The resources below support common ways that library workers across the Alliance perform tasks related to the Shared Content & Technical Services (SCTS) program. Cooperative collection development and resource management, including acquisitions, cataloguing, collection development, electronic resources, and open access content.

General

• SCTS email lists: contact Elizabeth Duell to be added to any list
  • Alliance-ER (alliance-er): community building, questions specific to e-resources, troubleshooting
  • Tech Services Discussion (ts-discussion): community building, questions specific to technical services work, especially issues regarding metadata or acquisitions issues in Alma
  • Norm Rules Discussion (normrules): community building, questions specific to normalization rules in Alma
• SCTS Community Calls (requires password)
  • Join monthly calls on Zoom for discussions and updates from SCTS groups and program staff.
  • Agendas and login information are disseminated via the Alliance-ER and Tech Services email lists.
• Centralized support for recurring calendar links: contact Elizabeth Duell to be added to calendar entries
• Anonymous Ask Form
  • Ask questions or share issues you’d like help with but are not yet fully comfortable putting out in front of the community.
  • Please don’t expect individual replies as the form is completely anonymous.
  • The SCTS program managers will typically respond during the next community call, or they may reply via email to the Alliance-ER and Tech Services discussion lists.

Acquisitions

The Alliance currently does not provide documentation for Acquisitions, since Ex Libris provides documentation on Alma acquisitions. Vendor agents like GOBI provide documentation/training on how to set up connections between their systems and Alma.

Cataloguing

National/International Organization Alliance Participation

• Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC)
  • Alliance participation
    • Alliance PCC Participation
    • Alliance CONSER Funnel
    • Guidelines for Editing PCC Bibs in WorldCat

Standards

• RDA (Resource Description and Access)
  • Official RDA is replacing Original RDA. The PCC is planning for a rolling implementation from May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2027. Visit the Library of Congress FAQ page for more information.
• DCRM (Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials)

Record creation/maintenance

• Bibliographic Record Policies
  • These 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 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 the WorldCat Level (April 2021)
    • 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 (May 2021)
  • The Alliance Metadata Mandates (Google Doc) provides a one-page “cheat sheet” of the seven policies.
• Alliance cataloging work/policies
  • Technical Services Documentation page
  • Cataloging Standing Group (CSG)
  • Level of PCC Contribution (Policy)
  • Cataloging at the WorldCat Level (Policy)
  • Single v. Separate Records (Policy)
  • Floor Bibliographic Standards (Policy)
  • Use of OCLC and Record Identifiers (Policy)
  • Provider-Neutral Records (Policy)
  • Language of Cataloging (Policy)
• MARC
  • Local Fields Best Practices, FAQ, and Tables
  • Finding Aids Links in MARC Records (Policy)
• Authority work
  • Authority Control Group Status Update (PDF) (October 2016)
  • Visit Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) website
• OCLC
  • WorldShare Record Manager
  • Connexion
    • Retaining and Deleting MARC Fields in OCLC Records
    • Go to the “Import/export/matching” section for export set up
  • Duplicate records
    • Reporting Duplicate Bibliographic Records (Best Practice)
  • Adding missing ISBNs to existing WorldCat records (Best Practice)
  • Use of OCLC and Record Identifiers (Policy)
• By format/material type (coming in the near future)
  • Monographs
  • Serials/Integrated resources
  • Media
  • Electronic resources
    • Provider-Neutral Records (Policy)
    • Cataloging of Titles on Electronic Readers (Policy)
  • Collections
  • Maps/cartographic
  • Music
  • Non English language materials
    • Numeric Character References (Policy)

Classification/subject analysis

• Library of Congress Classification (LCC)
• Dewey Decimal (DDC) (PDF)
• National Library of Medicine Classification (NLM)
• Controlled vocabularies
  • Library of Congress Controlled Vocabularies
  • Homosaurus Training Resources and FAQ
  • Use of Faceted Terms in Cataloging
  • Faceted Terms (PDF)

Alma work

• Navigation, personalization, accessibility
  • The Alma User Interface
  • Alma Accessibility Statement
• Suppression of Records in Alma (Policy)
• Restoring Records with the Manage Deleted Repository Function in Alma
• Import/export/matching
  • Alma Merge Rules in the NZ Account
  • Importing Records to the Network Zone Without Consistent OCLC Numbers (Policy)
  • Overlay in Alma (Policy)
  • Overlay in Alma (Procedure)
  • Overlaying Brief Bibs in the Network Zone (Policy)
  • Import profiles in Alma
  • Setup for Exporting from Connexion/Record Manager to the NZ (PDF)
  • Bibliographic Records with Multiple OCLC Numbers – Summary and Cleanup
  • Alma OCA Normalize Process
  • Network Zone Record Deletion – Import Profiles (Policy)
  • Loading records from vendors via Embedded Order Data (EOD) imports (YBP workflows)
    • Loading Approval Records into NZ (PDF)
    • Loading Brief Order Records (PDF)
    • Loading WCP Records into NZ (PDF)
• Alma Daily Bib Record Updates & OCLC WorldShare Collection Manager
• Zones in Alma
  • Alma includes three zones:
    • Community Zone (CZ): includes electronic resources available worldwide
    • Network Zone (NZ): the shared bibliographic environment for all Alliance members
    • Institution Zone (IZ): each institution’s local records and inventory
  • Non-serial E-Resources in Alma: Best Practices for Local Collections
  • Alma Merge Rules in the NZ Account
  • Alma Network Zone (Policy)
  • Working in Alma and the Network Zone (Policy)
  • Contributing Collections to the CZ (Policy)
  • Identifying IZ Records Linked to Deleted NZ Records
  • FAQ: Non-serial E-Resources – CZ vs. NZ
  • Linking IZ Bib Records to the Network Zone
  • Setup for Exporting from Connexion/Record Manager to the NZ (PDF)
  • Deleting bare Network Zone Records from an IZ (Policy)
  • Sharing Import Profiles to the Community Zone (Best Practice)
• Metadata editor
  • Using Record Templates in the Alma Metadata Editor
• Brief bibs
  • Alma Brief Record Level Configuration
• Holdings
  • Corrupted holdings record Leader and 008 clean up project (PDF)
  • Working with holdings
• Bound-withs
  • Bound-withs (Policy)
  • Creating a Set of Boundwith Records
    • UO creating boundwiths (Word Doc via Google Drive)
  • Identifying and Marking Boundwith Records for Protection in the Network Zone (Google Doc)
  • UO Boundwith bibliographic template (Word Doc via Google Drive)
  • Fixing broken boundwith links in migrated records (April 2016) (Word Doc via Google Drive)

FAQs

• Cataloging for non cataloguers (coming in the near future)
• Free trainings outside the Alliance
  • Catalogers Learning Workshop
  • Niche Academy
    • Washington State Library: Training and Certification Resources
    • State Library of Oregon: Continuing Education Resources for Library Staff
    • Idaho Commission for Libraries: Continuing Education

Collection Development

• Vendor Information: Working with the Alliance
• Withdrawing materials:
  • Withdrawal Workflow Best Practices (Google Doc)
  • Last Copy Guidelines (PDF)
  • Last Copy Checker
• Distributed Print Repository (DPR) program: Alma Instructions for Alliance Distributed Print Repository (DPR) Titles

Electronic Resources

General

• Electronic Resources Program Review (PDF): an introduction to Alliance electronic resources
• Shared Content Webinar Recordings (requires password): provider-based webinars
• Orbis Cascade E-Resource Licensing
  • Alliance ER Licenses (Google Drive): licenses can also be found in Consortia Manager
• Consortia Manager (CM) login required
  • Documentation is available inside CM (video “walk-through”, FAQ, and User Manual).
  • Click on the “?” on the right side of the navigation bar to access these resources.

Journals

• Alliance Journal Packages: Overview: shared Alliance packages

Ebooks

• Ebook Standing Group (ESG)
  • Ebooks and AVON (requires password): ebook collections (Oxford, ProQuest, Wiley, etc.) and AVON (Academic Video ONline).
• Alliance Ebook Program Summary 2025 (Google Sheet)

Open Access Content

• OAPEN is our only open access ebook collection. The Alliance pays a fee for OAPEN each year, all libraries are included and cannot opt out.
• Other OA (Open Access) collections are managed locally. The shared NZ collections listed under Ebooks and AVON (requires password) are not OA. There is no Alliance documentation relating to open access resources.
• This section will be updated as the OA environment continues to change.