Before You Continue - Alma Overview Module

This is the fourth 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:

Before You Move on to the Searching Module…

We are now at the end of the Alma Overview module of the Alma Overviews online course. In this video, we reviewed Alma’s basic functions and structure, walked through the main menu and search bar, and learned how you can customize your Alma account, including setting Quick Links for frequent tasks.

Before you continue on to the Searching module, we suggest doing the following:

First, log in to Alma! Using the system is the fastest way to get comfortable with Alma, and we recommend logging in, completing the tasks below, and clicking your way through the menu to become familiar with everything that you’ve learned in this introduction. Then, go through the Search modules and practice those skills that you’ve learned in Alma itself.

When you log in to Alma, complete the basic set up. If you haven’t already done these three tasks, do them in both the Sandbox and in Production Alma.

First, set your location. As we mentioned, the very first time you log in, Alma will ask you to set a location. Choose the location you are most frequently working at or for, in the case of Shared Services.
While you’re there, click Always show current location so you always know you’re set to the right location for your work. Just tick on the tickybox next to Always Show Location so that it has the check mark.

Finally, add these two widgets to your home page: the Tasks widget and the Notifications widget. You might choose to add other widgets later, but these two will be important to working in Alma and to everything you learn in your functional training. Again, click on the plus sign, click on the boxes next to the first two widgets for Tasks and Notifications, and then you can move them around by dragging on the title bar.

In the Notifications widget, you’ll see a few links to Harvard-specific support for Alma. We’re going to begin looking at the Documentation Center, and then look at the Support Center.

Getting Help with Alma

The Alma Documentation Center is the part of the LTS wiki that contains all of the Harvard-specific documentation on Alma. Click on the pop-out icon to open the Alma Documentation Center in a new tab or window in your browser. When you’re there, you can review all of your training materials, and find step-by-step instructions, reference pages, and data mapping tables to support your work in Alma.

When you’re there, “Watch” the wiki. One way to stay current on changes in the documentation as Alma has its monthly releases is to Watch wiki pages and receive an email notification whenever there’s an update. To Watch a wiki page, go to the page and then check the upper right corner to make sure that you’re logged in. If not, go ahead and click on Log in and it’ll either take you right there or you may have to do your Harvard key or other login procedure to log in. Once you log in you’ll see the word “Watch” in the upper right next to an eye icon. If you click on Watch, then click on Watch Page, you’ll receive email updates about changes to that page. Do not Watch all content in this space – there is a lot of it and there are a lot of updates happening.

The other link in the Notifications widget is to the Alma Support Center. This is a form where you can go to submit questions, problems, or feedback to the LTS Support team. Again, click on the popout link to open the form in a new tab or window, then fill it out using the guidelines at the top and click Send down at the bottom. This is the best way to ask questions or report issues about Alma, because LTS Support will get your concerns to the correct members of the Tech Team and other relevant staff.

Staying Informed About Alma

Finally, I want to show a few ways to stay updated on Alma. There is a page on the LTS wiki called Alma Communication and Update Sources. There are several places you might see or receive information about Alma.

Again in those Notifications in the widgets, or in the system banner up at the top, which might be orange or red. There is also a Harvard Alma Users mailing list to disseminate and have discussion bout critical information. You can subscribe to the list automatically with your login creation.

There are the monthly release notes which we mentioned earlier, with the Harvard Highlights. You may also get very large updates via an HLComms email or an article in the Harvard CC.

Closing

This has been the Alma Overview module of the Alma Overviews course. In the next module of this course, you’ll review Search, simple and advanced searches. You’ll learn how to customize your search results to support your work, and you’ll see examples of searching in different functional areas. Thank you for watching!