If you plan to print this PDF:

Pages that will help you fill out the Configuration Form: 1-12, 17-92
Pages not relevant to I-Share Alma implementation: 13-16 and 93-107
Informational only: 108-114

Alma Configuration Form Guide

CARLI Summary Instructions

20190916v.7
See page 12 for important notes on Tab order completion.
Provided recommendations:
1. CARLI Required value = Value required for I-Share consortial
settings.
2. CARLI Recommended value = Value recommended for most
libraries.
3. I-Share Library choice; Default value = Library may choose their
setting and a Default Value is listed if available.

Ex Libris Confidential
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Copyright Ex Libris Limited, 2019. All rights reserved.

Document released: August 2019

Web address: http://www.exlibrisgroup.com

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Table of Contents
1 Overview 9
Alma Configuration Form 9
Additional Configurations and Integrations for "Go-Live" 12
2 Alma Configuration Form Populator Tool 13
3 Fulfillment Tab 17
Fulfillment Simplification 17
Location Types 18
On Shelf Request Policy 19
Patron Types 20
Item Exception Types 21
Auto Renew Rules 21
Overdue and Lost Loan Rules 22
Request Recalls 23
Block Preferences 23
Request Pickup Configuration 25
4 Libraries Tab 27
Campus Definitions 27
Library Information 28
Opening Hours 28
Circulation Relationships Between Libraries 30
5 Printers Tab 31
6 Circ Desk Tab 32
Circulation Desks Table 33
Automatic (Pick Slip) Printing Rules 35
7 Locations Tab 36
Overview 36
Filling in the Locations Tab 37
Remote Storage Facilities 39

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8 Users Tab 40
Patron Groups 40
Patron Limits 40
9 Item Policies Tab 42
Item Policies 42
10 Policies, TOU & Rules Tab 43
Institutional Default Values 43
Institutional Policies & TOU 43
Exceptions 52
Outgoing Requests to Other Institutions 53
Incoming Requests from Other Institutions 53
11 Acquisitions Tab 55
Currencies 55
“Acquire For” Relationships 55
Served Libraries 56
General Purchasing Behavior 56
12 Resource Management Tab 58
Barcode Generation 58
Local 9XX Fields 58
Call Number Parsing 58
Active Metadata Registry 63
13 General Tab 65
force_location_selection_on_login 65
retrieve_services_from_NZ 65
time_zone 66
acquisition_accrual_mode 66
assertion_over_PO_line_price 66
Barcode 67
Brief 67
invoice_allow_vat_in_line_level 67
invoice_high_total_price 67

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invoice_not_unique 68
invoice_skip_erp 68
invoice_use_pro_rata 68
po_line_prefix 69
po_prefix 69
release_remaining_encumbrance_for_edi 69
brief_level 70
authority_names 70
authority_usage_policy 71
call_number_type 71
cataloging_level_available 71
course_restricted_field 72
non_serial_match_profile 72
serial_match_profile 74
subfield_separator 75
system_date_format 76
use_holdings_form 76
working_copy_lock_timeout 77
auto_renew_loan_days 77
enable_request_during_loan_for_different_policy 78
generate_resource_sharing_temp_barcode 78
overdue_at_claim_return_loan 78
overdue_at_lost_loan 79
remember_last_loan_display 79
results_best_location_enable 79
rs_allow_actions_on_scan_in 80
shortened_due_date_notifications 80
should_anonymize_borrowing_request 81
should_anonymize_item_loan 81
view_historical_loans_in_primo 82
Benchmark Analytics 82

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 enable_usage_tracking 82
14 Primo VE – Configuration Tab 83
Home Page – Customization 83
Logo 83
Side Bar Position (Facets) 83
Basic and Advanced Search 84
Search Box 84
Restricted Search For Course Reserves 84
EBSCO Search - Credentials 84
WorldCat Search - Credentials 84
Search Results - Facets 84
Full Record View - Labels Section 85
Full Record View – Details Section – Additional Fields 85
Main Menu Links 86
Customized Links 87
Browse List Options 87
Record Actions 87
General Attributes 88
Languages 88
Time Out Parameters 88
Local Resource Types 88
15 Primo VE - Digital Repository Tab 89
16 Data Validity Checks Tab 92
Extended Tabs 93
17 Booking Tab 94
Booking Policy Default Values 94
Booking Policies 94
Item Policy Exceptions - Booking 97
18 Additional ResShare Libraries Tab 98
Resource Sharing Default Values Table 98
Outgoing Requests to Other Institutions 98
Incoming Requests from Other Institutions 99

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 Resource Sharing Library Locations 99
Licensing Tab 99
License Sections Order 99
License Terms 100
19 WorkOrders Tab 101
Work Order Departments 101
20 Create Controlled Vocabularies Tab 103
21 Assign Controlled Vocabularies Tab 104
22 Translations Tab 105
Institution Languages 105
Name of Institution 106
Name of Physical Library 107
Name of Location 107
External Name of Location 107
Circulation Desk Name 107
23 Additional Configurations and Integrations 108
Calendar Management 108
EDI Invoices and Orders 108
External Search Resources 108
FTP Connections 109
Import Profiles (for Importing Bibliographic Records and EOD Files)109
Integration Profiles 109
Bursar – Export Fines/Fees 109
CAS 109
Finance Import/Export 110
LDAP 110
OCLC Connexion 110
Online Payment 110
Remote Storage System 110
Resolver Augmentation (DOI, OAI, PubMed) 110
Resolver – Proxies 110
SAML 111
SIP2 – Self-Check 111
Student Information Systems (SIS) – User Import 111

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 SMS 111
Z39.50 Server 111
Letters, Notifications and Slips 111
Resource Sharing 111
Statistical Categories 112
Web Services 112
Analytics 112
Authentication Information 112
Course Information 112
Holdings Information 112
Label Printing 113
Loans Information 113
Requests Information 113
Retrieve Holdings Information 113
User Cash 113
User Information 114

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1
Overview
Alma is designed to be highly configurable and able to fit the needs of a very diverse customer
base. Many parameters in Alma contain default values, which have been selected to reflect our
best practice recommendations for most libraries. You may want to customize at least some of
these parameters to meet your own needs.
This document is designed to assist you in making the decisions necessary to configure Alma to
suit your needs, specifically:
 To assist you in completing the Alma Configuration Form.
 To indicate additional configurations that you may require before going live.
For background information and additional details about specific configurations, see the Alma
Online Help.
For a general introduction to configuration in Alma, listen to Introduction to Alma Configuration
on the Ex Libris Knowledge Center.
For an introduction to the Alma configuration form, listen to Alma Configuration Form on the Ex
Libris Knowledge Center.
Note that the configuration decisions you make when completing the configuration form can be
modified later, during the implementation stage of your Alma project; however, the basic
fulfillment infrastructure (locations, user groups, and item-based policies) should remain the
same.

Alma Configuration Form

The majority of this document describes the information necessary to be entered in the form, the
structure of the questions, the answers required, and the implications of the various
configuration options.
A sample form has been provided in order to illustrate proper completion of the form. Note that
highlighted values indicate non-default values.

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The configuration form uses data validation functionality, which is supported by Microsoft
Excel versions 2003 – 2016. Click through any warnings or pop-ups that are displayed in the
Excel 2003 version. (Note that macros must be enabled in order to receive the full benefit of the
data validation. For more information, see the Data Validity Checks Tab on page 92). In
addition, many tabs have been protected so that only the requested information may be entered.
Generally speaking, refrain from altering the structure of the configuration form, for example,
by rearranging tabs, inserting new columns, etc. An exception to this is the insertion of
additional rows in those tables where this has been enabled (for example, to add more libraries,
locations, or user groups). In addition, do not copy/paste information into the form, since this
often results in validation errors and corruption of the form.
Completing the form is typically a one-time process. After you deliver your completed form to
Ex Libris, your Ex Libris implementation team applies your configurations to Alma.
Afterwards, you test Alma to verify the configurations and provide feedback concerning any
necessary modifications. Your Ex Libris implementation team implements these modifications
directly in Alma via the user interface. After your institution has completed Alma Certification
Training and has gone live with Alma, you are able to make such modifications yourself.
The range of configuration options available in the form, together with the default values
contained in Alma, is not the full range of configuration options existing in Alma, but
represents our best practice recommendations for Alma initial configuration. If you find these
options insufficient for your needs, or require configuration of additional parameters, consult
with your implementation team.
The form contains the following tabs, which are described in this document beginning on the
pages indicated:
 Fulfillment Tab on page 17
 Libraries Tab on page 27
 Printers Tab on page 31
 Circ Desks Tab on page 32
 Locations Tab on page 36
 Users Tab on page 40
 Item Policies Tab on page 42
 Policies, TOU & Rules Tab on page 43
 Acquisitions Tab on page 55
 Resource Management Tab on page 58
 General Tab on page 65
 Data Validity Checks Tab on page 92

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THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS ARE NOT APPLICABLE TO CARLI

 Booking Tab on page 94.

 Additional ResShare Libraries Tab on page 98.
 Licensing Tab on page 99.
 WorkOrders Tab on page 101.
 Create Controlled Vocabularies Tab on page 103.
 Assign Controlled Vocabularies Tab on page 104.
 Translation on page 105.

Certain tabs, tables, and parameters are mandatory for all customers (see the list below). Other
tabs, tables, and parameters are mandatory only if you intend to use their related functionality
and require customization of any default values.
The following tabs, tables, and parameters must be completed by all customers:

Tab Table or Parameter

Fulfillment Location Types

Patron Types

Libraries Libraries

Standard Open Hours

Printers Printers

Circ Desks Circulation Desks

Locations Locations

Users Users

Policies, TOU &Rules 1. Institutional Default Values

2. Institutional Policies & TOU

General time_zone

system_date_format

We recommend that you complete the following tabs first, in the order in which they are
arranged in the form:

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CARLI has determined the best order to enter data into the tabs is as follows, answers
in one tab may populate other tabs.

NOTE: ORDER OF TABS IN CONFIGURATION FORM DOES NOT FOLLOW THE

RECOMMENDED ORDER OF TABS LISTED BELOW. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE
WORKING WITHIN THE CORRECT TAB IN THE CONFIGURATION FORM TO FOLLOW THIS
ORDER:

1 General Tab
When opening, your Configuration Form tabs may be obscured from
2 Printers Tab view. Use the "scroll arrows" to see all tabs.
3 Fulfillment Tab
4 Libraries
5 Circ Desk
6 Locations
7 Users Additionally, be sure to scroll to the top of each tab before editing.

8 Item Policies
9 Policies, TOUs & Rules Tab
10 Acquisitions CARLI: Tabs 10-13 may be completed in any order,
or simultaneously with other tabs.
11 Resource Management
12 Primo VE - Configuration Tab
13 Primo VE - Digital Repository

Additional Configurations and Integrations for "Go-

Live"
Although the configuration form contains most of the configurations you need before going
live with Alma, you may want to make additional configurations before going live. The last
chapter of this document contains a list of these configurations, with reference to the relevant
section in the Alma Online Help.

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 This chapter is not relevant to the CARLI I-Share

2
implementation of Alma Primo.

Alma Configuration Form Populator Tool

le
The Configuration Form Populator tool is used to pre‐populate your Alma configuration forms
with libraries, locations, users (user groups), and, when relevant, item policies contained in your

ab
Alma migration form. The tool copies this information from your migration form and pastes it into
the appropriate places in the configuration form.
The tool has two goals:
 To ensure consistency between the migration form, configuration form, and configuration


elements set in Alma.
lic
To save you the effort of re‐entering in the configuration form information that has already
been entered in the migration form.
To use the tool, the migration form must be your final version, completed, and validated.
p
Use the populator tool before beginning to fill-in the configuration form. You cannot properly
complete the configuration form without using the populator tool first.
Ap

To use the populator tool:

1 Download the Alma Configuration Form Populator tool from the Ex Libris Knowledge Center
and save the file to a local directory on your computer (not a network drive).
2 Save a copy of your completed test‐load migration form to the same directory in which you
saved the populator tool. Ensure that all values are unfiltered (that is, that all filters in the
ot

form are set to Select All).

3 Save an unedited copy of the Alma_Configuration_Form.xlsm to the same directory.
The following forms are now in the same directory:
N

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4 Verify that your migration form and configuration form are not open.

le
5 Double‐click the populator tool file to launch the tool. You may need to enable macros on
your computer in order to use the tool.

ab
p lic
Ap

The following is displayed:

ot
N

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 le
ab
6
7
Click Select Migration Form.
Select your migration form and click Open.
p lic
8 Click Select Configuration Form.
9 Select your unedited configuration form and click Open.
Ap

10 Click Start.
11 After the Populator tool finishes, click Exit.
ot
N

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 le
ab
p lic
12 Open your unedited configuration form and verify that the form has been populated
Ap

correctly with configuration elements from your migration form. (A copy of your unedited
configuration form has been saved to a file with the suffix _org added to the name of the
original file.) The following columns are populated:

Configuration Form Tab Table Column

Libraries Libraries Code of Library
ot

Name of physical Libraries

Locations Locations Library Code Location Code
Name of Location
External Name of Location
N

Configuration Form Tab Table Column

Users Users Code For Group
Name of Group
Item Policies Item Policies Item Code
Item Description

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3
Fulfillment Tab
Fulfillment is a major part of the necessary configuration in Alma. This is reflected in the
Configuration Form, where most of the tabs in the form are related to fulfillment.
This section describes several tables related to fulfillment configuration. The values entered in
these tables populate other parts of the Configuration Form and are used in order to simplify
your fulfillment configuration by categorizing your locations, user groups, and item policies
into types.

Fulfillment Simplification
When you prepare for your Alma implementation, it is important to develop a simplified and
maintainable physical fulfillment policy. As part of your implementation, your fulfillment
policy setup preferences are solicited. Ex Libris implementation team makes best practice
recommendations concerning your fulfillment policy setup.
Alma’s approach to fulfillment is different than in traditional ILS systems. Traditionally,
fulfillment has been handled on an item-level basis. Each and every item receives a status or
policy which, together with the patron status, is used to construct a matrix of applicable loan
policies for each item based on its status, for example: due date, overdue fine, renewability.
Alma takes a location-based approach to fulfillment, the assumption being that items which are
shelved in the same location circulate in more or less the same way for a given user group. In
the event of an exception to this assumption, Alma can use the item status in order to define
exceptional circulation policies. All other items circulate according to the policies defined for
their location, without reference to item status.
By managing fulfillment on the location level, it is no longer necessary to maintain an item
status on each and every item. On the contrary, the item-level status should be maintained only
on exceptional items, that is, items that circulate in a way that is exceptional to the majority of
items in the location. If you have a large number of exceptions in a given location, consider
creating a new location for these items. This approach is easier to configure and maintain, thus
lowering operating costs.

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In addition, when moving an item temporarily to a different location, it is not necessary to add
or modify the item policy. The item automatically circulates according to the policies configured
for its current location.
In addition, defining fulfillment policies according to location makes it easier for patrons to
understand the terms of use, reducing confusion and misunderstanding.
When implementing simplification in your physical fulfillment policy prior to Alma
implementation, perform the following activities:
 Categorize the types of locations you manage in up to five location types, for example:
 General
 Limited
 Short Loan/Reserve
 Closed Stack
 Media
 Categorize your user groups/borrower statuses into five categories, for example:
 Faculty
 Staff
 Graduate Students
 Undergraduate Students
 Community
 Categorize the item statuses you plan to use in Alma into a maximum of five categories. As
mentioned previously, item statuses in Alma can be used for exceptions.
Planning the fulfillment policy for your library prior to your implementation helps simplify and
expedite your implementation of Alma and improves your system overall.

Location Types
I-Share Library Choice; Default Value: The names contained in the form are a suggestion. You
may change these to suit your needs.

The following are the suggested location types. You can also select one of the alternative
suggestions from the drop-down list in the form or enter your own value.
 General – for general loan policies of core materials
 Limited – for reference only or very limited use materials
 Short Loan/Reserve – for short-term loan and reserve collections

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  Closed Stacks – for closed stack materials where the requesting rules always allow the
requesting of items available on the shelf
 Media – for media and/or equipment, where there might be several different types of
material, each type with its own circulation policies. You may want to consider using item
policy exceptions for items in this location type.
About this parameter: As stated, Alma’s approach to fulfillment is location-based. A location
can be considered the equivalent of a shelving location in a given. (Circulations desks,
acquisitions departments, internal processing departments, etc. are not considered locations in
Alma). Each library has one or more locations. Each location is categorized by type, and
locations of the same type are grouped together into a fulfillment unit. A fulfillment unit is
simply a list of all locations of the same type to which the same circulation policies are applied,
per user group. In this table, you can define five different location types. In the Locations tab,
you map each of your locations to one of these types.

Note: The location type parameter in the configuration form has no relationship to the parameter
of the same name in Alma.

Implications: The location type parameter does not replace your locations. Rather, it is used
only by the configuration form to link your locations of a given type to a fulfillment unit.
For more information, see Fulfillment Simplification on page 17.

On Shelf Request Policy

CARLI Recommended value: Choose Either "Request for pickup anywhere regardless of
availability" or "No Requesting". Further options by patron type are on the Policies, TOU & Rules
Tab.
About this parameter: The On Shelf Request Policy determines if patron hold requests are
accepted for items that are currently available on the shelf (a paging policy) and, if so, where
they may be picked up by the patron.
Note that whether a given item is actually available for pickup at a requested location
depends upon several additional factors:
 Only a library with which the owning library has a Deliver To relationship is available as a
pickup location (see Circulation Relationships Between Libraries on page 30)
 The Pickup Locations policy in the applicable request terms of use serves to limit the
locations otherwise allowed by the On Shelf Request Policy parameter. Only locations
included in the Pickup Locations policy are made available by the On Shelf Request Policy
(see Policies, TOU & Rules Tab on page 43)
 The library of the desired pickup location must have at least one primary circulation desk (if
this is not the owning library) (see Circulation Desks Table on page 33)

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 The library of the desired pickup location must have at least one circulation desk with a
hold shelf (see Circulation Desks Table on page 33).
Available values for this parameter are:
 Request for pickup anywhere regardless of availability (default) – the item may be
requested for pickup at any pickup location.
 Request for pickup in different library only – the item may be requested for pickup only at
pickup locations outside the owning library.
 Request for pickup in different campus only – the item may be requested for pickup only
at pickup locations outside the campus of the owning library.
 No Requesting from available holding – if an item from the holding is available, then all
items from that holding may not be requested for pickup at any pickup location. Items from
other holdings will not be impacted.
 No Requesting – if an item attached to this rule is available then it may not be requested for
pickup at any pickup location.
 Implications: This parameter is the default paging policy for all locations of the given type
(that is, all locations associated with the given fulfillment unit). This policy may be
overridden for a particular scenario (for example, a particular user group) via the On Shelf
Request Policy column of the Policies, TOU & Rules tab.

Patron Types
I-Share Library choice; Default value: The names contained in the form are a
suggestion. You may change these to suit your needs.
The following are the suggested patron types. You can also select one of the alternative
suggestions from the drop-down list in the form or enter your own value.

 Faculty – for academic staff

 Staff – for non-academic university staff, including library staff
 Graduate Students – for regular borrowers, such as graduate students
 Undergraduate Students – for regular borrowers, such as undergraduate students
 Community – for guests and external users with a lower or restricted level of borrowing
rights
About this parameter: In the Patron Types table you define up to five different types of patron
in your institution. The values you enter here appear in the Patron Type field in the Users tab
and in the Policies, TOU and Rules tab. In the Users tab, you map each one of your user groups
to one of the types you define here.

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Implications: The patron type does not replace your patron groups. Rather, it is used by the
configuration form to link your user groups of a given type to fulfillment unit rules, which
define the loan and request policies for the given fulfillment unit that are applied to each user
group.
For more information, see Fulfillment Simplification on page 17.

Item Exception Types

I-Share Library choice; Default value: The names contained in the form are a suggestion. You
can change these to suit your needs.
About this parameter: Alma incorporates a location-based approach to fulfillment, the
assumption being that items in the same location circulate in more or less the same way.
Therefore, item-based policies are required only for exceptions to this assumption.
In the Item Exception Types table, you define up to five different types of item exceptions in
your institution. The values you enter here appear in the Item Policies tab and in the Policies,
TOU & Rules tab. In the Item Policies tab, you map each one of the item policies you intend to
use in Alma to one of the types you define here. In the Policies, TOU & Rules tab you
configure item-based exceptional rules in Table 3 Exceptions.
Unlike patron types and location types, which are mandatory fields in the Users and Locations
tabs for each patron group and each location, respectively, the item exception types are
mandatory only if you intend to use item policies to create exceptional loan and request terms
of use.
Implications: The item exception types do not replace your item policies. Rather, they are used
by the configuration form to link your item policies of a given type to exceptional fulfillment
unit rules, which define the loan and request policies for the given fulfillment unit that are
applied to items with this item policy.
For more information, see Fulfillment Simplification on page 17.

Auto Renew Rules

CARLI Required value: Leave Blank (All 3)
It is possible to configure Alma to automatically renew loans as part of the courtesy notice
process. The courtesy notice is a notification that is sent to patrons by e-mail a defined number
of days before the loan due date to remind them to either return or renew their loans.
You can configure loans of certain libraries or user groups to be automatically renewed. This
auto-renew occurs if the item is not requested and is renewable according to the applicable
terms of use (for example, if the maximum renewal period has been reached). If the renewal is
successful, no courtesy notice is sent.

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The Configuration Form allows you to configure up to three auto renewal rules. Each table
represents a separate rule and there is no necessary relationship between rules (the order of
these rules is not important). Select values from the Library and/or Patron Type row in each
table for which you want to create a rule. Within each table, columns are related via a boolean
OR, and rows are related via a boolean AND (for example, [Main Library OR Science Library
OR Law Library] AND [Faculty OR Staff]):
 Library – the library that is the owner of the items on loan for which you want to implement
the auto renew rules
 Patron Type – the patron type for which you want to implement the auto renew rule.
(Patron types are defined in the Fulfillment tab. User groups are mapped to patron types in
the Users tab).
You can select a library and a patron type to apply the auto renew rule to specific groups in
that library, for example, Main Library for High Priority user groups. In a given table, you can
leave the Patron Type row empty to apply the auto renew rule to all of the loaned items in a
library, regardless of patron type, or leave the Library row empty to apply the auto renew rule
to all members of a patron type, regardless of library. Any libraries selected in the first row
apply to all patron types selected in the second row.

Overdue and Lost Loan Rules

CARLI Required value: Leave blank. The CARLI Office is discussing best practices and will present
on these settings at a later date. These settings will be added later, directly in Alma.
In the Lost Loan Rules table, define if and when you want a loan to be automatically marked as
overdue or lost. Within each row, columns are related via a boolean AND. Rows are related via
a boolean OR.

 Name – Assign a name to the rule

 Active – Indicate if this rule should be activated upon configuration
 Overdue or Lost – Select Overdue to cause the patron to receive a notification that his/her
loan will be declared lost in a specified number of days. This is useful for providing a
warning or ‘last chance’ to patrons to return their overdue loans before those loans are
declared lost. Select Lost to change the loan status to Lost, apply any relevant fines/fees,
and send a notice to the patron informing him/her of the new loan status (Lost) and any
fines/fees that have been applied. It may be useful to create two rules, for example, the first
an overdue notification and the second a status change. Alma supports sending more than
one warning notification per overdue loan. You can send several lost loan warnings, for
example, at 7, 14, and 21 days after the due date for a given loan.
 Number days after due date – the number of days after the item's due date that you want
Alma to automatically change the status of the loan to lost (or send a notification).

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 Number days after status date – the number of days after the loan status (for example,
Claimed Return) has last been updated that you want Alma to automatically change the
status of the loan to lost (or send a notification). To apply the rule on the basis of the Due
Date, regardless of the Status Date, leave this field entry.
 Patron Type – the patron type for which you want to implement the lost loan rule. (Patron
types are defined in the Fulfillment tab. User groups are mapped to patron types in the
Users tab). To apply the rule to all user groups, leave this field empty.
 Library – the library that is the owner of the items on loan for which you want to implement
the lost loan rule. If you want to apply the rule to all libraries, leave this field empty.
 Letter send format – Indicate if you want the lost loan notification to be printed at one of the
printers defined in the Printers tab, sent by email to the patron, or both.
 Printer – if you selected Print or Both in the Letter send format column, select the printer
by which the notification should be printed. You need to configure a printer before you can
complete this field. (see Printers Tab on page 31).

Request Recalls
CARLI Required value: Move Temporarily=Y; All others=N
Indicate if the given request type should trigger a recall if the requested item is currently on
loan. If you indicate No, a recall is not triggered if the requested item is currently on loan.
This setting overrides the policy set in the Recallable? Column of the Policies, TOU & Rules
tab.

Block Preferences
I-Share Library choice except as noted (no default value provided)
Define if system generated blocks may be overridden manually by the circulation desk staff.
Note that the Handler column is not configurable and is relevant only if the selected Action is
Handle Automatically. (Not all blocks have automatic handlers).

The following options are available:

 Block – the block cannot be overridden.
 Override by Manager – the block can be overridden only by staff with the Circulation Desk
Manager role at the current circulation desk.
 Override by Operator – the block can be overridden only by staff with the Circulation Desk
Manager role or the Circulation Desk Operator role at the current circulation desk.
 Override by All – the block can be overridden by any staff with the Circulation Desk
Manager role, the Circulation Desk Operator role, or the Circulation Desk Operator –
Limited role at the current circulation desk.
 Handle Automatically – the block is handled automatically according to the description in
the Handler column.

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The following blocks appear in the table:
 The loan regular due date conflicts with booking request – blocks check-out when the
normal due date (as determined by the TOU, for example) conflicts with the start of an
existing booking request. See the Booking Tab section for more information.
 The renew due date conflicts with booking request – blocks renewal of an existing loan
when the normal renewed due date (as determined by the TOU, for example) conflicts with
the start of an existing booking request.
 Item is not loanable – blocks check-out of an item as a result of the fulfillment configuration
– the applicable Terms of Use contains an Is Loanable policy with value False.
 Item is not renewable – blocks renewal of a loan as a result of the fulfillment configuration
– the applicable Terms of Use contains an Is Renewable policy with value False.
 This item can only be loaned from reading room desk – If the value of the Is Loanable
policy in the applicable loan TOU has a value of In Reading Room Only, and checkout is
attempted from a circulation desk not defined as a reading room desk, checkout is blocked.
 Item is on Hold Shelf for this patron – blocks check-out of an item to a patron from a given
circulation desk when the item is on the hold shelf of a different circulation desk for this
patron.
 Item is requested by another patron – blocks check-out of an item to a patron when the
item has been requested by another patron.
 Item renew period exceeded – blocks renewal of a loan as a result of the fulfillment
configuration – the applicable Terms of Use contains a value for the Maximum Renewal
Period policy which has already been reached for this loan.

 Item cannot be loaned from this circulation desk

 blocks loan of an item from the circulation desk of the item’s current location
because the circulation desk does not provide check-out services for that location.
 blocks loan of an item from the circulation desk(s) of a library that does not have a
Circulate For relationship with the library of the item’s current location.

 Item cannot be returned at this circulation desk

 blocks return of an item at the circulation desk of the item’s current location because
the circulation desk does not provide check-in services for that location.
 blocks return of an item at the circulation desk(s) of a library that does not have a
Circulate For relationship with the library of the item’s current location.

 The loan cannot be renewed due to the loan status – blocks renewal of a loan when the
loan status is Lost, Claimed Returned, or Recalled.

 Item is on hold shelf for another patron – CARLI Required: BLOCK blocks check-out to a
patron of an item that is currently on the hold shelf for a different patron.

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 Patron cash limits has exceeded – blocks loaning and/or renewing an item to a patron with
a current bill that exceeds the allowed limit for that patron group (as configured in the Users
tab). Select the desired action(s) to block from the Blocks column: Loan, Renew, or Both.
 Patron's card has expired – blocks loaning an item to a patron with an expired user record.
 Patron is not active – blocks loaning an item to a patron with an inactive user record.
 Patron loan limit exceeded – blocks loaning an item to a patron with current loans that
exceed the allowed number for that patron group (as configured in the Users tab).
 Patron overdue limits exceeded – blocks loaning and/or renewing an item to a patron with
overdue loans that exceed the allowed number for that patron group (as configured in the
Users tab). Select the desired action(s) to block from the Blocks column: Loan, Renew, or
Both.
 Patron overdue recalls limit exceeded – blocks loaning and/or renewing an item to a patron
with overdue recalled loans that exceed the allowed number for that patron group (as
configured in the Users tab). Select the desired action(s) to block from the Blocks column:
Loan, Renew, or Both.
 Not Renewable – Item has Request(s) – blocks renewal of additional copies of an item that
has been recalled.
 Item has not been received by a resource sharing operator – blocks the shipping and
receiving of resource sharing items on the Scan In page at circulation desks other than the
resource sharing desk.
 Item is currently on loan by another patron – blocks check-out to a patron of an item that is
already on loan to a different patron.
 User does not have a patron role or the role has expired – Overriding this block allows the
item to be checked out to the user. The due date of the loan is in accordance with the
applicable loan TOU. The user’s patron role expiry date is not changed.

Request Pickup Configuration

CARLI Required value: Patron Physical Item Request- Expiry Time for 'Pick from Shelf' (in days)
= 7 days
I-Share Library choice: All other values

In the Request Pickup Configuration table, define if items currently in place will be
considered as missing upon expiration of the request of this type, and if requests of this type
will be displayed in the Pick from Shelf task list.
The following options are available for the Request Type:
 Move permanently – a staff request to permanently move a physical item from one holding
location to another
 Move temporarily – a staff request to temporarily move a physical item from one holding
location to another
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 Patron digitization request – a request created by or on behalf of a patron to digitize all or
part of a physical item
 Patron physical item request – a request created by or on behalf of a patron to place a
physical item on the hold shelf
 Restore item – a staff-initiated or system-generated request to move a physical item from its
current temporary location to its permanent location
 Staff digitization request – a request created by staff to digitize all or part of a physical item
Consider as missing when expired – indicate if the requested item is considered missing if the
request has not been processed within the number of days specified by the Expiry Time for Pick
from Shelf parameter (see below). The following values are available:
 Always (default value)
 Never
 Only when expired not due to Date Needed By
Show in pick from shelf list – indicate if the request will be displayed in the Pick from Shelf
task list.
The following values are available:
 No
 Yes (default value)
Expiry Time for Pick from Shelf – indicate the number of days after which an unprocessed
request of this type will expire. If no value is defined, the default of 7 days or the Date Needed
By value is used, whichever is sooner. Requests that reach their expiry date are cancelled, any
Pick from Shelf task is removed from the task list and, if so configured, the item status is
changed to Missing.

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4
Libraries Tab
This section describes the fields available in the Libraries tab. Each Alma institution includes
one or more libraries. Your libraries in Alma were created during the migration of data from
your legacy ILS. In this tab, enter information about these libraries.

Campus Definitions
I-Share Library choice; Most will not need Campus.
See https://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/i-share/alma/prepare-configform for more
information on campus definitions.
Configuration of campuses in Alma is not mandatory. Campuses can be used in Alma when
configuring physical fulfillment (see, for example, On Shelf Request Policy on page 19 and
Institutional Policies & TOU on page 43) and access to electronic resources (see, for example,
Configuring Inventory Network Groups (for Multi-Campus Environments) in the Alma Online
Help). Campuses may be associated with libraries and/or patrons. Even if your institution has
only one physical campus, you may find it useful to configure a campus (for example, to
represent an IP range which encompasses more than the IP addresses of the individual libraries
on the campus, or to provide off-campus patrons with access to electronic resources).
You can insert additional rows in this table, as necessary.
In the Name column, enter the name of your campus as you want it to be displayed in Alma.
Enter a code in the Code field for each campus you want to create in Alma.
In the IP Match Criteria column, enter a valid and specific IP address (wildcards are not
supported). If a campus uses more than one IP address, you may enter an IP range consisting of
two valid and specific IP addresses, separated by a hyphen. You may also enter multiple IP
addresses and ranges by separating each with a comma. There should be no spaces between IP
numbers, only a comma or a hyphen. Alma can use your campus IP addresses to enhance the
display of your patrons’ search results in Primo (for example, by ordering holdings locations
according to their proximity to the patron) and help you manage access to electronic resources
(for example, by restricting access to users outside a specified IP address). Providing IP
information of your campuses is not mandatory.

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 Library Information
CARLI Recommended value: Do not change unless added Campus or need to update other info
provided since migration.
CARLI Recommended value: Add IP Match Criteria if applicable
CARLI Recommended value: Add RFID Numeric Code if applicable

The library code and name are pre-populated from your migration form. The library code
should be pre-populated from your migration form and should not be modified; however, you
can change the name of the library as it will appear in Alma and Discovery in the Name of
physical Libraries field. To associate the library with a campus, select the campus code from
the drop-down list in the Campus column. Values are taken from the Campus table above.
Address and contact information are not mandatory and are in addition to address and contact
information migrated from your legacy system. However, if no library address or contact
information is contained in your migration form, we recommend supplying it here. Addresses
are used in Alma, for example, as the shipping or billing address when creating an order for that
library, and appear in patron facing notifications such as hold shelf notifications and overdue
notices.
In the IP Match Criteria column, enter a valid and specific IP address (wildcards are not
supported). If a library uses more than one IP address, you can enter an IP range consisting of
two valid and specific IP addresses, separated by a hyphen. You may also enter multiple IP
addresses and ranges by separating each with a comma. Alma can use your library IP addresses
to enhance the display of your patrons’ search results in Primo (for example, by ordering
holdings locations according to their proximity to the patron) and help you manage access to
electronic resources (for example, by restricting access to users outside a specified IP address).
Providing the IP information of your libraries is not mandatory.
If you use an RFID system to manage your physical inventory, enter the numeric code of the
library used by your RFID system.

Opening Hours
CARLI Required value: Enter the standard open hours of your library.
In the Opening Hours section of the Libraries tab, provide details about the library's opening
hours. (Note that all times should be entered in 24-hour format):
 In table 2a enter the standard opening hours of your libraries.
Days can be listed more than once. For example, if the library is open on Wednesday
between 9AM and 12PM and between 2PM and 8PM, you can enter both of these times (for
example 09:00 to 12:00 and on a separate line 14:00 to 20:00).
If the library is open 24 hours a day, enter 00:00 until 23:59.
If the library is open until the early hours of the morning, record the hours after midnight
for the next day, for example, Thurs 09:00 until 23:59 and Friday 00:00 until 03:00.
It is not necessary to enter days on which the library is normally closed.
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Note: All libraries that circulate physical material must have opening hours. To create opening
hours for the default resource sharing library, enter RES_SHARE in the Library Code column.

In table 2b, enter any extended opening hours beyond the standard opening hours
listed in table 2a. For example, if the opening hours for an exam period are beyond the
standard, enter these opening hours along with the dates for which these differences are
valid in table 2b.
Note that times and days entered here do not override those in the previous table, but
rather are in addition to them. So, for example, if your library has standard opening
hours from 8:00 to 17:00, entering a row in this table for that library for exceptional
opening hours of 17:00 to 22:00 means that on that day the library will be open from
8:00 to 22:00. Entering 8:00 to 22:00 in this table would have the same effect.
Note that exceptional opening hours which are shorter than standard opening hours, for
example during semester breaks, must be configured in the following table.
 In table 2c, enter any exceptional days or hours when the library is closed, for example,
during vacations or holidays. It is not necessary to enter closed exceptions for days on
which the library is normally closed (days that have no standard opening hours in table 2a),
rather only for days on which the library is normally open.
Times entered here are in addition to and take precedence over those in table 2a. For
example, if your library has standard opening hours from 0:00 to 23:59, entering rows in
this table for that library for exceptional closed hours of 0:00 to 9:00 and 17:00 to 23:59
means that on that day or days, the library will be open from 9:00 to 17:00.
You may enter a single day exception by entering the same date in the ‘from’ and ‘to’
fields. Enter a date range if the library is closed on consecutive days. If no values are
entered in the Closed Time From and Closed Time To fields, Alma considers the library
closed for the entire day on the dates entered.
 In table 2d, enter any dates that you want to use as fixed due dates in the fulfillment rules.
For example, if you want to make certain items due at the end of the term, add the
corresponding date in column B. The form supports only three fixed due dates, End of
Summer, End of Term, and End of Year.

Note: Users with the General System Administrator role can modify the calendars directly in
Alma via Administration > General Configuration > Configuration Menu > You are configuring
= (institution) > Add a Library or Edit Library Information > Calendar Management (for
institution-level events and exceptions, which are inherited by all libraries), or > Add a Library or
Edit Library Information > Libraries > Actions > Edit > Calendar Management (for library-level
opening hours, events, and exceptions).

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Circulation Relationships Between Libraries
CARLI Required value: If you only have one Alma library, leave this section blank. If you
have more than one Alma library, and any of those Alma libraries will not loan materials, then
enter the library code(s) here.
By default, all libraries are configured to allow transit of their materials (for materials for
which you allow transiting) to any other library in the institution. To indicate that the
materials of a given library (or libraries) can be loaned and returned only at the owning
library, list the library code of that library in this table.

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5
Printers Tab
I-Share Library choice: Work with your IT department to get correct settings for at least
one printer in your library. Enter at least a personal or group email address for testing.
Alma is hosted in a SaaS environment. Due to security concerns and technical limitations, SaaS
environments do not support direct connection to local or network printers. Instead, printing
in Alma works by using email. Each library/institution must define the email addresses of its
local printers in Alma, which route staff-oriented, Alma-originating e-mails (including request
and transit slips) to the appropriate printer. If you have printers that are not e-mail enabled,
third-party software is available to manage e-mails generated by Alma and to send them to the
appropriate printers.
A single printer will be configured for each of your libraries (you may add more later, if
required), and is associated with the default circulation desk of each library. Enter an email
address to be associated with each printer and, optionally, a description. During the
implementation periods, if your institution has not (yet) configured email-enabled printers, we
recommend that you enter a personal or group email address as the printer email address that
will be used for testing purposes. You can change this email address at a later stage. You can
use the same email address for each printer.

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 6
Circ Desk Tab
At circulation desks, items can be checked-out (loaned), checked-in (returned), and re-shelved
(items returned here can be placed back on the shelves without the need for further transit).
Circulation desks are defined per library and provide services to locations in that library. A
library may have more than one circulation desk. A single circulation desk may serve more than
one location, and a given location may be served by more than one circulation desk. But the
circulation desk and the locations it serves must be in the same library.
A circulation desk is automatically created for each library defined in Alma. Every location
defined within that library is automatically linked to this default circulation desk and, by
default, receives check-in, check-out, and reshelve services from this circulation desk. Therefore,
you need to complete the Circ Desks tab only if you want to modify a default circulation desk
(for example, to update the name) or to create a new circulation desk. The default circulation
desk is the main circulation desk for the library. All circulation activity from your legacy system
is migrated to the default circulation desk of the appropriate library in Alma. Therefore, in
libraries where only one circulation desk is required, use the default circulation desk. If more
than one circulation desk is required for a given library, you may define additional circulation
desks in this tab (for example, for a remote storage location).
The code for the default circulation desk is DEFAULT_CIRC_DESK. Any other code will cause
a new circulation desk to be created. For more information on the relationship of circulation
desks and locations, see the description in Locations Tab on page 36.
You only need to enter information in this tab in one of two cases:
 Recommended – to modify a default circulation desk, for example, to update the circulation
desk name
 Exceptionally – to create a new circulation desk.
Circulation desks defined in this tab are listed in the Circulation Desk drop-down lists in the
Locations tab, where they can be selected to serve the given location.

Note: Note: By default, no staff members are assigned to any circulation desk. You must assign
circulation desk roles to your staff via the Alma user interface.

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 Circulation Desks Table
Fill in the following information in this table for each of the additional circulation desks
you want to define. If the information is intended for the default circulations desk, leave
DEFAULT_CIRC_DESK as the circ desk code.

I-Share Library choice unless otherwise indicated

 Library Code – select the code of the library for which you want to add or modify a
circulation desk.

 Circ Desk Code - Leave as DEFAULT_CIRC_DESK for main circ desk. Must be unique in a
given library (that is, no other circulation desk in the library uses this same code), but may be
repeated in more than one library
 Circ Desk Name – the name of the circulation desk as it will appear in Alma. This field is
mandatory and must be unique in a given library (that is, no other circulation desk in the
library uses this same name).
 Primary – Items that need to be transited from a library are routed via the library’s primary
circulation desk. A library may have more than one primary circulation desk, for example, if
material is transited directly to the requested pickup location from the owning library, even
if the pickup location’s circulation desk is not the main circulation desk in the library.
 Pick from shelf – determines if requests for on-shelf items held at locations serviced by the
circulation desk appear in the Pick from Shelf list of that circulation desk.
 Reading room desk – if the circulation desk serves as a reading room, select Y. For more
information on reading rooms see https://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/i-share/
alma/prepare-configform

 Description – provide an optional description of the circulation desk.

 Printer Code – select the printer at which notifications (hold slips, transit slips, receipts, etc.)
are printed. The printer must be defined for the same library as the circulation desk. Printers
are defined in the Printers tab.
 Create return receipt – indicate if and where to send a receipt when a loaned item is
returned. User preferred email sends a return receipt to the patron’s preferred e-mail
address, as entered in the user record contact information tab. Circulation desk printer
prints the receipt at the circulation desk printer indicated in the Printer Code column.
 Create loan receipt – indicate if and where to send a receipt when an item is loaned. User
preferred email sends a return receipt to the patron’s preferred e-mail address, as entered
in the user record contact information tab. Circulation desk printer prints the receipt at
the circulation desk printer indicated in the Printer Code column.
 Has hold shelf – indicate if a hold shelf is associated with this circulation desk. A hold shelf
allows requested material to be picked up by the patron at that circulation desk. By
definition, circulation desks without a hold shelf cannot receive and hold requested items for
patron pick-up.

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Define the following parameters only if the circulation desk has a hold shelf:
 Hold shelf sorting – if a hold shelf is associated with this circulation desk, select
how items on the hold shelf are sorted. The following options are available:
 ascending, by Call Number
 chronologically, by Hold Shelf Expiry Time
 chronologically, by Hold Shelf Placement Time
 ascending, by Requester ID
 alphabetically, by Requester Name
 alphabetically, by item Title
Note that the sort option selected here is the default sort for the circulation desk hold shelf
(that is, each time a staff operator opens the circulation desk’s hold screen in Alma, the
items are displayed according to this sort value). A different sort option from among those
above may be selected from the circulation desk hold shelf screen in Alma.
 Notify Patron of canceling expired hold – indicate if patrons are notified when their
hold request has expired and is canceled.
 Max time on hold shelf (Days) CARLI Required setting: 14 – define the number of
days after which the hold expires. Only library open days are counted.
 Has hold shelf processing – define if additional processing can take place after
scanning in a requested item at the circulation desk before placing it on the hold shelf
(Y), or if the item is placed on the hold shelf immediately (N). This may be a useful
parameter, for example, when a returned or retrieved item needs repair before being
placed on the hold shelf for the next patron.

 Supports Digitization – indicate if the circulation desk supports digitization of physical

material, such that digitization requests can be handled at the circulation desk (as opposed
to being transited to a separate digitization work order department).
 Work Time (days) – if the circulation desk supports digitization, indicate the
average number of work days required to fulfill a digitization request.
 Credit Card – indicate if the circulation desk accepts credit card payment of fines and fees.
Note that Alma does not process credit card transactions. This parameter simply indicates in
Alma that the payment was made by credit card.
 Cash – indicate if the circulation desk is able to accept payment of fines and fees in cash.
 Print Receipt – indicate if the circulation desk can print a receipt for payment.
 Receipt copy Email – enter the e-mail address of the printer to which you want
receipts of payment sent.

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 Integration Profile – if a SIP2 self-check machine is associated with the circulation desk,
enter the name of the Self-Check integration profile you want to configure in Alma. (Self-
Check integration profiles are defined via Administration > General Configuration >
Configuration Menu > Integration Profiles. See Additional Configurations and Integrations
on page 108 for more information). Note that you cannot use the same profile with more than
one circulation desk. (You can, however, associate more than one self-check machine with the
same circulation desk, as long as all machines provide identical services).
 Personal delivery – indicate if the Circulation Desk provides delivery of patron hold requests
to the patron’s home or office/work address. See also Institutional Policies & TOU on page 43.
 Personal delivery fee – if you charge a fee for personal delivery of requested physical items,
enter the amount of the fee here. This fee is assessed to the patron for each item requested for
personal delivery.

 Work Order Type – CARLI Required setting: Blank If the circulation desk serves as a work
order department (for the internal processing of physical inventory) select the relevant work
order type from the drop-down list. The drop-down list is populated with values taken from
the WorkOrders tab.

 Work order time – CARLI Required setting: Blank Enter the estimated or average time the
item will be out of circulation when undergoing physical processing at the circulation desk
work order department.

Automatic (Pick Slip) Printing Rules

In this table, complete the fields in each row for each circulation desk for which you want pick-
from-shelf slips to be printed automatically. If you want slips to be printed only for certain
locations and/or material types, indicate this in the appropriate fields. Pick-from-shelf slips can
also be printed on-demand via the Alma user interface.

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 7
CARLI Note: You will see your new Alma Locations on the Locations Tab. If you
consolidated locations you will see your shorter list of locations here.

Locations Tab

Overview
Fulfillment in Alma is primarily location-based, the assumption being that items shelved in the
same location circulate in more or less the same way per user group. (Item-level policies can be
used for exceptions).
The Locations tab contains information about the library locations created in Alma as a result of
the migration of data from your legacy system. In this tab, you may update this information, if
necessary.
Note that you may insert additional rows in this table, if you require it. (Select/highlight any
row in the table, right-click, and select Insert).
Each location is categorized by type, and locations of the same type are grouped together into a
fulfillment unit. In the Fulfillment tab of the configuration form, you may define five different
location types. Afterwards, you map each of your locations to one of these types. The location
types are defined in the Fulfillment tab, in the Location Types table.
The Location Type parameter does not replace your locations. Rather, it is used only by the
configuration form, in order to link your locations of a given type to a fulfillment unit.
For additional information on locations, see Fulfillment Simplification on page 17.
In the Locations table, all library locations must be represented. However, only the first four
columns are mandatory: Library code, Location code, Location Name and Location Type.

Note: The Alma Configuration Form cannot be used to map existing locations/collections to new
ones. If you want to clean up your existing locations as part of your Alma implementation, do so
in consultation with your Ex Libris Alma Implementation Team, and before the first migration of
your data into Alma.

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 Filling in the Locations Tab
Fill in the following information in this tab for each of your locations. The first four fields are
mandatory for all locations. The other fields are mandatory only if they are applicable.

 Library Code – CARLI Required value: Do not change entry. These values should be pre-
populated from your migration form. If a value in this column does not match a value in the
Code of Library column, the location will not be associated with a fulfillment unit.

 Location Code – CARLI Required value: Do not change entry. This field is pre-
populated from your migration form.

 Name of Location – CARLI Recommended value: Do not change entry, this field can
be edited in Alma. This field is pre-populated from your migration form, although you can
modify them here. Names must be unique per library. (You may not use the same name for
two locations if they are in the same library.)

 Location Type – I-Share Library choice. Designed to link locations with similar
fulfillment policies to the same fulfillment unit. Only Location Types defined in the
Fulfillment tab should be selected. For more information, see Location Types on page 18.
Note: Alma contains a parameter in the Location configuration screen named Location Type. This
parameter is unrelated to the Location Type value used in the Configuration Form.
 External Name of Location – CARLI Recommended value: Do not change entry, this field can
be edited in Alma. The name of the location as it will be displayed to end users in the discovery
system (for example, Primo VE). If no value is entered here, the value in the Name of Location
field is displayed. Note that you may use the same external name for more than one location, even
for locations in the same library.

 Numeric location code for RFID – I-Share Library choice; enter if appropriate. Specify a
numeric code for each location, if supported in your library. Ensure that the Numeric Code for
RFID is configured for all the supporting libraries in the Libraries Tab. Consult your Ex Libris
Alma Implementation Team regarding further setup of this functionality.

 Circulation Desk Code – I-Share Library choice;, value should be DEFAULT_CIRC_DESK

unless you have configured an additional circ desk. associate a circulation desk with the
physical location (from the same library as the location) that services this location.
(Circulation desks are configured in the Circ Desks tab). Unless you have configured an additional
Circulation Desk for the library of this location, the value of this field should be
DEFAULT_CIRC_DESK.

Note that at least one of the parameters on the next page must be set to Y: Check-Out, Return,
or Reshelve.

CARLI Note: Please follow up with CARLI support if an Alma Library has more than one
circ desk, and the circulation of some materials is restricted to specific circ desks.

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 Can Items be checked-out from this circ desk? – I-Share Library choice. If items belonging to
this location cannot be checked-out at this circulation desk, select N.

 Can Items be returned at this circ desk? – I-Share Library choice. If items belonging to this
location cannot be returned to this circulation desk, select N.

 Can Items be reshelved by this circ desk? - I-Share Library choice. If items belonging to this
location cannot be reshelved by this circulation desk, select N.

 Remote Storage Facility – I-Share Library choice. If this location is a remote storage location,
select the code of the remote storage facility to which the location belongs. (First complete the
Remote Storage Facilities table, which appears lower in this tab). Note that more than one remote
storage location may be associated with a single remote storage facility. If this location is not a
remote storage location, leave this column empty.

 Default Acquisition Location – I-Share Library choice. When copies are ordered for this
library, this is the location used by default for those copies. It is possible to change this within the
orders themselves, when necessary. If this location is not the default acquisition location for its
library, leave this column empty. Only one location per library should be marked Y.

 Suppressed Location – CARLI Recommended value: Leave blank unless something has
changed since migration form was submitted. Specify if you would like physical holdings in
the location to be suppressed from discovery in your end-user discovery interface (for example,
Primo); otherwise, leave this column empty.

 Call Number Type – I-Share Library choice, if required. Select a value only if the location
uses a call number type that is different than the institutional default (see call_number_type
on General Tab), in which case, this value overrides the institutional default. Otherwise, leave
this column empty. Note that the call number type of a holdings record is determined by the
value of the first indicator in MARC field 852. (MARC 852 $c contains the location). If the first
indicator is blank, the call number type for the holdings record is taken from the default value for
the location and, if no default has been defined for the location, then from the institutional
default value.
 Accession Placement – I-Share Library choice. Select a value only if you use accession numbers
in that location. Otherwise, leave this column empty. Designating the Accession Placement field
for a location makes that field mandatory when creating or editing holdings records for that
location.
Implications
 Makes the designated MARC field/subfield mandatory in any holdings record of the
location.
 Enables a validation check when saving a holdings record to ensure that the accession
number is unique in that location.
 Populates the Accession Number index (in the advanced Repository search) with the
contents of the designated Accession Placement MARC field.

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Remote Storage Facilities
I-Share Library choice, if appropriate.
For more information about Remote Storage Facilities and if the option applies to your
library please review the notes and recording "CARLI Office: Campuses, Reading Rooms,
and Remote Storage concepts" available from:
https://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/i-share/alma/prepare-configform

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8
Users Tab
In the Users tab, define more information about your users, specifically your patrons.

Patron Groups
In the Patron Groups section of the Users tab, fill in the following columns:

 Code for Group – for groups that have been migrated from your legacy ILS, these should be
the same as the migrated codes for those groups. Adding a code that was not migrated creates a
new patron group in Alma.

 Name of Group – enter the name of the patron group as you would like it to appear in Alma.
 Patron Type– this column allows you to categorize your migrated patron groups.
For more information on patron group types, see Patron Types.
CARLI Required setting: UB Patron groups and any obsolete local patron groups should
not be mapped.

Patron Limits
Don't forget to scroll down to the Patron Limits section of this Tab!
In the Patron Limits section of the Users tab, provide details about patron limits. Patron limits
are defined at the level of the patron group type and can be used to block loans and/or
renewals. (See Block Preferences on page 23). If you leave one of the cells blank, no limit is
applied in this area.
Fill in the following columns:
I-Share Library choice:
 Patron Type – the patron group type
 Max cash before block – the maximum amount of cash that patrons can owe on their record
before they are blocked. This column is mandatory.
 Max overdues before block – the maximum number of items patrons can have past the due
date before they are blocked
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 Max Loans allowed – the maximum number of items that patrons can have on loan
concurrently
 Max bookings allowed – the maximum number of concurrent bookings allowed to the
patron
 Max overdue recalls – the maximum number of recalled items patrons can have past the
recalled due date before they are blocked
 Max digitization requests – the maximum number of concurrent digitization requests
 Max physical item requests – the maximum number of concurrent hold requests

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9
Item Policies Tab
In the Item Policies tab, list your item policies.
For a description of how Alma uses item policies, see Fulfillment Simplification on page 17.

Item Policies
In the Item Policies section of the Item Policies tab, fill in the following columns only for those
item policies you intend to use in Alma:
 Item Code – the item code of your item policies (statuses). For item policies that have been
migrated from your legacy ILS, these should be the same as the migrated codes for those
item policies. Adding a code that was not migrated creates a new item policy in Alma.

 Item Description – a description of the item code

 Item Exception Type - I-Share Library choice; Map item types to exceptions as
needed. The exception type that you want to assign to this policy. The item exception
type allows you to use this particular item policy or group of item policies in the Policy,
TOU & Rules tab to define exceptions to the location-based fulfillment rules. We
recommend that you consolidate your item policies to a minimum and use location-based
rules wherever possible. The Alma Configuration Form supports a maximum of five distinct
item policy types. (Note that Alma does not require an item policy for standard items –
only for exceptions – since fulfillment in Alma is location-based, not item-policy based).

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 10
Policies, TOU & Rules Tab
In the Policies, TOU & Rules tab, you define your fulfillment rules for the circulation of physical
items. In this tab, you define various policies related to requests and loans of physical items (for
example, pick up location, due date, overdue fines, etc.), as well as policies that apply to
incoming (lending) and outgoing (borrowing) resource sharing requests and loans (ILL). Alma
consults the fulfillment rules each time there is activity related to a request or loan (for example,
at initial check-out, upon attempted renewal, upon overdue, etc.) and applies the policies that
are in effect for the applicable rule at that moment.

Institutional Default Values

When a field in the Institutional Policies & TOU section (section 2) of this tab is left empty, the
value you enter in the Institutional Default Values section (section 1) is used for that field. This
simplifies filling in the Institutional Policies & TOU section since you only have to fill in those
values which differ from the corresponding values in the Institutional Default section. See the
sample form for an illustration. See below for a description of the columns.
Fill in all of the fields in the Institutional Default Values section. This is mandatory.

Note: The institutional default values are used by the Configuration Form only. They do not affect
the default policies in Alma.

Institutional Policies & TOU

The initial rows in the Institutional Policies & TOU table of the Policies, TOU & Rules tab
should contain a unique combination of the Location Types and Patron Types defined in the
Fulfillment tab, without reference to Item Exception Type. (Do not enter any value for Location
Type or Patron Type that is not in the drop down). For each row, specify the policies to use if a
patron of this patron type wants to request or borrow an item from a location of this location
type. If any of the policy values are the same as those in the corresponding column in the
institutional defaults (section 1), you may leave this column blank.

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 Our best practice recommendation is to complete a distinct row for each combination of
Location Type (column A) and Patron Type (column B), without reference to Item Exception
Type (i.e. leave column C blank). For example, if you defined five Location Types and five
Patron Types in the Fulfillment tab, you would complete the first twenty-five rows of this table,
each with a unique combination of Location Type and Patron Type.
In the additional rows, if necessary, define additional rules with reference to Item Exception
Type (column C), modified as needed by Patron Type (column B) and/or Location Type
(column A).
You may leave empty rows at the end of this table. However, do not leave any empty rows
between non-empty rows.
The column descriptions below assume a row configured with a Location Type (column A) and
a Patron Type (column B). However, the descriptions and policies are equally valid and
applicable to a row configured with any combination of Location Type and/or Patron Type
and/or Item Exception Type.

Fill in the columns as follows: I-Share Library choice except as noted.

 Circulatable? Indicate if items from this location can be borrowed by patrons of this type.
Values: True/False, In Reading Room Only. If In Reading Room Only is selected, when
loaning from a circulation desk not defined as a reading room desk, staff receive a block
message.

 Recallable? CARLI Required value: No. Indicate if a recall is performed automatically

when requests are placed on items from this location if the item is on loan to another
patron. If a loan is recalled:
 The due date can be updated automatically (see Recall Length).
 The overdue fine can be increased (see Recalled Overdue Fine Amount).
 The loan cannot be renewed.
Note: Even if the Recallable? Policy is No, an item on loan that is requested cannot be renewed. To
allow loans to be renewed when they are requested, you must select N in the Recalls Loan column
or the relevant request type. This overrides the Recallable? Policy, so that even when
Recallable?=Y, the loan is not recalled.

 Loan Length. Enter the amount of time items from this location type can be loaned if they
are borrowed by patrons of this type. If the loan can be renewed, this policy also defines the
renewed due date. (See also, Maximum Renew Length, below). This column works in
conjunction with the Loan Period column. Note that entering 0 in this column and Days in
the Loan Period column causes the loan to be due at the library’s closing time (as defined in
the Library’s Opening Hours) of the current calendar day.
 Loan Period. This column works in conjunction with the Loan Length column. Indicate the
loan period. The following values are available:

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  Days - Due time calculated for library close time on due date. If library closes at 5pm on
the due date, the due time for the item will be 5pm on that day.
 Exact Days - Due time calculated as time of charge on due date. If the item is charged at
1pm in the afternoon, the item will be due at 1pm on the due date.
 Hours - Hourly loan period.
 Minute - Minute-based loan period.
 Month - Due date is calculated for the dame due date the next month. If charged on
September 9, it is due on October 9.
 Week - Due date is calculated to be the same "day of week" the next week. If charged on a
Wednesday, it is due on a Wednesday.
 End of Summer - The end of summer date is set in the calendars.
 End of Term - The end of term date is set in the calendars.
 End of Year - The end of year date is set in the calendars.

To use the End of Summer, End of Term, or End of Year fixed due date values, a date for the
selected value must be defined in section 2d Fixed Term Due Dates of the Libraries tab.
 Requested Item Length CARLI Required value: Blank. Items with queued requests at the
time of loan can be assigned a shorter loan period than usual. To configure this, enter the
amount of time such items can be loaned. This column works in conjunction with the
Requested Item Period column. If you do not want to configure a special loan period, select
None in the Requested Item Period column.

 Requested Item Period CARLI Required value: None. This column works in conjunction
with the Requested Item Length column. Indicate the loan period. If you do not want to
configure a special loan period, select None. The following values are available:
 Days
 Exact Days
 Hours
 Minute
 Month
 Week
 None
 Recall Length. If items from this location type can be recalled, enter the amount of time
from the date of the recall until the new due date. This column works in conjunction with
the Recall Period column. If you do not want to configure a special loan period, select None
in the Recall Period column. Entering 0 causes the recalled loan to be due immediately.
 Recall Period. This column works in conjunction with the Recall Length column. Indicate
the recall period if items from this location type can be recalled. The following values are
available:

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  Days
 Exact Days
 Hours
 Minute
 Month
 Week
 None

 Renew Fee. CARLI Required value: 0.00. Enter the amount to charge to renew items. If
you do not charge to renew items, enter 0.00 in this field.
 Lost Item Fine. Enter the amount to charge for processing a lost item. If the lost item is
found, this fine is not refunded automatically.
 Lost Item Replacement Fee. Enter the amount to charge as a replacement cost for lost items.
The lost item replacement fee can be refunded in whole or in part if the item is returned
(see the Lost Item Replacement Refund Ratio column). (Note that an item-specific
replacement cost can be configured in the item record). When the value of this field is set to
0, no fine is added to the user, even if the item has a replacement cost. When this field is set
to None, the fee is generated according to the item's replacement cost.

 Lost Item Replacement Refund Ratio. CARLI Required value: 100. Enter the percent of
the lost item replacement fee that you want to refund if a lost item is returned. If you want
to refund 100 percent of the fee, enter 100 in this field. Enter only whole numbers.
 Maximum Fine. Indicate the maximum amount of an overdue fine that can accrue for a
loan. Values: None/Number. If Value = None, there is no limit to the amount that a patron
can be fined.
 Overdue Fine Amount. Enter the amount to charge patrons for returning items after the
due date. This column works in conjunction with the Overdue Fine Period column. If there
is no overdue fine, enter None in the Overdue Fine Period column.
 Overdue Fine Period. This column works in conjunction with the Overdue Fine Amount
column. Indicate the fine period to charge patrons for returning items after the due date.
The following values are available:
 All Days
 All Hours
 All Minutes
 Exact Calendaric Days
 Exact Open Days
 Open Days
 Exact Hours
 None
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 Recalled Overdue Fine Amount. Enter the amount to charge for items that are overdue and
recalled. This column works in conjunction with the Recalled Overdue Fine Period column.
If you do not want to assess any fine for overdue loans that have been recalled, enter None
in the Recalled Overdue Fine Period column. (Note that the Overdue Fine Amount does not
apply to recalled items). If you want to assess the same fine for overdue loans regardless of
whether they have been recalled, enter the same value as in the Overdue Fine Amount
field.
 Recalled Overdue Fine Period. This column works in conjunction with the Recalled
Overdue Fine Amount column. Indicate the recalled overdue fine period. The following
values are available:
 All Days
 All Hours
 All Minutes
 Exact Calendaric Days
 Exact Open Days
 Open Days
 Open Hours
 None
 Grace Length. Enter the grace period length during which patrons are not charged a fine for
returning items after the due date and time. If there is no grace period, enter None in the
Grace Period column and put 0 in this column. If the overdue loan is not returned within the
grace period, the overdue fine is applied retroactively from the due date. This column
works in conjunction with the Grace Period column. In this case, for technical reasons, the
corresponding field in Table 1 Institutional Default Values must, nevertheless, contain a
numerical value.
 Grace Period. This column works in conjunction with the Loan Length column. Indicate the
period of the grace period. The following values are available:
 Days
 Exact Days
 Hours
 Minute
 Month
 Week
 None

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 If you define a grace period using the Days unit of measurement (as opposed to Exact Days
or a different unit of measurement), the grace period is calculated from and including the
item’s due date. For example, if the item’s due date is March 1 and the grace period is 2
days, the end of the grace period is March 2, after which a fine is applied (so that if you use
the Days unit of measurement, a grace period of 1 day is essentially meaningless). If you
use the Exact Days unit of measurement, if the item's due date is March 1 and the grace
period is 2 days, the end of the grace period is March 3.
 Renewable? Indicate if items from this location can be renewed by patrons of this type.
 Maximum Renew Length. Enter the maximum amount of time that a patron can have an
item on loan, beginning from the initial check-out, if the loan is renewed. Alma places no limit
on the number of renewals. Rather, this policy defines the potential total duration of the loan
(initial loan plus subsequent renewals). For example, if the Due Date policy is 2 weeks and
the Maximum Renew Length/Period policy is 6 weeks, and the loan is renewed (several
times), the renewed due date will not exceed 6 weeks from the date of the initial check-out.
This column works in conjunction with the Maximum Renew Period column.
 Maximum Renew Period. This column works in conjunction with the Maximum Renew
Length column. Indicate the maximum renew period. The following values are available. If
there is no maximum renew period, enter None in this column.
 Days  Minute
 Month
 Exact Days  Week
 None
 Hours

 Closed Library Due Date Management. I-Share Library choice, can be configured on a policy
by policy basis. FORWARD_END_DAY most common for day, week, month, & term loans.
Configure how to handle a situation where the due time falls when the library is closed. The
following values are available:
 For Hourly or minute-based loans (most often used for reserves):
• Back – move the due time to the end of the previous day. For example, a 4-hour loan is
checked out to a patron 1 hour before closing. The item will be due at closing that day.

• FORWARD – Move the due time to the beginning of the next open day. For example, a
4-hour loan is checked out to a patron 1 hour before closing. The item will be due at the
beginning of the next open day.
 Keep – no change
 Back – move the due time to the end of the previous open day
 Forward – move the due time to the beginning of the next open day
 Forward_End_Day – move the due time to the end of the next open day
  Block When Overdue Length. CARLI Required value: Blank. This policy allows you to
impose an immediate block on patron activity (hold requests, resource sharing requests,
loans and renewals) upon return of an overdue loan. In this column and the next (Block
When Overdue Period) you define the amount of time the patron will be so blocked. (Note
that a patron can be blocked based on the total number of concurrent overdue loans via the
Max overdues before block column in the Patron Limits table in the Users tab). Enter the
block length to use to block patrons after the return of overdue items. If you do not want to
block patrons upon return of an overdue item enter None in the Block When Overdue
Period column.
 Block When Overdue Period. CARLI Required value: None. This column works in
conjunction with the Block When Overdue Length column. Overdue blocks may be
calculated based on the number of overdue days accumulated across multiple loans
(cumulative) or based on the overdue days of a single loan (discrete). If an applicable Block
When Overdue policy has a cumulative unit of measurement, the expiry date is calculated
from the latest expiry date any current block plus the number of days defined by the policy.
If a cumulative value is not chosen, the expiry date is calculated according to the policy only,
without considering existing blocks.

Indicate the block when overdue period. The following values are available:
 All Days - Cumulative  Open Days - Cumulative
 Open Days - Discrete
 All Days - Discrete
 Open Days per Open Overdue Days - Cumulative
 Days per Overdue Days - Cumulative  Open Days per Open Overdue Days - Discrete
 Weeks - Cumulative
 Days per Overdue Days - Discrete  Weeks Discrete
 Months - Cumulative  None

 Months - Discrete

 Maximum Overdue Block Length. CARLI Required value: Blank. This policy serves to
limit the maximum possible length of concurrent overdue blocks as defined in the previous
columns. A new overdue loan block that would extend the patron’s current blocks beyond
this maximum time limit will be shortened to match the limit. Enter the number of days of
the maximum limit in this column. This column works in conjunction with the Maximum
Overdue Block Period column.

 Maximum Overdue Block Period. CARLI Required value: None. This column works in
conjunction with the Maximum Overdue Block Length column. Indicate the block when
overdue period. The following values are available:
 All Days
 Open Days
 None

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 Requestable? – indicate if items from this location can be requested by patrons of this type
 Cancelled Recalled Due Date – configure whether and how the due date of a recalled loan
will be changed if the recall is subsequently cancelled. The following values are available:
 Attempt Automatic Renewal
 Keep Due Date
 Restore to Original Due Date
 Pickup Locations – indicate the possible pickup locations for this type of patron when
placing a hold on items in this type of location. The following values are available:
 In Library
 In Institution
 At Any Reading Room
 At Library Reading Room
 In Campus
 In Patron Affiliated Campus
 At Any Institution (used with a fulfillment network where the request relationship
between institutions has been enabled)
This value is used to dynamically produce a list of possible pick-up options when patrons
place a hold.
 Hold Shelf Period – enter the number of days that requested items are kept on the hold
shelf for pickup by the requester. Only library open days are counted. Note that if the Max
time on hold shelf defined for the circulation desk is shorter than the value defined here,
Alma will apply the shorter value. (Expired hold shelf requests continue to be available for
the requesting patron until circulation desk staff take action to cancel the request).
 Digitizable? –indicate if items from this location can be requested for digitization by
patrons of this type.
 Is Requestable for physical resource sharing – indicate if a physical item can be requested
to fulfill a resource sharing lending request. (The value of this field is applied only for
fulfillment rules which do not depend on user group, that is, for rows in which the Patron
Type column is empty, since resource sharing lending requests do not reference the
requester’s user group).
 Is Requestable for digital resource sharing – indicate if a digital item can be requested to
fulfill a resource sharing lending request. (The value of this field is applied only for
fulfillment rules which do not depend on user group, that is, for rows in which the Patron

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 Type column is empty, since resource sharing lending requests do not reference the
requester’s user group).
 Request Priority – indicate the priority of hold requests placed by this type of patron on
items from this type of location. The following values are available:
 Highest
 High
 Medium
 Low
 Lowest
This value is used with the date and time of the request to determine the order of the hold
request queue.
 On Shelf Request Policy – indicate the policy for placing holds on items that are available
on the shelf. The following values are available:
 Allow for pickup anywhere regardless of availability
 Use fulfillment unit definition – use the policy as defined at the fulfillment unit level.
(See: On Shelf Request Policy).
 Personal delivery – indicate if patrons can request that the item be delivered to their home
and/or office address. The patron must have a home and/or office address in their user
record in order to use this option. The following values are available:
 None – home and office delivery is not available
 Home – patrons can request that the item be delivered to their home address.
 Office – patrons can request that the item be delivered to their office address.
 All – the patron can request that the item be delivered to either their home or office
address.

Note: In order to support Personal delivery, you must have at least one Circulation Desk that
supports personal delivery. See Circulation Desks Table on page 33.
 Personal delivery fee – enter the amount (in your local default currency) of the fee assessed
for the home/office delivery service. If no fee is assessed, enter 0.

 Automatically convert to resource sharing – CARLI Required value: No. Indicate if the
unfulfilled/unfulfillable hold request is automatically converted to a resource sharing
request.

 Reloan Limit Length . CARLI Required value: Blank. Prevents reloaning items to a patron
that currently has the same item on loan or has recently returned the same item. (A different
copy of the same title with the same material type is considered as a single item for this
policy). This column works in conjunction with the Reloan Limit Period column.
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 Enter a value in this field only if you select one of the Other options in the Reloan
Limit Period column.

 Reloan Limit Period. CARLI Required value: None. This column has three possible
options:
 None – there is no limit on borrowing copies of the same title.
 Parallel – the patron may not check out an additional copy of a title that they currently
have on loan.
 Other – you may define the time span in which the same item may not be reloaned.
The value of the time span should be entered in the Reloan Limit Length column. The
following values are available:
 Days
 Hours
 Minutes
 Months
 Weeks

Exceptions
I-Share Library choice.
After completing rows for each combination of Location Type and Patron Type, you may
configure additional rows based on Item Exception Type, exclusively or in combination with
Location Type and/or Patron Type.
Instructions for completing these rows are the same as above. The values in the drop down in
the Item Exception Type column are taken from the Item Exception Type table in the Fulfillment
tab. Do enter any other values.
The order of the rules/rows in the Configuration Form is irrelevant; fulfillment rules will be
arranged in Alma in the following order according to their input parameters (location type,
patron type and item exception type). Alma applies the first applicable rule, starting from the
top:
1 Item Exception Type & Patron Type & Location Type
2 Item Exception Type & Patron Type
3 Item Exception Type & Location Type
4 Item Exception Type
5 Patron Type & Location Type
6 Patron Type
7 Location Type

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Outgoing Requests to Other Institutions
CARLI Required value: Blank
Specify the policies for requesting and borrowing materials via resource sharing (outgoing or
borrowing ILL).
For a description of the columns not described below, see Institutional Policies & TOU on page
43. (Empty cells use the corresponding institutional default value, except for the following
columns that have no corresponding value in the institutional defaults and, therefore, must be
filled-in).
 Resource Sharing Receive Fee – enter a default fee that is applied to resource sharing
requests. The fee is applied when an item is received and scanned.
 Pickup Locations for RS – select the pickup location policy for resource sharing borrowing
requests. This is similar to the Pickup Locations policy for normal hold requests, but applies
exclusively to resource sharing borrowing requests.
 Allow Resource Sharing Requesting – indicate if this patron type can place outgoing
(borrowing) resource sharing requests.
 Active Resource Sharing Requests Limit – enter the maximum number of concurrent
resource sharing requests that a patron is allowed to have.
 Resource Sharing Request Fee (column AO) – enter the fee that may be applied at the time
that a borrowing request is created.
 Yearly resource sharing requests limit (column AP) – enter the maximum number of
resource sharing requests that a patron is allowed to have in a given calendar year.

Incoming Requests from Other Institutions

CARLI Required value: Blank
If you loan materials to other institutions (Lending ILL), define the default loan length, the loan
period, the maximum renew length and the resource sharing recall length for these loans. For
more information about the Loan Length and Loan Period fields, see Institutional Policies &
TOU on page 43.
 Maximum Renew Date Length – enter the maximum duration of a resource sharing loan,
beginning from the initial check-out, where your institution is the lender. This policy
functions for resource sharing lending requests the way that the Maximum Renew Length
policy functions for internal loans. This column works in conjunction with the Maximum
Renew Date Period column.
 Maximum Renew Date Period – this column works in conjunction with the Maximum
Renew Date Length column. Indicate the maximum renew period. The following values are
available:
 Days
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  Exact Days
 Hours
 Minute
 Month
 Week
 None
 Resource Sharing Recall Length – indicate the amount of time that a patron has to return a
recalled item. This column works in conjunction with Resource Sharing Recall Period
column. The default policy is No Recall Period.
 Resource Sharing Recall Period - this column works in conjunction with Resource Sharing
Recall Length column. The following values are available:
 Days
 None

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11
Acquisitions Tab
CARLI Required: All Libraries must complete the Acquisitions Tab
Enter in the Acquisitions tab information concerning various configurations related to
acquisitions, as described below.

Currencies
CARLI Recommended value: If your library is migrating Acquisitions data leave the
entire Currencies table Blank.
If your library is not migrating Acquisitions data select Currency=USD - US Dollar and
Default? = True.
From the Currency column in the first table of the Acquisitions tab, select the currencies that
you want available in Alma. This is the list of currencies that are displayed, for example,
when creating a new fund, vendor or PO line. From the Default column, select True for the
currency that you want to set as the default.
Note: You can only select one currency as the default. This will be your local or base currency in
Alma. This base currency is automatically assigned to any monetary value in the form, for
example, overdue fines. However, in acquisitions-related usage (funds, vendors, and PO lines),
you may override the default with one of the other currencies that you select here.

Note: If your acquisitions data is migrated from your legacy system, leaving this table empty
ensures that any currency used in a migrated order will be available in Alma. If you want only
certain currencies to be available, complete this table with those currencies only. In this case,
migrated currencies not in this table are not available for selection in Alma.

“Acquire For” Relationships

I-Share Library choice
Alma supports acquisitions on a library level. Each library in Alma has its own default
acquisitions unit. A library-level acquisitions unit can acquire material on behalf of itself and
on
behalf of other libraries if an acquire for relationship has been defined between the libraries.
In this table, you define acquire for relationships between libraries.
Code for Library with Ordering Unit – select the code for each library in your institution that
has an ordering department that acquires materials for libraries other than itself.
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Code for Library for Which the Ordering Unit can Place Orders – select the code for each
library (other than itself) for which it can acquire materials. If the ordering department can
acquire materials for more than one other library, list the code for each library in a separate row.
If the ordering unit can acquire materials for all libraries in the institution, enter ALL.
acquireFor – If the Ordering Unit can acquire materials on behalf of the library selected in the
previous column, select Y. If the library in the previous column is an exception to an acquire
for ALL relationship, select N.

Served Libraries
I-Share Library choice
Alma supports acquisitions on a library level. Each library in Alma has its own default
acquisitions unit. A library-level acquisitions unit can receive material on behalf of itself and on
behalf of other libraries if a Served Library relationship has been defined between the libraries.
In this table, you define Served Library relationships between libraries.
Code for Library with Ordering Unit – select the code for each library in your institution that
has an ordering department that receives materials for libraries other than itself.
Served Libraries – select the code for each library (other than itself) for which it can receive
materials.

General Purchasing Behavior

Alma is designed to support a highly automated acquisitions workflow, with support for
manual intervention – review and/or approval – under defined circumstances. Manual review
and approval rules can be defined in Alma according to, for example, vendor, price, existing
inventory, and order type (subscription, one-time, print, and electronic).
The configuration form supports configuration of rules in an ‘all or nothing’ mode as an initial
configuration. As you gain experience with Alma during the testing period, the initial
configuration of the rules can be refined via the user interface.
Indicate in the General Purchasing Behavior section if you want to use any of the manual
processing options for your order processing. The following options are available:
 PO Line Review Rules CARLI Recommended value - Y. Rules that place the purchase
order line into the review task list, based on certain criteria. The purchase order line
requires review in order to proceed in the ordering process.

 Invoice Review Rules CARLI Recommended value - Y. Rules that place the invoice into
the review task list, based on certain criteria. The invoice order line requires review in order
to proceed in the invoicing process.

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 Invoice Approval Rules CARLI Recommended value - Y. Rules that place the invoice
into the approval task list, based on certain criteria. The invoice requires manual approval
to proceed.

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 12
Resource Management Tab
Configure in the Resource Management tab settings related to metadata, barcodes,
local search indexes, and printed labels for call numbers.

Barcode Generation
I-Share Library choice
Alma can automatically generate barcodes for new items. To configure this option, enter a
generation routine. Optionally, enter a prefix to create a barcode with the prefix that you
define and a sequence start number from a counter. (The sequence start number may not be
less than 10000).

Local 9XX Fields

CARLI Required values:
957 Course Reserves
958 Original Voyager Owning Library
959 Voyager Bibliographic Record ID
I-Share Library choice: other local 9XX fields you wish to have indexed
List any local 9XX fields for which you want a dedicated search index displayed in Alma in the
9XX Field Tag column, and list the display name in the adjacent Index Name column. Each
local field is indexed in its own index. All subfields of the local field are indexed together.
You may insert additional rows in this table, if required.

Call Number Parsing

I-Share Library choice
Select the call number type(s) for which you want to print spine labels. Select one of the
available parsing routines to determine how printed spine labels are formatted. You may
insert additional rows in this table, if required. The parsing/formatting options available in
Alma are as follows:

# Description

1 Logic:

 5 lines maximum; if there are more than 5 lines, do not split the last part

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# Description

 8 characters per line maximum

 Split the call number at spaces

 Split the call number at the opening parenthesis (

 Split the call number on a period if the line is longer than 5 characters (except
parenthesis)
Examples:

 Call number = QC 300 G662(9.03) F749(.03) +2

 Label printed:
QC
300
G662
(9.03)
F749
(.03) +2

 Call number = CQ 9101 T39.994

 Label printed:
CQ
9101
T39
.994

 Call number=CM 1000 E61 -3,3,2+2

 Label printed:
CM
1000
E61
-3,3,2+2

2 Logic:

 3 lines maximum; if there are more than 3 lines, do not split the last part

 Split the call number at spaces

Examples:

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# Description

 Call number = 9.6 RUMÄ Roma

 Label printed:
9.6
RUMÄ
Roma

 Call number = 9.2.23.5 FORT

 Label printed:
9.2.23.5
FORT

3 Split by a space:

 Splits the call number at spaces and subfield i.

 If the character ^ is present in the call number, it is converted to a space but does
not break at that point.
Example:

 Call number = $$hG635.H4$$iA3 1989^a

 Label printed:
G635.H4
A3
1989 a

4 Split by space and a period:

 Splits the call number at spaces, periods, and subfield i.

 If the character ^ is present in the call number, it is converted to a space but does
not break at that point.
Example:

 Call number = $$hG635.H4$$iA3 1989^a

 Label printed:
G635
.H4
A3
1989 a

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# Description

5 Split by space and classification:

 In addition to a space, this parsing routine breaks between the letter and number
components of the classification part of the call number (even if there is no space)
and breaks on a decimal preceding a letter (even if it is not preceded by a space).
Examples:

 Call number = $$hG635.H4$$iA3 1989^a

 Label printed:
G
635
.H4
A3
1989 a

 Call number = $$hKJV444.21804 A7$$iL63 1805

 Label printed:
KJV
444.21804
A7
L63
1805

6 Split by a space, classification, and limit length:

 In addition to splitting by a space and classification, it also evaluates when a line is

longer than eight characters, splits on a period.
Examples:

 Call number = $$hG635.H4$$iA3 1989^a

 Label printed:
G
635
.H4
A3
1989 a

 Call number = $$hKJV444.21804 A7$$iL63 1805

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# Description

 Label printed:
KJV
444
.21804
A7
L63
1805

7 Split into the first 3 letters, then the rest:

 Letters and numbers are split at the beginning of the call number, even if there is
only one letter.

 A second period causes a split regardless of if there is a character after it or of the

length of the line (if not broken).
Examples:

 Call number = HS RA44050B .5.T46.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15 E47 2013

 Label printed:
HS
RA
44050B
.5
.T46.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15
E47
2013

8 Splits the call number at spaces, periods, and subfield i.

 If the character ^ is present in the call number, it is converted to a space

but does not break at that point.

 If the number of digits after the period is more than 4, break as follows:
 5 = 3, 2
 6 = 3, 3
 7 = 4, 3

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 # Description

Example:

 Call number = 363.7387403 E564

 Label printed:
363
.7387
403
E564

9 SuDoc Call Number Parsing Option #1 (primarily for portrait-oriented spine labels):

 Insert a line break after the colon;

 Replace each slash following the colon with a line break (do not do so for slashes
before the colon).

10 SuDoc Call Number Parsing Option #2 (primarily for landscape-oriented spine labels):

 Insert a line break after the colon.

Active Metadata Registry

CARLI Required value: MARC21: Activated=Y, Preferred=Y
CARLI Required value: UNIMARC: Activated=N, Preferred=N
CARLI Required value: KORMARC: Activated=N, Preferred=N
Alma supports the following MARC bibliographic formats: MARC21, UNIMARC, and
KORMARC.
Registry Name – not configurable
Activated – activate the selected registry. You can activate MARC21, UNIMARC or
KORMARC. The default is activated (Y).
Preferred – mark the preferred registry (which is then set as the default value) when processing
bibliographic records in Alma or exporting them. Note that only one registry can be marked as
preferred.
Implications:

 Activating more than one metadata registry allows you to create bibliographic records in
that registry type in Alma.
 The registry selected as the preferred registry is set as the default source format to indicate
the match when importing bibliographic records into Alma.
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 The registry selected as the preferred registry is set as the default in the Alma publishing
platform. However, it is also possible to select one of the activated registries.

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13
General Tab
This section describes the options available in the General tab. The parameters in this tab are
institution level settings. They are not configurable per library; rather they affect all libraries in
the institution. In certain circumstances, the values selected here can be overridden. (See the
description for each setting).

force_location_selection_on_login
CARLI Recommended value: True
About this parameter: Users with roles at more than one service unit (for example, more than
one circulation desk, more than one work order department) can be required to select their
Currently at location upon logon. This can help reduce operator errors by ensuring that the
operator’s Currently at setting reflects their actual location. Users with roles at only a single
service unit will always be logged-in to their only Currently at location.
Implications: Setting this parameter to True causes the Currently at dialog box to display
when a user with roles at more than one location logs in to Alma. Setting this parameter to
False means that such a user is logged in to their most recent Currently at location.

retrieve_services_from_NZ
CARLI Required value: True
About this parameter: This parameter is relevant only for customers who are part of a
collaborative network. This parameter allows you to display in your discovery system e-
resources from the Network Zone that are accessible to the patrons of your institution.

Implications: Setting this parameter to True causes Network Zone e-resources that are
accessible to your institution to appear in the relevant discovery system search results.

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 time_zone
CARLI Required value: US/Central
About this parameter: Select your time zone from the drop-down list. The time zone parameter
determines the offset from GMT that is displayed in your interface on every page in which a
time is displayed (for example, loan check-out and due times).
Implications: Alma assumes that all times (for example, library opening hours) are relative to
the time zone parameter. It is important to select the correct time zone parameter for the
location of your institution to ensure, for example, that loan and due times reflect the correct
local time.

The following parameters pertain to Acquisitions:

acquisition_accrual_mode
I-Share Library choice; False most common.
About this parameter: This parameter allows you to use accrual accounting – the accrual of
invoice expenditures from one fiscal period to another.
Implications: Selecting True will allow you to select funds and fund distribution in invoice lines
linking to PO lines, for both current and future fiscal periods. Alma will then automatically
calculate the relative invoice amounts over all active fiscal periods.

Note: Accrual Accounting is applied only to continuous orders (subscriptions). For one time
orders, you can manually choose the appropriate fiscal period when the invoice is created.

assertion_over_PO_line_price
I-Share Library choice; Default value: 10000
About this parameter: Enter a numerical amount in the assertion_over_PO_line_price field. The
assertion_over_PO_line_price determines an upper threshold for the price (in your local
currency) of a purchase order line that may not otherwise require review. (If the purchase order
line is in a foreign currency, Alma automatically calculates its equivalent value in your local
currency and compares it to this threshold).
Implications: Purchase order lines with a price above the value of this parameter are sent for
manual staff review if you have configured a purchasing review rule that checks the PO line
price. If you are not using purchasing review rules, or if your purchasing review rules do not
check the PO line price, this parameter has no implication.

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Note: Purchasing Review Rules are applied only to purchase order lines created via import.

Barcode
I-Share Library choice; Default value: True
About this parameter: Alma can check if the item has a barcode before releasing the item from
the Acquisitions/Receiving department.
Implications: Selecting True will cause Alma to display a pop-up warning when releasing an
item from the Acquisitions/Receiving department if the item does not have a barcode. If you do
not want to be alerted to this, select False.

Brief
I-Share Library choice; Default value: True
About this parameter: Alma can check if the bibliographic record associated with an item is
brief before releasing the item from the Acquisitions/Receiving department.
Implications: Selecting True will cause Alma to display a pop-up warning when releasing an
item from the Acquisitions/Receiving department if the bibliographic record associated with the
item is brief. If you do not want to be alerted to this, select False.
See brief_level, for information on setting the default brief level.

invoice_allow_vat_in_line_level
I-Share Library choice; Default value: False (most common)
About this parameter: Invoices contain a field for entering value added tax. If, in addition, you
need the ability to enter value added tax to an invoice line, select True.
Implications: Selecting True allows you to enter a value added tax to an invoice line.

invoice_high_total_price
I-Share Library choice; Default value: 2500
About this parameter: Enter a numerical amount in the invoice_high_total_price field. The
invoice_high_total_price parameter determines an upper threshold for the price (in your local
currency) of an invoice that may not otherwise require review. (If the invoice is in a foreign

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currency, Alma automatically calculates its equivalent value in your local currency and
compares it to this threshold).
Implications: Invoices with a total price above the value of this parameter are sent for manual
staff review if you have configured an Invoice Review Rule that checks the invoice price. If you
are not using invoice review rules, or if your invoice review rules do not check the invoice price,
this parameter has no implication.

invoice_not_unique
CARLI Recommended value: FALSE
About this parameter: By default, Alma requires unique invoice numbers per vendor. That is,
an invoice from a given vendor may not have the same number as another invoice from that
vendor. If you want to allow duplicate invoice numbers from a given vendor, select True.
Implications: Selecting True will allow you to create multiple invoices from a given vendor
with the same invoice number.

invoice_skip_erp
I-Share Library choice; Default value: FALSE
About this parameter: As part of the invoicing workflow, invoices to be paid are exported from
Alma to the institution’s payment system (ERP) (via FTP file transfer). For institutions that do
not export their invoices, this parameter allows the export step of the invoicing workflow to be
skipped. If you do not plan to export invoices from Alma to your ERP, select TRUE for
this parameter.
Implications: Selecting TRUE will cause Alma to skip the export step of the invoicing
workflow. Selecting FALSE keeps the invoice in Ready to be Paid status, awaiting export to the
ERP. The invoice will stay in that status until exported or until manually returned to In Review
status.

invoice_use_pro_rata
I-Share Library choice; Default value: FALSE
About this parameter: When a new invoice is created, separate invoice lines are created for
overhead, discount, shipping, and billings charges. The default value FALSE preserves the
current invoice behavior. If you select TRUE for this parameter, all the additional charges are
proportionally distributed on the invoice lines.

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Implications: Set TRUE in this parameter if you usually pro-rate additional invoice charges.

po_line_prefix
CARLI Recommended value: POL-
About this parameter: When a new purchase order line is created, Alma automatically assigns
it a purchase order line number. Alma assigns a prefix to this number based on the value of the
po_line_prefix parameter. To use an alternative prefix, enter it in this field. If you do not want
the PO line number generated by Alma to have a prefix, leave this field blank.
Implications: Prefixes may be useful for searching and filtering purchase order lines. There are
no other functional implications of the PO line prefix.

po_prefix
CARLI Recommended value: PO-
About this parameter: When a new purchase order is created, Alma automatically assigns it a
purchase order number. Alma assigns a prefix to this number based on the value of the
po_prefix parameter. To use an alternative prefix, enter it in this field. If you do not want the
PO number generated by Alma to have a prefix, leave this field blank.
Implications: Prefixes may be useful for searching and filtering purchase order lines. There are
no other functional implications of the PO prefix.

release_remaining_encumbrance_for_edi
I-Share Library choice; Default value: TRUE (most common)
About this parameter: This parameter determines if encumbrances are released for continuous
order PO lines in invoices that are created via EDI.
Implications: For invoice lines connected to continuous order PO lines where the invoice line
price is lower than the PO line price, the default value of True means that Alma will release the
entire remaining encumbrance amount.

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The following parameters pertain to Resource Management:

brief_level
CARLI Required value: 01
About this parameter: Alma provides the ability to customize the definition of a brief record.
Ten levels of brief records can be defined from 01 through 10 where 01 represents the most brief
record and 10 represents a full record.
Implications: Selecting 06 brief level, for example, means that all records with the same or
lower brief level will be considered “brief”. When the required brief level is selected, the brief
level rules should be created in Alma in the Metadata Editor.
For more information about brief level definitions, see the online help topic: Working with
Brief Record Levels.

authority_names
CARLI Recommended value: LCNAMES
About this parameter: Ex Libris provides customers with global authority files for use in Alma.
Authority names are updated and maintained regularly by Ex Libris in the Community Zone
(CZ). Currently, three global authority files are available:

 LCNAMES (default)
 GND
 BARE
 FRBNF
 CSICAU
 LACNAF
 NLI
 EMBNE
 CLSAPUC
 RAMEAU
 RVK

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Selecting one of the authority name vocabularies defines the global name authorities you use in
Alma.
Implications: The selection of a global authority file does not preclude the use of local
authorities. The value you select for this parameter determines the default global name
authority vocabulary you use in Alma.

authority_usage_policy
CARLI Recommended value: global,unless your library has created unique local
authority records which you will be loading and maintaining in Alma, then choose
local.
About this parameter: Alma supports the use of local authorities. If you intend to use local
authorities in Alma, enter local in this field.
Implications: Ex Libris maintains global authority files (for example, LC Names, LC Subjects,
and MeSH). Headings in these files are available for you to use in Alma. Setting this parameter
to local allows you to use your own local authority headings in addition to the global
authorities, which continue to be available.

call_number_type
I-Share Library choice; Default value: 0
About this parameter: Select a default call number type for your institution. The following
values for the call number type are supported:
0 - Library of Congress classification
1 - Dewey Decimal classification
2 - National Library of Medicine classification
3 - Superintendent of Documents classification
4 - Shelving control number
5 - Title
6 - Shelved separately
7 - Source specified in subfield $2
8 - Other scheme

Implications: The call_number_type parameter defines the default call number type for all
holdings records in the institution. If a different call number type is defined for a given location
(see Filling in the Locations Tab on page 37), or in the holdings record (MARC 852 first
indicator) that call number type takes precedence and overrides this institutional default.

cataloging_level_available
CARLI Required value: FALSE

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About this parameter: This parameter allows you to control the cataloger level hierarchy, –
which catalogers can edit and update records that have been edited and updated by other users.
Implications: In order to activate this functionality, it is necessary to select TRUE. Define the
permissions hierarchy in the Cataloger Permission Level table, which is available from the Alma
Main menu (Resource Management > Resource Configuration > Configuration Menu >
Cataloging > Cataloger Permission Level) and define the cataloger permission level in the user
record. For more information, see the online help topic Cataloging Privileges.

course_restricted_field
CARLI Recommended value: 957 $$r
About this parameter: This parameter allows you to set a field in the bibliographic MARC
record that indicates if a bibliographic record is restricted for use by a course. Note that it is
possible in Alma to use defined subfield separators, such as dollar dollar $$ or double dagger ‡.
The type that is defined as the subfield separator must also be stipulated in this field.
Implications: If the course_restricted_field is indicated, the item is searchable in Primo only
within a courses search scope and only when the course is active. This parameter is used to flag
personal items donated to the library temporarily, for example by the course instructor, for use
during the course.

non_serial_match_profile
CARLI Required value:
com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.OCLCMatchProfile
About this parameter: When importing a new bibliographic record into Alma via External
Search Resources, or when saving a bibliographic record in the Metadata Editor, Alma searches
the repository for a matching record. This parameter determines how a match is defined in
these scenarios.
The following options are available for non-serial bibliographic records:

 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.OtherSystemOrStandardNumberMatchProfile – for
the 024 / 035 Match Method. Matches are based on the 024 or 035 fields. If a field contains
several values, any one of the values is used to match. Either field may be checked first.
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.OCLCMatchProfile – 035 (Other System Identifier)
Match Method. Matching by any 035 field. Matches are based on the system control number
that uses any 035 field. If the 035 field contains several values, any one of these values is
used to match.
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.uniqueOCLC – Unique OCLC Identifier Match
Method. Matches are based on a matching OCLC prefix and number. Any one of the

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following prefixes in the 035 field, subfields a or z (regardless of any zero-padded data) is
considered to be the same for matching purposes: (OCoLC), ocm, ocn, or on. (In other words,
the OCLC prefix in the library record and in the input file do not have to be identical in order
for a match to be made.)
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.CDLMatchingProfile – Fuzzy Match. Weighted
matching using ID, author and title.
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.ExtendedCDLMatchingProfile – Extended Fuzzy
Non-Serial Match Method. Invokes the Fuzzy Match for non-serials and performs the
following additional checks:
 Publication is one year or less as determined by:
 MARC21 008 positions 07-10
 UNIMARC 100 positions 09-12
 Identical format as determined by the record type specified in the LDR
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.IDsAZMatchProfile – for the ISBN (exact subfield
match)/ 024 / 035 Match Method. Matches are based on any one of the following fields:
 020 $a
 020 $z
 024
 035
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.IDsMatchProfile – ISBN/024/035 Match. Matches are
based on any one of the following fields:
 020 ($a and/or $z)
 776 $z
 024
 035
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.ISBNMatchProfile – ISBN Match. Matches are based
on any one of the following fields:
 020 ($a and/or $z)
 776 $z
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.ISBNAZMatchProfile – ISBN (exact subfield). Matches
are based on an exact match of the 020 $a or the 020 $z.
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.LCCNMatchProfile – LCCN Match. Matches are based
on the 010 $a only.

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Implications: This parameter affects only imports via External Search Resources and
bibliographic records edited and saved in the Metadata Editor. For bibliographic records
imported via import profile or via OCLC Connexion, you can select a different match method

(see Additional Configurations and Integrations on page 108).

serial_match_profile
CARLI Required value: com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.OCLCSerialMatchProfile
About this parameter: When importing a new bibliographic record into Alma via External
Search Resources, or when saving a bibliographic record in the Metadata Editor, Alma
searches the repository for a matching record. This parameter determines how a match is
defined in these scenarios.
Alma provides several possibilities for defining what a match is.
The following options are available for serial bibliographic records:

 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.OtherSystemOrStandardNumberMatchProfile – for
the 024 / 035 Match Method. Matches are based on the 024 or 035 fields. If a field contains
several values, any one of the values is used to match. Either field may be checked first.
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.OCLCSerialMatchProfile – 035 (Other System
Identifier) Match Method. Matching by any 035 field. Matches are based on the system
control number that uses any 035 field. If the 035 field contains several values, any one of
these values is used to match.
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.uniqueOCLC – Unique OCLC Identifier Match
Method. Matches are based on a matching OCLC prefix and number. Any one of the
following prefixes in the 035 field, subfields a or z (regardless of any zero- padded data) is
considered to be the same for matching purposes: (OCoLC), ocm, ocn, or on. (In other
words, the OCLC prefix in the library record and in the input file do not have to be identical
in order for a match to be made.)
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.CDLSeMatchingProfile – Fuzzy Match. Weighted
matching using ID, author and title.
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.ExtendedCDLSeMatchingProfile – Extended Fuzzy
Serial Match Method. Invokes the Fuzzy Match for serials and performs the following
additional checks:
 Publication is one year or less as determined by:
 MARC21 008 positions 07-10
 UNIMARC 100 positions 09-12
 Identical format as determined by the record type specified in the LDR

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 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.IDsAZSerialMatchProfile – for the ISSN (exact
subfield match)/ 024 / 035 Match Method. Matches are based on any one of the following
fields:
 022 $a
 022 $z
 024
 035
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.IDsSerialMatchProfile – ISSN/024/035 Match. Matches
are based on any one of the following fields:
 022 ($a and/or $z)
 776 $z
 024
 035
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.ISSNMatchProfile – ISSN Match. Matches are based
on any one of the following fields:
 022 ($a and/or $z)
 776 $z
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.ISSNAZMatchProfile – ISSN (exact subfield). Matches
are based on an exact match of the 020 $a or the 020 $z.
 com.exlibris.repository.mms.match.LCCNSerialMatchProfile – LCCN Match. Matches are
based on the 010 $a only.
Implications: This parameter affects only imports via the External Search Resources and
bibliographic records edited and saved in the Metadata Editor.. For bibliographic records
imported via import profile or via OCLC Connexion, you can select a different match method
(see Additional Configurations and Integrations on page 108).

subfield_separator
CARLI Required value: $$
About this parameter: Select the delimiting character to use to define the separation between
subfields (either $$ or ‡). This is the character that is displayed in the Metadata Editor to
indicate a subfield.
Implications: In the consortial environment, all libraries must use the same delimiter.

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system_date_format
CARLI Required value: MM/DD/yyyy
About this parameter: Select your system date format from the values in the dropdown,
either MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY, depending on your local convention.
Implications: The value selected for this parameter determines the format in which dates
are displayed in any screen Alma. Beyond the screen display, this parameter has no
functional implication.

use_holdings_form
CARLI Recommended value: False
About this parameter: Select True to use the Form view for creation and editing of holdings
records. The following is an example of Form View:

Form View
Select False to use the MARC format view for creation and editing of the holdings record. The
following is an example of MARC format view:

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 MARC Format View
Implications: The value of this parameter determines the interface that is used by catalogers
when editing any holdings record in the Metadata Editor.

Note: The form editor may be opened when editing LDR and Control fields, even if the default
value selected for this parameter is False.

Note: This is an institution-level parameter. It applies to all catalogers in the institution.

working_copy_lock_timeout
CARLI Recommended value: 4
About this parameter: After the time specified (in hours), you can unlock a bibliographic record
currently locked by another user. Enter a whole number up to 9999 (not including 0). The unit
of measurement is hours.
Implications: If a bibliographic record is currently locked by a user, it will remain locked. If the
timeout period defined by this parameter passes with no additional activity to the bibliographic
record, the bibliographic record can be unlocked by another user.

The following parameters pertain to Fulfillment:

auto_renew_loan_days
CARLI Required value: 7 (current consortial setting)

About this parameter: This parameter defines how many days before the due date a courtesy
letter is sent to patrons to remind them that their loans are due to be returned. If you have
created any Auto Renew Rules (see Auto Renew Rules on page 21), this parameter also
determines the number of days before the due date that Alma will attempt to renew the loan.

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 Implications: A courtesy letter will be sent unless the loan is renewed.

Note: By default, no loans are renewed automatically.

enable_request_during_loan_for_different_policy
CARLI Required value: True
About this parameter: This parameter defines if patrons can submit a request for an item, a
copy of which is already on loan to them, if the requested copy has a different due date policy
than the copy currently loaned to them.
Implications: Selecting True allows the patron to request an additional copy of the item, if it
has a different due date policy than the copy on loan. A request for another copy that has the
same due date policy is rejected, regardless of whether the value of this parameter is True or
False.

generate_resource_sharing_temp_barcode
CARLI Recommended value: False
About this parameter: For resource sharing borrowing requests, selecting True generates a
temporary barcode, with the prefix RS-. The temporary barcode is assigned to the borrowed
resource sharing item.
Implications: Allowing Alma to generate a barcode for borrowed resource sharing items
ensures that the temporary barcode is unique and may save you the manual step of assigning
barcodes to these items. The prefix may be useful for searching and filtering, and may help you
distinguish borrowed resource sharing items from items owned by your library. There are no
other functional implications of this parameter.

overdue_at_claim_return_loan
CARLI Recommended value: False
About this parameter: Overdue loans with Claimed Return status (for example, the patron
claims to have returned the item and the staff updated the loan status to Claimed Return) can be
assessed any overdue fines that accumulated on the loan. Alternatively, such fines can be
suspended. This parameter allows you to decide whether to assess overdue fines to Claimed
Return loans or not.

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Implications: Selecting True causes any accumulated overdue fines for the loan to be assessed
to the patron’s record when the loan status is updated to Claimed Return. Selecting False
means that such fines are suspended.

overdue_at_lost_loan
I-Share Library choice; Default value: True; Most common choice True
About this parameter: CARLI has recently learned that this is not analogous to Voyager’s Max Fine
functionality.
An overdue fine continues to accrue until it is applied. Once it is applied, it stops accruing.
(The Overdue Fine amount is determined in the Policies TOU & Rules tab, Column 17: Overdue
Fine Amount and Column 18: Overdue Fine Period; Chapter 10 p 46)
Implications:
 If this parameter is set to TRUE, the overdue fine is applied when the loan is marked as Lost
and, therefore, stops accruing.
 If this parameter is set to FALSE, the overdue fine is not applied when the loan is marked as
Lost and, therefore, continues to accrue. In this case, if the lost loan is returned, the accrued
fine is applied.

remember_last_loan_display
I-Share Library choice; Default value: False
About this parameter: The patron services page can display only transactions (loans and
returns) from the current session (This Session) or all of the patron’s currently open loans and
recent returns (All). A drop-down list in the patron services page allows the operator to toggle
between the This Session display and the All display.
This parameter allows you to define if the patron services page should always open in This
Session display mode or in the display mode last selected by the operator.

Implications: Selecting False means that the patron services page opens in This Session
mode. Selecting True causes the patron services page to open in the mode last selected by the
operator. In either case, the operator can change the display mode via the Loan Display drop-
down list in the patron services page.

results_best_location_enable
I-Share Library choice; Default value: False
About this parameter: Alma can display the list of holdings locations in the discovery system
search results according to the proximity of the patron by comparing the IP address of the
patron with the IP addresses of libraries with holdings for the searched item. In order to utilize
this functionality, libraries must be configured with IP addresses (Fulfillment Configuration

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Menu > You are configuring = (name of library) > Library > IP Definitions. See the description
of IP Match Criteria for Libraries in the Library Information section on page 28.
Implications: For physical items, selecting True causes the holdings locations in the discovery
system search results to be displayed according to the proximity of available items to the end
user. The default value of False causes the holdings locations to be displayed according to
availability, without regard to the patron’s physical location: available items in temporary
locations are displayed at the top, followed by those in permanent locations, followed by those
in remote locations.

return_lost_loan_from_self_check
I-Share Library choice; Default value: True; however, most common choice is False
About this parameter: This parameter allows patrons to return lost items using the library’s
self-check machines.
Implications: If you select FALSE, patrons are unable to return items via self-check machines.

rs_allow_actions_on_scan_in
CARLI Required value: False
About this parameter: This parameter allows receiving and shipping from the Scan In interface
(by receiving resource sharing items at a desk) as well as loaning from the Patron Services
workbench when the item has not been received.
Implications: When set to false, an overridable error message is displayed when a borrowing
or lending request is scanned in from the Scan In Interface at a desk of a resource sharing
library or when a loan is executed from the Patron Services workbench, but the item has not yet
been received. When set to true, executing these processes does not produce the error message.

shortened_due_date_notifications
CARLI Required value: MESSAGE_EMAIL
About this parameter: Defines if and how the notification is sent to users if the due date is
shortened. The possible values are NONE, MESSAGE, EMAIL, MESSAGE_EMAIL (in caps).
Implications: If the parameter is set to MESSAGE or MESSAGE_EMAIL, an on-screen alert is
displayed for staff on the Manage Patron Services page when loaning or renewing an item with
a shortened due date. The possible messages are:

 Please notice that the due date was shortened since the item is recalled

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 Please notice that the due date was shortened since the patron card is expired before the due
date
 Please notice that the due date was shortened since the loan conflicts with a booking request
When loaning an item from a self-check machine, a message is also displayed.
In addition, when the parameter is set to EMAIL or MESSAGE_EMAIL, a notification is sent to
the patron regarding the shortened due date. There is a letter in Alma,
FulShortenedDueDateLetter that can be sent either by email or SMS.

should_anonymize_borrowing_request
CARLI Required value: True (True is required to comply with the CARLI Privacy Policy.)
About this parameter: Alma maintains information about resource sharing borrowing requests
submitted by patrons, even after the request has been closed and makes this information
available in Analytics for reporting purposes. By default, this information includes identifying
information about the borrower. If you want to remove this identifying information from closed
resource sharing borrowing requests, select True.
Implications: A patron’s resource sharing borrowing history is visible (to users with the
required permissions) in the Resource Sharing Borrowing Requests workbench. Alma runs a
weekly maintenance process that archives closed resource sharing borrowing requests. If this
parameter is True, the weekly process removes patron identifying information from resource
sharing borrowing requests that have been completed, rejected or cancelled. If this parameter is
False, patron identifying information is not removed from closed resource sharing borrowing
requests.

should_anonymize_item_loan
CARLI Required value: True (True is required to comply with the CARLI Privacy Policy.)
About this parameter: Alma maintains information about loans, even after the loan has been
closed, and makes this information available in Analytics for reporting purposes, and in the
Returns tab of the patron record. By default, this loan information includes identifying
information about the borrower. If you want to remove this identifying information from closed
loans, select True.
Implications: A patron’s loan history is visible (to users with the required permissions) in the
Returns tab of the patron record (in the Alma menu, navigate to Fulfillment >
Checkout/Checkin > Manage Patron Services > Returns > Returns Display = All). Alma runs a
scheduled maintenance process that archives closed loans. If this parameter is True, the
scheduled process removes patron identifying information from these loans and empties the

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display of historical loans from the patron record. (Anonymized loans can be reported upon via
Analytics). If this parameter is False, patron identifying information is not removed from the
loan, and historical loans continue to be visible in the patron record.

view_historical_loans_in_primo
CARLI Required value: False
About this parameter: Defines if patrons can see their historical loans (i.e. loans that have been
returned or otherwise closed) in their Primo My Account. Historical loans can be seen only until
anonymization occurs (see should_anonymize_item_loan on page 81).
Implications: Selecting ‘True’ will allow patrons to see their historical loan information in
Primo My Account.

Benchmark Analytics
CARLI Recommended value: True
About this parameter: Benchmark Analytics allows you to create analytics reports comparing
the performance of your institution to similar institutions.
Implications: When set to true, Alma collects the anonymized data from your institution.

enable_usage_tracking
CARLI Recommended value: True
About this parameter: Allows you to see usage of Alma Analytics in the institution This is
reflected in the Analytics Usage Tracking subject area.
Implications: When set to true, Alma collects usage of Alma Analytics in the institution.

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14
Primo VE – Configuration Tab
CARLI REQUIRED: All Libraries must complete the Primo VE Configuration Tab

Note: If you are a Primo VE customer (and not a customer of a different discovery system
such as Primo or Summon), fill in the Primo VE – Configuration and Primo VE - Digital
Repository tabs.

Primo VE tabs are designed to gather the information needed to complete the second phase of
your implementation.
 Phase 1 – Ex Libris installs Primo and prepares your systems and applications for
integration.
 Phase 2 – Ex Libris configures the default user interface and your data in Primo and
discusses any further configuration goals with you based on your choices.
 Phase 3 – You are given access to your Primo interface and are able to test and provide
feedback before going live.
Primo VE allows end users to perform searches, view online material, request materials, and
view their account information. Each view can have its own look-and-feel and settings (such
as search profiles and services).

Home Page – Customization

Logo
CARLI Required. Upload a logo file in .png format to your Box folder with filename:
XXX_logo.png. Recommended dimensions: Resolution of image: 72ppi, height <60px, width
<120px. Height cannot exceed 100 pixels. Width cannot exceed 300 pixels. Size of the image
cannot exceed 30 KB.
Side Bar Position (Facets)
I-Share Library choice
Inform the project team if you want the facets displayed on the left side or the right side of
the page.

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Basic and Advanced Search
Search Box
I-Share Library choice
You can configure the search box and add pre-defined search profiles to your view. Search profiles
allow you to define groups of records that meet specific conditions so that users may search and
quickly find materials and services that are offered by your institution. For example, these groups
may contain records that belong to a specific library, location, or perhaps a specific resource type.
For more information, refer to Configuring Search Profiles .
If you would like multiple auto-suggested search profiles, provide the display text and the
resources being searched for each search profile you would like to implement.

Restricted Search For Course Reserves

I-Share Library choice
You can restrict the course reserves search to specific types of users. Specify here if you would like
to have this enabled and define which user groups should be allowed to search your course
reserves. For more information, refer to Configuring Restricted Search Groups.

EBSCO Search - Credentials

CARLI Recommended value: Provide your EBSCOhost Integration Toolkit (EIT) credentials and
Database codes
The EBSCO plug-in enables Primo to query and receive results from the EBSCOhost API. Specify
your username and password provided by EBSCO in order to access this service. In the Databases
field, enter a list of EBSCO short name databases to which you subscribe.

Provide your library’s EBSCOhost Integration Toolkit (EIT) login and password. If you do not
currently have this information, your EBSCO representative can provide it or configure it, if necessary.
For more information, see https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/What-is-the-EBSCO-Integration-
Toolkit-EIT?language=en_US . The User Name should be in the format:
customerID.groupID.profileID, where the customerID typically starts with lowercase “s” and is
followed by numbers, the groupID is likely “main”, and the profileID is likely “eitws”. For example:
s123456.main.eitws.
For a list of the database names, refer to the following EBSCO page:
https://help.ebsco.com/interfaces/EBSCOhost/EBSCOhost_FAQs/EBSCOhost_Database_Short_
Names_List For example: rlh, ah1,
For more information, refer to Defining a Third-Party Index

List the codes for any EBSCOhost databases that you subscribe to either via CARLI or on your own.
DO NOT include EBSCOhost databases that are part of the package CARLI purchases for all members
as these will be activated in the Network Zone. For a list of NZ activated databases see: https://
www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/i-share/alma/config-form-updates#ebsconz

WorldCat Search - Credentials CARLI Recommended value: Provide your WorldCat

Search credentials The WorldCat plug-in enables Primo to query and receive results from the
WorldCat Search API. Supply your API key provided to you by OCLC to enable this service. For
more information, refer to Defining a Third-Party Index

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Search Results - Facets
CARLI Recommended value: Keep Facet as Is.
Wait to make changes after you have done some testing in your Test Primo VE discovery interface.
 Subject
 Author/Creator
 Library
 Location
 Resource Type
 Collections (Primo Central collections i.e. OneFile Gale, JSTOR, etc.)
 Creation Date
 Journal Title
 Language
For each facet, indicate the desired behavior:

 Keep facet as is
 Rename facet – provide the new name in the Value column.
 Hide facet
 Position (by order)
Full Record View - Labels Section
CARLI Recommended value: Keep Section Name as is.
Wait to make changes after you have done some testing in your Test Primo VE discovery interface.
The Full Display page contains the following sections:
 View Online – Appears for online items.
 Get It – Appears for physical items.
 Details – metadata records, appears for all items
For each section, indicate the desired behavior. If you would like to rename it, provide the new
name in the Value column.

 Keep section name as is

 Rename section

Full Record View – Details Section – Additional Fields

I-Share Library choice
The Details section displays the bibliographic information for a record. Primo comes pre-
configured with all of the standard fields. To add additional data fields, provide the names of
the additional fields and the field numbers of the data in the MARC record. Field numbers must
be one of the following numbers: 009, 09x, 490, 5xx, 69x, and 9xx. (Fields are visible in the
record only if the metadata is available).

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 Fill in the following fields for each local field:
 Field Numbers – Enter the MARC21 numeric tags or a range of tags that you would like to
add. Separate the range a hyphen. Separating multiple tags with a comma. For example, 950
or 950-952.
 Field Name – Enter the name of the field, as it should be displayed to the user.
 Order – Indicate the order in which you would like these fields to be displayed.

Note: You only need to complete these tables if you want to add local fields to Primo. Up to five local
fields can be created as part of the Primo implementation. You can create additional local fields after
the Back Office training.

See the following examples of local display fields:

Field Number Field Name Order

950 Local Note 3

908 Donated By: 1

998 Faculty Reference: 2

Main Menu Links

CARLI Recommended Setting: Enable Default Main Menu Links as described below.
Wait to make changes after you have done some testing in your Test Primo VE discovery interface.
Main Menu Links allows you to define the links on the Links menu, which are displayed at the top of
Primo VE:

For each link, define whether it should be enabled (Yes or No), and the order that the links
should be presented along the top of the screen, from left to right.

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Customized Links
I-Share Library choice
In addition to the Main Menu links listed above, it is possible to add your own links to the
menu that can take your users to external sites or pages. If you want to add any additional
links to the main menu, list them in this section. Provide the label text for the link, the URL, a
tool tip, and the order of this link along the Main Menu, from left to right.

Browse List Options

CARLI Recommended values:
Description Enabled Vocabulary
Authors browse List Yes <blank>
Titles Browse List Yes <blank>
Series Browse List Yes <blank>
Subjects Browse List 1 Yes Library of Congress Subject Headings

Additional CARLI Recommended values: Libraries should enable and configure at least
one call number type and any other Subject Browse Lists that are appropriate for your
library
In addition to defining and activating the Browse Search link in the Main Menu Links, you can
also configure the browse search types and the order in which they appear in the Browse
by drop-down list in Primo VE. Currently, the following types of browse searches are
supported: Author, Title, Series, Subject, and Call Numbers of the following types: generic,
Library of Congress (0), Dewey (1), and SUDOC (3).
For each Browse index listed, define whether you would like this enabled (Yes or No), and, for
the Subject browse, which Subject Vocabulary should be used. For more information, refer to
Configuring Browse Search.

Record Actions
CARLI Recommended values: Enable all ten default Record Actions for the Test Load.
Configure the Up-Front Actions and Order in a manner that seems appropriate for your
library.
Primo VE allows users to perform actions on records. These include such functions as; Print,
email, send to Refworks, create permalink, etc. In this section of the configuration form, define
which actions you want to enable for your users (Yes or No), whether this is one of the
priority or Up-Front actions that are presented first (Yes or No), and which order you would
like the actions to be presented.
Note: Add/Remove record to Favorites is enabled by default. It is an Up-Front action and the first
in order, so it is not editable.
For more information, refer to Configuring the Actions on the Display Pages.

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General Attributes
Languages
CARLI Required value: Default Language English.
Select the default language for your discovery interface from the drop-down list of languages. In
addition, you can define up to six additional interface languages. If additional languages are
required, select these from the drop-down lists in the Additional Language 1-6 fields. This
creates the language option drop-down lists for your users in the discovery interface and allows
you to translate the interface to these languages.

Time Out Parameters

For each of the timeout parameters, define the required setting.
Timeout URL: I-Share Library choice. Define the URL to which you want the discovery
interface to redirect on timeout.

Time out for Signed In (minutes): CARLI Recommended value: 10. Enter the length of time
(in minutes) of inactivity that should elapse before a signed in user’s session times out.
Time Out for Guests (minutes): CARLI Recommended value: 10. Enter the length of time (in
minutes) of inactivity that should elapse before a non-signed in (guest) user’s session times out..

Local Resource Types

I-Share Library Choice.
In this section of the form, define any additional local resource types that may be required. Up
to five local resource types can be added.
For each resource type, define the singular label, the plural label, the RIS type, the Genre type,
the metadata format, the MARC field and subfield holding this resource type information, and
the value that should match for this resource type to be assigned. Alternatively, if the metadata
is Dublin core, define the Dublin Core field holding the resource type information and the
value in this field that should match for this resource type to be assigned.
For more information, refer to Configuring Local Resource Types for Primo VE.

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15
Primo VE - Digital Repository Tab
I-Share Library choice: Complete this tab if you have an external digital repository
that you'd like to include in Primo VE.
For information on how to add CARLI Digital Collections to this tab please see: https://
www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/i-share/alma/configuration-digital-repository-CDC

Primo allows users to discover all relevant library materials. External data sources such as
digital repositories, libguides, and others can be loaded into Primo VE.
Indicate if you plan on upgrading the repository before, during, or just after your Primo
implementation.
To configure the repository to be discovered via Primo VE, fill in the requested information
in the tab:

 Indicate the name of the repository.

 Indicate the format that the data is in.
 Select your repository’s software system (i.e. CONTENTdm, DSpace, BePress, Fedora, etc).
 Indicate how many records this repository contains.
 Indicate the OAI URL of the repository.
 Indicate the URL of an item level record.
 Indicate login credentials for this repository. Enter N/A if not applicable. Note that you can
also provide us with login credentials over the phone.
Map your DC resource types to the following Primo resource types:
From DC Resource Type (dc:type / To Primo Resource Type
dcterms:type)

Database

Audio

Newspaper

Manuscript

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From DC Resource Type (dc:type / To Primo Resource Type
dcterms:type)

Conference Proceeding

Dissertation

Kit

Other

Archival Material

Realia

Book

Book Chapter

Collection

Legal Document

Patent

Reference Entry

Research Dataset

Review

Statistical Data Set

Technical Report

Journal

Newspaper Article

Article

Text Resource

Government Document

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From DC Resource Type (dc:type / To Primo Resource Type
dcterms:type)

Image

Map

Video

Score

Website

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 16
CARLI REQUIRED: All libraries must validate this form once it is completed before returning
it to CARLI using the Data Validity Checks Tab.

Data Validity Checks Tab

This tab assists you in completing the configuration form by checking certain common errors.
You must enable macros in of Excel in order to use these validity checks. These checks are not
mandatory in order to submit your configuration form to Ex Libris.

To run the validity checks:

1 Complete the configuration form.

2 Ensure that macros are enabled.
3 Click the Launch button.
4 Click OK.
5 After the validation process is completed, click OK.
6 Click any Go To Error links and correct any errors.

Note: The link brings you to the tab and column containing the error, but not necessarily to the
erroneous cell or cells. A general description of the error is provided in the Error Description
column.

Note: Only a single error message is returned per table column. If you have corrected an error but
continue to receive the same error message, examine the column for additional errors.

7 Repeat steps 3-6 as necessary.

If you have any questions about the validity checks or any aspect of the configuration form,
consult with your Ex Libris project team.

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Extended Tabs
The following tabs are not used by most customers. Therefore, they have been placed at the end
of the Configuration Form. You are welcome to make use of them. Consult with your Ex Libris
team if you have any questions about functionality related to these tabs.

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ab
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17
Booking Tab

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In the Booking tab, you define your fulfillment rules for the booking of physical resources.
Booking functionality allows patrons to reserve resources for their use at a specified time in the

ab
future. This may be useful, for example, to allow students to reserve study rooms, to allow
faculty to reserve meeting rooms, or to allow visitors to reserve resources in advance of their
visit. You need to complete this tab only if you intend to manage booking resources within
Alma. Note that in order to manage resource booking, the resource must have bibliographic,
holdings, and item records in Alma.

Booking Policy Default Values

p lic
Fill in all of the fields in the Booking Policy Default Values section. When a field in the Booking
Policies section of this tab is left empty, the default value you enter in the Booking Policy
Default Values section is used. This simplifies filling in the Booking Policies section since you
Ap

only have to fill in those values that differ from the corresponding values in the Booking Policy
Default section. See the sample form for an illustration. See below for a description of the
columns.

Booking Policies
ot

The first two columns of the Booking Policies section are completed for each location type and
patron type combination based on the values defined in the Locations Types and Patron Types
tables in the Fulfillment tab. For each row, specify the policies to use if a patron of this patron
N

type wants to book an item from a location of this location type. If any of the policy values are
the same as those in the corresponding column in the booking defaults, you may leave this
column blank.
Fill in the columns as follows:
 Is item bookable – indicate if a booking request for resources from this location can be
submitted by patrons of this type.

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 Booking release time length – enter the amount of time booked resource will be held for
the patron past the booking time. This column works in conjunction with the Booking
release time period column.
 Booking release time period – this column works in conjunction with the Booking Release
time length column. Indicate the booking release period. The following values are available:
 Days
 Exact Days

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 Hours
 Minute
 Month

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 Week
 None – means that the booked resource will be held past the booking time indefinitely. If
another patron requests the resource, the booking request must first be cancelled
manually.



column.
lic
Maximum allowed booking length – enter the maximum permitted duration of the
booking. This column works in conjunction with the Maximum allowed booking period

Maximum allowed booking period – this column works in conjunction with the Maximum
p
allowed booking length column. Indicate the maximum booking period. The following
values are available:
Ap

 Days
 Exact Days
 Hours
 Minute
 Month
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 Week
 None -
 Preview length – enter the amount of time before the booking time required to
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prepare/provide the requested resource (for example, to retrieve a manuscript from special
storage, or set-up a meeting room or projector) or during which the patron may collect the
booked resource. This column works in conjunction with the Preview period column.
 Preview period – this column works in conjunction with the Preview length column.
Indicate the preview period. The following values are available:
 Exact Days

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  Hours
 Minute
 Month
 Week
 None
 Pickup Locations – indicate the possible pickup locations for a booked resource. The
following values are available:

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 In Library
 In Institution

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 At Any Reading Room
 At Library Reading Room
 In Campus
 In Patron Affiliated Campus

between institutions)
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At Any Institution (used with a fulfillment network to set the request relationship

This value is used to dynamically produce a list of possible pick-up options when patrons
place a hold.
p
 Future limit length – enter the amount of time the resource may be booked in advance of
the requested booking time. This column works in conjunction with the Future limit period
Ap

column.
 Future limit period – this column works in conjunction with the Future limit length column.
Indicate the future limit period. The following values are available:
 Days
 Exact Days
ot

 Hours
 Minute
 Month
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 Week
 None
 Back to back booking length – indicate the minimum amount of time required between
booking requests for the same resource by the same patron. This column works in
conjunction with the Back to back booking period column.

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 Back to back booking period – this column works in conjunction with the Back to back
booking length column. Indicate the back to back booking period. The following values are
available:
 Days
 Exact Days
 Hours
 Minute

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 Month
 Week
 None

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Item Policy Exceptions - Booking
Enter booking policies for exceptional resources. The location types defined in the Fulfillment
lic
tab are listed in the first column. The item exception types defined in the Fulfillment tab are
listed in the second column. Select the location types and item exception types for which you
want to define the exceptional booking policies and then list the details of those policies in the
remaining fields in the row. (Empty fields use the corresponding institutional default value for
p
that field). To define booking policies for exceptional resources in all location types, leave the
first column empty.
Ap
ot
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18
Additional ResShare Libraries Tab

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This tab is not mandatory. It is designed to assist institutions that use more than one library for
handling resource sharing. For institutions using only a single resource sharing library,

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configurations are contained in the Policies, TOU & Rules tab. Configurations in this tab are for
the additional resource libraries only.

Resource Sharing Default Values Table

lic
Fill in all of the fields in the Institutional Default Values section. This is mandatory.
When a field in the Institutional Policies & TOU section (section 2) of this tab is left empty, the
default value you entered in the Institutional Default Values section (section 1) is used. This
p
simplifies filling in the Institutional Policies & TOU section, since you only have to fill in those
values that differ from the corresponding values in the Institutional Default section. See the
Ap

sample form for an illustration. See below for a description of the columns.

Outgoing Requests to Other Institutions

Specify the policies for requesting and borrowing materials via resource sharing (outgoing or
borrowing ILL).
ot

For a description of the columns not described below, see Institutional Policies & TOU on page
43. (Empty cells use the corresponding institutional default value). You may add rows to this
table, as necessary.
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 Library Code – select the code of the additional resource sharing library. You may repeat
this code in multiple rows, one for each Patron Type.
 Patron Type – select the patron type for which you are configuring resource sharing policies
at the given resource sharing library.
 Resource Sharing Fee – enter the fee charged to the local patron for requesting a remote
item.

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 Allow Resource Sharing Requesting – indicate if this patron type can place outgoing
(borrowing) resource sharing requests.
 Resource Sharing Request Limit – enter the maximum number of resource sharing requests
that this type of patron can place.

Incoming Requests from Other Institutions

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If you loan materials to other institutions (Lending ILL), define the default loan length and loan
period for these loans. You may add rows to this table, as necessary. For more information
about the Loan Length and Loan Period fields, see Institutional Policies & TOU on page 43.

ab
Resource Sharing Library Locations
For each of the libraries configured in the Outgoing Requests or Incoming Requests tables,
select the corresponding Borrowing and Lending locations.

Licensing Tab
p lic
In the Licensing tab, you indicate the DLF-ERMI license terms to use in Alma. You can define
Ap

the order that the different sections of the license are displayed and which license terms are
displayed in each section.

License Sections Order

The license consists of the following sections:
ot

 Terms of Use
 Restrictions
 Perpetual Rights
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 Obligations
 Termination Obligations
 Authorized User
 None

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For each section, select from the Order column the position that you want the section to be
displayed in the License page.

License Terms
For each License section, select the license terms for that section. From the Section column,
select a section. From the Term column, select the terms for that section one line for each term
from the predefined drop-down listand list the terms in the order in which you want them to be

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displayed in the license. You may use a given term only once. All the predefined license terms
are available out-of-the-box in your Alma and cannot be changed. If a new term is required,
enter it manually starting from the first blank row at the end of the table. New terms may also

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be manually added and removed directly in Alma.
In the Display to Public column, indicate if the license sections will be displayed to the public or
not. Change the Enable Display of License Information customer parameter to TRUE for the
Display to Public configuration to be effective. The parameter is accessible during
implementation via Fulfillment Configuration Menu > Discovery Interface Display Logic >
Other Settings.
lic
Note that if no section is selected for a license term, the Display to Public value can not be
applied. Select a required section in order for the term to be displayed or not in the license.
p
Ap
ot
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19
WorkOrders Tab

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Work Orders are not mandatory. They allow you to increase your level of inventory control
when physical items are being processed in internal library departments. Instead of (only)

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placing a note on the shelf when the item is removed, work orders allow Alma to keep track of
where the item is located (for example, in the cataloging, bindery, or preservation department),
and the stage (for example, backlog, analysis, copy cataloging, external preservation) of the
process the item is undergoing. This information is displayed to your staff searching in Alma
and to your patrons searching in Primo.
Work Orders have three parts:

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The Work Order Type – this is the work order itself, that is, the kind of process the item is
undergoing.
p
 The Work Order Department – this is the department (in one of the libraries, or on the
institution level) that is currently handling the work order for this item.
Ap

 Work Order Status – the current status or stage of the work order process the items is
undergoing in the department. You update the status of an item manually to help you track
its progress in the department.
You can use the WorkOrders tab to indicate the processes, departments, and possible statuses
or stages of the process in the department.
ot

Work Order Departments

This table contains a suggested work order department that you can use in Alma. You may
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modify or delete this example, and/or add new work orders.

Notes:
 Alma includes a default institution-level digitization department. (The digitization work
order type and statuses are not configurable).
 In Alma, each library contains a default acquisitions department. (Alma does not support
institution-level acquisitions departments).

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 A given work order type may be serviced by more than one department, but a given
department can be attached to only one work order type. (If your department handles
more than one work order type, consider using additional statuses in a single department to
reflect the range of activities which take place there).

If you select Yes in the Create? column, an institutional level work order type, work order
department, and work order statuses are created as indicated in the form. You may add or
modify the work order type code and name, the department code and name, and the work
order status code and name in the fields provided. You can also associate an institution-level

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printer with the work order department. See the Printers Tab on page 31 for information on
configuring institution-level printers). Ensure that the printer you select is an institution-level
printer.
You may complete the Work Order Type and Status fields without completing the Work Order

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Department fields. This may be useful, for example, when associating a Circulation Desk with a
Work Order Type. (See Circulation Desks Table on page 33).
The Recalls Loans column determines if an item on loan is recalled when a work order is
created for that item.
p lic
Ap
ot
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20
Create Controlled Vocabularies Tab

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To create a fixed list of values for a MARC, UNIMARC or KORMARC subfield that will appear
in the Metadata Editor when editing the designated subfield, enter a name for the list (CV

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Name), code and description for each value. (The value in the Code field is inserted into the
record. Both the code and the description are displayed to the cataloger when editing the
subfield). You may enter multiple code/description pairs for a given list; however, each pair
should be on a separate row and each row should have the same CV Name. You may use this
table to create multiple Controlled Vocabulary lists. One list is created for each unique CV
lic
Name value and contains all the code/description pairs that share that CV Name. Lists are
associated with specific subfields in the Assign Controlled Vocabularies tab.
p
Ap
ot
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 21
Assign Controlled Vocabularies Tab

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To associate pre-defined controlled vocabularies with specific MARC, UNIMARC or
KORMARC subfields, select the appropriate Metadata Profile for the desired subfield and enter

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a required field, the desired subfield, and the desired pre-defined CV Name (see the Create
Controlled Vocabularies tab). A given CV Name may be assigned to more than one subfield.
However, each row in the table may contain only one field/subfield pair. A given field/subfield
may be associated with only one CV Name.

lic
Note: Controlled vocabularies are not enabled for fields that are subject to authority control.
p
Ap
ot
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22
Translations Tab

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The values you entered in the configuration form for entity names (for example, library,
location, and circulation desk) are displayed by default to patrons (in the discovery interface,

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such as Primo) and to staff (in Alma). You can, however, provide translations of some of these
names, which are displayed to users that select a non-default display language.
(For staff users, an alternative language display can be selected by clicking the user name in the
upper-right corner of the page, and then selecting the desired language):
p lic
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Alma’s support for translation is still being developed. Currently, Alma provides support for
translating display names of five entities, as described below. If you require that Alma’s patron-
facing and/or staff interface display labels be available in foreign languages, you can enter the
relevant foreign-language names in the tables in this tab.
ot

Institution Languages
This table defines which languages are available for selection by users, in addition to the default
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language. Alma currently supports the following additional languages:

 Catalan, Valencian – patron facing
 Welsh – patron facing and staff interface
 German – patron facing and staff interface
 English – patron facing and staff interface

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 Spanish – patron facing and staff interface
 Basque – patron facing
 French – patron facing and staff interface
 Hebrew – patron facing
 Italian – patron facing and staff interface
 Korean – patron facing and staff interface

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 Bokmål, Norwegian; Norwegian Bokmål – patron facing only
 Dutch/Flemish – patron facing only
 Norwegian Nynorsk; Nynorsk, Norwegian – patron facing only

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 Norwegian – patron facing only
 Polish – patron facing and staff interface
 Northern Sami – patron facing only



Swedish – patron facing only
Chinese – patron facing and staff interface
lic
Traditional Chinese – patron facing and staff interface
p
 Danish – patron facing only
 Japanese – patron facing only
Ap

 Irish – patron facing only

 Arabic – patron facing only
 Portuguese – patron facing and staff interface

In this table, select a language from one or more of the drop-down lists.
ot

Selecting a language in this table does not change the system default language or the default
language for any user. Selecting a language in this table only makes that language available if
selected by the patron or staff user.
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Name of Institution
This table allows you to display a translated name of your institution, by choosing a required
language from the drop-down list and entering a translation in the row below.

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Name of Physical Library
In this table it is possible to provide translation for your library name. Select a Library Code
from the drop-down list that contains all the previously defined values in the Libraries Tab.
Then select a required language and provide a translation.

Name of Location

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In this table, select a library code and a Location code from the drop-down list. Also select a
required language, as above.

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External Name of Location
This table contains translations for an external name of location. Fill in the table, as suggested
above.

Circulation Desk Name

p lic
In this table, translate circulation desk names. Be sure to choose all the values from the drop-
down list, which are prepopulated from the respective tabs in your configuration form.
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Note that the names you entered for these entities in their respective tables in the other tabs in
the configuration form are displayed as part of the default language. The terms you enter in the
tables in this tab are displayed only when a patron or staff operator selects one of the non-
default languages.
ot
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23
CARLI Recommended: Review this information and share with others at your library and
institution as needed. It is informational only and not required for completing the Alma
Configuration Form.
Additional Configurations and Integrations
There are additional configurations that you can make yourself directly in Alma, which you
may or may not want before going live, depending on your needs. These configurations are
available during the implementation phase to users with the appropriate role. The following is a
list of these configurations. Consult the relevant Alma documentation on the Ex Libris
Knowledge Center for specific instructions.
Note that many of the configurations below, especially those involving integration with some
external system, require the configuration of an S/FTP connection (in addition to the specific
configuration referred to below). Information on configuring S/FTP connections can be found
onthe Ex Libris Knowledge Center.

Calendar Management
Although the calendars for your libraries and institution are loaded into Alma as part of the
Configuration Form (see the Libraries tab), you have access to these calendars during the
implementation stage, in the event that you want to make any modifications. For information
on configuring calendars, see the Ex Libris Knowledge Center. See also above, Opening Hours.

EDI Invoices and Orders

Some vendors support the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) protocol. Alma allows you to send
orders to these vendors, and receive invoices from them, using EDI. For information on
configuring EDI in Alma, see Ex Libris Knowledge Center.

External Search Resources

External search resources allow you to search library catalogs and other resources that are
external to Alma and import individual bibliographic records to the institution zone. This is
useful, for example, for copy cataloging or the completion of brief bibliographic records. For

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more information on configuring External Search Resources in Alma, see the Ex Libris
Knowledge Center.

FTP Connections
Many of the external integration profiles require s/ftp connections. Although you may use the
same S/FTP server for more than one integration, each integration usually requires its own
unique directory or sub-directory. Configuration of S/FTP connections is made in the user
interface via Administration > General Configuration > Configuration Menu > S/FTP
definitions. Connections defined here are available in the FTP drop-down lists of the relevant
Integration Profile configuration pages in the Alma user interface. See also Integration Profiles
on page 109.
In addition to configuring the ftp connections, you must add these connections to the table of
Allowed S/FTP connections (via Administration > General Configuration > Configuration
Menu). This is a safety feature to prevent unintended FTP transfers into or out of Alma.
For more information on configuring S/FTP connections and the Allowed S/FTP connections
table, consult the Ex Libris Knowledge Center.

Import Profiles (for Importing Bibliographic Records

and EOD Files)
Import profiles allow you to import metadata, inventory records, and order information from a
file provided by your vendor, manually or on a scheduled basis via FTP upload. For
information on configuring import profiles, see the Ex Libris Knowledge Center.

Integration Profiles
For information on configuring integration profiles, see the Ex Libris Knowledge Center at
Alma > Product Documentation > Integrations with External Systems.

Bursar – Export Fines/Fees

Alma can export to an external S/FTP location fines and fees that match a defined profile.

CAS
Alma supports the Central Authentication Service protocol for single sign-on user
authentication.

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Finance Import/Export
Invoices can be exported from Alma to the Institutional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
system, and payment information can be imported from the ERP to Alma. In addition, fund
transactions can be imported to reconcile fund balances in Alma with those in the ERP.

LDAP
For information on configuring Alma to work with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
(LDAP) for user authentication, see the Ex Libris Knowledge Center.

OCLC Connexion
To configure OCLC Connexion for importing individual records into Alma from OCLC, see the
Ex Libris Knowledge Center.

Online Payment
The WPM Education E-Payment System allows Alma users to pay fines and fees via My
Account in Primo. Once the request is initiated in Primo and processed in the payment system
in Alma, both Alma and the WPM Education E-Payment System send payment receipt emails to
the user.

Remote Storage System

If your remote storage facility is managed by an external automated system, you may configure
an integration that allows Alma to send requests for material in remote storage to the external
system.

Resolver Augmentation (DOI, OAI, PubMed)

Incoming OpenURLs trigger requests to source discovery systems to augment the OpenURL
metadata. In Alma, an integration profile defines the parameters that are used to augment
incoming OpenURLs.

Resolver – Proxies
Links to electronic resources can be provided by Alma and displayed in your discovery system
(for example, Primo) in the UResolver. The UResolver responds to an incoming OpenURL and
changes it to an electronic link by automatically including additional proxy information in the
resolved URL. You define the additional proxy information to be included in a proxy definition
profile.

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SAML
Alma supports the SAML 2.0 Web Browser single sign-on profile.

SIP2 – Self-Check
Alma supports integration of SIP 2.0 self-check machines with circulation desks (see Circulation
Desks Tab on page 33).

Student Information Systems (SIS) – User Import

Alma allows you to import and update user records from an external SIS and can export user
blocks to the external system.

SMS
Alma supports sending SMS notifications to patrons’ mobile phones. The support for SMS
messaging is based on an external SMS service provider making the actual SMS message
delivery. Alma’s role is specific to identifying the need to text the patron, formulating the
message, and extracting the phone number to which the SMS provider sends the message. Alma
places the required information at a configured FTP location for the service provider to collect
and subsequently deliver to the patron.

Z39.50 Server
Alma listens for incoming Z39.50 searches. If an authorized incoming request is detected, Alma
returns a Z39.50 response, which includes record information in either MARC or OPAC format,
depending on your client configuration.

Letters, Notifications and Slips

Alma produces many different letters, notifications, and slips, some automatically and some on
demand. The labels, text content, translation, and formatting of these are all configurable.

Resource Sharing
Alma supports resource sharing workflows manually within Alma and automatically via
integration with external resource sharing software (for example, Navigator, ILLiad, Relais). For
information on configuring Resource Sharing Partners, Workflows, and other resource sharing
parameters, see the Ex Libris Knowledge Center..

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 Statistical Categories
Alma supports assigning statistical categories to patrons to facilitate statistical reporting of
fulfillment activity. For most customers, these categories are migrated from the legacy system.
However, to take full advantage of the statistical reporting capability, we recommend mapping
statistical categories to statistical types and mapping the statistical types to Analytics. For
information on these configurations, see the Ex Libris Knowledge Center..

Web Services
Alma supports Web services that enable external systems to retrieve various data elements from
the Alma database. Detailed information concerning Web services is available in the Alma
Developers Website.

Note: Use of these Web services is strictly optional and usually requires that customers develop
their own client-side code. (Web services that are native to Alma and Primo have been fully
integrated into these products and do not require any additional code from the customer in order
for you to use them in Alma and Primo).

Analytics
Alma Analytics allows you to create reports based on your data in Alma. Alma provides a Web
service that returns a specific object (a report) from Analytics as XML.

Authentication Information
Alma provides a set of Web services for handling user authentication, enabling you to submit
credentials in a secure, SSL-based manner and trigger Alma’s existing authentication process.
The existing authentication process may be based either on Alma’s internal user management
system, or on an external LDAP authentication server.

Course Information
Alma enables you to integrate the Alma-supplied reading list citations and their statuses into a
Course Management System (CMS) and provide a link that can be used from within the CMS to
view the services that the library can supply for a given citation.

Holdings Information
Alma provides a Web service for retrieving holdings information in XML format.

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Label Printing
Alma provides Web services to generate spine label information—either one-by-one or in batch
format—for physical items. This information can be used as input for external software that
prints the spine labels. You can use the Alma Label Printing tool to print book labels. For more
information, see the Alma Online Help (Resource Management > Configuring Resource
Management > Configuring Resource Management Activities > Configuring the Label
Printing Tool).

Loans Information
Alma provides a set of Web services for handling user loans, enabling you to quickly and easily
discover the items loaned to a specific patron and renew these loans. The following Web
services are currently available:
 Retrieve User Loans
 Renew User Loans

Requests Information
Alma provides a set of Web services for handling user requests, enabling you to locate user
requests, view their status, and cancel them if necessary. These Web services can be used by
external systems—such as discovery interfaces—to retrieve or cancel user requests. The
following Web services are currently available:
 Retrieve User Requests
 Cancel User Requests

Retrieve Holdings Information

This Web service retrieves holdings and availability information—library, location, availability,
holdings (that is, relevant 866 subfields) – related to a given bibliographic (MMS) record, if the
input parameters provide a match.

User Cash
User cash Web services enable you to submit credentials in a secure SSL-based manner to
retrieve user cash management information and manage user cash update actions, such as
payment and waiving of fines/fees.

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User Information
Alma provides a set of Web services for handling user information, enabling you to quickly and
easily manipulate user details. These Web services can be used by external systems – such as
student information systems (SIS) – to retrieve or update user data.

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