Alma "collections" feature - managing staff record sets in Primo (HOLLIS)

This page described how to manage HOLLIS Staff Record Sets in Alma. For information on how Staff Record Sets work in HOLLIS, please visit the HOLLIS documentation page HOLLIS "Staff record sets"

General info

1. This feature uses the Alma "collection" feature to expose sets of records in HOLLIS. 

2. Unsuppressed "collections" in Alma are exposed in HOLLIS as "sets."

3. For this documentation, we will use the word "collection" because that is how the feature is labeled in Alma, but for any public references please avoid the use of the word "collection" to avoid confusion with other Harvard Library tools.  

4. Every collection in Alma, whether a top-level or a sub-collection, is associated with a minimal bib record. This is primarily for management purposes. Best practice is described below.

5. There is a HOLLIS home page for Staff record sets, but this page is not intended for patron use. Please do not share this page with patrons. This page is available so that may easily retrieve the stable URL for a given set. 

Set hierarchy details and complications

• “Top-level” collections, also called parent collections, are listed via the Resources > Manage Collections menu.

• Diagrams describing collection organization options, and their implications for search in the HOLLIS Sets interface, are available on a short slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mCYZITAAs4s4S6_RoYX9Fbnj7EGcq87rG5c-PvMDOzA/edit?usp=sharing

• When collections have sub-collections, it can become tricky to tell which collection you are editing in Alma. Tips:

  • The panel on the right always shows what collection you are editing. (For narrower screens this info may appear above the tabs.)

  • The hyperlink in the upper left shows the parent collection(s).

  • Pay attention to which tab you are on when editing: Sub-collections vs. Title List

• 🛟 Don’t hesitate to contact LTS for assistance. We are happy to help.

Here is an example screenshot from Alma. The parent collection is ‘Aninmal appreciation’ with sub-collection ‘Dogs.’ The sub-collection ‘Dogs' has a list of titles, and no sub-collections of its own. This is the editing screen for the ‘Dogs’ sub-collection. Use the panel at the right to verify which collection you are editing.

Creating a new Alma collection (top-level)

• Please contact LTS for new top-level collections at this time.

Creating a new Alma sub-collection 

1. From Collection Edit mode, switch to Sub-collections tab

2. Choose Add Sub-collection

3. Type in Title and use same text for Name. Add description (optional). 

4. Upload a thumbnail less than 100kb or use the "grey fade" thumbnail greyFade.png

   1. If you’d like to note the image source, add the information to the 500 field of the bib (see below).

5. Save

6. Edit the bib that was created for this sub-collection.

   1. (If you are creating many, these edits can be done in batch by LTS)

   2. In sub-collection Edit mode, click on the hyerplinked title on the info pane on the right. 

   3. Edit the bib in the MDE

   4. In Editing Actions menu, choose Expand from Template

   5. Find 'HOLLIS staff record sets' template

   6. Choose ‘Add missing’ and apply template

   7. The template will add 245 $b sub-collection, and 914, 929. 

   8. Edit the 245 $a to include the name of the parent collection, which will help with collection management later:

      1. Use hyphens to separate names: $a Parent name -- Child name

      2. e.g. 245 00 $a Animal appreciation -- Dogs $b sub-collection

   9. Save bib (or Save & Release)

7. Add titles to sub-collection, or go to parent and move titles, as applicable. 

8. Updates will appear in HOLLIS the following day for any changes made by 3pm. 

Changing the name or description of the collection

• Alma Resources > Manage Inventory > Manage Collections > (From row, choose Action... Edit)

  • Navigate to General tab

  • Edit Name or Description then Save

  • Changes will appear in HOLLIS the following day

• If you edited the Name, you must also edit the corresponding bib title.

  • When you are Collection Edit mode, view the info pane at the right. The title is a hyperlink that will take you to the bib page, which presents an Edit button which will open the bib in the MDE where you can make changes. 

Adding an MMS ID to an Alma collection or sub-collection

There are multiple methods for adding titles to collections. Title additions will appear in HOLLIS the following day (if your Alma changes are made by 3pm).

Method 1: From a set

Note: adding contents from an Alma set does not "connect" the set to the collection - it's a one-time title population. 

1. Create an Alma set that contains the titles you wish to add to the collection.

2. From the Resources > Manage Collections menu, go to the Title List tab.

3. Choose "Add titles from set" 

4. Use the radio button / toggle switch to select the set(s) you want to add, then click on Add Set Titles (upper right corner).

5. Choose Confirm.

Method 2: From an Alma search result

(This description presumes you are using the new UI All Titles configuration)

1. From the search result, choose the Action Menu (ellipsis button) for the title you want to add, then choose Add to Collection

2. From the list of collections, use the radio button to choose one or more collections, then choose the Select button in the upper right. Or, use the right panel and scroll to the Collections area.

Method 3: From the Manage Collections page

1. From the Resources > Manage Collections menu, go to the Title List tab.

2. Choose "Add title" 

3. You are presented with a search screen, where you must search for the bib you want to add.

   • The search features here are limited, so if you have trouble finding your title, you may need to open Alma or HOLLIS in a new tab and find the MMS ID to paste in. 

4. From list of results, select checkbox to left of each title you want to add.

5. In lower right, select Add Title.

6. Confirm.

Moving titles to sub-collections, among sub-collections

1. Go to the Title List tab of the collection, and select one or more titles via the checkboxes. 

2. Choose "Move selected." 

3. You will be presented with a search box. 

4. Enter any word from a collection title to see a list of collections matching your keyword.

5. The list you see will include parent collections and sub-collections. Choose the appropriate collection. 

6. You are done. You do not need to choose Save. 

7. You will see the results in HOLLIS in 1-2 days.

Removing a title from Collection

• Due to a bug, please use the following workaround: Move the record to the “LTS take-out” collection.
  

Alma Analytics

• If a bib in Alma is associated with a collection, the bib in Analytics will include the collection name and identifier. If a bib is in more than one collection, the relevant collections will be reported. Example:

Creating a custom thumbnail

• Please see Custom thumbnails for any Alma bib, including print titles (using Alma-D thumbnail feature)

Tech notes: Alma background jobs (scheduled nightly)

• Re-publish bibs in public collections. A separate pub job is scheduled for each inventory type. (This is what ensures that new titles get added to the HOLLIS set).