Initiating a Work Order

Owned by Jennifer Koerber (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jun 18, 2020 by Kara Young
3 min read

During Receiving

Initiating work orders as part of the Receiving process (via purchase orders):

  • Before an item is received, all Tech Services Departments with permissions for the owning library will see the item in the Receiving workbench
  • Items not yet received will have a Process type value of Acquisition and Status of Item not in place
  • At the time of receipt, if the item needs any further processing, use the Keep in Department option and assign it a status. 
  • When the Keep in Department option is used, Alma automatically puts the item into a Technical Services work order type.
  • At this point, only staff in the same department as the Receiving Operator will be able to change the status of the Work Order or mark it as Done. 
    • For example, both ITS and Judaica serve Widener Library, therefore they both see Widener items in the Receiving Workbench
    • If Judaica receives the item, only Judaica can manage the item after that point
  • If the item needs to go to another department before it goes to its home library, do not mark it as Done.
    Instead:
    • See the Create a Work Order instructions below
    • After creating the work order for the next step, mark the item as Done. Alma will transit it to the next Department. 
  • If the item is shelf-ready and can go to its home library immediately after being received, do not Keep in Department.


Same-Unit Work Orders

Initiating work orders for non-receiving workflows, where the work order is for your own department. This includes, but isn't limited to:

  • Local unit Technical Services departments (e.g., Schlesinger)
  • To properly initiate a work order for an item that has arrived in your unit with no work order attached
  • Within ITS units (outside of the Receiving process)
  • Within Collections Care or Preservation units

Preferred Method

If this piece is in hand and you want to assign it to your own department:

  1. Scan in Item
  2. Assign status
  3. Item is now "at" your department

Alternate Method

Note: with this method you cannot assign a Status. This may affect your Analytics.


  1. Find the item and click on Edit
  2. Open Physical Item Editor
  3. Update Process Type and Department
  4. Save item
  5. Item is now "at" your department


Work Order to "Send to" or "Request from" Other Departments (Including from HD/RD)

Initiating work orders for non-receiving workflows, where the work order is for a different department than your own or at an Offsite Storage facility.

Item in Hand

If this piece is in hand and you want to assign it to a different department:

  1. From any screen in Alma where a list of item records is presented (such as the results of a Physical Items search), click the ellipsis next to the item and select Work Order.
  2. Choose the appropriate Process Type
  3. Select Do not pick from shelf
  4. Choose the appropriate Managing Department
  5. Click Submit

If the item status was:

  • Item in place, it will now be marked as "at" that Department
  • Item not in place because it was already in a work order, the item will be put in transit after the current work order is Done

Item Not in Hand (Use to request from Offsite Storage or other libraries)

If the piece is not in hand and needs to be physically pulled from another library (picklist)/offsite storage:

  1. Use a Physical Items search by barcode or other identifying information to find the item
  2. Click the row action item list icon (the ellipsis) for the item and select Work Order
  3. Uncheck the box next to Do not pick from shelf, so the item will be on the owning library's pick-list and be retrieved from the stacks
  4. Enter a NOTE in the note field to indicate where the request should go/who placed the request.
  5. Once the item is pulled from the shelves and scanned in by Access Services, the system will mark it as In Transit to the Department you selected when you created the Work Order

 

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