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Alma Workflows

This guide will help you learn about all of the different workflows in Alma that are specific to Miami Dade College, Learning Resources.

Placing Items "On-Display"

Whenever you temporarily move an item to another area outside of its normal location (i.e., as part of a book display, for promotional purposes, or an event, etc.), the campus copy-cataloger should update Alma to reflect this. The purpose of putting an item "On-Display" in Alma, is so that when students or employees go to look for that item in the catalog, they will know not to expect it to be in its regular location on the shelf, as the catalog will indicate that the item is "On-Display". This helps reduce the number of times items are reported missing by staff and students when they can't find these items on the shelf, and also helps us keep track of these materials.

Unlike Aleph, placing an item On-Display means to temporarily move it to the ONDSP (On-Display) Collection Code instead of changing the status code.

Method 1 - One Item at a Time

  1. Using the persistent search bar the top of the screen, perform a Physical Items search by Barcode for the exact item that you want to put on-display.
  2. Click on Edit Item.

     
  3. Scroll all the way down to the Temporary Location Information box. Ensure that Item is in temporary location is set to Yes and that the Temporary location field has the On-Display (ONDSP) location for your campus selected from the drop-down menu.

     
  4. Click on Save at the top right to save the changes.

Method 2 - In Bulk

  1. Open the Fulfillment menu and click on Scan In Items.

     
  2. Click on the Change Item Information tab.
  3. Ensure that the Change Type is Temporary and that the Location field has the On-Display (ONDSP) Collection selected from the drop-down menu. Also, ensure that your Campus Circulation Desk is selected at the top right.
  4. Put your cursor on the Scan item barcode field.
  5. You may now scan the barcode of each item to automatically move them to the ONDSP collection. A list will populate underneath with the results of each scan, letting you know that an item has been successfully updated.

Removing Items from On-Display

Once items are returned to their original location on the shelf, they need to be updated in Alma as well to remove them from the On-Display collection.

Removing the On-Display Status - Method 1

  1. Follow steps 1 and 2 from Method 1 - One at a Time above.
  2. Ensure that Item is in temporary location is set to No and click on Save at the top right to revert the item back to its original location.

Removing the On-Display Status - Method 2

  1. Follow steps 1 and 2 from Method 2 - In Bulk above.
  2. Ensure that the Change Type is Restore from the drop-down menu. Also, ensure that your Campus Circulation Desk is selected at the top right.
  3. Put your cursor on the Scan item barcode field.
  4. You may now scan the barcode of each item to automatically restore them back to their original location. A list will populate underneath with the results of each scan, letting you know that an item has been successfully updated.

Running Reports for On-Display Items

It is recommended that a periodic monthly report is run to identify items that are in the On-Display status that might have been checked out or that might have been missed.

  1. Click on the Advanced Search  icon.
  2. Select Physical Items from the drop-down menu next to Search in. In the next box, select Temporary physical location (you can search for this in the first box by typing it out), followed by Equals in the next box, and finally, search for and select your campus On-Display (ONDSP) collection from the list in the last box. See below example.

     
  3. When ready, click on Search. This will provide you with a full list of all items that are On-Display for your campus. You can also export these items to an excel sheet (as seen in the example below), if you like, to make it easier to help you scan them back in to their original collection.