Routine housekeeping of Reading Lists in Alma

Routine housekeeping of Reading Lists in Alma is aimed at fulfilling three basic needs:

• Finding and processing lists that were started and are found to be in limbo.

• Setting lists that are actually completed as Complete and making sure that they have been published if they are for the current or upcoming term..

• Finding superfluous lists and deleting, then purging them. 

For routine housekeeping on Reading Lists in Alma that are either superfluous or need to be updated, begin by clicking Reading Lists in the Tasks widget on the front page, then going to the ‘Unassigned - processing’ queue and the ‘Unassigned - ready for processing’ queue. Near the start of a new semester, the latter should take precedence, since it may include Reading Lists that need immediate attention, particularly in cases where a list has been created, but is awaiting action on the part of library staff. You may choose the facet for your Processing Department to filter lists for courses assigned to other libraries, or use the ‘Unassociated’ facet to to look for lists that should be associated with your department. From a set of lists, here’s how to proceed:

1. From the list of actions that open from the ellipsis button, choose View so that you can see the list without becoming an Owner or having the list assigned to you.

2. See if the list is assigned to a course or has any citations. Copy the title of the course for a search in Alma. If there is no course associated, copy the name of the list.

3. If there is a significant list of citations, download the list as an Excel file by clicking the ‘document’ icon to the upper right at the top of the list.

4. From the Fulfillment menu across the top of the screen, open Courses and search for the course or open Reading Lists and search for the list.

5. Determine if the list you had seen is the only list for that course or if it has been superseded by another one; if searching by Course, select Reading Lists from the listing for the course and see if there is more than one or if the one you’ve seen is the only one and, if searching by Reading List, do the same. 

6. There may be reading lists that have either been deleted, but not purged, or archived. Reading List searches default to ‘Active’ as a filter; remove that filter to include deleted and archived lists. Lists that have been deleted should be purged; otherwise they remain in Alma.

7. If there is more than one Reading List, see if they differ in citations, Status, or Publication Status. If one contains all the citations of the other, plus other citations, the other list should be deleted and purged as superfluous. 

8. If there is more than one list and they differ in citations, contact the reserves staff at the Processing Department for the lists, who may then consult the syllabus for the course in Canvas and/or the instructor or the assistant who created the citations to verify that the lists are needed and in use. 

9. If there is work left to do before marking the list as Complete and the Processing Department is not your own, assign the list to the staff member at the Processing Department and select the option to notify that person. Include an explanation in that notification.

10. If all the citations are marked Complete, but the list is not marked Complete and/or is not yet published (Publication Status: Draft), assign it to the staff member at the Processing Department, select the email notification option, and let them know that it isn’t marked as Complete and/or isn’t published.