Alma Systems Librarians & Administrator Training

The vast majority of campuses are configured to use their main library as their resource sharing library (the stand alone resource sharing library has been disabled and renamed Do Not Use to reduce the amount of transiting needed for resource sharing requests).  Your resource sharing library contains a resource sharing fulfillment unit that is not visible at the Institution level.  This fulfillment unit has been given a code of your three letter Alma code followed by NM_FU (ex. SUNY Polytechnic's resource sharing fulfillment unit is INSMN_FU).

Most resource sharing configuration is being managed by SLS staff at either the Network Zone or Institution Zone level.  This configuration includes:

• Resource sharing library configuration (IZ)
• Resource sharing partners (NZ)
• Locate profiles (NZ)
• Workflow profiles (NZ)
• Rota templates (NZ)
• Rota assignment rules (IZ)
• Sending borrowing request rules (NZ)
• Lending locate settings (IZ)

Please do not adjust any resource sharing configuration being managed by SLS staff.

The following resource sharing configuration must be done by each SUNY library:

• ILLiad and Alma integration
• Resource sharing letters
• ILLiad OpenURL request links in Primo
• Loan fulfillment unit rules for your Resource Sharing fulfillment unit
• Lending Resource Sharing fulfillment unit rules
• Lending deflections

Note: Borrowing and Lending Resource Sharing fulfillment unit rules have already been configured by SLS for all SUNY libraries.  If you need to adjust those rules, please be sure the changes you make confirm with the SLC Network Zone Loan Periods Policy.

ILLiad and Alma can be integrated in the following manners.

Borrowing:

• Unfilled Alma resource sharing requests can be automatically exported to ILLiad
• Temporary item records can be created in Alma for items received from other libraries in ILLiad, which allows you to circulate ILLiad items in Alma and your users to see and renew their ILLiad items in Primo
• Renewal due dates can be automatically transmitted from ILLiad to Alma

Lending:

• Items being loan to other libraries via ILLiad can automatically be moved to Alma's temporary lending location, which eliminates the need for staff to manually check those items out in Alma

Important Notes:

• Integrating ILLiad and Alma is optional.
• You can choose to implement only certain aspects of ILLiad and Alma integration.
• All forms of ILLiad and Alma integration require the creation of an ILLiad resource sharing partner in Alma.  You do not need to create separate ILLiad resource sharing partners for borrowing and lending integration.  A single ILLiad resource sharing partner will be sufficient.
• In order for borrowing integration to work, your ILLiad usernames must match one of your Alma identifiers.
• In order for lending integration to work, the barcode of the item being lent must be in the ILLiad request record.  Manually copying barcodes from Alma to ILLiad is very time consuming, so this integration is recommended only for libraries that are using IDS Logic to automatically add barcodes to their ILLiad requests.   

For full details on how to configure ILLiad and Alma Integration, please see the following FAQ.

• How Do I Configure ILLiad and Alma Integration?

Alma uses the following letters in the resource sharing process.

• Printing pull slips for lending requests from the Pick From Shelf list: Ful Resource Request Slip Letter
• Shipping requests to other libraries: Resource Sharing Shipping Slip Letter
• Receiving requests from other libraries: Resource Sharing Receive Slip Letter
• Returning requests to other libraries: Resource Sharing Return Slip Letter

For details on how to edit letters, please see the following FAQs and webinar recordings:

• How to I activate, edit, test, and set retention periods for letters in Alma?
• Is there a central repository for sharing customized letters?
• Alma's New Letter Editing Features

You can create OpenURL links to your ILLiad request forms in ILLiad by creating General Electronic Services.  For details on creating ILLiad General Electronic Services, please see the following FAQ and webinar recording.

• Creating ILLiad General Electronic Services FAQ
• Creating ILLiad General Electronic Services Webinar

If your ILLiad request forms are not being properly filled out by the General Electronic Services you have created, you may need to adjust ILLiad's OpeURL Mapping Table.  For more information on that, please see the following Atlas Systems documentation.

• https://support.atlas-sys.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011910073-OpenURL-Configuration

Borrowing Resource Sharing fulfillment unit rules determine the loan period your users receive for resource sharing loans.  All SUNY institutions were configured by SLS staff to give their users the SUNY loan period for resource sharing loans.  However, libraries may shorten their resource sharing borrowing loan periods by adjusting their Borrowing Resource Sharing fulfillment unit rules.  For details on how to configure loan fulfillment unit rules, please see the following FAQ.

• How do I change my loan periods?

Note: That FAQ focuses on non-resource sharing loan periods, but the process for changing resource sharing loans periods is very similar.  Instead of configuring at the Institution level, configure at the Resource Sharing Library level. Loan rules for resource sharing must be configured in your Resource Sharing fulfillment unit.

Lending Resource Sharing fulfillment unit rules determine whether resource sharing lending requests are given the short (30 day) or long (16 week) lending loan period.  The short lending loan period is for media and other protected collections.  If you need to assign the short loan period to a specific collection, you can adjust the Lending Resource Sharing fulfillment unit rule.  For details on how to do that, please see the following FAQ.

• How do I assign the short resource sharing loan period to a material type?

Note: Please do not assign the short resource sharing loan period to your regular circulating collection, and please no not make any adjustments to the rule that assigns the long loan period. 

It is possible to deflect resource sharing requests for specific locations, item types, or item policies by creating a Request fulfillment unit rule in the relevant fulfillment unit.  For more details on how to configure a lending deflection, please see the following FAQ.

• How do I create a resource sharing lending deflection?