The community-driven release process for Alma™ continues to provide new and enhanced capabilities to almost 2700 libraries worldwide. The November 2024 Feature Release became available to customers on November 3 and contains several significant items, across several key areas of library resource management, that enables staff to save more time, work more effectively, and boost productivity.
One of the key items contained in this release is a UI upgrade in the Alma repository search that results in faster, simpler searches and streamlined workflows. The new Title Search offers more actions that can be performed and enhanced navigation options, bringing your workflows into the search page and enabling you to perform them while in the original search context. It also makes metadata management easier by speeding up the display of information and ability to update it.
Another important new UI design and underlying technology enhancement improves efficiency of circulation desk staff. Alma’s Manage Patron Services UI was completely redesigned to support more streamlined workflows reducing staff workload and the time it takes to service library patrons at the circulation desk.
“The involvement and dedication of our strong Alma community are central driving forces for Alma development, especially in the case of the Title Search and Manage Patron Services UI improvements,” stated Dana Moshkovits, Senior Director of Product Management at Ex Libris™, part of Clarivate™. “These two major enhancements, and so many other items in this release, will deliver library staff crucial time savings and new capabilities to become more effective.”
The November release contains several other enhancements and updates across key areas of Alma, notably to improve resource management, acquisitions, collaborative networks, and analytics. One notable item, the Alma AI Metadata Assistant in the Metadata Editor page, can be now enabled by administrators in a Phase 1 preview to see how it will simplify cataloging workflows through the use of artificial intelligence.
Review the 2024 Alma release notes to gain further insight to all the items released to Alma customers through this November release and throughout the year. We also encourage you to find out more why Alma is the right choice for your library today and prepares you for the future.
