Week 1: Orientation, Navigation & Searching

Video Trainings

Alma Essentials Orientation Trainings

1. Introduction to Alma Training (11 min)

2. Introduction to Alma (12 min)

Alma Essentials Navigation and Searching Trainings

1. Navigating in Alma (10 min)

2. Searching in Alma (7 min)

Exercises

1. Search for bib records

   1. Basic search: All titles + Keywords
      All Titles search using the persistent search for a resource of your choice (Use "Anne of Green Gables" or "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" if you can’t think of anything) and tell if it is on shelf or not

      Open

      

       

   2. Basic search: Electronic titles + ISSN Equals 1526-5501 

      Open

      

       

   3. Advanced search: All titles + MMS ID > 1
      This search returns all the bib records.

       

   4. Basic Search for a specific MMS ID using
      All titles + MMS ID Equals 9933541406532

       

2. Perform an advanced "All titles" search for all bibs without ANY inventory (no holdings and no items)
   Advanced Search: All titles + Has inventory = No

    

3. Perform an advanced "Physical titles" search for holdings in a location
   Advanced Search: Physical titles + Holding > Permanent physical location =

    

4. Using Advanced Search for Physical Items, find one of the following (choose one): a) all the items that are checked out; b) all lost items; or c) all items in the Reference collection
   Advanced Search: Physical Items >

   a) Process type = Loan

   b) Process type = Lost;

   c) Holding > Permanent physical location =

    

5. Search for an electronic portfolio/title of your choice, locating it in the CZ and in your database and tell what collection(s)/package(s) it is part of
   Basic electronic portfolio/title

    

6. Perform an "Electronic Portfolio" search for is Standalone = Yes
   Advanced Search: Electronic portfolio + Electronic portfolio > Is Standalone - Equals – Yes

    

7. Perform an "Electronic Collection" search for interface name contains "Ovid"
   Advanced Search: Electronic collection + Electronic collection > Interface Name - contains keywords - Ovid

    

    

ALMA COLLABORATIVE NETWORK
Video Trainings

Collaborative Network Fundamentals

1. Alma Collaborative Networks – Introduction (9 min)

2. Shared Bibliographic Records in the Network Zone (9 min)

Exercises

1. Searching bib records in the Network Zone:
   All Titles search, choose Network Zone in the drop down of the consistent search box
   keyword search
   Note: Physical Titles search in the Network Zone returns no results because there's no inventory in the network zone.

    

2. Searching for a bib record in the IZ that is linked to NZ:
   All Titles search, choose IZ in the drop down of the consistent search box: keyword search
   Click on the NZ icon to go to the record in the NZ tab, click on Held By to see My Institution, click on My Institution.

    

USER MANAGEMENT
Video Trainings

User Management (in Alma Essentials)

1. Day-to-Day User Management (10 min)

2. Additional User Management Workflows (7 min)

User Management (in Administration Fundamentals)

1. Basics (11 min)

2. Creating and Updating User Records (11 min)

3. Exporting Blocks, Fines and Fees (9 min)

Exercises

1. Search for a known user
   Search for a known user and find their email address, letters/notices (if any), and checkouts. There are three ways to do this:

   1. Admin >> Manage Users

      1. Search for a user of your choice

      2. To find their email address, go the Contact Information tab

      3. To find letters/notices (if any) and what you can do with them (resend/download), go to the Attachments tab

      4. To find Fines/fees info, go to the Fines/Fees tab

      5. To find checkouts, returns, etc. click the Manage fulfillment activities

   2. Search Users in persistent search box menu: similar to Manage Users in #1

   3. Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services
      (Make sure your location is a library with circulation desk for example "Graduate Library - Graduate Library Circulation" to see "Manage Patron Services" option)

      Scan patron's ID or search for patron: Search for a user of your choice

      
      Here you see user notes and circulation related information: loans, returns, requests information.

      1. To find other information, go to user record by clicking the link in the ID field

      2. To find their email address, go the Contact Information tab

      3. To find letters/notices (if any) and what you can do with them (resend/print), go to the Attachments tab

      4. To find Fines/fees info, go to the Fines/Fees tab

         
         
         

2. Add an external user account
   Scenario: A new student goes right from registration office to library, they have their primary ID but their account is not in the campus system yet someone new to the institution/library, hasn't been added to Alma by the SIS load, need to check something out - create record manually and will be updated by the SIS load.

Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services >> Register New User

1. Enter required fields

2. Manage Patron Services is only place to create an external user!! Make sure Patron has institutional record = Yes (this is the only way to create an external user outside of the SIS load) + enter value in Identifier Type - Value/SIS match point identifier so the record will be updated by the SIS. This creates a temporary record for the user, enabling them to borrow items, and ensures that the temporary record will be merged with the master copy of the patron record in the external system.

    

3. Click on hyperlinked ID. This will take you to the full "Find and Manage Users" screen to edit the record. Click on the General Information Tab. Note: The password section disappeared because this user is external. "Patron" role has automatically been added to the user based on user registration rules.

4. Click "Open for Update": Note that there are certain fields that CAN be owned by Alma (i.e. if you click "Yes" to the prompt, they won't be overwritten by the SIS load: User group; Title; PIN; Job category; Campus; preferred language; resource sharing library, Cataloger level, selected patron letters.

5. Click "Yes" and change the user group.

6. Additional addresses/emails + Note: will not be overwritten if you don't choose "external" when adding.

3. Toggle Account Type
In the external account created in exercise 1, click Toggle account type to toggle from External to Internal.

Note: Password field becomes available.

 After your test load is delivered on Alma production environment, your user account will be External, because authentication is not set up, you will need to toggle account type from External to Internal, enter the password so you can start using Alma. When authentication is set up, toggle Account type again to change the account from Internal back to External .

4. Add an internal account for community borrower
Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services >> Register New User

1. Enter required fields. Note: the primary ID is auto-generated. We can enter your routine into this field (User ID Generation) - only helpful if someone has barcode and being registered at the circ desk.

2. For Internal User such as community borrowers: enter password (requirement: 8 character min, 1 uppercase, 1 lowercase, 1 number). This will be the account these patrons will use to log into Discovery.

3. If you select the ‘Force password change on next login’ check box to ensure the patron selects a new password every time they log into Alma (relevant for Alma only). When done, Update User.

4. Click on the hyperlinked ID. This will take you to the full "Find and Manage Users" screen to edit the record. Click on the General Information Tab. Note that the "Patron" role has automatically been added to the user based on user registration rules.

5. Add a role

1. If you log into Alma with the internal user account created in exercise 4 above, you will not succeed as the user only has a Patron role, which only allows them to access their Primo account but not Alma.

    

2. Add a non-circulation related role:

   1. Log into Alma with an admin user on a sandbox environment that has permission to assign role (username: “AlmaUser01”), add a non-circulation related role such as cataloger for the same internal user created in exercise 3 above

   2. Log out of the admin user account

   3. Log into Alma with the internal use account, you’ll be able to access Alma this time and see the appropriate menu with limited relevant options, in this case the option to create Purchase Request in the Acquisitions menu, options under Resources to perform cataloging activities, and option to Manage Sets under the Admin menu. However, no library appears in Choose Location because the user doesn’t have a circulation desk role assigned to.

3. Add a circ desk role to the user record to enable user to work at the Main Library’s default circ desk.

   1. Use the “AlmaUser01 ” account to add the circulation desk manager/ operator role, scope to the internal user account above: Main Library, attached to a cir desk: the DEFAULT_CIRC_DESK.

   2. Log in with the internal user account to verify that Main library appears as an available option to choose from now.

6. Add role from a role profile

1. Alma Configuration > User Management> Profiles : click Add Profile: include a group of roles

2. In a user record, click Add from Profiles, choose the profile to apply the roles to

Extra credit: Why can you change the primary address on an internal user's account, but only add an address to an external users’ account?