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Deactivating Electronic Resources in Alma

Last updated July 23, 2026.

Overview

When your library has ended a subscription, wants to retain the records, and not remove anything from Alma, then you will want to deactivate the electronic resource. This documentation will go over how to deactivate an entire electronic collection, as well as electronic portfolios. Deactivating an electronic resource is turning the service off/making access unavailable, whereas Deleting an electronic resource is removing it completely from Alma. The documentation will also go over the differences in deactivating an Aggregator package and Selective package electronic collection type vs. deactivating a Database type electronic collection.

Roles Needed

  • Electronic Inventory Operator
  • Electronic Inventory Operator Extended
  • CDI Inventory Operator
  • Repository Manager

Video Tutorials for Deactivation

deactivating an aggregator package and selective package type electronic collection in alma

Demo Video of "Deactivating an electronic collection" (2:25)

 

deactivating a database type electronic collection in alma

Demo Video of "Deactivating an electronic collection" (5:23)

 

deactivating electronic portfolios

Demo Video of "Deactivating Electronic Portfolios" (5:44)

 

 

Steps for Deactivating an Electronic Collection (Aggregator Package and Selective Package Type)

1. In Alma, search for the electronic collection in the persistent search bar. (Make sure you are searching the Institution Zone search scope/house icon.)

2. To the right of the electronic collection name, click on the three ellipses/more actions menu button and select Edit Service from the drop-down menu.

3. This will land you on the Activation tab in the Electronic Service Editor. In the first row, Service Activation Status select the Not Available radio button and click the Save button in the upper right portion of the screen.

4. This deactivates the service to the e-collection and the associated portfolios. Note: If you look at the electronic portfolios after saving this change, the icons will still appear blue. They do not appear gray.

You can test that the change applied by going back to the search result. Then, click the Portfolios List button to the right of the electronic collection name. From here, click on the three ellipses next to a portfolio name. Select Display in Discovery. Note: usually this change is instantaneous, but sometimes can take 15 minutes - an hour to take effect.

If it's been over an hour and the electronic portfolio continues to display in Primo VE, submit a ticket to .

 

Steps for Deactivating an Electronic Collection (Database Type)

1. In Alma, search for the electronic collection in the persistent search bar. (Make sure you are searching the Institution Zone search scope/house icon.)

2. Click the Descriptive Record button the right of the electronic collection name.

3. This takes you to a Record View screen. From here, click Edit in the upper right corner.

4. Clicking edit will display the record in the Metadata Editor (MDE). It will take a few moments to load. Once it does, click the Record Actions menu button and check the box in the drop-down menu next to Suppress Record. Note: when the record has been suppressed an icon with a gray circle, white eyeball, and a red diagonal line will appear in the left side pane and also in the blue banner bar atop the record.

5. Next, click the Save menu button and select Save and Release Record from the drop-down menu. This saves the change and releases the record from your user account in the MDE. This ensures that if other users need to work with the record they will have access once it is released from your user in the MDE. 

6. You can test that the changes have been applied by repeating the search and seeing if the icon next to the electronic collection name is gray. Gray indicates no service, while blue indicates active service.

 

Steps for Deactivating a Portfolio or Portfolios in Bulk

For the purposes of these directions we will use the Nexis Uni e-collection featured in the first demo video above. Note: that this only applies to electronic collections with Aggregator package and Selective package type in Alma because they contain portfolios. The Database type electronic collection does not contain portfolios.

1. In Alma, search for Nexis Uni in the persistent search bar. (Make sure you are searching the Institution Zone search scope/house icon.)

2. To the right of the Nexis Uni e-collection, click on the three ellipses/more actions menu button and select Edit Full Text Portfolios from the drop-down menu.

3. This will land you on the Portfolios tab in the Electronic Service Editor. From here, you can click on the Activate/Deactivate menu hyperlink and select from Deactivate All or Deactivate Selected. This is how you can deactivate portfolios in bulk. Click the Save button to ensure your changes are applied.

From this same screen, if you are wanting to deactivate one or a few portfolios, you can use the search box on the far left, and search by title, ISSN, or ISBN. Then, click the three ellipses/more actions menu to the right of the portfolio name and select Edit. This will default to the first tab named General. In the first row of information on this tab, it says: Portfolio Availability. Select the radio button for Not Available and then, click Save to ensure your changes are applied.