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Welcome to ENUG

Brandeis University – October 16, 2025

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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Alma

Kristen Fredericksen

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The City University of New York

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Agenda

Why tidy up Alma?
Cleanup projects at CUNY
Tools
Pitfalls

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Why tidy up Alma?

Get rid of everything that doesn’t spark joy

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Why tidy up Alma?

Get rid of everything that doesn’t spark joy

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Why tidy up Alma?

Can patrons discover the materials they need?
Can they figure out how to locate or request physical materials?
Can they access electronic resources?

Discovery

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Why tidy up Alma?

We won’t be using Alma forever
Maintaining clean data now means less cleanup in the future

Migration

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Why tidy up Alma?

Alma contract

Bibliographic records
Staff user accounts

Pricing

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Why tidy up Alma?

GIGO = Garbage In, Garbage Out
Missing or incorrect data ruins reports
Libraries depend on accurate statistics for expenditures, loans, patron counts, number of volumes owned, etc.

Reporting

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Why tidy up Alma?

Alma is an integrated library system, so acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, collection development, weeding, etc. are all related
One error can have unintended consequences in other areas

Workflows

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Records without inventory

Bibliographic records without

holdings records
electronic portfolios
electronic collections
digital files

Holdings records without items

What is it?

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Records without inventory

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Holdings without items

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Records without inventory

Advanced search for All Titles where “Has Inventory” = “No”
Narrow by facets or add additional search parameters

How to find it in Alma

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Records without inventory

Advanced search for Physical Holdings where “Has Items” = “No”
Narrow by facets or add additional search parameters

How to find it in Alma

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Records without inventory

Analytics report

Subject area: E-Inventory
Bibliographic Lifecycle = In Repository
No of Portfolio (In Repository) = 0

Add additional filters as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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Records without inventory

Analytics report

Subject area: Physical Items
Holdings ID is not null
Num of Items (In Repository) = 0
Bibliographic Lifecycle = In Repository
Holdings Lifecycle = Active

Add additional filters as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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Records without inventory

Save Alma searches as sets to revisit later and/or run jobs
Save Analytics reports as Alma sets to revisit later and/or run jobs
Analyze records by

Bibliographic Level
Has Orders
Linked Institution
Resource Type

How to analyze it

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Records without inventory

Don’t be afraid to delete records
Deletion jobs:

Delete Bibliographic records
Delete Holdings records with no Physical items

How to fix it

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Local notes

Institutions link their bib records to a record in the Network Zone (NZ) to take advantage of the shared catalog.
Some bibliographic fields can be protected so they’re only editable by that college’s staff and visible to that college’s patrons.
MARC 09X, 59X, 69X, 77X, 78X, 9XX

What is it?

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Local notes

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Local notes

Indication rule

Start with a set
Filter the set by an indication rule
Jobs can be run on the new set, or the results can be exported

How to find it in Alma

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Local notes

Ask Ex Libris to index the field(s) in Analytics
Create a set in Alma and run the “Export Bibliographic records” job to get a file you can analyze in MarcEdit or OpenRefine
Compare local notes to non-local notes to detect outliers

How to analyze it

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Local notes

590 notes in CUNY NZ records:

Barcodes!
Dates whose significance is lost
Local donors
Local grant-funded collections
Local shelving practices
Notes from OCLC members, not CUNY

How to analyze it

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Local notes

Metadata Editor

Go to Editing Actions 🡪 Add Local Extension
Enter the tag, indicators, and field contents
Delete the non-local field

How to fix it

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Local notes

Normalization

Create a set of titles
Create a normalization rule
Create a normalization process with the normalization rule
Run the normalization process on the set

Consortia require an extra step

After the note is converted to a local extension in the IZ, the non-local note must be deleted in the NZ

How to fix it

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Diacritic Errors

Special or foreign-language characters that didn’t render correctly

What is it?

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Diacritic Errors

Usually caused by incorrect settings in Connexion
Also caused by copying and pasting without changing indicators

What is it?

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Diacritic Errors

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Diacritic Errors

Simple search for All titles where Keywords contains “<U+fffd>”
Narrow by facets or add additional search parameters

How to find it in Alma

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Diacritic Errors

Analytics report

Subject area: Titles
Lifecycle = In Repository
Author contains any <U+fffd>;ǂ;â��;<U+0019>;<U+0014>;<U+001c>;&#x5d
Editions contains any <U+fffd>;ǂ;â��;<U+0019>;<U+0014>;<U+001c>;&#x5d

Add additional filters as needed as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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Diacritic Errors

Don’t.
Sometimes difficult to identify the correct character

could be anything
<U+fffd>e can represent é or è or several other characters

How to analyze it

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Diacritic Errors

Metadata Editor

Delete the problem character(s)
Go to Editing Actions 🡪 Insert Unicode Characters
Select the correct character

How to fix it

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Diacritic Errors

Overlay the records

Do a batch search in OCLC or Z39.50
Downloads the MARC records
Load them with a repository import profile (use merge rules to replace the fields you want to correct and protect the fields you want to retain)

How to fix it

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Barcodes

A unique machine-readable identifier that links an item or patron to its library record.
Usually numeric

Starts with 2 for patrons
Starts with 3 for items

What is it?

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Barcodes

What is it?

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Barcodes

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Barcodes

Simple search for Physical Items where Barcode starts with a number or a symbol
Narrow by facets or add additional search parameters

How to find it in Alma

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Barcodes

Analytics report

Subject area: Physical Items
Lifecycle = Active
Barcode contains any “ ”

Add additional filters as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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Barcodes

Bonus tip from SUNY reports: use a custom formula to display the spaces as different characters
REPLACE("Physical Item Details"."Barcode", ' ', '⸱’)
3 9016 0106 4271 9 🡪

3⸱9016⸱0106⸱4271⸱9⸱

How to find it in Analytics

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Barcodes

Use conditional formatting to highlight characters like . and $
Calculate the length of the barcode with the =LEN() function
Be aware of historic and current barcoding practices at your institution

How to analyze it

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Barcodes

Manually edit items one by one in Alma

How to fix it

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Barcodes

API + script

Create an API key in the Ex Libris Developer Network
Write a script that removes spaces in barcodes

How to fix it

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One-time POs/POLs that don’t close

Purchase order (PO) or purchase order line (POL) that remained open when it should have closed

What is it?

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One-time POs/POLs that don’t close

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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One-time POs/POLs that don’t close

Go to Acquisitions 🡪 Purchase Order Lines 🡪 All PO Lines
Narrow by facets

Acquisition Method: anything except Depository, Exchange, or Gift
Creation date: More than 6 months ago
Purchase type: anything with “One Time”
Workflow step: anything except Auto Packaging, Cancelled, or Closed

How to find it in Alma

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One-time POs/POLs that don’t close

Analytics report

Subject area: Funds Expenditure
Acquisition Method ≠ Exchange or Gift
PO Line Creation Date Filter = Older than 90 days
PO Line Type Name: anything with “One Time”
Status ≠ Cancelled or Closed

Add additional filters as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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One-time POs/POLs that don’t close

Figure out why the PO/POL didn’t close

Was the item properly received or activated?
Is the item in a work order?
Has an invoice been posted?
Did you use the wrong acquisition method?

How to analyze it

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One-time POs/POLs that don’t close

Different problems require different actions. You may need to:

Cancel the order
Receive the item
Activate the electronic portfolio
Complete an e-activation task for the electronic portfolio
Post an invoice
Reopen the POL and change the acquisition method

CUNY FAQ: How do I prepare for fiscal year rollover?

How to fix it

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Proxy links

Prefix at the beginning of an e-resource URL that redirects the user to the proxy server

What is it?

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Proxy links

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Proxy links

Why is it a problem?

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Proxy links

Advanced search for electronic portfolios where URL (Electronic Portfolio) contains keywords "ezproxy"
Narrow by facets or add additional search parameters

How to find it in Alma

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Proxy links

Analytics report

Subject area: E-Inventory
Lifecycle = In Repository
Portfolio URL contains any “proxy”
Portfolio URL does not contain any [your library’s proxy]

Add additional filters as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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Proxy links

Is it your institution’s proxy?
Export an Analytics report to Excel and sort by URL

How to analyze it

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Proxy links

Manually edit electronic portfolios one by one in Alma

Delete proxy from URL
Set Proxy enabled to Yes if the link needs your proxy
Set Proxy selected to “Default” if the link needs your proxy

How to fix it

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Proxy links

Run a job in Alma

Save the electronic portfolios as a set
Run the “Electronic portfolio information” job
Check the box for “Delete or replace URL's prefix”
Enter the full prefix
Leave “with” blank

How to fix it

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Proxy links

API + script

Create an API key in the Ex Libris Developer Network
Write a script that removes proxy prefix from portfolio URLs

How to fix it

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Expired hold shelf

Patron request that has expired

What is it?

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Expired hold shelf

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Expired hold shelf

Patrons will be frustrated that an item is “on hold shelf until” a date in the past

Why is it a problem?

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Expired hold shelf

Fulfillment 🡪 Resource Requests 🡪 Expired Hold Shelf
Narrow by facets

How to find it in Alma

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Expired hold shelf

Analytics report

Subject area: Requests
Lifecycle = Active
On Hold Shelf Time (Days) ≥ 14
Request Status = Active

Add additional filters as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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Expired hold shelf

Check for the books on your shelves

How to analyze it

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Expired hold shelf

CUNY FAQ: How do I clean up my Expired Hold Shelf?

How to fix it

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Expired calendar events and exceptions

Event or exception for a date in the past
Event = specific date (e.g., last day of semester) that affects fulfillment policies
Exception = times when your library is not open during regular hours (e.g., spring break)

What is it?

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Expired calendar events and exceptions

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Expired calendar events and exceptions

Go to Fulfillment 🡪 Advanced Tools 🡪 General - Opening Hours
Go to Configuration 🡪[select institution or library] 🡪 Fulfillment 🡪 Library Management 🡪 Opening Hours

How to find it in Alma

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Expired calendar events and exceptions

Export to Excel and sort by record type (event, exception, or standard opening hours) and “Valid to” date

How to analyze it

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Expired calendar events and exceptions

Delete one by one in Alma

How to fix it

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Expired staff and patron accounts

Alma user accounts with expiration dates in the past

What is it?

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Expired staff and patron accounts

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Expired staff and patron accounts

Advanced search for patrons with expiration before a certain date
Narrow by facets or add additional search parameters

How to find it in Alma

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Expired staff and patron accounts

Analytics report

Subject area: Users
Expiry Date < 1/1/25
Status ≠ Deleted

Add additional filters as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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Expired staff and patron accounts

No analysis necessary

How to analyze it

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Expired staff and patron accounts

Alma set and job

Create a set of expired users
Run the “Update/Notify Users” job on the set to add a purge date
Run the purge job (Admin 🡪 User Management 🡪 Purge User Records)

Knowledge article: Purge users based on a set, carefully

How to fix it

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Tools

Ex Libris tools

External tools

Excel
Large language models (ChatGPT, Copilot)
MarcEdit
OpenRefine

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Advanced search is your friend! You’d be surprised how much information you can get without going to Analytics.

But when advanced search doesn’t cut it, you may turn to Analytics. This is a very powerful program, and the best way to learn is to jump right in. You’re just running reports, not changing anything, so don’t be afraid you’ll break something. If you’re having trouble formulating an Analytics query, try running a report on a known item. You’ll have a better understanding of what each Analytics field means if you can compare it to a real example.

APIs are amazing because they can sometimes achieve things not possible in Alma proper. I am not a coder or programmer, so I rely on colleagues like Rebecca to write scripts that I can use.

I haven’t talked much about DARA, the Data Analysis Recommendation Assistant, but it has some useful tools. For instance, it can identify standalone electronic portfolios and group them into a local electronic collection.

Indication rules can be used to filter sets by criteria. You could have a set of records and narrow it to only those records with 9XX fields. Or a certain subject heading. Or a specific value in the LDR.

There are so many jobs in Alma that you might not even realize what they can do. Jobs can roll over course reserves to a new semester, remove titles from collections, change funds in POLs, withdraw items…the list goes on. The documentation I linked to here is really good (which isn’t something I can always say) and may give you ideas for new projects.

Normalization rules can transform your metadata. I’ve already shown you some of my normalization rules, but I use them a lot. I have special normalization rules for Gale e-resource records that we load with an import profile. I have normalization rules in place to delete some bibliographic fields when a record is saved. But don’t forget that normalization has to be done in both the IZ and NZ when a member institution has a linked record.

Almost every page in Alma can be exported to Excel, as can Analytics report. Excel is a wonderful, powerful tool.

I haven’t discussed generative or agentic AI tools here today, but that’s not because I don’t use them. I just haven’t done any large-scale cleanup projects with generative AI. I’ve used it for other library work, like having ChatGPT write a script to download and analyze the XML records from our institutional repository.

MarcEdit is a free program for editing records. Sometimes I export MARC records from Alma and load them in MarcEdit just so I can get a field count. But it’s very powerful software. You can even set up SRU to pull records from Alma, edit them, and push them back to Alma.

OpenRefine is a data editing tool. It’s especially useful for analyzing messy data. Let’s say I have a list of books, and I want to figure out which are the top 10 publishers. If there are different versions of a publisher name, like Simon ampersand Schuster or Simon and Schuster, you can tell OpenRefine to cluster them together.

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Pitfalls

Don’t: Make changes in production without testing in sandbox or in a small scale
Don’t: Work without a backup
Don’t: Do cleanup for the wrong reasons
Don’t: Leave your colleagues out of the loop
Don’t: Keep fixing problems without (re)training

Don’ts

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If you’re going to make batch changes, always always always do a small test first. Whatever you need to do, try it on one record or POL or patron at a time. If you can practice in a sandbox instead of your live Alma environment, that’s even better.

When I make changes to bibliographic records, I export the MARC file from Alma just in case. Another thing to remember is that Analytics is a day behind. So, let’s say, for instance, purely hypothetically, that Rebecca asked me to close lost loans, but I did it wrong. Luckily, Rebecca was able to go to Analytics on the same day I messed up, so she could run a report on the data as it was before I changed it.

I said it at the beginning, but I don’t do cleanup just to have pretty data. I would love to do cleanup all day, but I can’t. So, I have to consider why I’m doing cleanup and whom it benefits.

I recently worked on a project with a campus that had a bib record for every piece of equipment. So, if they had 100 laptops, they had 100 bib records. I worked with the cataloger to develop a plan for cleanup, and I did a couple small tests. Unfortunately, no one informed circulation about the change. They were pretty upset when their workflows changed on a Friday before Memorial Day. Everything worked out in the end, but it was tense.

There’s no point in fixing problems if they’re going to keep happening. I did that big cleanup on local notes, but there are still staff who are doing it wrong. People need to be trained or retrained to prevent future errors.

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Pitfalls

Script/file versioning

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Questions? Comments?

kristen.fredericksen@cuny.edu

https://kristenfredericksen.blogspot.com

https://github.com/cuny-libraries

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Problem

What is it?

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Problem

Discovery
Migration
Pricing
Reporting
Workflows

Why is it a problem?

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Problem

Advanced search for XYZ
Narrow by facets or add additional search parameters

How to find it in Alma

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Problem

How to find it in Alma

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Problem

Analytics report

Subject area:

Add additional filters as needed as needed

How to find it in Analytics

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Problem

How to find it in Analytics

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Problem

How to analyze it

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Problem

How to fix it

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