Description

In cases where there are duplicate BIBs in Alma, the Dedup process can cause all physical item requests to be placed on unexpected or unintended holdings. When requesting a Deduped title in Primo, Alma selects randomly one of the duplicated bibliographic records, and does not consider the below aspects across the Deduped records:

• Duplicate Requests : a patron can place one request per title that has been deduplicated.

• Availability : a title with unavailable items can be requested.

• Pickup Location : a title with items that need to be transferred to the requested pickup location can be requested.

• Patron Campus Affiliation : a title with items from another campus can be requested.

• Transit-Time Rules : a title with items that have longer transit times can be requested.

Go to Discovery > Display Configuration: Configure Views > [Select View] > Brief Results Tab:
Scroll to the bottom of the page to see “Enable Dedup” which causes this odd requesting behavior:

Resolution

Go to Discovery > Display Configuration: Configure Views > [Select View] > Brief Results Tab and disable Dedup:

Once you’re disabled Dedup, search for a title in Primo VE to see one FRBR group displayed (e.g. "Becoming"):

Expand the entry and the 2 groups appear; click on the first entry (“Available at University Library”):

Expand availability for the University Library copy and place a request for the University Library item; select Pickup at University Library (or desired pickup location).
The correct request now appears on the University Library pick from shelf list:

Additional Information

Understanding the Dedup and FRBR Processes (Primo VE)

• Article last edited: 21-Aug-2025