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Creating a DIY Room Reservation System Using Alma's Booking Functionality

Jill Locascio, MLIS, M.S.

SUNY College of Optometry

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Background�

  • ~400 Students
  • Lock-step curriculum
  • 6 Study Rooms
  • All 6 Study Rooms often occupied
  • No policy on Study Rooms usage
  • Complaints of unfair use

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March 2020 – September 2020�

  • Classes held remotely
  • Library remained open/available for use
  • Social distancing initiatives implemented in the library
  • Need for Study Room usage policy
  • Need for Study Room reservation system
  • Budgets frozen

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Booking Requests in Alma�

“A booking request reserves an item for a specific time period. This can be helpful for managing the usage of in-demand items.”

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“Booking requests can also be used to reserve study rooms, equipment, and other resources.”

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https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/030Fulfillment/030Booking/010Booking_Workflow

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A Caveat�

“A booking request reserves an item for a specific time period. This can be helpful for managing the usage of in-demand items.”

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  • Booking request process is geared towards the booking of items
  • Configuring for Study Rooms can be clunky and difficult to conceptualize

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Configuration Steps�

  • Create Study Room Booking TOU
    • Select/Create room reservation fulfillment policies
  • Set Patron Limits
  • Create Study Room Fulfillment Unit
  • Create Study Room Location
  • Edit Fulfillment Unit
    • Attach loan and booking rules

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Configuration Steps (continued)�

  • Create Study Room bibliographic and holding record
    • Attach individual Study Rooms as items
  • Edit Booking Request form
  • Test, test, test!

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Study Room Booking TOU�

Configuration-> Fulfillment -> Physical Fulfillment -> Terms of Use and Policies

  • Add a Terms of Use: Type = Booking
  • Terms of Use Details: Add a name and description
  • Select/Create/Edit Terms of Use Policies

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Study Room Booking TOU�

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Terms of Use Policies

  • Booking release time: The amount of time after a booking request takes effect that the institution holds the resource for the requesting patron.
  • Item is bookable: Whether the item is bookable
  • Maximum allowed booking length: The maximum permitted duration of the booking request.
  • Preview period: The amount of time prior to the booking period that the requester can borrow the item.

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Terms of Use Policies (continued)�

  • Pickup Locations: The locations where a patron can request to pick up a requested item.
  • Future Limit: How far in advance an item can be reserved through a booking request.
  • Back to Back Booking: The minimum amount of time required between consecutive booking requests for the same resource & requester.

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Terms of Use Policies (continued)�

  • Purged Request Fee: A fee applied to an unfulfilled, expired booking request.
  • Booking Resolution: Allows you to define the allowed resolution of your booking request.
    • Minutes, Hours, Days, Days plus overnight
  • Closed Library Booking Management: Allows you to define how to handle a booking request that includes closed hours for the library.

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Terms of Use Policies (continued)�

If the policy you would like to select is not present in the drop-down

    • Click the row actions (ellipsis)
    • Select “Add policy”
    • Create and save your new policy (choose Value Type = Other if you are defining a number of hours, days, etc.)
    • After saving, select your new policy from the drop-down menu

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Terms of Use Policies (continued)�

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Set Patron Limits

Configuration-> Fulfillment -> Patron Configurations-> Patron Limits

  • Find user group(s)
  • Enter max bookings number

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Set Patron Limits

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Study Room Fulfillment Unit�

Configuration-> Fulfillment -> Physical Fulfillment -> Fulfillment Units

  • Click “Add Fulfillment Unit”
    • Give it a code, name, description
    • On Shelf Request Policy: “Request for pickup anywhere regardless of availability”

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Study Room Fulfillment Unit�

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Study Room Location�

Configuration (*MUST BE AT LIBRARY LEVEL) -> Fulfillment -> Locations -> Physical Locations

  • Click “Add Location”
    • Give it a code, name
    • Type: “Open”
    • Fulfillment Unit: The Study Room Fulfillment Unit you just created
  • Attach it to your main circulation desk

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Study Room Location�

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Study Room Location (continued)�

  • Attach it to your main circulation desk
    • Click row actions (ellipsis) next to newly created location
    • Select “Edit”
    • Click “Attach Existing Circulation Desk”
    • Select your main desk

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Study Room Location (Continued)�

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Edit Fulfillment Unit�

Configuration (* back to institution level) -> Fulfillment -> Physical Fulfillment -> Fulfillment Units

  • Select “Edit” from the row actions (ellipsis) next to your new study room fulfillment unit
  • Select Fulfillment Units Locations tab
    • Click “Attach existing location “
    • Select your newly created study room location

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Edit Fulfillment Unit�

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Edit Fulfillment Unit (continued)�

  • Select Fulfillment Unit Rules tab
    • Rule Type: “Booking”
    • Click “Add Rule”
    • Give it a name, description (optional)

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Edit Fulfillment Unit (continued)�

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Edit Fulfillment Unit (continued)�

    • Input Parameters
      • Click “Add Parameter”
        • Name: “Location”
        • Operator: “=“
        • Value: “Study Room” (or whatever you have named your new location)
    • Output Parameters
      • Terms of Use: “Study Room” (or whatever you have named your Study Room Booking TOU)

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Edit Fulfillment Unit (continued)�

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Edit Fulfillment Unit (continued)�

  • On Fulfillment Unit Rules tab
    • Rule Type: “Loan”
    • Click “Add Rule”
    • Give it a name, description

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Edit Fulfillment Unit (continued)�

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Edit Fulfillment Unit (continued)�

    • Input Parameters
      • Click “Add Parameter”
        • Name: “Location”
        • Operator: “=“
        • Value: “Study Room” (or whatever you have named your new location)
    • Output Parameters
      • Terms of Use: An existing or newly created loan TOU with a “Due Date” policy that matches your selected study room booking TOU “Maximum allowed booking length” policy. For example, if your “Maximum allowed booking length” is 2 hours you would either need to select or create and then select a loan TOU with a “Due date” policy of 2 hours.

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Edit Fulfillment Unit (continued)�

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Bibliographic and Holding Record�

Will vary according to local policies.

Things to remember:

  • How you choose to catalog it will affect how it displays and discoverability in Primo
  • These are container records for the individual study rooms which will be added as items

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Adding the Individual Rooms�

  • Add Item
  • Important fields
    • Barcode
    • Material Type
    • Description
  • Repeat for each room

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Adding the Individual Rooms�

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Testing It Out�

  • Is it discoverable in Primo?
  • Do the brief and full record displays make sense?
  • Can rooms be successfully reserved?
  • Are the policies reflected?
  • What do the error messages look like?
  • Any other form edits needed?

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Testing It Out�

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Testing It Out�

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Editing the Booking Request form�

Configuration -> Discovery -> Display Configuration -> Labels

  • Request Tab Messages table
    • Hour: nui.DatePicker.hour
  • Requests Labels table
    • Check Availability: almaRequest.checkAvailability
    • Start/End Date: almaRequest.startDate, almaRequest.endDate
    • Success: nui.request.success

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Bringing It All Together�

  • Wrote out policy
  • Created How-To (LibAnswers)
  • Signs on each room
    • Outline basic policy (Reservations > First come, First served)
    • 2 QR codes
      • Make a reservation
        • Links to LibAnswers FAQ which links to permalink of full record in Primo
      • View reservations
        • Links to availability calendar (from full record) of that room

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Testing It Out�

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Bringing It All Together (continued)�

  • Sent email to College Community
    • Policy
    • Procedure
    • Link to How-To

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Usage Data�

  • Analytics -> Request subject area
  • FAQ views
  • Most engagement with Library account in Primo

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Takeaways (Cons)�

  • Not very flexible and requires creative problem solving
  • Best to mold your room reservation policies around what Alma is capable of
  • Won’t be for everyone
    • Highly dependent on size and user base of institution

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Takeaways (Pros)�

  • No-cost option
  • Don’t have to learn/integrate a new platform
  • Connected to student library accounts
  • Gets the job done

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Questions?�

Contact info: jlocascio@sunyopt.edu

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