When are my books due back??? How the University of Minnesota has utilized Alma Implementation to simplify circulation policies.

Abstract

By adding a new set of circulation policies for a new collection or a special set of items, the University of Minnesota has allowed the list of circulation policies in Aleph grow to a number that is close to unmanageable. System -wide, the five campuses have over 4,000 active circulation rules in effect. Many of these rules are for just a handful of items in a system that has over 10 million items in total. The sheer number of rules have made it impossible to fully post policies to patrons and have also made the system maintenance overly complex. As the University of Minnesota is going through the process of migrating to Alma, a conscious effort has been made to dramatically simplify the process. While not yet live with Alma at Minnesota, it is anticipated that the 4,000 different circulation rules will be consolidated to approximately 25. This presentation will look at the challenges involved making such sweeping changes and how Alma can facilitate such a change.