Policies
The Shared Content and Technical Services Team reviews and maintains policies on this page. Any requests for revisions or exceptions should be submitted in writing to the SC/TS Team for review.
Bibliographic Record Policies
The Alliance Council first adopted bibliographic record mandates in November 2011, to facilitate the implementation of a shared library system. The policies below have been revised for the Alma/Primo environment. They are designed to meet national standards and best practices while facilitating work in a shared system. The policies are intended for use in the Alma Network Zone (NZ) and Primo; they do not apply to metadata in systems that do not interact with Alma or Primo. The policies are meant to be used with approved and published operational policies.
The policies are presented starting with the most broad (foundational) and moving logically through to those with a more narrow scope:
- Use of OCLC and Record Identifiers (November 2020)
- Cataloging at a WorldCat Level (March 2016)
- Alma Network Zone (February 2021)
- Floor Bibliographic Standards (August 2020)
- Single v. Separate Records (March 2021)
- Provider-Neutral Records (January 2020)
- Level of PCC Contribution (March 2016)
Alma Operational Policies
The Alma Operational policies serve to protect Alma's database integrity and consistency.
- Bound-withs (December 2013)
- Cataloging of Titles on Electronic Readers (January 2017)
- Contributing Collections to the CZ (April 2017)
- CZ Activation for Ebrary Academic Complete Subscription (October 2016)
- Language of Cataloging (October 2016)
- Use of the "Do not override/merge a non-brief record with a brief version" Flag in Alma Import Profiles (August 2016)
- Syncing IZ & NZ Brief Levels for Bibliographic Records (September 2016)
- Numeric Character References (October 2016)
- Minimum Acquisitions Data (February 2021)
- Sharing Import Profiles (February 2016)
- Suppression of Records for Physical Inventory (December 2014)
- Retaining and Deleting MARC Fields in OCLC Records (October 2016)
- Finding Aid Links in MARC Records (March 2017)
Network Zone:
- Importing Records to the Network Zone Without Consistent OCLC Numbers (December 2020)
- Adding missing ISBNs to existing WorldCat Master Records (December 2013)
- Overlay in Alma (December 2014)
- Overlaying Brief Bibs in the Network Zone (December 2014)
- Network Zone Record Deletion - Import profiles (June 2014)
- Deleting bare Network Zone Records from an IZ (August 2016)
- Working in Alma and the Network Zone (August 2014)
Best Practices
- Reporting Duplicate Bibliographic Records (May 2020)
- Best Practices for Ex Libris Salesforce Case Management (September 2019)
- Use of Faceted Terms in Cataloging (December 2020)
- Local Fields (February 2017)
- Non-Serial Electronic Resources in Alma (May 2014)
- Marcive Record Loads - Google Doc (February 2014)
Procedures, Workflows, & FAQs
- Alliance NZ Bib Records with Multiple OCLC Numbers FAQ (February 2016)
- Alma Indication Rules FAQ (March 2016)
- Alma Originating System Version (February 2016)
- Automatic loading of WorldShare Collection (September 2016)
- Creating a Set of Boundwith Records (December 2015)
- Identifying and Marking Boundwith Records for Protection in the Network Zone (July 2018)
- Guidelines for Editing PCC (Program for Cooperative Cataloging) Bibs in WorldCat (September 2016)
- Overlay in Alma (December 2014)
- YBP workflows
- Loading Approval Records into NZ (September 2016)
GDrive version | PDF version - Loading Brief Order Records into NZ: Creating Import Profiles to Load Vendor Order Records (September 2016)
GDrive version | PDF version - Loading WCP Records into Network Zone, including Shelf Ready (September 2016)
GDrive version | PDF version
Institutional Workflows
- BoundWith Bibliographic Template (.doc) - University of Oregon (February 2017)
- Creating BoundWiths in Alma (.doc) - University of Oregon (February 2017)
- Fixing broken boundwith links in migrated records (.doc) - Eastern Washington University (April 2016)
- When to create a new bibliographic record (.doc) - Western Washington University (June 2016)
NZ Account Configuration & Procedures
- Alma Brief Record Level Configuration (February 2021)
- Alma Daily Bib Record Updates & OCLC WorldShare Collection Manager (February 2021)
- Alma Merge Rules in the NZ Account (February 2021)
- Alma OCA Normalize Process (February 2021)
Related Links:
- Technical Services Training Outlines
- Primo Normalization Rules Standing Group page including the Policies and Best Practices and the Document tabs.
- Problems and Questions
- For deletions and incorrectly merged bibliographic records contact Technical Services Program Manager Lesley Lowery.
- For questions regarding technical services policies, contact SC/TS Team Chair Sarah Rowland (EOU) or Alliance Program Manager Lesley Lowery.
- Contacts
- Alliance email lists
- Alliance staff contact info
- Shared Content and Technical Services Team
- Technical Services Representatives
- Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) Participants
- Historical Documentation
- The SILS Docs site (password protected) provides the most detailed information about institutional practice and workflow.
- Retired policy: In-Process Brief Bibliographic Records (October 2016, Retired February 2021)
Last updated: 2/12/2021