Analytics Best Practices

Owned by Allison Powers
Last updated: Nov 08, 2024 by Minna

Important

  • Analytics is a shared workspace.
  • It is not possible to restore analytics objects that have been accidentally deleted, modified or moved.
  • Keep the catalog organized helps avoid duplication of work, and using descriptive words in the analysis name and description helps others find and repurpose analyses without having to create their own.
  • Please be aware of the guidelines below to ensure our work is preserved!


DOsHow to protect our shared catalogDON'Ts 
Make a copy of the analysis and save it in a different section before making any changes. 

As with Harvard University shared reports, you must save an Alma or Community report to My Folders (or a subfolder) before you can modify it. This is like the Save As function in Microsoft products: you're creating an entirely new copy of the analysis to your personal folder, with no connection to the original.

  1. Find the shared report you want to modify
  2. Select and copy the report by:
    1. Clicking on the title of the report to highlight the row, then clicking on the Copy icon in the toolbar
      OR
    2. Clicking on the More menu under the report name, then choosing Copy  
  3. In the left-hand directory window, click on the folder you want to copy it to
  4. Click on the Paste icon in the toolbar   

After saving the report in My Folders, it no longer has restrictions set by the originator and you can edit the criteria to meet your needs.

DO NOT modify analyses or dashboards other than your own.
DOsHow to keep the catalog organizedDON'Ts 
Use descriptive words in the name of your analysis

Descriptive words in the name of an analysis will help others find and reuse analyses, preventing unnecessary duplication of effort. A good name will also help distinguish similar but different analyses from each other.

Examples:

  • Active serial orders by vendor and owner (prompt)
  • Highest circulating books from last fiscal year - DES

Include a description to accurately identify your analysis and its purpose.

Adding your name and date will help with managing the catalog.

To create a description when saving a new analysis:

  1. Write the description in the Description edit box below the Name of your analysis.

To create a description when viewing the analysis in the catalog:

  1. Choose More
  2. From the pull-down menu, select Properties
  3. Write or edit the text in the Description edit box. Note that the edit box is expandable and the number of characters is not limited.

Example:

DO NOT save an analyses in Shared Folders without your name in the Description.