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In the Metadata Editor go to the thE File menu and highlight New from the dropdown list, and then select MARC21 Bibliographic from the second dropdown list:
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Click on the tag (i.e. LDR, 008 etc.) and use Ctrl+F to expand it (or use the Metadata Editor menu: Edit>Open Editing Actions>Open Form Editor):
Most of the input boxes require you to select from a dropdown list, but there are some free-text boxes (e.g. Date) which require information to be entered directly.
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Click on the field immediately above where you want to add a new field.
Click on Edit>Add Editing Actions>Add Field (shortcut: F8).
A new empty field is created, with the cursor ready in the first box (i.e. the tag).
Deleting a field
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Click on the field you want to delete.
Click on Edit>Remove Editing Actions>Remove Field (shortcut: Ctrl+F6).
The field is deleted and the cursor moves to the end of the following field.
Adding a subfield
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Click on the field in which you want to add a subfield, immediately before where you want the subfield.
Click on Edit>Add Editing Actions>Add Subfield (shortcut: F9) or simply type $$. (The first method is preferred for the sake of avoiding typos, especially a single $, which will corrupt data).
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Entering special characters
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There is no native way to enter these into Alma, but one of the following techniques can be used:
- Copy and paste from a reliable source, such as:
- a website (e.g. Wikipedia generic unicode information page).
- bibliographic record 990030609290204761. This is a record that Paul has created, listing special characters used in a variety of languages commonly encountered at UCL.
- the Windows Character Map programme.
- Use combining characters as described on the Harvard Wiki's Guide to Entering Combining Symbols in Alma.
- Enter codes to produce characters:
- Enter the Windows alt-number, e.g. for an e acute (é), hold down the Alt key and enter 130 using the numeric keypad. If pressing the Alt key gives you menu options, then you will need to turn these off to make this method work: click on the profile icon, UI Preferences, Shortcuts customization, then deselect "Alt + number".
- Install a browser extension, such as the following which should work with Alma:
- FirefoxChrome: Character Input (version 4). Allows entering of Unicode and alt-key characters. Press Insert key, then enter a character code: aXXX for an Alt Code , uXXXX or (e.g. a130 for é); XXXX for a Unicode code , (e.g. 00e9 for é); a valid HTML entity (e.g. eacute for é); c for a copyright symbol . This is a revised version of the Unicode Input extension.
- Chrome: A Chrome version of the Firefox Character Input extension should be forthcoming. The Unicode Input extension was removed.
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- ©. Note that a0169, 00a9, and copy also work. Where possible some fuller and alternative names for accents are permissable, e.g. ehacek and ecircumflex will work although the correct codes are ecaron and ecirc. Codes can be all lower case although capital letters need to be entered properly, e.g. Eacute for É. This is a revised version of the Unicode Input Chrome extension, which has been removed.
- Firefox: Character Input (version 3). Allows entering of Unicode and alt-key characters. Press Insert key, then enter a character code: aXXX for an Alt Code (e.g. a130 for é); XXXX for a Unicode code (e.g. 00e9 for é); c for a copyright symbol ©. This is a revised version of the Unicode Input extension.
See also Other Methods on Harvard's Wiki.
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You are then presented with a list of authorities derived from the Alma Community Zone.
Note the symols symbols on the left of the headings:
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If Alma has linked a heading to an authority record, a binoculars symbol
will appear to the left of the heading in the Metadata Editor:
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Editor:
Copying, Pasting, Sorting etc Fields
Copying and pasting text within a single field
Text within a single field can be copied, cut and pasted using the standard Windows shortcuts:
Copy: Ctrl+C
Cut: Ctrl+X
Paste: Ctrl+V
These can no longer be used to applied to fields as a whole. Instead, use Ctrl+Shift+C, Ctrl+Shift+X, and Ctrl+Shift+V respectively.
Copying and pasting a single field
Click on the field to be copied
Click on Edit>Copy Editing Actions>Copy Field (or Ctrl+Shift+C)
Click on the field before you want to paste (some fields appear to be sorted automatically; others are not)
Click on Edit>Paste Editing Actions>Paste Field (or Ctrl+Shift+V). The field is pasted and the cursor moves to the new field.
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Hold down Ctrl and click on all the other fields to be copied
Click on Edit>Copy Editing Actions>Copy Field (or Ctrl+Shift+C)
Click on the field below where you want the pasted field to appear (some fields appear to be sorted automatically; others are not)
Click on Edit>Paste Editing Actions>Paste Field (or Ctrl+Shift+V).
The fields are pasted and the cursor moves to the new field.
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Deleting multiple fields
Click on the first field to be deleted.
Hold down Ctrl and click on all the other fields to be deleted.
Click on Edit>Remove Editing Actions>Remove Field (or Ctrl+F6).
Fields are deleted.
Sorting fields (and removing empty fields)
Click on Edit>Enhance Editing Actions>Enhance the Record (or Ctrl+Alt+E) -- A small window pops up.
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- The record is released for other cataloguers to edit. A record is automatically released for editing one hour after you last edited it anyway
- The record is removed from your list of records. There is no easy way to see what you have recently edited, so make sure you are sure you want to release any records.
Save Draft
Click on File>Save Draft (or: Ctrl+Alt+S). (This function is the same as auto-save.)
Does:
- Validate the record
- Save the record on user's account
Does not:
- Save the record on Alma for others to see
- Release the record for others to edit
- Make any changes visible on Primo
Save Record
Click on File>Save (or: Ctrl+S)
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Click on the Save Record icon:
Does:
- Validate the record
- Save the record on user's account
- Save the record on Alma for others to see
- Make any changes visible on Primo
Does not:
- Release the record for others to edit
When you try to save a record, Alma will sometimes ask if you want to view matched records in the catalogue before saving. These matches are unlikely to be exact in many cases, so just click No.
Save and Release Record
Click on File>Save and Release Record (or: Ctrl+Alt+R)
Does:
- Validate the record
- Save the record on user's account
- Save the record on Alma for others to see
- Release the record for others to edit
- Make any changes visible on Primo
Does not:
- N/A
Release Record
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Click on File> Release Record (or: Alt+Shift+R)
Does:
- Release the record for others to edit
Does not:
- Validate the record
- Save the record on user's account
- Save the record on Alma for others to see
- Make any changes visible on Primo
It is more likely that you will want to release all the records that you have open in the Metadata Editor by clicking on MARC21 Bibliographic in the list of records, and clicking on Release All Records from the drop-down:
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You can delete multiple items by clicking the tick boxes on the left and then choosing choosing Withdraw items from the top menu:
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To delete a holdings record
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From editing a record in the Metadata Editor, go to the Holdings screen by clicking on View Inventory (or: Ctrl+I)
Click on the ellipsis to the right of the holdings record you want to delete and select select Delete.
Alma will ask You are about to delete this Holdings. Are you sure?
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If there are no items attached, Alma will delete the holdings record.
To delete multiple holdings records
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From the Holdings List, you can delete multiple holdings records by clicking the tick boxes on the left and then choosing choosing Delete Holdings from the top menu:
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If there are items attached, Alma will warn that that Holdings are not empty and cannot be deleted.
Alternative method for deleting holdings
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When editing a holdings record in the Metadata Editor, click on on File>Delete Record (or: Ctrl+D):
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To delete bibliographic records
When editing a bibliographic record in the Metadata Editor, click on File>Delete on Record Actions>Delete Record (or: Ctrl+D).
If there is an inventory attached, Alma warns Bibliographic Title xxx cannot be deleted as it has x physical item(s) in process.
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This Alma document is based on the previous Aleph guide on Libnet. This is only one way of doing this; we need to decide which one is the preferred method at UCL. The Aleph to Alma migration used 773 fields.
URLs
Aleph Libnet guide: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/libnet/procedures/collections/cataloguing/linking
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