Alma Cloud Apps at Harvard

Introduction

Cloud Apps are add-ons to Alma that customers write and share with other institutions. At Harvard we implement only certain Cloud Apps in production. If you see an app on the Alma sandbox that you would like to use in production, please contact the LTS Alma Support Center. 

Overview / demo video from Ex Libris: Cloud Apps in Alma (4:22 minutes).

All existing apps for all Ex Libris products are listed on the Ex Libris Developer Network Cloud Apps page.

Once you open an app, you can use the pin icon to keep it open. If you do not pin it, it will hover over part of the page. If you do pin it, it will stay open and the rest of the layout will adjust. 

Apps in Alma Production

HathiTrust Availability

• When you are on a search results list of bib records in Alma, or viewing a bib, the app will query the HathiTrust API to look for that record.  
• Match is done based on OCLC, ISBN, and ISSN numbers as cataloged in the record. 
• The app will return whether the resource is available from HathiTrust in Full-Text or Limited View (shown as "Limited" in app). 
• This app DOES NOT tell you whether we have HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access service. We recommend you use an ALL TITLES search in Alma which will allow you to see both print and electronic holdings in the search results. 
• You do not need to do anything to invoke the search for HathiTrust availability. If you have the app open on the right, and you are on a search result page, it will automatically conduct a search. 
• Any staff member may use this app. 

Bulk Scan-In

• This app can "Scan In" a list of barcodes
• Please contact LTS Support to become a Registered User of this app.
• For Tech Services units,  
  • You can use this app to put an item into the Acq work order, or change the status of the work order.  You must use the correct status codes. 
  • This app can be used to mark a Tech Services work order as Done. The app can also change the status of a work order. 
  • If the items are not yet in an Acq work order (i.e. they are "In Place"), and they are going to HD/RD, you will need to first scan them into an Acq Work Order, and then scan them in a second time as Done.
  • REMINDER: once you mark an item as Done, it will go into Transit to its destination. If you are doing clean-up work and the items are already at their destination. contact LTS for assistance. 
• For Fulfillment units (circ desks),
  • this app has the same effect of the Scan In menu items. For example, you can use it to return batches of items on loan.  
• The app is a little slow, but you can do other work while it’s running. If you do, however, you lose out on any error messages. There is no status bar to indicate anything is happening. 
• We STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to test this app in the sandbox environment to ensure it works as you expect with your given workflows. 
• The app accepts a plain text file containing only barcodes (no header field)

Registered Users for Bulk Scan-In

• Jason Clarke
• John Dickson
• Amy Dittman
• Tom Ma
• Paris O'Donnell
• Julie Petzold
• Laura Sherriff

Delete Sets

• Use this app when you are on the Manage Sets page.
• The app will present a list of sets matching those display on your active Manage Sets page.
• This app works best if you display only 10 or 20 results per page. The app may take several seconds to load, as it reads the API. 
• Once your selected sets have been deleted, the Mange Sets list will be updated, with the deleted sets removed. 
• Any staff member may use this app. 

Item Updater by Excel - use with great caution

• This app lets you edit any physical items. Notes:
  • There is no way to undo changes. 
  • Recommendation: create a spreadsheet (via Analytics) of the data before you change it as a back-up.
• Please contact LTS Support to become a Registered User of this app.
• If you have a column header for a field, e.g. statistics_note_1, and you leave all the cells empty, it will OVERWRITE any existing data in those fields and set it to null. 
• The item history will show the changes along with your own user ID. 
• Example input file cloudApp-ItemUpdater.xlsx
• List of item fields as they need to be defined in Excel file (e.g. chronology_j): https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis/docs/xsd/rest_item.xsd/#item_data
• To update one barcode with another, make sure the existing from Alma barcode is in column 1 named 'barcode' and that the barcode you want to change to is in column 2 named 'barcode'
  • 
• ExL documentation:  https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/appcenter/item-updater-by-excel/

Registered Users for Item Updater by Excel

• Amy Dittman
• Karim Roqui

Multiple item edit

This app lets you edit physical items that appear on your Alma screen The editable fields are: barcode , description , enumeration ,chronology

Print Bib Record

• Use this app to convert MARCXML records to HTML.
• The app allows fast printing of records from a list of records.
• The app has 3 built-in XSLs which can be selected in Settings
  • Click 3 horizontal dots then click the gear icon
• Any staff member may use this app.