Search Basics and Widgets - Alma Overview Module

Owned by Jennifer Koerber (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Nov 30, 2018
5 min read

This is the third section of the introduction module to the Alma Overviews course. The video is at the top of the page, followed by the script.

In this video, you'll review:

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 online Overviews course goes into many more details about Search, but let’s review the basics of the persistent search bar for now.

To perform a search, choose a Search Type from the first column; 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 search.

Once you’ve chosen your Search Type and Criteria, start typing in the terms or phrase that you want to search for, then click on the magnifying glass or hit the Enter key to search. Once the search results come up, you can limit by facets on the left or sort them by a couple of different sorting options.

Advanced Search

The basic search is very robust, but there is an Advanced Search option where you can select multiple criteria and get a specific set of results very quickly.

For both basic and advanced searches, you can click on the Save Query button on the right to save your search query to re-run in the future and get a current set of results.

You can also export any list of results to an Excel file by using the Export icon, for offline review, and you can customize what information displays in your list of search results, and in what order, 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. Always look for the “clock running backwards” icon to indicate recently-used information.

On the Home Page, you can see that there, below the search bar, is a line of Recent Pages, and a single click will get you back to a page that you were working on previously.

In a search, as you saw… If I click in the search field or start typing, Alma will suggest terms 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

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:

  1. First, click on the plus sign on the right side of the screen.
  2. Then, click on the box next to the left of the name of the widget you want to add. In this case, we’ll do the Organization Calendar. You can see that the widget is actually coming in behind the dialog box after I click on it.
  3. To close this dialog box, click on the X in the upper right corner.

Once you’ve added a widget, you can click and drag the title bar 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 I hover over the star, Alma reminds me that this is the Quick Links menu icon
  • If I hover over the double arrow next to it, Alma reminds me that it’s the “find a menu” link icon AND gives 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 when 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. As 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

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 an on-screen back arrow or Exit button. This is because, if you use the browser button, 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.