Description

This class will cover claiming; changing vendors; canceling, closing, reopening, and deleting PO Lines; and binding.

Suggested Class Sequence

• Intro to Alma
• Search & Sets
• Resource Management – Cataloging 1 class (and Intro to Metadata Editor video)
• Resource Management – Holdings & Items
• Searching Vendors, Invoices, and Funds for Selectors and Acquisitions
• One Time Orders 1 & 2
  and/or
• Continuous Orders 1 & 2

Handouts, resources and display documents for the class

• Handout: Order maintenance Handout (Word doc)
• Handout: Order maintenance practice handouts (Word doc) : for use during practice time in class. Each page has unique examples for each student. (Practice session 1: Changing Vendors, Practice session 2: Closing and reopening a POL, Practice session 3: Relinking a POL)
  
• Display:  Order Maintenance practice exercises display instructions: display on screen during practice time in class
• For Trainer/Facilitator Only: Quick Guide to Resetting the Practice Examples for Order Maintenance Class
  

Pre-Reading and Reference Documents 

• Sets reference
• Fulfillment Work Orders reference
• Batch updating item records by creating an itemized set and running a job - Alma  reference
• Deferring PO Lines reference
• POL Statuses reference

Class Outline and Links to Related Documents

Script for the class

Introduction

Welcome to Order Maintenance. My name is ..... (and our facilitator/s in this class is/are... ).

In this class, we will look at various actions involved in maintaining acquisitions data over time. You can follow along with me as I demonstrate, or wait until each practice break to try it yourself.

A few notes:

• Alma went live on July 3rd and, as expected, we're learning new things about it as staff work with real data in the system. Everyone is continuing to learn Alma, and will have the support they need to do so.
  
  
• We are training on the tool of Alma, and while there is usually more than one way to do anything in Alma, we will show you one verified or preferred way to do tasks. Once you've learned the best practice, we encourage staff to discuss local procedures and workflows in your units.
  
  
• We also encourage everyone to come together in Learning Circles - either cross-functional within units or on the same functions across units - to discuss how the implementation is going and how the new features and workflows in Alma might change work at Harvard.
  
  
• Please continue to use the LTS Alma Support form to ask questions and report issues with Alma data, workflows, or roles & permissions. Asking these questions, and working groups providing answers, is an important part of everyone learning more about Alma. You can find the link in the Notifications widget in Alma, along with the link to Alma documentation on the LTS wiki.
  
  
• You have a 1-page handout that contains a link to the Alma sandbox, the wiki page for this class, and a few other useful links. (If there are other handouts, describe them.) The script and all materials for this class are available to review on the wiki, and will continue to be updated with any changes in procedures.

Some quick logistics information: 

• The nearest bathrooms & water supply are:
  
  • Lamont rooms: Restrooms are gendered by floor. Lamont 310 is on a men's room floor, Lamont B-30 is on a women's room floor.
  • 90 Mt Auburn: Two restrooms are on the opposite side of the building on the basement level, water is in the kitchenette and in a fountain by the restrooms
  • 625 Mass Ave: Restrooms are at the opposite end of the building on the 3rd floor, by the water fountain
• Please ask questions when they come up; I will also pause between sections for questions and to make sure things are clear.

Let's start by introducing ourselves. (Go around the room and ask everyone to share their name, library/unit, and primary role(s).)

Class overview

In Order Maintenance, we will learn how to change vendors for an order; cancel, close, reopen, and delete Purchase Order Lines; change a POL's bibliographic reference; relink a POL to a different bib record; and move through claiming and binding workflows.

Changing Vendors in a PO Line (also known as Vendor Transfers) 

Let’s begin with Changing Vendors in a Purchase Order Line, also known as Vendor Transfers

• (Ask the class) Can anyone tell me when we might want to change vendors?
• (Depending on answers from the class you might say) An example of when we would want to change vendors is if an order can no longer be serviced by the current vendor and the bibliographer wants us to place the order with a different vendor.
• Now I’ll walk through the steps.
• First, I want to verify that my location is ITS 625 Acquisitions – ITS Tech Services
• Next I can click the Harvard shield to go back to my Alma personal home page
• I will then go to the Persistent Search Bar, which is set for the search I want to perform Order lines > PO Line and type in 2989
• I am now on the Purchase Order Lines page with a Print Book - One Time order displayed for Night hawks
• Next, I’ll click the Edit button, which brings me to the Purchase Order Line Details page
• We can see, to the right of the page title Purchase Order Line Details, that there are several buttons
• There are two buttons that will allow us to change the vendor when editing a Purchase Order  Line and they each produce different results:
  • The Replace (only) Vendor button does not send a new order to the new vendor.
  • The Change Vendor button will send a new order to the new vendor.
  • Using these buttons is often more efficient than manually closing an order with an old vendor and opening a new order in Alma with the new vendor.
  • In order to use these buttons, however, a PO line must be in a certain status, which we’ll discuss in a moment. Also, there are some differences between one-time orders and continuous orders that we’ll also talk about. 

Please note: Cancellation notifications are never sent to the old vendor regardless of which button you use. Thus, a cancellation notice would be sent to the vendor outside of Alma. i.e. via email.

• For Night hawks (POL-2989), I want to transfer the order from YANKEE to COUTTS (or from COUTTS to YANKEE, depending on what is the current vendor)
• I only want to change the vendor in the current PO Line. I do not want to send a new order to the new vendor
• (Ask the class) Would I use the Replace (only) Vendor button or the Change Vendor
• (Depending on the answer(s) received): Yes, I want to use the Replace (only) Vendor button.
• Before I do so, however, as I mentioned earlier, a PO line must be in a certain status to use either the Replace (only) Vendor or Change Vendor buttons.
  • In order to use the Replace (only) Vendor Button, the POL status must be:
• For One-Time PO Lines, the POL must be Sent (i.e. nothing has been received yet) or Waiting for Invoice (i.e. the item has been received but not paid for yet). As we can see at the top of the screen, the Status of our order for Night hawks is Sent, so we can use the Replace (only) Vendor button
• BUT, before we click the button, I want to share some additional information about what happens when we perform this action
• When we use either the Replace (only) Vendor button or Change Vendor button, there are certain fields in the PO line that remain as is, while some fields change, and some fields disappear. This fully explained in the documentation.
• Please see Changing Vendors in a PO Line - Alma
• For this one-time order, Night hawks, some of the fields that will remain after using the Replace (only) Vendor button include:
  • receiving note
  • net & list price
  • fund
  • and currency
    • Please note: If the new vendor only accepts a different currency, the PO line will go into the in Review status after you use the Replace (only) Vendor button
    • You would then need to edit the currency and then select Order Now. 
• For this one-time order, claim information will disappear after using the Replace (only) Vendor button
  • This makes sense since our claim was with the previous vendor  
• Okay, NOW I will click on the Replace (only) vendor button at the top of the screen.
• The Confirmation Message appears:  You have selected "Replace (only) Vendor" action, In this workflow the PO Line will be repacked and will not be sent to the new vendor. Are you sure you want to continue?
• I do want to continue, so I’ll click the Confirm button
• The Change Vendor in Order box will appear.
• Let’s type in the new vendor (type in either COUTTS or YANKEE whichever vendor is not the current vendor)
• Now that we have added “COUTTS/COUTTS” [or] “YANKEE”  in the Target Vendor/Account box,  we’ll click the Change vendor in order button
• We see a blue Confirmation message stating that the POL has been updated and the POL's status will change to In Review (if it is missing data) or Autopackaging
• Before the POL, with our new vendor, is packaged into a new PO, however, Alma will perform an additional step
  • If the original POL was part of a PO with other POL’s, our POL, with the previous vendor, will be deleted from that PO, then packaged into a new PO
  • If the original POL was the only POL in a PO, the entire PO will be deleted, and then the POL with our new vendor will be packaged into a new PO
• As we can see, the vendor is changed in the order 

NOTE TO TRAINER: Before training on the following example, please remember to Reopen 9874752-1 if the status is Closed. To reopen, click on the ellipsis and then click Reopen. After the order is reopened, the order status will become In Review. To get the order out of review, click the Go to task list link, add location for Widener Library: WID-LC (WIDLC), then click Order Now and then the Confirm button. Now when you search for the order, the Order status will be Sent and the Order Line status will be Waiting for Renewal. 

• Okay, I have walked through the steps for using the Replace (only) vendor button with a one-time order
• Now, I’ll click on the Harvard Shield to get back to my Alma personal home page and I’ll go through the steps for using the Change vendor button with a continuous order
• Remember, the Change Vendor button does send a new order to the new vendor, BUT only if the Acquisition method in the order is Purchase
• Although I will be working with a continuous order for this example, I wanted to mention, that for one-time orders, the Change Vendor button will reuse the existing POL # as was the case with the Replace (only) Vendor button for the example I just finished
• However, when using the Change Vendor button for a continuous order
  • The existing POL is closed and a brand new POL # is created for the new PO line that is sent to the new vendor
  • And the items and holdings record on the former PO line are relinked to the new PO line
• Okay, first I’ll check to make sure my location is ITS 625 Acquisitions – ITS Tech Services
• Next,  I will go to the Persistent Search Bar, which is set for the search I want to perform Order lines > PO Line and I’ll type in 9874752-1
• This will to bring us to the Purchase Order Lines page for the continuous order 21^st Century studies
• I want to change the vendor from YANKEE to COUTTS
• As we can see, the status is ‘Waiting for Renewal’ which is one of the statuses that allow for a change in vendor.
• Again, more information about required statuses can be found in Changing Vendors in a PO Line - Alma
• Next, I’ll click the Edit button, which brings me to the Purchase Order Line Details page
• Before I proceed, I want to share some additional information about what happens when we use the Change Vendor button
• As with the Replace (only) Vendor button, there are certain fields that remain or disappear when using the Change Vendor button and this is fully explained in the documentation 
• However, I want to call your attention to the Note to vendor field.
• This field is located in the PO Line Details section of the POL and appears in the order letter that is sent to the new vendor 
• When using the Change Vendor button for one-time orders, the note to vendor is reused in the POL that is sent to the new vendor, so be sure to delete any vendor-specific notes to vendor before using the Change Vendor button.
• In contrast, when working on a continuous order, which I am about to do, the Note to vendor disappears in the new PO line.
• This is important to keep in mind, since for continuous orders we often include a note to vendor such as "Please begin our subscription with 2018”.
• I’ll update the vendor note in our example in a moment.
• Okay, now I will click on the Change vendor button  
• A Confirmation Message appears: "You have selected "Change Vendor" action, In this workflow the PO Line will be repacked and sent to the new vendor. Are you sure you want to continue?”
• This is what I want to do, so I’ll click the Confirm button
• Now the Change Vendor in Order box appears
• Please note: To make sure the vendor processes the order for the correct owning library, it is very important to select the correct Target Vendor/Account. Thus, if the library you are ordering for has a specific COUTTS account, please select it.
• For our example, I am going to select the generic COUTTS/COUTTS account.
• In order to find this account, begin typing COUTTS in the Target Vendor/Account box. As we type the word, COUTTS/COUTTS may appear as an option and we’ll click on it to select it.
• Next, we’ll click the Change vendor in order button
• Alma will then go through the steps to remove the PO line from the PO, and if this is the only PO line in the PO, the PO is deleted.
• Next I receive a Confirmation message stating that the old PO Line has been updated to the status Closed
• Also, we will see there is a new PO Line #. It will be POL-#### , I will write this number down in case I need to use it later
• The Confirmation message also tells us if the new POL has a status of In Review
• (Ask the class): What does “In Review” mean?
• (Depending on the answers received, you might want to add) Yes, “In Review” means that some additional work needs to be completed before the order moves on to the next workflow step
• Since our POL is In Review and I want to add a Note to vendor, I’m going to click the Harvard shield, to clear the screen and get back to my Alma home page
• Next I’m going to the Persistent search bar, which remains set for the search I want to perform Order lines > PO Line and I’ll type in the new POL #### and hit Enter on the keyboard
•  Now I am on the Purchase Order Lines page and as we can see, the Order Line status is indeed  “In Review”. Also, on the right side, under the Receiving note there is a statement: “Mandatory information is missing or erroneous, Duplicate active orders”. A clue as to why the order is in review!
•  Next, I’ll click on the Go to task list  link
• This takes me to the Purchase Order Lines in Review page and the POL I want to edit is displayed. I’ll click Edit
• Now I am on the Purchase Order Line Details page and in the Summary tab of the POL.
• I’ll scroll down to the PO Line Details section, click inside the Note to vendor box and I’ll type  Please begin order with no.82.
• Now I have the option, to click either the Save or the Save and Continue button
• (Ask the class): Does anyone know, what is the difference between these two buttons?
• (Depending on the answer(s) received, you may want to add):
  • Save and Continue means the information you entered is saved and the PO line continues to the following stage of the workflow
  • Save means the information you entered is saved and the POL remains in its current workflow stage. This mean this POL would remain In Review
• I’ll click Save and Continue and a confirmation message appears that states the POL has moved to Auto Packaging
• (Ask the class) Does anyone have questions about how to change a vendor in a Purchase Order Line? 

PRACTICE TIME (Show instructions on the screen)         

• Now, please take a few minutes to practice changing vendors in one time and continuous POL’s
• (After practice time, ask the class) Does anyone have any questions? 

Canceling, Closing, Reopening, and Deleting Purchase Order Lines 

Canceling POL’s 

• Next I will talk about canceling, closing, reopening, and deleting Purchase Order Lines
• First up is Canceling POL’s and I have a very important Warning to share when it comes to Canceling POLs
• Cancelling a POL in Alma can mean something entirely different than cancelling an order in Aleph!
• Cancelling a POL in Alma should be used with extreme caution because if you cancel a POL that is the only POL in a PO (i.e. which is the case for all of our migrated orders), Alma will DELETE the PO line’s inventory, both the holdings record and items, unless the inventory has already been received or activated. If a POL has a holdings record but no item(s) attached, cancelling a POL will DELETE the POL's attached holdings record. 
• There is no warning message about this and there is no way to restore inventory after it has been deleted!
• If unreceived (or predicted) items exist that you want to save, always CLOSE a POL rather than CANCEL it.
• To see more about the process of Cancelling POL's, please consult the Closing, Cancelling, Reopening and Deleting PO Lines document.
  
  • Let’s move on to Closing a POL 

Closing a POL 

• In Alma, one-time orders automatically close after they have been received and paid for
• It is also possible to manually close one-time orders if the POL status is Waiting for Invoice

• Now I am going to demo of Closing and Reopening a Continuous  order
• Okay, I’ll click the Harvard shield to get back to my homepage and make sure my location is Schlesinger Library – SCH Tech Services
• Next, I will go to the persistent search bar  Order Lines > PO Line and I’ll search for a continuous order.
• I’ll type in 2951 and hit <Enter>
• The POL’s status is waiting for renewal, which is a valid status for closing continuous POLs
• NOTE: From this point, please just watch what I do
• To close this POL, I’m going to click on the ellipsis at the right side of the screen and click Close 
• A pop-up confirmation appears “You are going to close the PO Line POL-2951. Are you sure you want to continue?
• I do want to continue so I’ll click Confirm
• Now we see a blue information message informing me that the POL was updated and that the status is Closed
• And indeed, looking at Order and Order Line, both show (Closed)
• Please remember that the Closing function does not  delete inventory (holdings  record and any items)
• Also, any encumbrances are released i.e. unencumbered when closing POLs 
• (Ask the class) Does anyone have questions about closing a continuous order? 

Reopening a POL 

• Okay, while we are on the Purchase Order Lines screen for this POL, I will demonstrate how to reopen this POL
• NOTE: From this point, please just watch what I do
• I would simply click on the ellipsis again and click Reopen
• I will see a confirmation message stating that the reopened POL will go into the status of In Review
• Now I’ll click the Confirm button
• Let’s take a moment to see why this POL is In Review
• I’ll click on the Go to task list at the end of the PO Line
• And then I’ll click Edit
• If we look at the Alerts tab, we see there are no red alerts. When records are reopened they automatically go into review.  
• When I scroll down to the PO Line Details section, I see that the Acquisitions method is Purchase – Without Letter
  • (Ask the class): Is it okay if I click Order Now?
  • (Depending on the answers received, you might want to add) Yes, it’s okay for me to click Order Now since the Acquisition method is Purchase Without Letter and a new order letter to the vendor will not be sent
  • So, I’ll click Order Now
  • A confirmation message appears stating that an order is about to be sent (though we know it will not go anywhere)and am I sure I want to perform this action
  • I do and I’ll click Confirm
  • A blue information message appears stating that the POL has been submitted
  • Just to see what has happened to this POL, I’ll go up to the Persistent search bar and type in 2951
  • The Order has been successfully reopened. The Order is “Sent” and the Order Line has a status of “Waiting for Renewal”.
    • (Ask the class) Does anyone have questions about canceling, closing, and/or reopening a Purchase Order Line? 

Deleting a POL 

• Okay, now I’m going talk about deleting a POL
• There is a Delete button at the top of the screen that appears when editing a POL
  • Please use caution when deleting a POL, since you cannot retrieve or reopen a deleted POL
  • If there is any chance you might want to view or reuse a POL, consider closing it rather than deleting it
  • (If needed) I’ll go click on the Harvard shield, to the Persistent search bar and type in 2951
  • Looking at the POL we just reopened, I’ll click the Edit button and now I’m in the Purchase Order Lines Details page
  • (Ask the class) Do you see a Delete button?
  • (Depending on the answers received, you might want to add) No. There is no delete button.
  • (Ask the class) Can anyone tell me why there is no Delete button?
  • (Depending on the answers received, you might want to add) There are two reasons why there is no Delete button
    • First, the delete button only appears if the status is In Review, Manual Packaging, Auto Packaging, Deferred, Cancelled, or Closed
      • The status of this POL is Waiting for Renewal
  • Second, a POL cannot be deleted if it is linked to an invoice line or if one of the POL’s resources has been received
    • Notice the Invoice Lines tab is dog eared and if I click on that tab we see that the POL is indeed linked to an invoice line

PRACTICE TIME (Show instructions on the screen) 

• Now, please take a few minutes to practice closing and reopening Purchase Order Lines
• (After practice time, ask the class) Does anyone have any questions? 

Changing a Purchase Order Line's Bibliographic reference 

• Next I will work through the steps to change a POL’s bibliographic reference.
• This means changing the POL description without changing which bib record it’s linked to and without changing the holdings or items.
• This is useful when an order was made on a provisional or stub bibliographic record, and so the PO line description is the description of the provisional bib record.
• If the bib record gets updated with better information, the PO line will still have the now inaccurate old description of the title.
• In that case, we can change the bib reference, in order to update just the PO line description to the description of the new version of the record.  

NOTE: This feature is relevant only for title-based PO lines. Also, it cannot be performed on canceled PO lines. 

• • In the persistent search bar, let’s go to Order Lines : PO Line and search for POL-4386.
  • Let’s click on the Edit button.
  • Now let’s click on the hyperlink to the title, Dungeon Masters guide, to view the bib. record. We can see that someone has overlayed/merged the bib. record so that the title in the 245 has been updated from Dungeon Masters guide to Dungeons & Dragons : Dungeon Master's guide. 
  • When we ordered the book, there was only a brief bib. record available with the title Dungeon Masters guide. But by the time we received the book, a better bib. record was available, so we overlayed/merged the bib. record.
  • Now let’s click on the back button to return to the Purchase Order Line Details page.
  • The title link of this POL does NOT match the bib record it’s attached to.  We’re going to want to change that. 
  • From the Purchase Order Lines screen, I will click the Change Bib Reference button.  Or, if I click Edit, I would be in the Purchase Order Line Details screen, where I again have a button to Change Bib Reference.  Let’s click that here.
  • I'll get a pop-up message that says, "PO Line ‘POL-4386' will change the link to the bibliographic record - this change will not impact the inventory and will only update the PO Line's description - Are you sure you want to perform this action?"
  • I'll click Confirm.
  • This will take me to a Repository Search results page that is pre-filled with information taken from the PO Line, like Title or ISBN.  If the bib record you want is here, great!  If not, fill in the search information to find your title.
  • The title I want is here, so I will click anywhere on the results line of the title I want.
  • I will get a confirmation page that says, "PO Line ‘POL-4386' Links to title ‘Dungeons & Dragons : Dungeon Master's guide / D & D lead designers, Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford.' , Mms Id '99152590546803941'. 

NOTE: the Identifier field in the PO line description, which contains the ISBN or ISSN, will only be updated if this field was originally blank before changing the PO line's bib reference. The identifier field is the only field in the PO line description that cannot be manually edited and saved once it contains a value. 

• Does anyone have any questions about changing a POL’s bibliographic reference?

NOTE TO TRAINER: Be sure to RESET the PO Line description of this example after class: Go to Purchase Order Details, Description tab, manually edit the title to “ Dungeon masters guide “ (without punctuation), and click Save in the upper right corner. 

 Relinking a Purchase Order Line to a Different Bibliographic Record 

• Moving a POL to a different bibliographic record is called Relinking in Alma.
• Relinking a POL to a different bib will also move the corresponding items and holdings.
  • (Ask the class) Can anyone tell me why we might want to do this?
  • (Depending on the answers received, you might want to add) We’d want to do this if an item arrived that matched an existing bib record better than a new one that had been imported at the time of the order, or when the POL is linked to a bib record for a single volume of a multivolume work and would be better suited to be linked to the bib of the multivolume work. 

NOTE: The Relink option is available only for PO Lines with the status In Review, Deferred, Ready (meaning packed into a PO and ready to be sent), Autopackaging, or Manual Packaging; this is true for both one-time and continuous POLs.  The Relink option is also available for continuous POLs that are Waiting for Renewal or Waiting for Manual Renewal, and for one-time POLs that are Closed, Waiting for Invoice, or Sent.  PO lines cannot be relinked if any of the following is true: 

• The PO line has items in a temporary location.
• The PO line has items on loan. (Although PO lines with items in a Work Order process such as preservation or in a status such as cataloging can be relinked.)
• The PO line is linked to a record from the Community Zone.
• The PO line contains items belonging to two different bibliographic records.
• The PO line for an electronic title lacks an MMS ID.

• Let’s imagine that I have a book in hand, the Monster Manual.  But the POL has shown up linked to a different book: Volo’s Guide to Monsters.
• To relink the PO line, first I’ll go to the persistent search box and search by Order Lines and PO Line.
• I'll type in my PO Line number: 4403
• I'll choose the Edit button on the right, then on the Purchase Order Line Details page for the PO Line I want to change, I’ll choose Relink.
• This will take me to a search results page that is pre-filled with information taken from the PO Line, like Title or ISBN.  If the bib record you want is here, you’re all set.  If not, fill in the search information to find your title.
• This is just like an advanced search – you can add as many search parameters as you need to.
• I will fill in the Title field with “Monster Manual” and the ISBN with 9780786965618 .
• Monster Manual is the correct title, so I will click anywhere on the results line of that title.
• I'll get a pop-up confirmation message that says, "PO Line 'POL-4403' will be linked to 'Monster manual. ISBN: 0786965614' , 1 item will be moved.”
• I click Confirm, and the PO Line and its inventory have been moved to the record I chose.
• Note that relinking a POL automatically updates the bib reference of that POL – there is no need to do it manually.
• Does anyone have any questions about relinking a POL to a different bib record? 

PRACTICE TIME (Show instructions on the screen)  

• Now, please take a few minutes to practice relinking a POL to a different bib record.
• (After practice time, ask the class) Does anyone have any questions? 

NOTE TO TRAINER: Be sure to reset this example by RELINKING the POL of this example after class to title “Volo’s guide to monsters”, ISBN 9780786966011 .

Claiming 

• Let’s move on to claiming.
• In Alma claiming allows us to communicate with vendors and publishers about materials we have may not have received, or received damaged, etc.
• First I’m going to show you how to claim a continuous order in Alma.
• I’ll start by confirming I’m at the proper our location, which for this example would be ITS 625 Acquisitions – ITS Tech Services
• Next I’m going to search for a continuous order in the Persistent Search Bar and set up the search as  Order Lines > PO Line
• I’m going to search for 105385-2
• The order is for a series standing order called the Henry Bradshaw Society
• If we look at the bottom of the last column on the right side of the Purchase Order Lines screen, there is a note that states:
• “No item was received in more than 30 days., Overdue PO line.”
• We’ll talk more about these non-receipt and overdue notes in a little while.
• Now I’ll send an email claim through Alma to EBSCO for v. 123
• The first step is to click on Edit which brings up the Purchase Order Line Details page
• Next I’ll click on the Communications tab in the Purchase Order line
• There may already be a claim on this POL, but for our demo, I’ll work through sending another claim
• First, I’ll click on the Start Communication link
• Next I’ll fill out the form and under the Type drop-down menu I’ll select Claim
• In the Subject Line I’ll  type in 105385-2: Claim. Instead of typing in the POL # I could also copy and paste it from the body of the email on the screen
• Last, I will edit the Body of the email claim
• I can enlarge the Body text box by clicking, holding, and dragging down the bottom right corner   
• For continuous POL’s, the last line in the body of the email generated by Alma will often include the last received item, which may or may not be the item we need to claim. Usually, we’ll need to edit this text to specify which item(s) we are claiming.
• I’ll type at the bottom of the Body:   Please send v. 123. Thank you.
• If I wanted, I could also add an attachment to send to the vendor. For example, I could attach previous email exchanges about the missing piece and/or a copy of a paid proforma invoice
• The Notes field is for our internal use. Here I could add a note to describe what the attachment is so that I don’t have to reopen it at a later date to see what it is.
• Okay, I have finished filling out the claim and now I’ll click the Send button.
• We next see a blue information message “ Email successfully sent to vendor” 

Please note: 

• The "Reply to" statement on the claim communication will be the operator's email address and not that of the ordering or owning library.
• A vendor's reply will not automatically appear in the communications tab of the POL in Alma. We will talk about this a bit more shortly.
• (Ask the class) Does anyone have questions about how to create a claim? 

Vendor claim responses 

• Next let’s talk about vendor claim responses.
• Let’s say a vendor sends a message about my claim and I want to record the information in Alma
  • First I will click the ellipsis at the end of the corresponding claim and select Add a Response
  • Next, in the Body I’ll type in NYP - expected late Fall 2018 and click the Response button
• Now I’m back in the Communications tab
• I’ll find the claim and click on the claim’s link in the Subject column
• I am brought to the Communication Messages page and we see both the response and the claim that were entered 

Please note: 

• Be aware that the overdue and non-receipt alerts that I mentioned earlier or many migrated POLs are based on Aleph delivery delay fields. This means that there are numerous POL’s in the claims task list, which you can find under Acquisitions -> Claim. The Claims list offers various ways to filter, though, which may help narrow down the list to those of interest to you. 

PRACTICE TIME (Show instructions on the screen) 

• Now, please take a few minutes to practice claiming a continuous order and adding a vendor claim response
• To find a continuous order, choose Acquisitions from the top grey bar, then under Purchase Order Lines, choose Claim
• In the leftmost menu for Facets, go to Purchase Type and choose Print Journal – Subscription.  Pick any title from your results screen to practice with in the sandbox.
• (After practice time, ask the class) Does anyone have any questions? 

 Binding 

• Lastly, I’ll go over the steps in binding a serial.
• Remember, Alma is like real estate - location, location, location.
• I click the Harvard shield and then make sure my location is  ITS 625 Acquisitions – ITS Tech Services
• For our example, I have 2 volumes of the Journal of Modern Greek Studies (162905-3) that I want to bind together.
• When preparing issues for binding I’ll need to navigate to the List of Items.
• There are different ways of navigating to the List of Items that are listed in the documentation. I’m going to show you how to get to the List of Items from the Received Items List. 
• At the top, main navigation menu, we’ll go to Acquisitions > Receiving and Invoicing >  Receive
• I’m now in the Continuous tab and displayed are 1-20 POL’s out of 68,000-plus continuous
• Next I’ll type 162905-3 in the search box within the continuous tab. This is the POL number for the Journal of Modern Greek Studies. And press <Enter>
• Next I’ll click on the ellipsis and then click on Manage Items.
• Now I’m in the Received Items List screen.
• However, I need to navigate to the List of Items screen
• I’ll click on the ellipsis next to any item: it doesn’t have to be one of the items you are going to bind, then select Edit Inventory item
• Now I am in the Physical Item Editor
• To navigate to the List of Items, we’ll click on the blue view all items hyperlink at the top right side of the screen.
• From the List of Items screen I’m going to select the two items I want to bind together.
• NOTE: Items can be merged into a single physical item and placed in the Binding Work Order workflow if:
  • They are in place. We see, by looking at the Status column for these two items, that indeed they both show “Item in place”
  • The items also cannot be in the Acquisition process. We see, by looking at the Process type column for these two items, that indeed both items are not in the Acquisitions process
  • And, the items cannot have been previously bound
  • In other words, the item material type is Issue NOT Issue (Bound)
  • Next, I’ll click (put in a check mark) in the boxes at the left, at the very beginning of each item
  • Then, under the search box, that is right under the brief bib. information for this POL, I’ll click Bind Items
  • The Bind items – Items list page appears, with the two items I selected. The text above item states: “Selected items to bind into one volume”
  • I’ll click the  Next  button
  • The Bind items – Generate work order page appears
  • Now I’ll fill in the boxes in the Create Request section
  • Under Work Order Type: I’m going to select Binding Work Order from the drop-down menu. PLEASE NOTE: In Alma production, this work order will be called "Preservation Work order"
  • I can add a note: I’ll type, “Please bind without index”
  • I’m going to leave Work Order Department as Widener Circulation for now. More options may be available in production.
  • Next, I’ll click the Create And Edit button.
  • A Confirmation Message pops up “Binding the selected items will withdraw them from the system. Are you sure you want to continue?”
  • I do want to continue, so I’ll click the Confirm button.
  • The 2 items I want to bind together are deleted and a new item for the bound issue is generated.
  • I now see the blue information message: “The items have been successfully bound into new volume with barcode alma####. This is the system generated barcode.  
  • I am now on the Physical Item Editor page. On this page I can edit the item record for my bound issue.
  • There are four tabs:
  • Some fields in the General tab I might want to edit:
    • Barcode: I could scan in a piggyback barcode #. I’m going to leave in the system-generated barcode for this demo.
    • Item policy (loan policy): If it were missing, I would enter in the loan policy here
      • Enumeration and chronology: The enumeration and chronology do not need to be edited, but I could update these fields if needed by entering the volume number in Enumeration A and the year in Chronology I
  • Description: I’m going to type in v.## (yyyy)
    • When the Generate button is configured, the item description will be created automatically
  • Temporary location: I’m going to click the item is in temporary location No button because my bound issue is going to be shelved in the Widener stacks, not the PERRS temp. loc.
    • All I have to do is click the button and the permanent location tab will be updated automatically later.
    • I won’t make any edits, but I can click the other three tabs, just to see what’s there:
      • ENUM/CHRON
      • Notes
      • History
      • Now that I’m done editing information for the bound volume, I’ll click Save at the top of the screen  
      • A Confirmation Message appears and now I’ll click the Confirm button
      • I’m now on the List of Items page, with a blue information message at the top, stating that data for the journal I was editing “has been successfully updated”
      • I’ll click to page two of this list and find v. ## (yyyy).
      •  The bound item now appears with with:
        • Status: Item not in place
        • Process type: binding work order.
        • I’m not going to demonstrate right now, but if I wanted to update the holdings to include the bound volume at this point, I could click on the blue View all Holdings link at the top right of the screen to update the holdings.
          • (Ask the class) Does anyone have questions about binding in Alma?

Closing 

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