Alma 2022 Release Highlights Videos
Videos
Usage Reflection for Community Zone Collections
November 2022
Alma Community Zone electronic collections now indicate how many times the resource was activated in each region. This can help you decide which electronic resources to activate.
Restrict Editing Bibliographic Fields by Network Zone Members
November 2022
The Consortium Central Office can now control which Bibliographic metadata fields can be edited by the Network Zone members, preventing unwanted edits of specific fields. This can help with the quality control and uniformity of the Network Zone records.
Support for Split Coverage in the Portfolio Loader and Portfolio Export
November 2022
It is possible to both export and import portfolios with split coverage. Accompanying PowerPoint Presentation.
New Resource Sharing Task List
August 2022
We've revamped Alma's UI layout for the Resource Sharing tasks list! The new UI features many improvements to help staff navigate more intuitively and efficiently.
Opting In or Out of a New Feature
August 2022
Some key new features in Alma are now being rolled out in phases, allowing Alma users to try them out early, before they replace the existing features. Individual Alma users can opt in or out of new features in their personal use; and Alma administrators can opt in or out of features on the institution level.
Commit to Retain an Item for a Collaborative Collection
August 2022
You can mark an item as Committed to Retain, ensuring it won't get deleted by Alma jobs or API calls; in the case of a manual deletion, a warning will be issued. This is useful for items in collaborative collections, where your library has made a formal agreement to hold specific items.
Configure the Quick User Management Form
August 2022
Your institution can configure which fields appear in the User Registration Form and Edit User Info form. Removing unnecessary fields can expedite user management.
New Privilege to Control Access to User History
August 2022
You can control which user roles can access the user-record history of your Alma users. This requires Ex Libris support to assign the role privileges accordingly.
Change Order of a Title's Request Queue
August 2022
If a resource has several requests on it, you can now change the order of the requests in the queue by setting a Manual Priority for individual requests.
Enhanced Scheduling Options for Publishing to OCLC
August 2022
Libraries can now fully configure the schedule for publishing to OCLC. This is useful for libraries that experience connectivity issues with OCLC servers who can now schedule publishing for times where the servers are less busy.
Management Level Indication for Community Zone Collections
August 2022
Community Zone collections now feature a Management Level indicator to inform you who is responsible for the management of the collection. That way, you know whom to contact in case updates are needed.
Load Portfolios to a Collection Using KBART Format
August 2022
The Alma Portfolio Loader now supports KBART format files for loading portfolios to electronic collections. You can now directly use KBART files from the relevant providers, without having to first convert the files to Alma's proprietary format.
Adding Closed Captions and Subtitles for Videos in Alma Digital
August 2022
From the August 2022 Alma Release, it is possible to add closed captions and subtitles for videos in Alma Digital.
Universal Viewer for Alma Digital Now Supports Non Image Files
August 2022
From the August 2022 Alma Release, it is possible to view non-image files (such as mp4 videos and pdf files) in the Universal Viewer.
Creating Filtered Sets Using Indication Rules
May 2022
A set of titles in Alma can be filtered to further refine it beyond the original saved query. For example, you can filter the set to contain only books of a certain size in centimeters. Filtering is done using indication rules, which can test any field of the record for your specified conditions.
Update Physical Items in Bulk to Be In Process
May 2022
You can assign a work order type to many physical items at once using the Change Physical Items Information job. The job will mark the items as In Process, and this will be reflected in discovery. This feature is useful when a large set of items becomes temporarily unavailable, for example, due to renovations or COVID restrictions.
Disable Item Description Confirmation Message
May 2022
You can disable the confirmation message that appears when saving an item, that suggests the item description needs to be updated as well. The May release also fixes a bug that displayed the confirmation message even if you did update the description.
Display Local Call Number and Other Classification Number in Search Results
May 2022
You can customize your All Titles search results to display the Local Call Number and Other Classification Number. Note that the search results will appear only after indexing!
Batch Update of Electronic Collection Attributes
May 2022
You can update the attributes of electronic collections in batch using the Change Electronic Collection information job. This can be used for example, to update all of the collections to use the same proxy server, or to batch update their Electronic Collection Level URL if the syntax of the vendor's URL changed.
Add a 'Reply' to Email Address for Library Specific Letters
April 2022
Library-specific letters to patrons can now have a specific 'Reply to' address. This allows patrons to reply back to the appropriate library. Different libraries in your institution can have different 'Reply To' email addresses.
Search PO Lines by Their Internal Note
April 2022
You can now search for Purchase Order Lines by the exact text of their internal note.
New & Improved Overlap Analysis Tool
March 2022
We've improved the interface of the Overlap Analysis Tool to make it more friendly and intuitive. You can now compare the coverage of an electronic collection with that of a collection in the Community Zone, your entire Institution Zone, or with Network Zone holdings. This can help you make better decisons regarding ordering and canceling collections.
Metadata Editor: Click on Template to Create New Record
March 2022
Starting in the Alma March 2022 release, to create a new record from a template in the Metadata Editor, simply click on the template.
DARA: Group Local Standalone Portfolios into a Collection
March 2022
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.
Advanced Physical Holdings Search
February 2022
You can search for Physical Holdings via Alma's Advanced Search, now featuring a user-friendly query builder, in which you can easily compose complex queries.
Enhancements to the PO Line Pricing Section
February 2022
The PO line's Pricing section sees two new features in the Alma February 2022 release: The ability to calculate the net price based on the number of ordered items, and the option to enter a discount amount.
Exempt a User Group from a Digital Fulfillment Waitlist
February 2022
For a digital resource with a patron waitlist, you can configure an access rights policy to allow specific user groups to view the resource without having to wait in the waitlist; for example, to prioritize access for patrons with print disabilities. Ex Libris is focused on developing tools and functionality that are highly configurable to meet a range of institutional needs and risk profiles.
Extended Export of User List (Including Primary Identifiers)
January 2022
When exporting a list of users to an Excel spreadsheet, you can now include a column with the users' Primary Identifiers. This provides an easy way to identify users when working in Excel or Analytics.
Display Collection Path in Alma Viewer
January 2022
You can configure the Alma Viewer to display the collection path of a digital resource, at the bottom of the Description pane.
Move Titles Between Collections
January 2022
You can now move selected titles between digital collections using an intuitive interface.
Library Level Patron Notifications
January 2022
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.
Library Level Patron Notification Logos
January 2022
Institutions can now configure library-specific logos for patron notification letters.
Traditional Chinese Authority URI enrichment to Linked Data
January 2022
Three new Traditional Chinese Authority files can be used in the linked data enrichment.