Alma Acquisitions

The librarian will look into the request and communicate with the requestor if needed. The librarian should find out if the book is for a course or personal research; if the book is for personal research, suggest I-Share before we order the book. Faculty may request an ebook or print; if the faculty member does not request either, and the ebook is cheaper, suggest an ebook and check with the faculty member to see if there is a compelling reason to order print. Also be sure to find out if the book needs to be put on reserve and for what course.

1. Verify that we do not already own a copy. If we do own a copy you can reject the request in Alma (there may be other reasons to reject the request too). Before rejecting the request, it would be courteous to personally email the faculty before they get the Alma rejection notification email. 

2. Edit the request by clicking the EDIT button:

3. Important: Select an owning library, either Seymour Library or Amott Science Commons. This will help to get the book to the correct location.

4. If the request format is an ebook, look the item up on Gobi to check the price. If the price is more than $100, check with the faculty member to find out why they would like the item in ebook format. Please add a note to let Gail know what the faculty member communicated about the book.

5. Put any notes about reserves, holds, or anything else, in the Requestor Note field.

6. Click the SAVE button when finished editing the purchase request.

7. The screen with the list of purchase requests will refresh. Find the purchase request in the list then assign to Gail Heideman. This will allow Gail more easily relink the request to a Bib record that will be used for cataloging the item. 

8. The purchase request disappears from the list of current purchase requests. Once Gail is ready to order the book, the requestor will receive an email notification saying the purchase request has been approved.