Named Users FAQ

Revised November 20, 2023

Overview of Named Users in I-Share

"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 or Rialto. 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 cleanup at least once per year according to the Best Practice Recommendations for Named Users in I-Share.

CARLI I-Share Named User Documentation

CARLI’s Named User documentation is linked on the User Management page.
Best Practice Recommendations for Named Users in I-Share
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 video, Office Hours recorded July 13, 2023 (28:13)

Count of Named Users Across I-Share

Current License Terms: 2298 Named Users for all I-Share institutions and CARLI staff

Date Number of Named Users Notes
Aug. 17, 2021 4322  
Sept. 1, 2021 4287  
Sept. 9, 2021 3117  
Oct. 12, 2021 3584 includes 534 new, temporary users for IHLS staff assisting with the Alma Title Count Reduction Project
Mar. 31, 2023 3131 removes the 500+ new temporary users for IHLS staff and counts them and CARLI staff members only once in total across the network
July 13, 2023 3020  
Oct. 29, 2023 2846  

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Named Users

Roles for Managing Named Users

Q: What roles do I need to manage named users?

A: For most user management tasks, you would need the User Administrator and User Manager role. In order to run the Staff Login Report, you will need the General System Administrator role. If you will be running reports from Analytics, you will need the Design Analytics role.

Counting Named Users

Q: What makes a user record a Named User?

A: "Named Users" are active users records in Alma that have been assigned any role that can log into Alma. This includes all roles except Patron, Instructor, Trial Participant, and roles that are only for Leganto or Rialto.

The count of Named Users in your library IZ is not affected by:

  • the number of patron/user records
  • whether your staff logins are managed internally in Alma or externally via a SIS update
  • what system, if any, your institution may be using to manage single sign-on authentication for your staff and patrons
  • users in any of CARLI's premium Sandboxes

number of named users

Q: How many Named Users are in CARLI's contract?

A: CARLI's current license terms contain 2,298 Named Users for all I-Share institutions and CARLI staff.

Q: How many Named User should my institution have?

A: We do not currently have a specific number of Named Users per institution, but in fall 2023, CARLI asked all I-Share libraries to audit and report on their Named User usage.  Our Alma contract and pricing are based on aggregate totals across all I-Share institutions and the CARLI Office staff.  Every I-Share institution should have as many Named Users as they need to operate their library securely but should have no more Named Users active than they need at any one time.

Q: Are Named Users added to CARLI's contract as new libraries are added to I-Share?

A: Yes, new libraries joining I-Share are asked for the number of Named Users needed at their library and those are added to the total in CARLI's contract.

carli and ex Libris Users

Q: Should we deactivate the users belonging to carli?
Q: We have several CARLI staff as named users in Alma, sometimes more CARLI staff than our Library staff. Are we to keep those accounts?
Q: Do CARLI accounts that are in my Alma instance counted as a separate staff account in another institution? I think we have more CARLI accounts than our library named accounts.
Q: How would we know if a "Staff" user is CARLI and not something we no longer need? Will all CARLI users say CARLI?

A: All CARLI staff users' Primary Identifiers will begin with carli_ and the Last Name field will contain CARLI or (CARLI Account). This includes IHLS cataloging staff contracted with CARLI to perform NZ cleanup tasks. Do not edit or deactivate carli_users. Ex Libris has agreed to count carli_ accounts for each staff member only once across the entire network.

Q: There are some accounts related to Ex Libris staff including exl_impl, exl_support, exl_api, rialto_impl or rialto_success (for Rialto libraries), and LegAdmin or LegLib (for Leganto libraries) in my IZ. Should I deactivate those?

A: Do not edit or deactivate users whose Primary Identifier begins with exl_ or rialto_ as those are used by Ex Libris staff and are not counted towards our total number of the Named Users.

For Leganto libraries with users such as "LegAdmin" and "LegLib," these users can be deactivated AFTER your Leganto implementation is complete as your library staff should have Leganto-specific roles added to their existing Alma user records as needed.  Do not edit or deactivate the leganto_guest user as that user allows guest access to Leganto and cannot be deleted; it does not count as a Named User.

admin User (Alma Administrator)

Q: What if we don't see an admin user (Alma Administrator) listed?
Q: I see the "Alma Administrator" account that was ExLibris. Are we supposed to be able to use that Alma Admin one or is that for ExLibris?

A: Do not edit or deactivate the "admin" user or change its password. The "admin" user is a superuser account reserved for use by CARLI staff as a back-up account.  If you do not see an "admin" user named Alma Administrator, please contact .  I-Share library staff should not use the "admin" user (Alma Administrator) if it is present; if you wish to set up a backup admin account, see CARLI's Best Practice Recommendations for Back-Up Admin Accounts in Alma for I-Share Institutions using Single Sign-On for more information

Leganto and Rialto user roles

Q: Which Leganto-specific and Rialto-specifc roles are not counted as Named Users if the user has no other Alma roles assigned to them?

A: Staff that have user roles for Leganto--including Instructor, Leganto Course Operator, and Leganto Interface Administrator--but no roles for Alma are not counted as Named Users. Similarly, Rialto roles--including Selector, Selector Limited, Super Selector, Rialto Manager, and Rialto Administrator--do not cause a user to count toward the Alma Named User totals if the user has no other Alma roles assigned.

Test Users

Q: What about the test account from when OpenAthens was activated?
Q: For test accounts, do we need to delete it completely or just remove the User roles?
Q: Should we disable the users belonging to testing?

A: CARLI recommends that any test users that you created in your IZ should be Deactivated at the user record level and edited to have a Purge date set on the user record as soon as they are no longer needed for testing so that they will not count toward our total number of Named Users and be safely purged from the system. 

CARLI encourages I-Share libraries to use one of the CARLI Alma Sandboxes for user testing of staff roles whenever possible rather than creating test accounts with staff roles in your IZ that will count towards our total number of Named Users.

Back-up Accounts for When Single Sign-on Authentication is Not Working

Q: We have a Test Auth and an ITHelpDesk account. Can we keep those?
Q: Can we keep one test account for when OpenAthens goes down?
Q: If we use SAML to login to Alma, do we need to work with IT to create accounts that work with Alma, or use a different URL without SAML to login?

A: CARLI recommends that each institution using single sign-on have one or at most two shared back-up accounts that can be used to log in to Alma if your single sign-on authentication system goes down and your staff are unable to log in to Alma. See CARLI's Best Practice Recommendations for Back-Up Admin Accounts in Alma for I-Share Institutions using Single Sign-On for more information. These back-up accounts are Alma "Internal" accounts, so to use these accounts, you will need to use a different URL to access Alma from the one you use when you typically log in with your campus single sign-on credentials; see CARLI's Logging into Alma - Which URL to Use? page for more information.

When Individual Accounts may be preferred over Generic Accounts

Q: It is helpful for us to keep track of the work that individual students are doing in Alma, to see who is making mistakes and may need more training. Can we keep individual accounts for students?
Q: Would it be better to have a specific user role given to a student worker as needed or to have a generic account that has numerous roles?

A: Generic, shared accounts are most appropriate for small sets of limited staff roles. If a staff member or student worker has specific tasks, more advanced roles, or tasks that require tracking, a generic account may not be appropriate for them.  Please see CARLI's Best Practice Recommendations for Creating Generic Shared User Accounts in Alma for I-Share for more information.

Cautions when Using Generic Accounts

Q: When you say that people shouldn't login on more than one computer at a time- do you mean to just be logged in on computers in two separate spaces, such as both a personal desk and a reference desk? Or do you also mean not being logged in on two separate tabs on the same computer?
Q: I'm curious what will happen with shared general accounts if two people log on at the same time. Currently to have 2 sessions of Alma open simultaneously on the same account you have to use different browsers or incognito mode.
Q: Would we need to have 2 general accounts if we need two computers to be using fulfillment at the same time?
Q: For generic accounts, should we change login passwords as students leave? Any other security best practices?

A: I-Share libraries are encouraged to use generic shared accounts when possible, but there are situations when you may need more than one generic account.  Avoid situations where two or more users might be logged into a single shared account from two or more different workstations simultaneously; for example, two different computers at the Circulation desk.  In such a case, it would be better to create two separate generic shared accounts, one for each computer. If more than one user is logged into Alma on the same user account and they are be editing the same data or records, data loss may occur.

Changing the password on shared accounts every semester, or whenever workers turn over, is recommended.

Deactivating a User Record Vs. Deactivating a STaff Role VS. removing staff roles from a User record

Q: Can we delete a student's role(s) if we know they are not coming back as student workers but still are patrons?
Q: You said to deactivate roles rather than deleting (removing) them. If we have student workers and other employees who have left our employment (and aren't coming back), why wouldn't we want to remove (delete) the roles?

A: A user will still be counted as a Named User if their record has disabled staff roles. The user must be Deactivated or the staff roles must be removed from the Active user record in order for it to no longer count as a Named user.  Here are a few scenarios and recommended actions:

  • If the staff user has no affiliation with your institution, is no longer employed by the library, and does not need the Patron role (meaning they do not retain any borrowing privileges), then Deactivate the user record and set a Purge Date on the record.
  • If the staff user is no longer employed by the library but does need the Patron role because local policies allow them to retain borrowing privileges, then remove all roles but the Patron role on the user record leaving only the Patron role.
  • If the user is a student or temporary worker who is not currently or no longer employed at the library but is still affiliated with your institution, then remove all roles but the Patron role on the user record leaving only the Patron role.

Deactivating the staff roles in the user's record is not sufficient; a User with deactivated staff roles is still counted as a Named User in Alma.

Do not Delete a User Record, Purge instead

Q: Can you clarify between what "Delete a user" vs "Purge a user" means?

A: If you search for a User Record and click on the ellipsis button (Row Action menu), you will see an option to Delete the user record. NEVER DELETE the user record. Deleting the record will remove it and the history of what actions that user has taken in Alma and affect statistics in Analytics.

Purging a user is a specific action that can be taken on Alma user records after the record's assigned Purge Date has passed.  CARLI has documentation and recommendations on purging, which is an ongoing and essential part of good database maintenance and data stewardship.

User Record History when Deactivating

Q: Will deactivating a user erase their work trail within Alma? For example, where it would have noted that they created an invoice or added a note it will now be blank?

A: No, Deactivating the user record will maintain its history and linkages in Alma.

Contact Users

Q: Who are the "Contact" users? We have one that says it is "internal" and job description is "Product Support Specialist".

A: Contact users are related to Vendors and have no roles assigned, so they don't count towards as Named Users.

Past Announcements Regarding Named User Cleanup