Importing an Analysis into Alma

Creating an Alma set directly from Alma Analytics

This section will walk you through how to create and import a set from Alma Analytics, directly into Alma (without having to export the file and reimport it as before)

If you already have an analysis created, and you just need to import it into a set in Alma, jump to Step 6. In steps 6 and 7 you'll see information about how to format the analysis properly and where to save it to access it.

Also please see the Notes at the end of this section for information on using other types of analyses (such as for Users, Electronic Sets, etc.), and how to deal with issues that might arise when importing them.

1) Login to Alma and under the Alma menu, under "Analytics", select "Design Analytics"

2) In the new window, select "New" then "Analysis"

3) Then scroll down in the list and select "Physical Items"

4) Now create the analysis as shown below.

This analysis will list physical titles received in the last two days to the institution.

(See the picture below as an example of how it should look at the end)

  1. Under "Physical Item Details" add "Receiving Date"

    • Add a filter for "Receiving Date" as "is greater than or equal to", then select the "Add More Options" button, select "SQL Expression", and finally input "TIMESTAMPADD(SQL_TSI_DAY, -2, CURRENT_DATE)"

    • Add a filter for "Receiving Date" as "is less than or equal to", then select the "Add More Options" button, select "SQL Expression", and finally input "TIMESTAMPADD(SQL_TSI_DAY, -0, CURRENT_DATE)"

    • (See the pictures to the right for more detail on this one)

  2. Under "Bibliographic Details" add "Suppressed From Discovery"

    • Add a filter for "Suppressed From Discovery" as "is equal to/is in" with the value of "No"

  3. Under "Bibliographic Details" add "ISBN"

    • Add a filter for "ISBN" as "is not null"

  4. Under Bibliographic Details" add "Title"

5) Now you can go to the "Results" tab and see the output results. Note where the "ISBN" column is here.

6) In order to properly import data from analytics to Alma, we need to move the "ISBN" column to be first here. Simply drag and drop the column to do so. (For analyses other than Physical Items where ISBN might not be the 'key', see the notes at the end of this section)

7) We can now save the report by clicking "Save as" in the top right corner.

7) In order to import the analysis into Alma, it needs to be saved in the "Shared Folders". Save it under your institutional folder here.

For ours we saved it under the "University of Georgia" folder, under the sub-folder "Reports".

Be sure to properly name the analysis as well.

8) Now back in Alma, we can create our set. Under "Admin", select "Manage Sets"

9) Click on "Add Set" and select "Itemized"

10) Give the set a proper name and set the content type

For the analysis's "Set content type", selected "Physical titles". For more details on other content types, see the notes at the end of this section.

11) Then select "From Analytics" towards the bottom

12) For the "Analytic Folder", find the folder in which you saved the analysis. The institutional specific folders are often towards the bottom of this list.

13) For the "Name", select the name of the analysis you wish to import.

14) Then click "Save" in the top right corner. (Note, do not press "Add Members to Set". This is used to add members manually.)

14) Now you will either see that the job was submitted, or an error message saying the set couldn't be imported.

If the job was submitted, you can click on "My Sets" to reload the page until you see your set.

If you got an error message, go to the end of this section to see possible reasons why and how to fix them.

15) Once you see the set, you can click on the "..." button and select "Members" to view the imported members

16) Here you'll see the members of the set.

17) If something seems wrong with the set, (perhaps there are too few members), you can go view the report from the job that imported the set.

To do this, click on "Admin", then "Monitor Jobs"

18) On this page, select the "History" tab, and then find the job that corresponds to the imported set. Select the "..." button, then click "Report"

19) Download ".csv" error file to view any problems and why they might be present.

Notes:

From Step 6 or an error from Step 14: If you are creating an analysis other than physical titles, the 'key', or item in the first column of the analysis must be as follows:

  • Authorities: MMS Id

  • Collections: PID

  • Digital Files: PID

  • Digital titles: ISBN, OCLC number, ISSN, PID, or 035 Field

  • Electronic Collections: PID

  • Electronic Portfolios: Portfolio Id, or PID

  • Electronic Titles: ISBN, OCLC number, ISSN, PID, or 035 Field

  • PO line: PO Line reference

  • Physical Items: Item Id, Barcode, PID, or Item PID

  • Phyiscal titles: ISBN, OCLC number, ISSN, PID, or 035 Field

  • Reading lists: READING_LIST_CODE

  • User: BARCODE, USERNAME, INST_ID, or TWITTER

  • Vendor: Vendor code

This is because when importing the analysis as a set, Alma attempts to match items in the first column with the unique identifier of that type.

For Users particularly, the unique identifier for them is "Primary Identifier". However, Alma doesn't recognize this text, so the column in the analysis must be renamed to "USERNAME". See the images below on how to do this.

  1. In the column drop down menu, select "Column Properties"










2. On the "Column Format" tab:

    • Check the "Custom Headings" checkbox

    • Rename the "Column Heading" to "USERNAME"