously, resource sharing requests could not use the same kind of identifying data in the patron record as was possible for local requests. The enhancement enables the same pickup and delivery options for both locally held items and for resource sharing requested items.
Enhancements to the PO Line Pricing Section
Idea ExchangeURM-149354
Two new elements were added to the PO line's Pricing section:
- Update Net Price according to item quantity (relevant only for physical PO lines) checkbox reflects the number of ordered items within the Quantity for pricing field. When the checkbox is enabled, the Quantity for pricing amount is updated automatically once the user adds/removes items, and as a result, the Net Price field is also updated.
The Update Net Price according to item quantity checkbox is enabled by default when creating new PO lines. If you want to disable this checkbox by default for newly created PO lines, go to; Configuration menu > Acquisitions > Other Settings and customize the po_line_quantity_updated_with_items_number parameter and set it to False.
PO lines created via EOD/API do not have the new checkbox enabled by default.PO Line Pricing SectionWhen creating a new PO line using a template, the Automatically update price to quantity of item(s) checkbox is enabled by default.
- Discount (amount) field - this field enables users to insert a specific discount amount which is automatically calculated and reflected in the Discount (%) field.
Alma always looks at the Discount (%) field in order to reflect the actual Net Price. When a user populates the Discount (amount) field, a 0.01 difference between the net price and the list price may occur.
Clickjacking Protection
Clickjacking is an attack that tricks users by showing them an innocuous page that includes real controls from sensitive pages. These controls are disguised through the use of background frames that mask off everything except the control, so that the user cannot tell that they are actually clicking on a sensitive function in some other website. This can cause users to unwittingly download malware, provide credentials or sensitive information.
To prevent clickjacking via Ex Libris products, Ex Libris has adopted a policy-based mitigation technique. Now institutions can instruct the browser about appropriate actions to perform if their site is included inside an iframe.
To enable this functionality, contact Ex Libris Customer Support.
Flexible Scheduling Options For Automatic Upload Of Electronic Holdings Jobs
To ensure the stability of "Upload Electronic Holdings API calls to Providers", more scheduling options are added to Upload Electronic Holdings jobs of Ovid, Elsevier, and Springer.
Schedule of existing Upload Electronic Holdings jobs is changed randomly to ensure distribution of the API calls to Providers - No action is required.
Configuring Browse Bibliographic Headings and Selection Display
Previously, the mapping of subfields of bibliographic headings was pre-defined by Ex Libris for all institutions, and could not be modified. Now the ability to configure the display and sorting values for bibliographic headings was added, so that each institution can define its own mapping, based on the pre-defined mapping provided by Ex Libris out-of-the-box. This helps librarians that are browsing through bibliographic headings to see the information they find relevant for their institution.
For example, out-of-the-box, the heading type "Names", source code "Personal Name" is mapped to MARC21 field 100 $$a-d. Now institutions can modify that mapping to other subfields as they find relevant, for example, field 100 $$a-d,q.
Currently, this functionality exists for MARC21 only. It will be released for UNIMARC / CNMARC profiles in upcoming releases.
To support this ability, a new configuration table Bibliographic Headings Display Subfield Mapping was added to the configuration of the bibliographic profiles. This table shows the out-of-the-box values and the mapping that is currently implemented for the institution and enables the institution to define a new mapping of subfields.
This functionality is disabled by default. To configure it in coordination with your institution, contact Ex Libris Customer Support.
See Configuring Browse Bibliographic Headings and Selection Display.
Advanced Physical Holdings Search
Following the introduction of the Physical Holdings search in Alma (in November 2021 release), now the advanced search is available as well for this search option.
The Advanced Physical Holdings search works similarly to the existing advanced search for other types of searches, but it is based on a new concept of condition-writing using a query builder, which offers a more convenient and user-friendly user interface, and the ability to easily write complex queries.
GND Profile Updates
Some changes were introduced to the GND format:
- In the following 7XX fields, new subfields were introduced: 710 $$i,4, 750 $$i,4, 751 $$i,4.
- A variety of other changes and additions were introduced, that are the outcome of a process of coordination amongst the various member institutions of the Alma GND User Group. All these changes concern CVs.
The new version of the XML profile will become available when the format change of the German National Library comes into effect on February 8th 2022.
Display Collection Path Now Available for All Viewers
The display collection path feature that was added in January for the Alma Viewer is now available for the Universal Viewer and Internet Archive Book Reader viewers as well. To support this feature, the Display Collection Path checkbox is now located on the Discovery Interface Display Logic – Other Settings page (Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Other Settings):
Select the Display Collection Path in Viewer checkbox to display the collection path at the bottom of the Descriptive Information pane for all viewers. Selecting the path opens Primo’s collection page in a new tab.
Exempt Specific User Groups from Controlled Digital Lending Restrictions
You can now add additional rules to an access rights policy that has a concurrent usage (Controlled Digital Lending) access rights rule. This allows you to configure the concurrent users restriction to apply to only specific patrons. For example, you can configure a user group rule to allow patrons with print disabilities to access a digital representation without concurrent usage restrictions, but apply the concurrent usage restriction to all other users. The access rights rule that allows free access must be placed before the concurrent usage rule to implement this functionality.
Watch the Exempt a User Group from Controlled Digital Lending Waitlist video (1:48 minutes).
Manage Patron Waitlist in Alma
You can now view a list of the patrons in a waitlist for a representation and remove them from the waitlist or move them to the top.
To support this feature a Waitlist tab now appears in the Digital Representation Editor for a representation with an active waitlist. Select the tab to display a list of the patrons in the waitlist:
Select the row action Remove to remove the patron from the waitlist and Move to Top to make the patron next in line for the resource.
Data Visualization Projects Now Available as Analytics Objects
Data Visualization enables you to create visualizations of your data, which assists in decision making.
You can now add data visualization projects as analytics objects. To do this, select Data Visualization Project from the Type drop-down list when adding analytics objects (Analytics > Analytics Objects > Analytics Objects List).
In addition, you can now filter the list of analytics objects by Data Visualization Project:
For more information about how to use Data Visualization, see An Introduction to Alma Analytics Data Visualization (DV).
Record IP Addresses for Failed Alma Logins
Institutions can now use an API to generate a report that indicates the IP addresses for users that failed to login to Alma.
Failed login will register only when the password is internal (in ExLibris IdP).
For more information, see: Retrieve Staff Login Report in the Developer Network.
New "Owner" column in the "Manage EDI Tasks" page
Idea ExchangeURM-99072A new "Owner" column is added to the EDI task list. This column, which is sortable, displays the owning library for each PO line. The added column enables institutions working with the EDI task list to review the PO lines by their owning library. In addition, the existing "Vendor" column was added with a sort option.
Extended Export in Users List
Idea ExchangeURM-136977
It is now possible to include primary identifiers as part of the exported list when using Alma's Export option from the user list. An Extended Export option will generate an Excel file similar to the existing "all fields" export, adding the primary ID as a column.
The Extended Export contains private data and is only available to users with access to this data, such as users with "user manager update" privileges.
Library-level Logos for Letters
URM-155219Now libraries can upload logos to be displayed on letters when a single library is selected in the Configuration menu (Configuration Menu > General > User Interface Settings > Alma Logo and Color Scheme). Previously this was available only when the institution was selected in the Configuration menu.
When logos are defined on both the institution and the library levels, the logo displayed on the letter is determined as follows:
a. If the organization unit is Library, and a library logo exists for that library, the library logo is displayed.
b. If organization unit is Library and no library logo exists for that library, the institution logo is displayed.
c. If organization unit is Institution, the Institution logo is displayed.
See Configuring the Alma Logos, Color Scheme, and Privacy Policy.
Configuring the Link Institution Zone Users to Centralized Network Zone Users Job
It is now possible to configure the Link Institution Zone Users to Centralized Network Zone Users job from the Fulfillment Jobs configuration menu. The job can only be configured and run in the Network Zone.
Library Level Patron Notifications
URM-157282
Institutions can now configure Alma so that letters that aggregate information from multiple libraries, such as Borrowing Activity Letter, Courtesy Letter, Requests Report Letter, Overdue And Lost Loan Notification Letter will be aggregated and sent per library. This can be done by enabling the separate_patron_notifications_by_library customer parameter and can be accessed via Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > General > Other Settings. The resulting letters will be sent from the specific library.
- When a notification is triggered, if divided by libraries, multiple notifications will be sent. For example, when sending an activity report from the patron workbench, if the patron has loans or fines in more than one library, an activity report will be sent for each such library.
- For Fulfillment entities that are not owned by a specific library (such as a fine or fee that is owned by the institution, or a request that may be served by multiple libraries) a letter will be sent by the institution.
- If an overdue and lost loan profile is configured to generate a notification fee, and several notifications are sent by this profile for different libraries, a fee will be charged for each notification.
In addition, the owner of short loans' Courtesy Letter has been changed to be the owning library.
For more information, see Configuring Other Settings (Fulfillment).
'Will Supply' Message Sent Automatically
Idea Exchange URM-98840
When an internal 'ship digitally/physically' request is placed for a lending request (automatically OR manually), a 'Will Supply' message is automatically sent (and status changed accordingly) to reflect that. This is only possible if the partner type supports a 'Will Supply' notification (ISO, ISO 18626 and Emails). This action is enabled by selecting the newly added step Automatically Will Supply in the borrowing workflow profile (disabled by default).
Will Supply Reason will be: "In process".
New labels were added to the 'Will Supply' email and the "ISO General Messages", to allow libraries to configure a note to be sent if there are items available or not.
- AutoWillSupplyAvailable - sent when the will supply email is sent automatically and there are available items to fill the ship request. Default value is empty.
- AutoWillSupplyUnavailable - sent when the will supply email is sent automatically and there are no available items to fill the ship request. Default value is “Your request will be supplied when an item becomes available, items are due back on {0).”
INN-Reach API Integration
Idea Exchange URM-152059
Alma now supports an API based integration with INN-Reach (also know as D2IR). For more information, see the InnReach API Implementation Guide.
Libraries currently integrated with InnReach using NCIP and the InnReach DCB should contact Innovative in order to set up an implementation project with Innovative.
Derive New Record - Support of External Identifier for Linking Related Bibliographic Records
The Derive New Record functionality in the Alma Metadata Editor now supports selecting whether to use the MMS ID or an external system identifier located in the 035 field for matching between related bibliographic records. When you select the 'Other System Number (035)' and specify the System Identifier Prefix (e.g., SBN), the ID from the 035 field with the specific prefix is placed in the connecting field.
To support this, the Derive New Record dialog (Record Actions > Derive New Record) now supports the following options to select the field from which the connecting ID is taken:
- MMS ID (001) - This is the default option for UNIMARC profile.
- Other System Number (035)
- MMS ID (001) and Other System Number (035) - This is the default option for MARC21/KORMARC profiles.
In addition, this dialog now support the option to specify the System Identifier Prefix. The prefix is optional. When it is not set, all 035 fields are used.
Support for Traditional Chinese Authority URI Enrichment
The following Authority Linked Data databases are now supported as linked-data URIs:
- List of Chinese subject terms (LCSTT)
- Taiwan Name Authority File (TWNAF)
- New Classification scheme for Chinese literature (NCSCLT)
Now these linked data sources can be used for bibliographic record enrichment, similarly to other linked data sources in Alma (such as LoC, Getty, VIAF, Wikidata). They can be selected in the Metadata Editor and used as part of the publishing. For more information, see https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/integrations/linked_data/ in the Developer Network.
Extending Authority Fields to be Used for an Authorized Bibliographic Field
When catalogers press F3 on one of the authority-enabled fields in the Metadata Editor, a list of headings coming from the relevant authority field appears. Now you can extend this functionality so that pressing F3 displays the list of headings from several authority fields. Catalogers can then select any of the terms in the list, and have the preferred one copied to the bibliographic record.
For example: Pressing F3 on MARC field 650 with the second indicator '7' for vocabulary DBN displays a list of headings from either 150/450 or 155/455 fields. This is done by combining the authority headings from 150, 450, 155, and 455 fields into one list.
Authority fields 180,181,182,185 are not supported by this functionality, as they are not part of the authority control mechanism.
This functionality fully supports authority control:
- Linking to global and local authorities
- All bibliographic record formats
- Preferred Term Correction (PTC) job – The preferred term is copied from the Authority record to the Bibliographic record
- Authority enrichment in general publishing and publishing to Primo
- Search by Non preferred terms in Alma and in Primo VE
To set up this functionality for your institution, please contact Ex Libris Customer Support.
Display Collection Path in Alma Viewer
Idea Exchange URM-112977You can now configure the Alma Viewer to display the collection path at the bottom of the Descriptive Information pane. To configure this feature, select Display Collection Path when configuring the Alma Viewer (Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic >Viewer Services > Alma Viewer):
For example:
Selecting the path opens Primo’s collection page in a new tab.
API for Running Import Profile on a Single Authority Record
The “Create Authority Record” API now supports importing a single authority record based on a configured import profile:
- Receive an import profile ID as a parameter.
- Receive AUTH record metadata as payload.
- Run the import profile on that AUTH and will return the resulting AUTH record.
In order to run the API you will need to have a defined import profile.
For more information, see: Create Authority Record in the Developer Network.
ILLiad Borrowing Request Notes
May 2022 Fulfillment-Resource Sharing Idea Exchange URM-121314
When a request is pushed to ILLiad using the API, borrowing request notes are also pushed to ILLiad. This enables the export to ILLiad to be fully automatic and not require any manual handling of the note.
Hide the Resource Sharing Link for Specific Resource Types
March 2022 Fulfillment-Resource SharingURM-158647
You now have the option to hide resource sharing services for specific discovery resource types (Configuration > Fulfillment > Discovery Interface Display Logic > Display Logic Rules). This prevents users from placing borrowing requests for resources that you do not offer.
For more information, see Adding Display Logic Rules.
Is Filled Field Added to Rapido Analytics
April 2022 Analytics URM-165507
The Is Filled field was added to Borrowing Requests > Borrowing Request Details. It indicates if the borrowing request was filled. The following values are possible for this field:
- Yes – the request was filled.
- No – the request was not fulfilled, because it was rejected by the partner.
- Not Applicable – the request was cancelled because, for example, the item is actually available, the institution decided to purchase the requested item, or the patron cancelled the request.
- In Progress – the request is in the process of being handled.
Copyright Percentage Field Easily Assists in Copyright Evaluation
To assist librarians in evaluating copyright, the Edit > Copyright Attributes tab now includes a field for Copyright percentage. This field auto-populates when the Required Pages and Resource Total Pages contain values. The Copyright percentage field enables librarians to clearly determine the percentage of pages requested for a resource.
Update the Course Year in Bulk
Idea ExchangeURM-023303-
If field empty – Only update courses without a Year.
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If field not empty – Only update courses that currently contain a Year.
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Unconditionally – Update all courses without exception.
For more information, see Course Bulk Update.
Create Custom Material Types
If no thumbnail is configured (Configuration > Leganto > UI > Citation default thumbnails) for a type, the default thumbnail is used.
If a new material type is added to Leganto, but not mapped in the field mapping or brief format, it is mapped as a book.
See Citation Default Thumbnails, Citation Field Mapping, and Citation Brief Mapping for more information.
Alert of Associated Reading List when Withdrawing or Deleting Items
NERS Enhancement (ID #7207)
Similarly, for electronic items, when using the action Portfolio List to Delete a portfolio, the warning message now includes a notice that one or more items from this portfolio are on at least one reading list and which courses the reading lists are associated with.
Additional Enhancements
- November 2022 Fulfillment URM-170025
Requests that are sent to remote storage facilities as XML now include the Storage ID of the requested item as well as its barcode. This makes it possible for remote storage facilities that manage their stock by Storage IDs (rather than barcodes) to effectively integrate with Alma. - November 2022 Resource Management Idea Exchange URM-169856
Alma now includes additional scheduled times in the Import Profiles job scheduler. - November 2022 Resource Management URM-119378
It is now possible to include the receiver's name in the email address in emails sent from Alma. To activate this, change the customer-parameter include_recipient_name_in_email_address to true. This may decrease the chances of having the email count as spam when it enters the recipient's inbox. - November 2022 Acquisitions
In the Set settings (Admin > Manage Jobs and Sets > Manage Sets), the Set content type that was previously called PO lines is now called Order lines. This was done in order to standardize the terminology throughout Alma. - November 2022 Administration and Infrastructure Idea Exchange URM-146249
Alma now incorporates a comment/note field to the code table configurations, including Mapping tables and Rules pages. - November 2022 Administration and Infrastructure Idea Exchange URM-146254
A Notes field has been added to the Infrastructure Rules configuration entity. - November 2022 Administration and Infrastructure Idea Exchange URM-146253
A Notes field has been added to the Mapping Table configuration entity. - November 2022 Analytics URM-175035
The Bibliographic Details dimension, common to many subject areas, was added to the Digital Waitlist subject area to enable you to create reports with the fields of this dimension. - November 2022 Analytics URM-160035
The Service Auto-Activates Portfolios field (Y/N) was added to E-Inventory > Portfolio. It indicates if the option to automatically activate new portfolios when they are added to a service is configured. For more information, see Managing Electronic Resources. - November 2022 Analytics URM-172205
The new Primo Discovery subject area allows you to track the number of titles indexed for Primo VE. For more details, see Primo Discovery. - November 2022 Analytics URM-174073
The name of the Receiving Note field was changed to Receiving/Activation Note to better describe the information displayed by this field in the PO Line dimension for every subject area for which it appears. - November 2022 Analytics URM-64906
The Additional Notes field was added to Borrowing Requests > Borrowing Requests Details and Lending Requests > Lending Requests Details. It displays the notes added under the Notes tab for the borrowing request or the lending request.This field is separate from the Notes field that displays the notes added under the General Information tab. - November 2022 Analytics URM-169376
The following fields were added to the Bibliographic Details dimension for all subject areas for which it appears:- General Note
- Local Note
- Subject (Names)
- Series Statement
- Electronic location and access
- November 2022 Analytics URM-64906
The following out-of-the-box reports were added for the Fulfillment subject area:- Fulfillment Network - Loans by guest patrons per library
- Fulfillment Network - Local items loaned at another institution
- Fulfillment Network - Requests by source (AFN and Manual) and pickup location (Local and Remote)
- November 2022 Analytics URM-175080
The Library Code and Library Description fields were added to the Block and Notes dimensions of the Users subject area. These fields enable you to filter reports according to the library. - November 2022 API URM-128413
A new parameter, fail_on_invalid_id (default: TRUE), has been created for the Manage Members API (POST /conf/sets/{ID}?op=add_members and op=replace_members). If this parameter is TRUE, the current behavior, in which the API returns an error if any of the IDs in the set is invalid, is implemented. If this parameter is FALSE, a list of the rejected IDs is returned as part of the returned set object, but the API does not fail. This makes it possible to download a list of matched and non-matched IDs when creating an itemized set based on a file of identifiers. For additional information, see Manage Members. - November 2022 Fulfillment - Resource Sharing URM-174634
You can now use Display Logic Rules to hide resources managed at the network zone level. - November 2022 Fulfillment - Resource Sharing URM-167639
Previously, the partners in the Ex Libris resource sharing directory did not present the lending terms available for the institution. This information is now available for view, enabling you to decide whether to establish a resource sharing relationship with an institution based on their terms. If the partner exists in the resource sharing directory (Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Partners > Community tab), you can add members to your institution by selecting each member and selecting Copy. The members and their details are then added to your partner list.The column Pods I'm Part Of is only displayed if you select it in the Manage column display list
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Resource Sharing Partner ListFor more information, see Downloading a Resource Sharing Partner from the Directory.
- August 2022 Administration and Infrastructure URM-143240
Librarians are now enabled to view entities they have worked on 14 days prior, allowing more data retention within Alma. - August 2022 Administration and Infrastructure URM-169758
Recent Entities now reflect activities that you performed for the last 14 days. - August 2022 Fulfillment URM-173929
A booking request's start and end times are now displayed in the Pick From Shelf list. This makes it easier for staff working on the list to organize and prioritize their work on it. - August 2022 Fulfillment URM-169533
Holdings ID and Item ID have been added to the columns of the Manage In Process Items list. This makes it possible to export this list with these values included so that library applications that use Alma APIs can use them as required.
(Note that the columns are hidden by default in Alma, so you will only see them if you select them in the table settings). - August 2022 Resource Management URM-145396
When using the Extended Export option available under (Electronic Service Editor > Portfolios (tab) > Export (icon)), the output file is now upgraded to *.xlsx. This format enables users more options and improves efficiency.Electronic Service Editor - August 2022 Analytics URM-143442
The Has Local Extensions field was added to the Bibliographic Details dimension in all subject areas in which it appears. It indicates if the Community Zone-linked record has local extensions (Y/N). - August 2022 Analytics URM-165903
The Digital Resource First Access Date and Digital Resource First Access Date (Calendar) fields were added to Borrowing Requests > Borrowing Requests Details. The fields display the date that the digitally received resource was first accessed by the requesting patron. - August 2022 Analytics SF: 06317880 URM-167950
The Public Access Model field was added to E-Inventory > Portfolio. It displays the patron facing access model of the portfolio, which is presented to the patron in the discovery system.In addition, the Access Model field was added to E-Inventory > Portfolio PO Line. It displays the internal access model of the portfolio.
For more information on access models, see Managing Access Models.
- August 2022 Analytics URM-148840
The following fields were added to the Physical Item Details dimension in the Physical Items, Requests, Lending Requests, and Fulfillment subject areas:- Has Committed to Retain – indicates if the library has committed to retain the item
- Retention Reason – the reason the library has committed to retain the item
- Retention Note – a free-text note concerning the library's commitment to retain the item
- August 2022 Analytics SF: 05307735 05324168 URM-173063
The following events are now reported by the System Events subject area:Alma Events Event Type Event Description 169 The user has failed to login to the system
3370 Community linked record updated with local extensions 4200 Send message to remote storage successfully 4201 No response from remote storage 4202 Failed to send message to remote storage 4203 Failed to connect to remote storage 4900 Loading patron user group succeeded 4901 Loading patron user group failed 5001 Wrong Data found when parsing element for User 6116 Import Job External system Task Chain Fail for User 9171 Failed to send Inventory Add message 9172 Inventory Delete message was sent successfully 9173 Failed to send Inventory Delete message - August 2022 Analytics URM-173942
Consortia members can now create cost usage reports for shared electronic resources managed in the Network Zone. For more information, see Including Network Zone Electronic Inventory in Analytics Reports. - August 2022 Analytics URM-173979
To more accurately calculate the cost usage for a title, if the COUNTER Platform (defined in E-Resource of UI Alma) field is empty, Alma Analytics now derives the platform from the Vendor Interface > Interface Name field. - August 2022 Analytics URM-118579
The No Charge field was added to the PO Line dimension in every subject area in which it appears (E-Inventory, Funds Expenditure, Physical Items, Purchase Requests). It indicates if the No Charge checkbox on the PO Line Details page was selected, which is done for titles that were marked for purchase following a process of DDA/PDA, but are open access free-of-charge titles. - August 2022 Analytics URM-95122
The Lost Item Fee Amount, Lost Item Fee Currency, and Lost Item Fee VAT were added to Borrowing Requests > Borrowing Request Details and Lending Requests > Lending Request Details. These fields enable you to create reports concerning the fee charged for lost items. - August 2022 Analytics URM-148217
The deprecated Events subject area is no longer being updated with new information. - August 2022 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-162287
To enable the library to communicate with course instructors and reading list owners, the following preferred email fields were added to the Course Reserves, Leganto Student Usage, and Leganto Instructor Usage Events subject areas:- Review Requester Preferred Email > Reading Lists
- Reading List Owner Preferred Email > Reading Lists
- Course Instructor Preferred Email > Courses
- August 2022 Fulfillment - Resource SharingURM-157483
Updates are now disseminated to partners downloaded from the Ex Libris Resource Sharing Directory. If an institution makes changes that impact the partner information in the Resource Sharing Directory, such as email, address, etc., this information is updated on the partner record downloaded by other institutions.
The Locate profile is not updated.
For more information, see Contributing to the Resource Sharing Directory.
- February 2022 Digital Resource Management URM-162811
Navigation arrows were added to the Alma Viewer for images displayed in Full Screen mode to allow you to navigate between the images of a representation. - February 2022 Analytics URM-160929
The Permanent Call Number field was added to Titles > Title Details. (It already exists at Physical Items > Holding Details). This field displays the call number used to file items on the shelves of the library.In addition, the Permanent Call Number column was added to all tabs of the Title Level Overlap Analysis dashboard that display physical items.
- February 2022 Analytics Idea Exchange SF: 05795758 06219084 URM-132408
The Renewal Note field was added to the PO Line dimension for every subject area in which it appears. It displays the note of the PO line renewal for continuous orders.
- January 2022 Resource Management URM-140480
Alma Link Resolver now attempts to match on both ISSN and eISSN that are in the OpenURL and returns the services for all matches. - January 2022 Digital Resource Management URM-160879
The user experience was improved when moving selected titles from the Title List tab for collections. A pop-up now appears with a list of the collections to which you can move the titles. Watch the Move Titles Between Collections video (0:39 seconds). - January 2022 Digital Resource Management Idea Exchange URM-143776
The functionality to prevent downloads of digital images that is configured by clearing the Allow Downloads checkbox when creating digital access rights rules (Configuration > Fulfillment > Copyright Management > Access Rights > Add Access Rights > Add Rule) was enhanced. The user cannot save images using the Save As function of the browser. - January 2022 Analytics URM-161288
The new Resource Sharing Borrowing Requests and Resource Sharing Lending dashboards are now available. They display reports such as Average Time to Material Arrival, Resource Sharing Borrowing Requests Year-Over-Year, and Resource Sharing Lending Requests List Per Lending Request Status Graph. For more information, see Out-of-the-Box Reports. - January 2022 Analytics URM-159626
The Num of Digital Accesses field was added to Borrowing Requests > Borrowing Request Details. It indicates how many requested digital files were actually accessed by patrons. - January 2022 Analytics URM-125170
The Year of Publication field was added to the Usage Data > Usage Data Details - Release 5 dimension in addition to its current location in the Usage Data Details - JR5 dimension to make it more accessible when creating reports.
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November 2022 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-175030
When new items are manually added to reading lists in Alma, Alma attempts to link them to library resources using the resource locate functionality. In cases where there is more than one bibliographic record, Alma can be configured to link citations to bibliographic records according to preferred inventory type (electronic, then print, then digital, for example) When resource_locate_multiple_matches (Configuration > Fulfillment > General > Other Settings) is set to first_by_inventory_type and resource_locate_multiple_matches_priority (Configuration > Fulfillment > General > Other Settings) is configured, multiple matches are now auto-located according to priority. Previously, the option to have items with multiple matches located by inventory type was only used when items were added in Leganto and in the Process and Enrich citations job. -
November 2022 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-175341
The Course Visibility field was added to the Courses dimension in the Course Reserves, Leganto Student Usage, and Leganto Instructor Usage subject areas and the Request for Course dimension of the Requests subject areas. It indicates if the course is archived or unarchived. -
March 2022 Fulfillment - Course Reserves SF: 05300463 URM-155065
Leganto now offers the option to present the reading list name in Primo search results. The reading list name is now added to the CNO $$w. Multiple lists are divided by a semicolon (;).
For more information, see The Format of Published Data.
- February 2022 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-163142
The Citation Alma Digital Views field was added to Course Reserves > Reading List Citations and Leganto Student Usage > Citations. It indicates the number of digital citation views during an active course.
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January 2022 Fulfillment - Course ReservesURM-158484
On the Edit Citations screen, the facet labels under File were changed from Exists and Not Exist to File Attached and No File Attached.
File facet -
January 2022 Fulfillment - Course Reserves SF: 05848830 05715135 05416589 05361476 05328522 05320310 05319647
Itemized sets now support course sets that are larger than 1000 courses.
- January 2022 Fulfillment - Course Reserves URM-160095, URM-161083, URM-161184
The following fields were added to the Reading List Citations dimension of the Course Reserves, Leganto Student Usage, and Leganto Instructor Usage Events subject areas:
- Citation Resolving Disabled – indicates if the resolving feature is disabled
- Is Digital Citation – indicates if the citation is a digital resource
- Citation AlmaD Downloads – the number of digital citation downloads during an active course
- Citation Library External Tags – the library external tags of the citation
- Section Library External Tags (added to the Leganto Reading List Sections dimension) – the library external tags of the section
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May 2022 Fulfillment - Resource SharingURM-163245
When the existing Expired Resource Sharing Requests job (Configuration > Fulfillment > General > Fulfillment Job Configuration) is set to Active, expired requests are now automatically rejected. The default setting for this job is Inactive.
Expired Resource Sharing Requests JobFor pods that allow automatic renewals, when the Send Courtesy Notices and Handle Loan Renewals Job (Configuration > Fulfillment > General > Fulfillment Job Configuration) is set to Active and Allow Renew for Rapido Pods Requests is checked, expiring requests are automatically renewed. The default setting for this job is Inactive.
Send Courtesy Notices and Handle Loan Renewals JobFor more information, see Automatic Job Renewals.
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May 2022 Fulfillment - Resource SharingURM-168619
We added a Data Sharing Profile (Configuration > General > General Configuration> Data Sharing Profile) option to enable institutions to share holding information for resource sharing purposes. When set to Yes, this indicates that the institution has agreed to share its information. The default setting for this option is No. We strongly recommend setting this option to Yes.
Data Resource Sharing Profile ConfigurationFor more information, see Resource Sharing.
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April 2022 Fulfillment - Resource SharingURM-162157
We added the parameters User identifier regex and User identifier regex (Fulfillment > Partners > Illiad partner) so that when requests are passed to Illiad, Illiad now recognizes the identifier. By default, this field is blank.
The User identifier regex field in the example below indicates that Alma should use the identifying information until the @ to match the User identifier type Primary Identifier in Illiad.
Regex identifier fieldsFor more information, see Integrating Rapido and Illiad.