Ex Libris Documentation
Harvard Alma Working Groups have summarized key changes below. A full list of changes for the release can be found in the official Ex Libris Release Notes:
- https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Release_Notes/2021/Alma_2021_Release_Notes?mon=202106BASE
- https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Leganto/Release_Notes/2021/Leganto_2021_Release_Notes?MON=202106BASE
General Enhancements
- A new Tech Services Work Order status has been added: Serials Cataloging
- In Manage Sets, the order of sets can now be sorted by any column, including: Active, Content Type, and Creation Date. Sorting is sticky across sessions.
- DARA recommendations can now be assigned.
Analytics & Reporting
Enhancements
Resolved
Acquisitions/Finance
Enhancements
- Thresholds for PO line price and invoice amount can now be set at the library level. Previously, these values were shared by the institution.
Resolved
- EDI file names are not assigned unique names which can cause the file names to be overwritten. This was fixed.
Course Reserves/Leganto
Enhancements
- New file upload form: The process of uploading a file to a citation is now more intuitive and user-friendly. To streamline the process of creating a new citation that is based on a file, the File option directs the user to first load the file. In many cases, Leganto extracts the metadata from the files and saves manual entry of the citation details. Also see Adding a Citation Manually.
- List header redesign: Leganto now displays a streamlined view of the reading list header, showing only the first line of the list description and fewer details about the list. When expanded, you can select Read less or Less info to collapse the view. See Working with Reading Lists.
- Left navigation panel removed
- List status auto update when citation status changes: When a previously completed list has a citation status change due to one of the following parameters set in Configuration > Leganto > List Management > Course Reserves Automatic Statuses. For example, you can choose to have the list status change to Ready for Processing if the citation status changes when the instructor adds a tag.
- Institutions can now integrate with the Learning Management System via LTI 1.3.
- LTI 1.3: Canvas LMS supports the ability to add a new button to the LMS text editor. Using this button in Canvas, you can now embed citations from your Leganto lists directly into the Canvas editor. For more information, see Editor Button.
- The Reports tab was removed from Leganto due to technical issues. In the interim, you can use the List Analysis report. For more information, see Reading List Analytics.
- A new parameter was added to Leganto Features: display_file_option (true/false, default true). When set to false, Add file (in the add item menu) does not display.
- For instructor rollover, we updated the Rollover Look up course text to Select the course to which to roll over this list.
- The Library can now decide how to display the login screen to a user who selects CiteIt! before logging in to Leganto. You can now configure Leganto to display a small login window and then redirect the user back to CiteIt.
- When the request status of an item changes to In Process, an automatic resource locate is no longer performed since Leganto performs the resource locate automatically when the resource is added to the list. This previously resulted in an error message.
- Upon selecting some actions, the citation menu in Leganto did not automatically close until the user manually selected elsewhere on the screen. Now, the citation menu automatically closes after selecting any option.
- Section notes no longer have a full display. Only relevant note information such as the title and description displays.
- We added the option for librarians to include a Description for item request questions (Configuration > Leganto > Item Request Questions). The Description is defined in the customer labels table and supports HTML tags.
Resolved
- List description was lost when working with two tabs. This was fixed.
- When uploading a PDF file, in some cases the citation type changed to Article for no reason. This was fixed.
- List scrolled to the top In some cases for no reason. This was fixed.
- In some cases, the list thumbnails were not displaying the correct thumbnails. This was fixed.
E-Resources
Enhancements
- Ability to change Alma full text activation to CDI-only full text activation - When an electronic collection is active for full text you can now change it to only be active in CDI using the action Change to CDI-only full text activation. When using this option:
- For aggregator/selective collections, the full text service will be deactivated,
- For database collections, the bibliographic record will be suppressed,
Resolved
- Sushi Harvesting failed when created with an empty report. This was fixed.
Fulfillment
Enhancements
'Notify Users' on Cancellation Requests for Staff Requests: Alma now sends cancelation notices to requesting staff via email when a move or work order request is canceled. Cancelling any non-patron request (such as work orders or move requests) with the 'Notify User' checkbox enabled will send the cancelation letter to the request creator, such as the operator who placed it.- Courtesy Letter enhancements: Alma's courtesy letter, which is sent to patrons when a loan due date is about to arrive, can include the reasons renewal of the loan is not possible.
- Type of request loan block: A new block preference, “Item is requested by the library”, was added, to allow libraries to let operators override internal library requests, such as; move request, work order, etc. but not fulfillment requests, for instance; patron physical item request, resource sharing ship physically, etc., which are still controlled by the “Item is requested by another patron” block preference.
Resolved
- The Request Queue screen was sometimes empty if the requested title had multiple holdings with an identical library, location and call number values. This was fixed.
- In specific scenarios, the barcode switched after several scan-in operations. This was fixed.
- The delayed Place on Hold Shelf letters was previously attached by System. This was fixed and this will now be written on the operator who made the triggering operation.