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Let’s look at the rest of the home page.
Persistent Search
Below the main menu is the persistent search bar – so named because it appears on every page in Alma. The Searching module of this Overview course will demonstrate the many ways to search in Almaonline Overviews course goes into many more details about Search, but let’s quickly review the basics of the persistent search bar for now.
To perform a basic search, choose a Search Type from the first column; once these show you the different types of records that you can search for in Alma. Once you choose a search type, the Search Criteria will be limited to only the fields available in that type of record. As you can see, the criteria for Invoice searches are very different than the criteria that are available for a Physical Items searchessearch.
Once you’ve chosen your Search Type and Search Criteria, type start typing in the term terms or phrase that you want to search for, then hit Enter or click on the magnifying glass . The results will display below the search bar, and or hit the Enter key to search. Once the search results come up, you can limit by facets on the left or sort your listthem by a couple of different sorting options.
Advanced Search
The simple basic search is incredibly very robust, but there is an Advanced Search to option where you can select multiple criteria and quickly get a specific set of results very quickly.
Additional Search Options
For both basic and advanced searches, you can click on the Save Query button on the right to save the your search query to re-run in the future and get a current set of results.
You can also export any list of results as to an Excel file by clicking on using the Export icon, for offline review.To , and you can customize what information displays in your list of search results, and in what order, click by clicking on the Gear icon.
We will review all of this information – searching, facets, sorting, exporting, and customization – in the Searching module of the Alma Overviews course.
And now, we’ll go back to the home page.
Recently-Used Information
Because you log in to Alma as an individual, it will remember what you recently did or what you recently looked for. This makes it faster to go back to the same place or conduct the same search. Look Always look for the “clock running backwards” icon to indicate recently-used information.
On the Home Page: Below , you can see that there, below the search bar, is a line of Recently Visited Recent Pages, and a single click will get you back to something a page that you were working on previously.
In a search: If you , as you saw… If I click in the search field or start typing, Alma will suggest terms you’ve I’ve searched for before. This is useful if you need to find something again a few days later. Note: You can’t delete these terms, and only you can see them. However, if you clear your browser form information, they will disappear.
Widgets
At the bottom of the home page is a space for you to add Below the recent pages line are widgets. A widget is a small container for information on a web page. In Alma, these widgets can display information about the Alma system or the library, or charts and tables of data from the Alma database. Right now, I have the Tasks and Notifications widgets in my widget area.
To add a widget to your home page:
- Click First, click on the plus sign on the right side of the screen.
- Click Then, click on the box next to the left of the name of the widget you want to add. That widget will come . In this case, we’ll do the Organization Calendar. You can see that the widget is actually coming in behind the dialog box , usually in the left column.Click after I click on it.
- To close this dialog box, click on the X in the upper right dialogue box or hit the ESC key to close the box.
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Once you’ve added a widget, you can click and drag the title bar of a widget to move it anywhere on your home page.To to move the widget around, to another column (you have 3), or to move it below or above another widget.
Finally, to remove a widget, click on the downward-facing arrow in the upper right corner of the widget box, then click on Remove. To remove a number of widgets at once, click on the plus sign and unclick the tickyboxes.
Now, for a few last Alma tidbits.
Alert Boxes
Occasionally, you might see a box at the top of the home page that is either a yellowish-orange (like this) or bright red. These are system alert boxes, and LTS staff will add them if there is a reason to do so. Right now, the one in the sandbox reminds you that you’re working in the sandbox, and not the production environment.
It then gives you the URL for the production environment.
On-Screen Help
Alma often provides on-screen help, as well as the help menu. If you hover your mouse over a button or an icon, Alma will tell you what that icon means, what that button does, and sometimes suggest a keyboard shortcut. For example:
- If you I hover over the star, it Alma reminds you me that this is the Quick Links menu icon
- If you I hover over the double arrow , it tells you next to it, Alma reminds me that it’s the “find a menu” link icon AND gives you me the keyboard shortcut (Alt + Ctrl + F)
The first time you go to any new page, take a moment to just move your cursor around the screen over different links and buttons and icons. Let Alma tell you what they’re for, and then refer to your training for how to use them.
Context-Dependent Menus & Choices
Next, I want to mention Context-dependent menus and choices.
Throughout your training in Alma, you’ll see that many screens will change depending on options you select. These are called “context-dependent options” – the options change depending on the context you’ve chosen. We already saw this with the criteria for search types and another example comes when making a request, the first question asks what kind of request you’re making, and the next fields change depending on what you choose.
On the home page, the options underneath the main menu headings will change depending on:
- Your account permissions
- Your location
For instance, if your location is not at a circulation desk, you will not see any circulation functions. If you don't have permission to perform a function, you won't see it listed in the menu choiceswhen we changed our search types and got context-appropriate criteria.
Another context-dependent option is under the main menu options. These functions that are available will change depending on your account permissions and the location that you choose. For instance, right now I’m set at a technical services area. That means that under the Fulfillment menu, I do not see any basic circulation functions. If I change to a circulation desk and I go back to the Fulfillment menu, I now see the checkout and check in options under Fulfillment.
The idea of these context-based menus or context-based choices is to 'tidy up' your workspace. AgainAs always, if you can't see a function that you need to do your job, let your manager know immediately so that your permissions can be updated. We want you to be able to do your work.
The Back Button
The Finally, I want to mention moving back pages. We are in a browser, and so you could use the Back button on your browser to go back to the previous page. However, the best way to move back a page in Alma is to use the an on-screen back arrow , not the back icon in your browseror Exit button. This is because, if you use the browser button, Alma might refresh your search results page or the fields you were working on. If you use the back arrow or a back button on the page, like this, Alma knows where you’re trying to get back to and will take you there, and let’s say you did a search and you move to see more information… if I just click on the browser back icon, that might refresh my search, or if I was in the middle of changing something, it might change the fields I was working on.
However, you can use either the back button on the upper left corner or a Cancel or Back or Exit button in the upper right corner to move back to the screen that you were just on. In this case, I’ll go ahead and click on the left-facing arrow, and that will take me straight back to my list of search results.