Customizing the Search Results Display

Why Customize Search Results?

You can tailor your search results displays to what’s most important to you and your work needs.

When you customize a search results view, these changes will apply every time you search for that type of record moving forward. So, you can search for a list of Physical Titles records, then customize the view to have it display that way from then on. Then you can customize the list of Physical Items records, and so on through each kind of search you do.

Expand Options

Expand: If you’ve searched for Titles records, you might see the word Expand:

• In an All Titles search, clicking Expand will display either Physical or Electronic items information
• In a Physical Titles search, clicking Expand will display holdings & items information
• In an Electronic Titles search, clicking Expand will display the interface, collection, and availability information

Settings on the Results Page

Next to the Download icon is a gear, the Manage Column Display. This lets you customize the view & actions of your results list. You don’t need to do this, but after you’ve used Alma for a while, changing these options can make it easier to see the information that’s important to you, and faster to do your work.

Some search types have many options to customize (Titles and Order Lines) and some have only a few (Vendors). The more complex the record, the more complex the customization options.

Click on the gear to begin.

Customize the Results View

You can choose how many columns to display and what information to display in each column, in what order. You’re not deleting anything, just removing it from your display. You can always add it back by clicking in the box next to it.

You can change the order that fields display in by dragging the labels around. For instance, if I’ve searched for item records, and to me, the barcode is the most important piece of information, I can drag it to the top of the first column, followed by the Permanent Physical Location and Status.

A recommendation for staff who work with physical materials: it can be very helpful to have Status and Process Type next to each other, since together they tell you where an item is and what's going on with it. Drag Process Type under Status.

Customize the "Hot Buttons" and Row Action Item List

On the right are the action items we mentioned earlier. You can choose which two actions appear as those “hot buttons” and which are under the ellipsis menu. Drag the actions up and down to move them, according to the work you tend to do.

Click Save

When you’re done customizing your results view, click Save. Again, these settings will be used any time you search for that record type (Physical Items, Invoices, etc.).

Sorting Options

The sort you choose is sticky from session to session, so if you always want your Physical Items to appear in Call Number Order, you can do it once and forget it.

If you frequently change search types or functions, remember to change your sorting options from search to search.