By regularly investigating and addressing PO Lines that are in status "In Review", we can identify orders and activations that may need attention and free things that may be stuck in Alma for no clear reason, freeing encumbrances and just “keeping things clean” in the database.
PO Lines end up in review when information is missing or something went wrong (e.g. for some reason the PO Line was never "sent.)
When PO Lines are in status In Review, they will not close, even if the item has been received and the invoice has been paid.
Step One:
Bring up a list of all POLs by going to Acquisitions => All PO Lines.
Step Two:
Use the facets on the left.
Under "Workflow Step" check the box next to "In Review." Click “Apply.”
Step Three:
Use additional facets to further break down the results to make them easier to manage. For example, limit to Vendor = GOBI.
Step Four:
Go through the items in the list one by one.
It is probably easiest if you open a second browser tab to open a second instance of Alma.
Figure out what is going on with the titles with status In Review.
Do a little bit, and when you get tired, stop for the day and come back to it.
For example:
Look at the order record.
If the item hasn't come in, select "Order Now" from the drop-down menu in the order record.
This will change the PO Line status to "Sent." That is correct.
For example:
If the PO Line is in Review because information is missing (e.g. price), try to determine what is wrong, edit the PO Line, and then "Save and Continue."
The PO Line will go into status "Auto Packaging."
For example:
If the book has been received and paid and the PO Line is still in status In Review, first check to see if any information is missing from the PO Line (e.g. Access provider).
Edit the PO Line to enter any needed information, then select "Order Now" from the drop-down menu.
The PO Line status should change to "Closed."
Note:
When using "Order Now" or "Save and Continue" to move a PO Line out of status In Review, it has never been the case that the vendor receives the order and sends a second copy of the item, though this is a possibility. This is because GOBI knows that we only order via the API, and with other vendors we order via their website or email. We're not actively using EDI ordering (where Alma FTPs the order to the vendor) at this point in time.
But there is a small possibility that the vendor (GOBI in particular) could receive the order via FTP and get confused. For this reason, as you clear PO Lines In Review, it might be a good idea to jot down the PO Line number, title, and ISBN and send an email to the vendor representative to let them know we are not actually ordering another copy of the item and that they should ignore any duplicate orders they receive.
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If the vendor was an oddball vendor for whom "Purchase" instead of "Purchase at Vendor System" was used as an Acquisition method, we might need to enter an email for the vendor in the vendor record so they can "receive" the order when we choose Order Now. This can be a fake email, or your email. See the Strand vendor record as an example where we have used one of our emails for this purpose.