I-Share Mandatory Fields for User Records in Alma

Any I-Share user, whether library staff or library patron, should be represented with a user record in Alma. User records provide both Alma and Primo VE with details on what any given user is authorized to do. For instance, patrons may borrow and renew materials according to terms of use, and log in to Primo VE to request materials and manage their accounts. Library staff may log in to Alma and perform tasks such as charging materials to patrons, ordering and cataloging resources, and managing electronic resources.

User data are shared between institutions as a part of Alma's automated fulfillment network architecture. In order to provide the data needed to facilitate resource sharing and follow-up with patrons of all institutions, CARLI is establishing the following user record fields as mandatory for all I-Share libraries. Each member library should ensure that the following data are supplied whenever creating users manually or adding and updating users through SIS integrations.

Institutions and libraries may choose to include more data than are specified here whenever applicable (e.g., including Country for international users)

Mandatory User Record Fields: Public Users

Alma "Public User" records are those records generated and provided from a student information system (SIS) or other enterprise platform, and typically represent users that are primarily patrons. Public users may also have staff roles in Alma.

• Primary Identifier
• Last Name
• Email Address (For one iteration of the email element, preferred="true" must be specified in the open tag)
• User Group
• Expiration Date
• Purge Date
• Address (For one iteration of the address element, preferred="true" must be specified in the open tag)
• Address Type (Select from Home, Work, Alternative, School)
• Address Line 1
• Address State/Province
• Address Postal Code
• City

About Barcodes and the Primary Identifier

The I-Share Resource Sharing Code states, "Borrowers must present a current, valid institutional identification card bearing their name and library identification number when requesting to borrow materials onsite." Therefore, each user record will continue to require a unique barcode. A user may have only one active barcode at a time.

If the primary identifier for your institution's users is the patron barcode, then then the barcode will not be listed again as a "Barcode" type identifier on the Identifers tab of the user record. Alma does not allow duplicate identifiers on a record, even if the same identifier value is found in differently labeled fields.

About Additional Identifiers

The Alma user record must include an identifier that will be used for authentication services, in order to allow users access to Alma and Primo VE. For internal users--users created in Alma and authenticated with the Ex Libris Identity Service--this will be either the primary identifier or the barcode.

For external users--users maintained in a student information system and synchronized with Alma user records--the authentication identifier may be the primary identifier, the barcode, or another identifier. Each of these identifiers must be included in the XML user files that synchronize data. See the documentation on Users in Alma below for more details.

ABOUT PREFERRED="TRUE" ATTRIBUTE

In the XML file, the address and the email elements should have this attribute present in one of the iterations.  This is necessary because resource sharing functionality requires this information or the process flow in Alma can break down as described in Alma User Records: Importance of Preferred Address.  The following example illustrates what the address block of an XML record should look like:

...

   <addresses>
     <address  preferred="true">
      <line1>145 Maple Street</line1>
      <city>Cascade</city>
      <state_province>ID</state_province>
      <postal_code>83611</postal_code>
      <address_types>
       <address_type>home</address_type>
      </address_types>
     </address>
     <address>
      <line1>1460 High Roller Drive</line1>
      <city>Las Vegas</city>
      <state_province>NV</state_province>
      <postal_code>88901</postal_code>
      <address_types>
       <address_type>work</address_type>
      </address_types>
     </address>
    </addresses>
 ...

About User Data Shared with I-Share Resource Sharing Transactions

When a library's users engage in resource sharing with other I-Share libraries through the automated fulfillment network, the following user data will be shared from the user's home library to the library providing services.

• Primary Identifier
• First Name
• Middle Name
• Last Name
• Job Title
• Job Description
• Preferred Language
• Expiry Date
• Purge Date
• Email List
• Address List
• Preferred First Name
• Preferred Middle Name
• Preferred Last Name

CARLI has distributed this list of fields from the Network Zone (NZ) to all institutions. Libraries may choose to share more fields. Alma will warn the library that local changes may prevent the library from automatically receiving future updates to this list. CARLI will notify all libraries if this list is modified in the future.

Mandatory User Record Fields: Staff Users

Alma provides a record type of "Staff Users" that may be used to track user activities in Alma and maintain staff user accounts efficiently. Staff users may be entered manually or may be generated and provided from a student information system (SIS) or other enterprise platform. Libraries are not required to enter library staff users using the Staff user type.

• Primary Identifier
• Barcode
• First Name
• Last Name
• Email Address (For one iteration of the email element, preferred="true" must be specified in the open tag)
• User Group
• Expiration Date
• Purge Date
• Address Type (Work)
• Address Line 1
• Address State/Province
• Address Postal Code
• City

Example XML File Based on I-Share Mandatory Fields for User Records in Alma

<users>
  <user>
  <primary_id>10819913</primary_id>
  <first_name>Simon</first_name>
  <last_name>Says</last_name>
  <user_group>UG</user_group>
  <expiry_date>2022-01-01Z</expiry_date>
  <purge_date>2022-12-31Z</purge_date>
  <contact_info>
    <addresses>
     <address preferred="true">
      <line1>105 High Roller Drive</line1>
      <city>Las Vegas</city>
      <state_province>NV</state_province>
      <postal_code>78276</postal_code>
      <address_types>
       <address_type>home</address_type>
      </address_types>
     </address>
    </addresses>
      <emails>
        <email preferred="true">
          <email_address>simonsays@mylib.org</email_address>
          <email_types>
            <email_type>personal</email_type>
          </email_types>
        </email>
      </emails>
    </contact_info>
  <user_identifiers>
    <user_identifier>
      <id_type>BARCODE</id_type>
      <value>21234128981777</value>
      <status>ACTIVE</status>
    </user_identifier>
  </user_identifiers>
  </user>
</users>

Related Ex Libris Documentation on User Records

Overview of User Management in Alma (Ex Libris Knowledge Center)
User Record Data Dictionary (Ex Libris Developer Network)
Managing Users (Ex Libris Knowledge Center)
Student Information Systems (Ex Libris Knowledge Center)
Users in Alma (Ex Libris Developer Network)

Other SIS-related Documentation

Getting Started with SIS Synchronization in Alma

How to Create an S/FTP Definition in Alma

SIS Synchronization Troubleshooting

CARLI's SIS Validator Tool

Importance of Preferred Addresses

Patron Extract Resources