Folder structure in Alma Analytics

Top tier folders

Alma Analytics catalog

Top tier folders

Image of top tier folders in the Alma Analytics catalog

  • My Folders: A workspace accessible only to you
  • Shared Folders:
    • Shared Folders > Alma: Analyses created by Ex Libris on Alma data. Most require modification to be applicable to the Harvard environment.
    • Shared Folders > Community: Analyses created and shared by other Alma peer libraries. Use with caution, as other libraries’ definitions and workflows may be very different.
    • Shared Folders > Harvard University: Analyses created by Harvard Alma users
    • Shared Folders > Leganto: Analyses created by Ex Libris on Leganto data
    • Shared Folders > Rialto: Analyses created by Ex Libris (Harvard doesn't use Rialto)

How to use the My Folders and Harvard University folders

FolderPurposeBest practices

My Folders

This is your folder to do with as you wish. The contents are not accessible to other Analytics users.

Use My Folders for analyses in development, so that others don't find your analysis and think that it's finished and ready to be shared.

Use My Folders to store backup copies.

Organization of My Folders is up to you; you can create subfolders for different projects, types of analyses, or analyses on different Analytics subject areas.

Before starting a new analysis, search Harvard University shared folders for analyses that will meet your needs as-is, or with some modification. See Searching in Analytics as needed.
Shared Folders > Harvard University

This folder is accessible by all Analytics users at Harvard.

The folders under here all have a specific purpose.

Please don't create your own folder at this level.

Before starting a new analysis, search Harvard University shared folders for analyses that will meet your needs as-is, or with some modification.

If you want to use an analysis in Harvard University folders as the basis of a new analysis, first save a copy to My Folders.

    • Include here links to pages on How to search and How to save analyses
Shared Folders > Harvard University > _Collaboration

A place to temporarily put an analysis in development so that you can work on it with other Harvard colleagues. You may create subfolders in this folder as needed.

The Collaboration subfolder is for interdepartmental collaboration, an example being submitting a ticket to the Analytics and Reporting Working Group for help creating an analysis. One of the members would save a report to a folder under their name for you to access and verify. 

If an analysis is in development and you wish to share it with a Harvard colleague in order to collaborate, save it here.

If you work on analyses in the Collaboration folder, you may want to keep a backup in My Folders, since analyses in this folder may be changed or deleted by others.

Shared Folders > Harvard University > _Departmental Reports

A place for analyses developed for use by a particular department.

Analyses in each of the Department folders support work of staff in that department.

You can add subfolders to your department's folder.

If an analysis that you wish to use belongs to another department, save a copy of it in your folders first.

Shared Folders > Harvard University > _TrainingThe Training folder contains analyses used in Alma Analytics training materials developed by Analytics and Reporting Working Group.These analyses should not be modified.
Shared Folders > Harvard University > _WGsThe WG subfolder (short for "working group") is for analyses created for use by Alma Working Groups (Analytics and Reporting, Technical Services, Fulfillment). 

If an analysis that you wish to use belongs to a working group, save a copy of it in your folders first.

Shared Folders > Harvard University > [Subject Area Folders]

Analyses in the subject area folders have been designed to meet a broad array of information needs and to provide multiple prompts for customizing the output.

The subject area folders under Harvard University are organized according to the Analytics subject areas. If you know which subject has the data you need, you can go directly to the folder with the same name and browse available analyses.

Analyses in these folders are meant for the general use of all Harvard units. They use prompt pages instead of hard-coded filters.

Please test that the report output is correct for your unit. If you wish to request either modifications or a new report in these folders, please submit your request to the Analytics & Reporting Working Group support queue.

If you find an analysis here that you wish to modify for your own use, save a copy of it in your folders first.


Analyses created by other Alma institutions

The Community folder contains analyses created by other Alma institutions.

Alma Analytics has a single data model for all customers which allows reports developed at other institutions to run on Harvard data. However, the originating institution might include local data fields, or local coding, etc. that make the report output incomplete or unsuitable for use at Harvard.

Community also provides an environment for collaborating with Analytics experts at other institutions. Reports in Community are accessible by all Analytics users at all Alma institutions. If you are developing a report with someone at another institution, they (and others) will be able to access the report configuration and make changes.

Analyses created by Ex Libris

Ex Libris created the analyses in the Alma folder for all libraries working in Alma . Ex Libris has tried to anticipate library reporting needs by creating dozens of simple analyses and has made them available for libraries to copy, change, and reuse locally. Most of these analyses require adding a filter or prompt to make them usable with a large data set like Harvard’s.

Similarly to the Alma folder, all analyses in the Leganto folder were created by Ex Libris for use by all libraries working in Leganto. 

Before directly copying an item from the Alma or Leganto folders, check the subject area folders in the Harvard University Shared Analysis folder for the analyses that the Analytics & Reporting Working Group has made available for general at Harvard.