Scope
The glossary incorporates information from Working Group and training notes along with Ex Libris documentation to provide definitions for various Alma terms, and where appropriate it lists equivalent terms and concepts used in Aleph and other systems.
Use the search input below to search for words appearing in either the "Alma" or "Equivalent Term" column.
View a current and complete Alma glossary in the Ex Libris Knowledge Base.
Glossary
| Alma Term | Equivalent term--Aleph (or other, where noted) | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| <Alma base URL> | The base URL to connect to Alma, not including the path of any specific page. This URL is provided to your Alma administrator by Ex Libris. | |
| Access provider | The party that provides access to electronic goods or services; may or may not be the vendor that sells the access. | |
| Access rights | The area in Fulfillment configuration where permissions are granted to patrons that allow them to access digital and electronic resources. c.f.: Inventory Management Groups. | |
Acquisitions Libraries | Order Units | There are no 'Order Units' in Alma, only 'Libraries'. Aleph Order Units have been condensed and mapped into a list of Acquisitions 'Libraries' in Alma. |
| Activation | The process of enabling access to e-resources for patrons. Includes confirming that the library has access to the resource and setting up technical information so that patrons have access. | |
| Aggregator package | A type of electronic collection that includes all titles (as opposed to a selective package, which includes only some of the collection’s titles). c.f. Local Electronic Collection. | |
| All titles (search) | When searching "All titles," that really means "All records," i.e. you're searching all indexed fields in all records, so you can enter an ISBN or other metdata in that basic search box. | |
| Allocated balance | The total amount of money initially available for the fund. This amount doesn't change when expenditures are made or encumbrances assigned to the fund; the available balance changes. You can increase a fund's allocated balance by adding money to the fund. | |
Allocated Fund | Budget | The lowest level of the fund structure hierarchy. Allocated funds have dollars allocated to them, can have orders placed against them, and can be used to pay invoices. |
| Alma Link Resolver | Alma component that responds to external requests with a menu of physical, electronic, and digital services. For physical resources, requests are offered; for electronic resources, context-sensitive links are provided; for digital resources, direct links to the digital object are provided. The Alma Link Resolver responds to OpenURL requests as well as requests from systems such as Primo. | |
| Alma Viewer | An Alma tool for viewing digital representation files. | |
| Alma-P, -E, -D, -C | Delivery categories for Primo for physical, electronic, digital, and digital collection resources harvested from Alma. | |
| Analysis | The querying option within Analytics that allows a user to create a report. | |
| Analytics | Alma component used to manage data reports and the dashboard. | |
| Available balance | The money that is available for use in an allocated fund. [Available balance] = [allocated balance] - [(encumbrances - disencumbrances)] - [expenditures]. | |
| Binding | Process of combining multiple serial issues (item-type: "Issue") into a single item. See Binding (Merging) items - Alma | |
| Borrowing request | A resource sharing request placed by local patron and fulfilled by another institution’s resource. Otherwise known as a resource sharing outgoing request. | |
| Brief level | c.f. Encoding Level (LDR 17) | A record's brief level (1 to 10) reflects the amount and quality of bibliographic information. A brief record is one that Alma considers to have a less than ideal amount of information. Level 10, intuitively enough, indicates the most complete records – the LEAST brief. See: Alma Brief Record Levels (LTS Wiki). See also: Brief record |
| Brief record | Users can define rules that set the brief level of a record based on how much information is present in certain fields of the record. A lower number is more brief; a brief level of 10 is a full record. In addition, an administrator can set the brief level threshold from 0 to 9; any record whose brief level is below the threshold is considered to be brief. See: Alma Brief Record Levels (LTS Wiki). See also: Brief level | |
| Bursar Transaction ID | A unique ID sent to the bursar system together with fines and fees, in order to enable the bursar system to let Alma know when a fine or fee is paid. c.f. Transaction ID. | |
| Campus | A collection of buildings that belongs to a given institution. Patrons may be affiliated with a specific campus where they can request library services. Libraries may be affiliated with a specific campus, which is where their physical inventory is expected to circulate. c.f. Inventory Management Groups. | |
| Cash balance | The money that is currently in the fund/ledger. [Cash balance] = [allocated balance] - [expenditures]. Does not count encumbrances or disencumbrances. | |
| Catalog | The record repository of information in Alma. The catalog contains all descriptive metadata managed by a library, institution, consortium, or community. | |
| Central Knowledge Base (CKB) | The part of the Community Zone that contains linking information to electronic resources around the world. c.f. Alma Inventory | |
| Circulation Desk | The location in the library that handles patron fulfillment. | |
| Citation | A citation is an element of a reading list. A citation can be a library resource, such as an item in the repository, a URL, an uploaded PDF, or nearly anything else. | |
| Cloud computing | The delivery of software and storage of data at a location (a server) remote from the physical location of the library, accessed using the internet. Alma is a cloud computing based service. | |
| Code Table | An Alma feature for configuring a list of items, typically so that they can appear in a drop-down list elsewhere in Alma. | |
| Collaborative Network | The overarching concept for all types of collaboration (for example, cataloging, acquisitions, fulfillment) between multiple institutions. In Alma, collaboration may include resource sharing, a fulfillment network, and/or the implementation of a Network Zone. | |
| Collection | An Alma catalog entity (top level collection or sub-collection) that groups any number and type of resources together, allowing for enhanced organization of mixed-type materials based on topic-based hierarchical structures. | |
| Community Catalog | Metadata records stored in the Community Zone, which are updated as required by Ex Libris or by contributions from the community. Inventory records can link to these records; alternatively, the current versions of these records can be copied to the institution and maintained locally. | |
| Community Zone | Ex Libris maintained resources available to all Alma institutions. Incorporates the Knowledge Base, the Community Catalog, and Global Authority Files. Can be accessed by any institution that is part of Alma for cataloging purposes. | |
| Community Zone | Ex Libris maintained resources available to all Alma institutions. Incorporates the Knowledge Base, the Community Catalog, and Global Authority Files. Can be accessed by any institution that is part of Alma for cataloging purposes. | |
Continuous order | Order type S or subscription orders; also Order type O | Includes both standing orders and serial orders. |
| Contract lead | The institution that manages its own sandbox, or its own sandbox and the sandboxes of other institutions. | |
Controlled Vocabulary (CV) | A list of acceptable values for a subfield in the Metadata Editor. For example, a controlled vocabulary offers options when selecting Library of Congress subject headings. | |
| Copyright clearance | The process of getting permission to use copyrighted works. A digitization process may require performing copyright clearance. | |
| COUNTER | Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources compliant usage statistics is explained here: https://www.projectcounter.org/. | |
| Dashboard | A personal collection of Analytics reports.. | |
| Database | A type of electronic collection whose resources cannot be individually managed through an interface. | |
| Delivery | Enabling the patron who requested access to a digital resource to view or access a copy of that resource. | |
| Delivery rules | Rules that determine how content is delivered to users and external systems. The rules are configurable by the customer. | |
| Department | An area in the library where dedicated physical inventory actions take place, such as receiving acquired physical material and digitizing physical material. | |
| Deposit | The Deposit feature allows patrons to submit digital content to Alma to be added to the repository. For more information, | |
| Descriptive Metadata | Descriptive Metadata, which appears in records in the Metadata management system (MMS). | |
| Digital | "Digital" refers to locally digitized material – Harvard has not contracted for any of the Digital functionality of Alma | |
| Digital resource | A file or group of files with metadata that exists on a local network, a server, or in the cloud. It may include, among other possible formats, streaming media, e-books, video, or images. Digital resource files can be stored and managed externally, but the metadata is managed by Alma. The resource generally requires a viewer on the user’s machine. | |
| Digitization approval | The process of approving a digitization request. The process may include receiving copyright clearance from the proper agencies. | |
| Discovery | The feature that allows a patron to find records and inventory from the Alma Repository. Primo is Ex Libris' system to provide discovery. . | |
| Disencumbrance | The removal of an encumbrance. . | |
| DLF Electronic Resource Management Initiative (DLF ERMI) | An industry-wide, standardized solution developed by the Digital Library Federation. DLF ERMI handles the specifications and tools needed for managing the license agreements, related administrative information, and internal processes associated with collections of licensed electronic resources. | |
| DOI | Digital object identifier. For more information, see www.doi.org. | |
| Drools | A business rules management system based on the JBOSS Rules engine. In Alma, normalization rules are formatted in a similar manner to this system. . | |
| Dublin Core | As standard to describe web and physical resources. See http://dublincore.org/. | |
| Electronic | "Electronic" refers to licensed material which gets activated/de-activated | |
| Electronic Collection | SFX equivalent: Target Verde equivalent: Package | A collection of electronic resources that can contain packages (which include portfolios) or databases (which include URLs). Electronic collections are bundled together in a vendor interface. |
| Electronic Resource | A digital object that is stored and managed externally from the local library or Institution Zone. | |
| Embedded order data (EOD) record | A record with vendor-supplied fields that describe the library’s purchase order for a resource (known as "embedded order confirmation record" by some vendors). Alma imports the EOD record, enters the description into the MMS, and turns the embedded order information into a PO line. | |
| Encumbrance | Encumbrance | A notation in a fund that a certain amount of the current cash balance is allocated to an impending purchase. Typically created as a result of a PO line. Encumbrances are canceled by disencumbrances (of the same amount) and typically replaced with expenditures (of the same amount). . |
EOD | Order Loader | MARC files from vendors with embedded order information. In Alma, can create Bib, Holdings, Items, POL. Electronic Order Data |
| Evaluation | The workflow to decide whether to purchase an electronic resource. One evaluation instance is a trial. . | |
| Event | An action that involves at least one entity or agent in the system. Used for audit trail purposes, you can view events associated with a job on the Running and History tabs of the Monitor Jobs page, as well as in Analytics. See Completed Jobs and Events subject area in Analytics. | |
Expenditure | A notation in a fund balance that an invoice was paid. . | |
| External searches | Z39.50 targets | Protocol for conducting searches of external databases. |
| External system | An institution’s existing data management system that Alma may use as a source or target for information. Examples are a student information system or an ERP (enterprise resource planning system such as PeopleSoft). | |
| Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) | A process that extracts data from the operational database and builds the Analytics data warehouse. | |
| Facets | Facets are used in search results lists to filter the results. For example, PO lines may be filtered by fund, location, or digital format. . | |
| FRBR | Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (see Library of Congress [PDF]) | |
| Fulfillment | The process by which patrons borrow and return physical resources, or access electronic or digital resources. | |
| Fulfillment | Circulation | Ex Libris: The process by which patrons borrow and return physical resources, or access electronic or digital resources. Fulfillment Team: Circulation functions - checking in, checking out books, looking up patron records |
| Fulfillment policy | Stipulations of a Terms of Use contract. | |
| Fulfillment unit | A number of shelving locations with similar lending/return policies and blocks. | |
| Full text service | A service that provides the user with access to the full text of the e-resource. | |
| Fund | Budgets for funding acquisitions. Funds are aggregated in a ledger. An allocated fund represents an actual budget. A summary fund is a collection of related or similar funds. . | |
Fund code | Budget string | Three levels of funds (broad to narrow)…'ledger', 'summary funds', 'allocated funds'. 'Allocated funds' have the actual money attached, are used for ordering. |
| Import Profile | An Alma feature defining how records from a file are imported, normalized, and mapped to Alma records. | |
In review | Orders (POL, PO) and invoices which Alma flags as containing errors; must be manually reviewed | |
| Institution | A group of campuses/libraries managed together, the basic unit managed using a single Alma installation. Multiple institutions can share services and management tasks using a collaborative network. For example, a university may be an Institution consisting of a main library, a science library, a business library, and several specialized libraries. | |
| Institution Catalog | The Institution Catalog contains the institution's local records. The Community Catalog contains records provided to all institutions, by Ex Libris or community-contributed. The Network Catalog contains records centrally-managed in a Network Zone. | |
| Institution Zone | The area of the Metadata Management System comprising local institutional data such as locally managed bibliographic records, locally activated electronic portfolios, and local physical holdings. | |
Institution zone -- repository | HVD01 | Aleph HVD01 plus SFX activations |
| Integration profile | A mechanism for integrating the import and export processes between Alma and an external system. | |
| Interlibrary loan (ILL) | "Resource sharing." | |
| Intellectual entity (IE) | A resource that is being managed and described in the Alma system. An IE may have one or more holdings or digital representations. . | |
| Interested user | A user who will be notified about changes to a PO line. See documentation on Manually Creating a PO Line. | |
Inventory | Holdings/Items | The resources that are owned or licensed by or associated with a particular library, institution, or consortium. All descriptive bibliographic metadata resides in the repository and can be edited using the Metadata management system. |
Item | Item | The inventory level of a resource for fulfillment and usage. Items may include bar codes and other identification details. . |
Item policy | Item status | Whether something can be loaned, requested, etc. KY- Item policies are the rules which govern how specific items circulate and need to be configured on the Institutional Level. Terms of use are driven by Item policy and are what ultimately define whether something can be loaned, requested, etc., depending on the combination of item/patron/collection/fulfillment unit. |
| Itemized Set | A curated list of individual items (members) of a single record type. A static set that is chosen and then saved as is. | |
| Job | A scheduled, invoked, or on-request process that runs on a group of records, in the background. | |
| KnowledgeBase | c.f. Central Knowledge Base. | |
| LCCN | Library of Congress Control Number for an item. | |
Ledger | Tub | The highest level of the fund structure hierarchy. Ledgers represent campus and funding source (as defined by library business offices). |
| Lending request | A resource sharing request placed by another institution’s patron and fulfilled by a resource of the local institution. Otherwise known as a resource sharing incoming request. | |
| Library | The basic level in the hierarchical structure of management within Alma, which is collaborative network, institution, campus, and library. A library can have departments that handled work orders, as well as locations and circulation desks that are well-known to the library patrons. | |
Library and Location | Sub-library and collection | 852 $b $c |
| License | A contract between the library and a vendor for the lease of one or more copyrighted bibliographic databases or online resources. | |
| Local catalog | Materials managed at your local institutions. | |
| Local portfolio | A portfolio that exists in the Institution Zone. | |
| Localizing | Creating a local copy of something, such as an electronic resource (the item is copied from the Community Zone to the Institution Zone). For electronic resources, this is typically done before or while activating the resource. | |
| Location | A physical place where items are stored (for example, a shelving location). c.f. Physical Locations. | |
| Logical Set | The results of a saved query. A dynamic set that updates each time the query is run. | |
Management tag | STA | The record's brief level, as well as fields that determine whether to publish records to a discovery system or export the record. Publish and export fields can be set during record import or from within the Metadata editor. |
| Mapping Table | An Alma feature for configuring settings for a list of items, such as customer parameters. | |
| MARC record | Alma supports MARC21 records (a North American standard), and can also support alternate MARC formats such as CNMARC (a Chinese standard), UNIMARC (a European standard), and KORMARC (A Korean standard). | |
| Match method | Defined methods Alma uses to identify duplicate records during a record import. When a record is loaded, Alma attempts to find a similar record based on the enabled match method. | |
| Material type | The type of material, such as a book or electronic journal collection, from which an item takes its form. Note that the material type does not control the PO line workflow and can be modified when creating/editing a PO line. Unless hidden, an item's material type appears in Primo’s Get It/Details tabs. Material types are system-defined, but they can be enabled or disabled and their labels can be configured. | |
| Member institution | An institution that is part of a collaborative network. For example, one of the institutions implementing a shared Network Zone. | |
Metadata editor | The tool for editing and creating bibliographic and holdings records in Alma. | |
| Metadata management system (MMS) | The interfaces, functions, and data that define institutional systems and allow them to manipulate their descriptive metadata. The MMS includes a Community Zone and a Library Zone. See also: Metadata Management System ID (MMS ID) | |
Metadata Management System ID (MMS ID) | The record ID number. The MMS ID can be 8 to 19 digits long. See also: Metadata management system. | |
| Metadata profile | A set of configuration parameters that define the cataloging environment you use when working in the MD Editor. | |
| National Union Catalogue (NUC) | Printed catalog of books from the Australia library of congress. | |
| Network Zone | A management tool used by a collaborative network to centrally manage certain features, such as configuration tables, licenses, and records. A virtual institution (also called the Network Zone) is used as the management interface and central repository and catalog. | |
| Non-repository citations | Titles that are used for a course’s reading list, with no link to an Alma repository item. These are typically faculty resources that are not part of the institution’s inventory, such as an article at an external website. | |
| Normalization rules | A set of rules that can be built and applied to bibliographic records in order to enhance the record. These rules may add fields, remove fields, or make changes to fields. The rules can be applied to an individual record during bulk import and as part of the global update process. . | |
| OCLC control number / OCLC number | WorldCat Online Computer Library Center control number. See https://www.oclc.org/batchload/controlnumber.en.html. | |
One-time order | Order type M | An order for a one-time resource, be it a book, other physical material, a print journal, or a one-time electronic book. |
| OpenURL | A type of Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that contains the address of an OpenURL Web site combined with the item's identification. The Alma Link Resolver responds to OpenURL requests and directs the patron to the resource. | |
| Organization unit | An institution or library. Also, a library which can be configured for fulfillment and which controls the fulfillment unit collections under its control. An organizational unit may have staff users, a physical (billing) address, departments, a circulation desk, funds, and other objects associated with it. c.f. Library. | |
| Package | A type of electronic collection whose resources can be individually managed through an interface. | |
| Packaging | An automated method by which PO lines are passed through normalization and validations and are brought together into a purchase order, ready for approval. | |
| Patron digitization request | A request by a patron for the digitization of a resource. | |
| Patron Directory Service (PDS) | A back-end Web component that facilitates user authentication and signing in to the system. PDS is part of the standard calling application package, but it is a distinct and separate component. It does not have a user database of its own. It works with the institution’s authentication server(s) and user database(s), such as an LDAP directory service. | |
| Persistent search box | A search box consisting of various search options. The persistent search box is always available from the top middle of any Alma page. | |
Physical | "Physical" refers to anything with a holding/item, excluding "Print" items (print books, print journals) Note you can have a holding without an item but not an item without a holding. | |
| Physical titles (search) | "Physical titles" will search all indexed fields from records with "physical" inventory | |
| PID | Alma system number for an inventory entity. It can be used, for example, by the Portfolio Loader for matching purposes. The PID can be 8 to 19 digits long. | |
| PMID | PubMed identifier. | |
PO (Purchase order) | Order | A group (one or more) of PO lines with certain fields in common sent to a single vendor |
| PO (purchase order) line type | Also purchase type. Defines the type of inventory and continuity (one-time or continuous) of the PO line. | |
| PO (Purchase order) line; POL | Order | One or more copies of a bibliographic item purchased by a library. Purchases can be physical, electronic, or digital, and they may be one-time, continuous (for example, subscriptions), or standing orders. |
PO Line Owner | Order units | Unit/Library responsible for creating the order (often responsible for receiving and paying for order as well) |
| Portfolio | SFX equivalent: "Object Portfolio"; Verde quivalent: "Constituent" | The specific coverage, services, and link information relevant for a particular electronic title within an electronic collection. May include administrative/access information. May be local or global. |
| Primo | Ex Libris' discovery system for patrons. A single search interface that provides a gateway to a wealth of scholarly content, including print, electronic and digital collections. | |
| Primo Central Index | Primo's central database. A mega-aggregation of hundreds of millions of scholarly e-resources of global and regional importance. These include journal articles, e-books, reviews, legal documents and more that are harvested from primary and secondary publishers and aggregators, and from open-access repositories. For more information, | |
| Privileges | Permissions to perform certain actions in Alma, or to access specific pages, fields, or options in Alma. A user role is defined by the privileges that it grants the user. c.f. User Roles. | |
| Process | A job run on a set of records. | |
Process Type | Item Processing Status | For certain Technical Services status such as On Order, etc. |
| Public trial | Trial feedback may be received from a predefined trial participant group and from general users. | |
| Publishing | A process that extracts and formats metadata for external uses, such as for discovery in Primo. | |
| Purchase request | An item requested to be purchased by an instructor or patron (or on behalf of an instructor or patron). Also known as a Patron Purchase Request (PPR). | |
| Reading list | A list of citations for a specific course. | |
Receiving | Arriving | Process of indicating that the piece has been received at the library (from vendor) |
Receiving department | In Alma, receiving physical material is organized within Receiving departments. A user must be "at" a certain Receiving department to be able to receive the orders associated with that department: this is achieved by chosing the Receiving department via the location icon or drop-down menu (one or the other based on your setting) on the persistent menu bar (upper right corner). The current location will be listed there (e.g. "ITS 625 Acquisitions – ITS Tech Services" or "Fine Arts Library – FAL Circulation"). In the dropdown menu, make sure the "Always Show Current Locatio" box is checked. In some cases, the Receiving department will correspond to the POL owner.
| |
Receiving note | Library note (in order record) | A text note intended for the receiver ("receiving operator"). |
| Remote storage | An off-site storage facility. A location that is used to store physical library materials at a distance from the library. Remote storage facilities can be shared by a number of institutions and managed by a system other than the institution's library system. | |
Reporting code | Object code | The 4 digit field with a fund that indicates the type of material purchased: this can be added either in the POL or in the invoice line item |
| Repository | All information that Alma has about physical titles and items, electronic titles, collections, and portfolios, digital titles and representations, management collections, and authorities. The repository includes titles for which your institution may not have any inventory, as well as your institution's normalization, merge, and indication rules. All descriptive metadata can be edited using the Metadata Management System (MMS). | |
| Representation | The digital record level under the bibliographic record level. This level acts as a container for the digital files. Multiple representations can be attached to the bibliographic record. One representation can be the master copy and another a derivative copy and can differ in format, resolution, or size. c.f. Digital Resources. | |
| Request | A resource request (or just "request") is for the acquisition, manipulation, movement, or processing of inventory. An external request, such as an OpenURL request, is a request to locate a resource originating external to Alma, such as a request from Primo. Also sometimes refers to a "work order". | |
| Requester | The user for whom a request is made. The request form can be filled out by the requesting user or by a staff user on behalf of the requester. | |
| Resource request | A request to make a library resource available at a specific location for a specific purpose. The resource request may be triggered by a patron-initiated request or by an internal library work order requests. | |
| Resource Sharing | Resource sharing enables a request by a patron in one institution fulfilled by another institution. The fulfillment of the request is invisible to the patron: the patron requests and returns the item to the patron's local institution. | |
| Resource sharing partner | An institution or a distinct external ILL system that participates in a resource sharing process, either as borrower or as lender. | |
| Resource type | The type of item in the repository (based on existing bibliographic fields, such as the LDR and 008) or being ordered. A resource is physical, electronic, or digital, but may have a more specific type (not including its physical material type). | |
| Rota list | A list of potential lending partners that are searched to fulfill the sharing request. | |
| Row action item list (the ellipsis icon) | The "ellipsis" icon on any row of results or information in Alma. Click on that - or right click anywhere in the row - to see a list of actions that can be performed on that row. | |
| Rules Table | An Alma feature for configuring a list of rules that are processed in order in order to control some functional flow. | |
| Secondary search | A search field that appears above some tables and lists. Use this search to search within the table or list. . | |
| Selective Package | A type of electronic collection that includes only some of the collection’s titles (as opposed to an aggregator package, which includes all of the e-collection’s titles). | |
| Service | SFX equivalent: Target Service | A resource that can be purchased by a library, with or without inventory. For example, a library might purchase access to a particular website as a service. |
| Set (Logical-, Itemized-) | A saved list of items, such as ("My Book Collection") or a saved search query. A set is created so that multiple items can be worked on by a job, or to collect items for other use. | |
| Sip ID | A number for a transitory set of records affected by a job. See documentation on configuring Search Indexes. | |
| SIP2 | A protocol from 3M that provides a standard interface between a library’s automated circulation system and library automation devices. See documentation on configuring SIP2 Bin Configuration. | |
| Staff user | An individual who has permissions to work in Alma. Also known simply as a user. | |
| Summary Fund | The middle level(s) of the fund structure hierarchy. Summary funds exist purely for reporting purposes. They do not have money allocated to them and cannot be used to place orders or pay invoices. | |
| Summary funds | Funds that are used for aggregate reporting on the subordinate (child) funds. Summary funds can contain other summary funds or allocated funds. Summary funds are not used for ordering or invoicing. | |
| Task | An operation waiting for manual user intervention. Alternatively, a single step in a process, such as a normalization process. | |
Task list | A list of user tasks appearing in the persistent menu. | |
| Terms of Use | Loan Policies | A list of predefined fulfillment policies that defines the institution/library commitment to the patron and under which the service will be provided or disconnected |
| Transaction | A financial activity that may impact the fund’s balance. | |
| Transit Slip | A printed slip attached to a physical item that is placed in transit. The slip identifies the requested material and its destination. For example, on a Hold Shelf. | |
| Transit time | The time it takes for a physical item to make it from one location to another. | |
| Trial | An instance of an evaluation of a resource before purchasing it. | |
| Unified resource management (URM) | The Ex Libris resource management framework that allows libraries to optimize technical support, purchasing power, collections, and staff knowledge and resources. | |
Update Inventory | Enhanced cataloging record | The process of loading enhanced-cataloging records |
| User | A person with any sort of Alma user account: a staff user, an instructor, or a patron. | |
| User blocks | Flags on a user’s account that can prevent various fulfillment activities such as requests or loans. c.f. blocking / unblocking users | |
| User role profiles | A predefined group of roles (including scopes) that may be attached to users in one action. | |
| User roles | The privileges that a user has to work on Alma. A user's roles (actually, the roles' privileges) determine a user's access to certain pages, fields, options and areas on certain pages, as well as the ability to run certain jobs and processes. A user role may have a specific scope, related to a specific library. | |
Vendor Account | Order Unit Vendor Record | Ex Libris: A subset of the vendor; may contain business rules for specific types of data. For example, a rush account may contain contacts and instructions on how to handle this material. Finance Team: Details about a vendor specific to a library or acquisitions unit, such as contact information or vendor account number. |
Vendor Code | Master or HVD50 Vendor Record | Ex Libris: The supplier of physical or electronic goods or services. For physical goods, the vendor is a material supplier. For electronic goods or services, the vendor is the access provider, or there may be a third-party access provider. Finance Team: General details about a vendor that are valid for all Harvard Libraries. |
Vendor (EDI) | Vendors configured for send EDI orders from Alma (institution-wide); AMALIVRE-EDI, CASALI-EDI, EDC-EDI, ERASMUS-EDI, ERASMUSFR-EDI | |
| Vendor Interface | Verde equivalent: Interface | A collection of electronic collections offered by a vendor. A vendor interface is also known as a platform. |
| Vendor invoice number | A number assigned to all PO lines uploaded from the same invoice file from an EOD. See documentation on Embedded Order Data (EOD) Field Mapping. | |
| Vocabulary | A specified list of terms developed by creators of catalogs and databases to ensure precise and comprehensive searching. The terms may vary from database to database. See documentation on configuring Controlled Vocabulary Registry. | |
Widget | A small visual link found on the dashboard, which can be controlled by the operator. Examples include reports for graphs suitable for your area of interest, or access to a calendar, local weather, or a link to notifications. | |
Work Order / Work Order Status | Pseudopatron | An internal library request to route physical materials for internal processing. A work order sends an item to a work order department (marking it as not available on the shelf), where it can be managed according to internal statuses. Both departments and statuses are configurable and can be used to manage tasks according to a library’s local needs. May be referred to as a "request" in certain contexts. |
| Z39.50 | Z39.50 | A client–server protocol for searching and retrieving information from remote computer databases. "Z39.50 Search." |
