Alma Systems Librarians & Administrator Training

Alma relies heavily on its configuration to work most efficiently. Systems librarians, functional area administrators, and SLS configure Alma at different levels, depending on the feature or function, and this configuration optimizes Alma for local use. This guide provides resources for systems librarians and local administrators to learn how to configure and administer Alma.

Institution Level vs. Library Level in Configuration

The boxes below go into detail on what exactly is configured within each organization, but generally:

Institution (Campus) level = features and functions that are used by all libraries on the campus, or not tied to any specific campus

Library level = features and functions that are only used by or affect an individual library

Network level Configuration

There are some features in Alma that are configured by SLS at the Network level:

• Resource Sharing rotas
• Shared bibliographic data normalization rules

Alma Configuration Vocabulary

• Mapping Tables
• Code Tables
• Rules Tables

How do you get to Alma Configuration?

1. Log in to Alma
2. Click on the Gear icon in the upper right corner of any page
3. Choose what organization you want to configure:
   • Institution = your campus
   • Library = individual libraries on your campus; note that your Resource Sharing library may be a separate "library" in this system

These are the general features and areas that are configured at the Institution level. For each functional area, see the relevant page(s) of this guide.

• General
  • Work Orders
  • Libraries within the Institution
  • Alma look & feel
  • Letters configuration (Resource Sharing and others)
  • External systems
  • Home Page and Institution Notifications (messages to Alma staff users at your campus)
• Acquisitions
  • Rules and Types for all Acquisitions phases: purchasing, invoicing, licensing, etc.
• Discovery
  • Search & Display
  • GetIt configuration
  • My Account/Library Card configuration
  • Publishing (including Normalization Rules) and External Data Sources
• Fulfillment
  • Opening hours/library calendar management
  • Transit time & rules
  • Fulfillment Units, Terms of Use, and material policies
  • Overdue & Lost Loan Profile
  • Recalls and Requests configuration
  • Patron configuration
  • Course Reserves
  • Resource Sharing
  • Discovery Display Logic
  • Copyright management
• Resource Management
  • Alma and Metadata Editor search configurations
  • Record Export configurations
  • Control/System/Barcode number generation
  • Call # parsing
  • Authority Control configuration
  • Materials sort routines
• User Management
  • Configuring user groups and details for all Alma users, both staff + patrons
  • Patron fines & fees configuration