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Alma Resource Sharing Guide

This guide explains the various components of FLVC's current resource sharing processes also known as UBorrow.

May 2025 New Features

Manage Patron Services and Return Items New UX

May 2025 Fulfillment and Resource Sharing 

The new, next-generation Alma UX design is available for the Manage Patron Services and Return Items pages. In this release, the new UX is automatically set as the default for all users, with no option to opt-out.

For a general overview of the new Manage Patron Services and Return Items pages, see Managing Patron Services at a Circulation Desk - New Layout.

Removal of Gender Information

May 2025 User Experience, Accessibility & Infrastructure

As part of our GDPR compliance efforts and in order to improve the protection of private information on the Alma database, all gender information will be removed from the user records in Alma in the upcoming August release. Since gender is not essential for product functionality, retaining it poses unnecessary compliance risks according to GDPR requirements that personal data be collected and processed only when there is a clear legal basis and business need.

The deletion will not be reversible. From that point on, it will no longer be possible to input or retrieve gender information to the user record using any of the standard interfaces that concurrently update this record.

Search for Dates Within Specific Range of Days

May 2025 User Experience, Accessibility & Infrastructure idea exchange Idea Exchange

Date-related search indexes in the Users advanced search, such as Purge Date, Last Activity Date, Expiration Date, etc., now include the following options to search within a moving range of days:

  1. Is Within the Last (days)

  2. Is Older Than (days)

  3. Is Within the Next (days)

    The date range options in the advanced search.

Date range in advanced search

This enables customers to create dynamic "moving-window" sets (for example a logical set of users that expired in the last 30 days).

The moving window date for the set is selected as within the last thirty days.

Date range query 

For more information, see Searching in Alma.

Configurable Session Timeout

May 2025 User Experience, Accessibility & Infrastructure idea exchange Idea Exchange

All Ex Libris platform products now include a configurable session timeout feature in response to community feedback from the Idea Exchange. Institutions can now set a default session timeout duration ranging from 15 to 150 minutes (default remains 60 minutes) from the new "Session Timeout" configuration page (Configuration > General > General Configuration > Session Timeout). This page is accessible to General System Administrators.

The Session Timeout configuration page.

Scanning a Shipped Item Twice

When an intended lender unintentionally cancels a request by scanning a shipped item twice, the request is no longer considered completed on the borrower side. Instead, the request is now sent to the next lender on the rota as if the current lender has rejected the request. The History indicates that the previous lender rejected the request. This indication in the History includes a note that: "The lender shipped the request but then scanned it back to the library. Therefore, the lender was removed from the rota of this request."

February 2025 New Features

New Manage Patron Services UX - Opt Out

February 2025 Fulfillment and Resource Sharing 

Starting from February 2025, the default for the Manage Patron Services page will be the new UX. The classic UX is still available. To turn off the new Manage Patron Services UX, select your user icon () in Alma's persistent bar, select Feature Rollout Preferences, and deactivate the New Manage Patron Services toggle.

The activate/deactivate option for the new UI.

Feature Rollout Preferences

If you’re experiencing an issue preventing you from working in the new UX, please contact the help desk as help@flvc.org.  

For more information, see Managing Patron Services.

Sound Alerts in New Manage Patron Services UX

February 2025 Fulfillment and Resource Sharing  idea exchange Idea Exchange

The new Manage Patron Services UX can be set up to sound an alert when a block happens at the circulation desk. This enhances productivity and accuracy of the circulation desk work by enabling staff to rely on a sound alert to flag blocks. By default, no sound alert is enabled.

The library administrators can control this feature at the institution level, as well as at the circulation desk level. 

Enable and turn off sound alerts at circulation desk.

Sound alert for blocks

In addition, users can also turn this feature off at their desk (for that specific Alma user).

For more information, see Enabling Sound Alerts for Blocks.

Access Digitized Content Without Authentication

February 2025 Fulfillment and Resource Sharing

Libraries can now include a link in the Document Delivery Notification Letter email that does not require authentication. This enables patrons to access digital requests that are not subject to copyright restrictions, without first authenticating.

When the parameter rs_no_authentication_document_delivery (Configuration > Fulfillment > General > Other Settings) is set to true (default false), and the label without_authentication (Configuration > General > Letters > Letters Configuration > Document Delivery Notification Letter) is enabled, the Without authentication link is included in the Document Delivery Notification Letter and does not require user authentication when opening the link.

The without authentication link in the document delivery notification letter.

Document Delivery Notification Letter - Without authentication link

For more information, see Digitization Processing.

Marking In-process Items as Missing

February 2025 Fulfillment and Resource Sharing 

CERV CERV Enhancement (ID#8918)

Users who want to change the status of items not in place to 'missing', no longer need to do so from the linked request. They can now do this directly from the items list. This enables simpler management of missing items that were previously in a library process, such as in transit from one library to another, technical migration, etc.

The Toggle Missing Status action for Item not in place.

Toggle Missing Status for Item not in place

For more information, see Working with Items.

Prioritization of Off-site Storage Location

February 2025 Fulfillment and Resource Sharing 

When fulfilling requests, Alma uses items in remote storage locations as either the first or last priority, depending on whether "Prefer Over Other Locations" was selected. It is now possible to turn off this behavior so that remote storage items will be considered like any other item for prioritization purposes. This enables libraries to improve request fulfillment logistics and supply time when their remote storage facilities are neither automatic storage nor remote off-site storage.

The Prefer over other locations dropdown list.

Prefer over other locations

Libraries that currently have this parameter checked will be migrated to have the 'Prefer over other locations' value selected. Libraries that currently have this parameter unchecked will be migrated to have the 'Set as last option' value selected. Libraries that want to use the new functionality need to select the "Do not prefer over other locations" option.

See Configuring Remote Storage Facilities for more information.