Claiming in Alma
Through the claiming function, Alma identifies subscription PO Lines that are late in having items received (or e-resources activated).
Unlike with one-time purchase claims, in which Alma automatically contacts the vendor through EDI or email, Alma does not contact the vendor for claims on continuing POLs.
[Alma can be set up to send serial claims to vendors, but this is not effective, because Alma only identifies the PO Line and title, not which issue is missing.]
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PO Line Parameters
Claims are based on these fields in the PO Line:
Subscription interval: [enter a number here in days]
1 day for daily
7 days for weekly
14 days for biweekly
30 days for monthly
60 days bi-monthly
90 days for quarterly
180 days for semi-annually
120 days for three-times-a-year
360 days for annually
Etc.
Claiming grace period (days): [enter how many days in addition to the subscription interval that the issue should be overdue before it is sent to claims task list, e.g. 7]
Expected receipt date: [this is updated to the last issue's receipt date + subscription interval]
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To view issues that Alma has identified as late, go to Acquisitions => Purchase Order Lines => Claim.
You can filter the results by Purchase Type: Print Journal - Subscription and/or by Vendor.
Check the Claim area once a week for issues to claim.
From this area you can select Change Expected Date under the PO Line if you need to update the expected date because you learned that an issue is running late, for example. You can also Cancel the claim.
Note that when you are checking an issue in, if you notice an issue was skipped, you can proceed to claim it if you haven't already. See below on Communicating with Vendor.
Communicating with Vendor and Updating Alma
Claims should be made by email to the vendor specifying the title, ISSN, volume, and issue number being claimed.
Claims for subscriptions acquired through EBSCO can alternatively be made through EBSCONET (see below).
Once you initiate a claim, update Alma:
Click Edit to edit the PO Line.
Click on the Notes tab.
Use Quick Add to enter a note with details about the claim, e.g. v.5:no.3 (Feb 2015) claimed via email on 3/1/2015
Follow up on claims on a regular basis.
Information about issues being delayed, replacements being sent, etc. can also be entered on the Notes tab of the PO Line using Quick Add.
Claiming through EBSCONET
Log in to EBSCONET
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To initiate a new claim:
Orders => New Claim
Search for journal title and click on title name in results.
Claim this Order
Populate form then Submit
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To follow up on existing claims:
Orders => Claim Checker
Search for title (or enter nothing and click Search to bring up a list of all claims)
Use drop-down menu to Reclaim, Relist, mark as Received, or Remove
Note that if you need to make a second claim, it is better to email our customer service representative rather than to use EBSCONET.
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