Support for COUNTER R5.1 Reports

Alma now supports loading of COUNTER R5.1 reports, both manually and by SUSHI harvesting. By adhering to the updated standard, Alma ensures that usage statistics are collected consistently across various electronic resources, enabling librarians to effectively assess resource utilization and justify expenditures. 

COUNTER R5.1 reports’ usage will be added to the current R5 folder in Analytics, and will be comparable with usage data in R5. This is aligned with the COUNTER guidelines (see "Are Release 5.1 reports comparable to Release 5 reports?" in the FAQs).

Harvesting COUNTER R5.1 Reports

To harvest reports in R5.1, an account of R5_1 type is needed. For background on the considerations that led to this decision, see the knowledge article.

For new publishers, add a new SUSHI account of type R5_1, and fill the relevant fields.

For existing publishers transitioning from R5 to R5.1, create a R5.1 SUSHI account based on their current R5 account, using the new Create R5.1 account. This will create a R5.1 account with the same details as the R5 account, except for the name (SUSHI Account), Vendor URL and Override URL, which you will need to enter manually.

Note that the newly created R5.1 account will start harvesting from the last R5 harvesting onwards (using the scheduled job or the Harvest Now action) to avoid data duplication. 

For more details on the recommended workflow when transitioning to R5.1, see Managing COUNTER-Compliant Usage Data.

Viewing Reports in Analytics
The reports will be added to the current R5 folder in Analytics, and the data is comparable. There are some specific changes in R5.1 that may impact the Analytics reports. For details, see Usage Data (COUNTER).

Enhanced "PO Line - Claiming" Scheduled Job Report 

February 2025 Acquisitions   Idea Exchange     CERV Enhancement (ID #8936)

The job report now includes a list of vendors to which claim letters were successfully sent, as well as a list of send failures. The lists include the related PO line numbers.

For more information, see Processing Claims.

Changes in Bibliographic Records Reflected Automatically in PO Lines

February 2025 Acquisitions  Idea Exchange URM -154433

Alma can now automatically update linked PO lines when changes are made to bibliographic records. This improves order accuracy and eliminates the need for manual updates.

The new configuration is disabled by default. To enable it, go to Configuration Menu > Acquisitions > Other Settings and update the update_pol_description_upon_bib_change parameter to true. 

For more details see Other Settings.

Change PO Lines Types for Different Inventory and Continuity

The Update PO Lines Information - Advanced job now changes the PO line type, even when the inventory type and/or continuity are different. This can help with alignment for statistical purposes and provide a 'simple' error-fixing method in the daily work.

When selecting to change the PO line type, three additional fields will appear:

• Handling existing inventory - The available options are: Detach from PO line/Delete.

• Detach inventory when it can't be deleted - Appears when Delete is selected for "Handle existing inventory".

• Assign inventory manually - Change the PO line type without automatically creating inventory.

For more details, see Manual Jobs.

Changes to Display of PO Lines

The following changes were made to the PO line display:

1. The following PO line section names were changed to align with the new Alma UI:

• PO Line Summary was changed to Summary.

• PO Lines Information was changed to General Information.

2. The recent selection list was added to the following PO line fields:

• Acquisition method

• Material type 

• Access provider 

• Vendor reference number type

• Currency

Quick Access Links in PO Lines

Users working on PO lines can now more efficiently search the relevant fields to update by using the Quick Access module.

The Quick Access feature appears when the PO lines list operates in split view and in full page view (as opposed to list view). This module enables searching for sections, fields, and actions within the form. Users can initiate the module by using the keyboard shortcut (period '.') or by selecting the Quick Access link below the section links in the side menu area.

This provides users with a more streamlined and intuitive way of interacting with the form-focused search module.

For more information, see Quick Access Module.

Pagination in PO Line Related Inventory

Pagination was added to the following PO Line sections:

• Ordered Items

• Ordered Portfolios

• Ordered Collections

By default, the pagination appears when there are more than 20 rows in the list.

In the slider, you can change the number of rows required to make the pagination appear.

Alma saves the slider value after logging out or refreshing the page.

Holdings and Representations do not have pagination as they usually don't have many items in the list.

For more information, see Manually Creating a PO Line.