DRAFT DOCUMENT please contact Erin Nettifee with questions
Introduction
Alma uses Work Orders to represent times when you are working on a specific item or item record and need to move it through a series of steps. For handling Lost and Missing items, DUL libraries will use the process documented here.
Use cases covered in this work order
Case 1: Items ages to lost
Example: Patron checks out the item and doesn’t return it.
What happens in Alma: Alma automated lost loan process marks the item with automated process type “lost” and charges the patron a fine.
Next step: Closing the loan
Case 2: Item is declared lost
Example: Patron says “Hey, I checked this out but I left it on the airplane so I can’t return it.”
What happens in Alma: Staff mark the loan lost from patron loans list. Alma marks the item with automated process type “lost”, with no associated work order status.
Next step: Closing the loan
Case 3: Requested item cannot be found
Example: A patron requests an item. When staff go to pull it from the shelf, the item cannot be found.
What happens in Alma: Staff process request by using “Mark as Missing.” Item goes to associated item process type of “Missing.” Marking the request as missing moves it to the next item (or makes it unfilled if no other items are possible.)
Next step: Search for the item.
Case 4: All other ways that an item goes missing
Example: A library does a shelf inventory over the summer and discovers an item is not shelved as expected.
What happens in Alma: Staff move the item to a Missing status in one of three ways
Select “Toggle Missing Status” from the item record;
Use the Item Information bulk job to apply a Missing process type.
Searching for lost items
Start the “Missing Items Search” work order
If the item has a Missing status, we need to move it into the Alma work order of “Missing Items Search”.
From the “Physical Items” search, find the item record.
Edit the item record and apply a work order type of “Missing Items Search” with a processing department.
No work order status is applied at this screen.
Don’t use the “Work Order” button - missing items are not requestable, so you can’t start a work order that way. Edit the item instead.
