Revised: October 23, 2023
"Named Users" are active users records in Alma that have been assigned any role that can log into Alma, except for Patron, Instructor, Trial Participant, and roles that are only for Leganto (Instructor, Leganto Course Operator, and Leganto Interface Administrator) or Rialto (Selector, Selector Limited, Super Selector, Rialto Manager, and Rialto Administrator). To keep our total number of Named Users under our contractual limit and avoid any additional licensing fees, all I-Share institutions should follow the recommended best practices outlined below. See also CARLI's Named User FAQ for more information.
How many Named Users each I-Share institution should have will depend on several factors. You should have as many as you need but no more than you require to operate your library securely. Consider the following questions:
1. When possible, create generic user accounts for both student positions and library staff. These accounts are to be shared by multiple users rather than assigning Alma roles directly to each user's personal Alma user record.
2. Use one of CARLI's Alma Sandboxes instead of creating test user accounts in your Alma IZ.
3. Some I-Share institutions where staff typically login to Alma via a campus single sign-on have created an internal Alma user with login credentials for Alma administrators to use as a backup in case their campus authentication system is offline. This is a good practice, but such backup users should be limited to one or two per institution. See CARLI's Best Practice Recommendations for Back-Up Admin Accounts in Alma for I-Share Institutions using Single Sign-on.
4. Establish local procedures to clean up Alma user records when any staff or students leave your library's employment.
5. I-Share institutions should review all Named Users in Alma at least once per year using the Staff Login Report and the Analytics reports to:
"Named Users" are active users records in Alma that have been assigned any role that can log into Alma, except for Patron, Instructor, Trial Participant, and roles that are only for Leganto (Instructor, Leganto Course Operator, and Leganto Interface Administrator) or Rialto (Selector, Selector Limited, Super Selector, Rialto Manager, and Rialto Administrator). Alma pricing is based on a metric that counts titles, e-journals, and Named Users, and CARLI's license for the Ex Libris Alma software permits us a fixed number of Named Users across all I-Share institutions and the CARLI Office staff. If the number of Named Users across all I-Share institutions is over our contracted limit, this will result in additional license fees.
I-Share institutions should use the Staff Login Report in Alma and the Analytics reports to regularly review the Named Users in their IZ and identify records that are longer needed in your institution’s Alma. Once identified, Deactivate the user record or remove the staff roles from the user record. Each I-Share institution should conduct this review and clean up at least once per year.
Named User Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How to Identify Named Users
How to Deactivate Named Users
Best Practice Recommendations for Creating Generic Shared User Accounts in Alma for I-Share
Best Practice Recommendations for Back-Up Admin Accounts in Alma for I-Share Institutions using Single Sign-on
CARLI Named User Management, Office Hours recorded July 13, 2023 (28:13)