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Pitstopping incoming digitally fulfilled requests

Last modified by Adam Snively on 2026-05-27, 11:39

This is a new feature added to Alma in the November 2024 release.

We have not tested it thoroughly and there are still some anticipated supply permutations to check (ie, non-Rapid partners, URL plus file delivery, delivering digital on physical requests…), but in principle the feature works as advertised, and you can see the results.

In addition, most places may use the Statistical category parameter but the degree to which that information is used in each IZ  will vary quite a bit. The data in the testing institution was completely unused and not external data.

The parameters for the pitstopping rule are limited to one of three options

  1. User Group
  2. Partner
  3. User Statistical Category

In the sample case, we assumed most institutions will opt for #3. User statistical categories are (usually?) not externally applied data from the SIS and are available for customization of the document delivery workflow.  There are some further configuration changes you will need to implement if you choose this option. Example screenshots pertaining to conditional document delivery below.

Setting up a Statistical category that can be assigned to specific users as needed

Ex Libris provides instructions for this in this document. Steps 1-3 are required to get the rule to work. Step 4 is only needed if you want the category available for analytics (recommended).

NOTE: Exact usage may differ depending on local configurations.

1. Creating Statistical Category Types

  1. Log into Alma
  2. Go to the gear bottom left (Configuration)
  3. Go to User Management > User Details > Category Types
    1. Select "Add Row"
    2. Name the code
    3. Give it a description
    4. Ensure "Default" is set to "No"
    5. Click "Add Row"
    6. Click Save or Customize

DocDel 1.png

2. Creating Statistical Categories

  1. Log into Alma
  2. Go to the gear bottom left (Configuration)
  3. Go to User Management > User Details > Statistical Categories
    1. Select "Add Row"
    2. Name the code
    3. Give it a description
    4. Ensure "Default" is set to "No"
    5. Click "Add Row"
    6. Click Save or Customize

DocDel 2.png

DocDel 3.png

3. Mapping Statistical Categories to Types

The Statistical Categories/Types link appears on the User Management configuration page only if at least one statistical category and at least one category type are defined. If you had to create the first type or category, you will need to log out and log back into Alma before this option will be available.

  1. Log into Alma
  2. Go to the gear bottom left (Configuration)
  3. Go to User Management > User Details > Statistical Categories/Types
    1. Select "Add Row"
    2. Select the Category (in this case “Testing Conditional Automatic Forwarding”)
    3. Select the Type ("Document Delivery")
    4. Click "Add Row"
    5. Click Save or Customize

DocDel 4.png

Setting up a condition document delivery rule

  1. Log into Alma
  2. Go to the gear bottom left (Configuration)
  3. Ensure your institution scope (YOUR UNIVERSITY) is shown in the CONFIGURING dropdown at the top of the screen
  4. Go to Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Send Borrower Document Delivery Rules
    1. Select "Add Rule"
    2. Give it a name
    3. Give it a description ("Conditional Automatic Forwarding of Document Delivery")
    4. Under Input Parameters, select "Add Parameter"
      1. Name = "User Statistical Category"
      2. Operator = InList
      3. Value = The category created in Step 1
      4. Click Add Parameter
    5. Ensure Send Document Delivery is set to False
    6. Add a label "Accessibility Check"
      1. This is optional but will be very helpful for staff. Since no new status is applied to the request that indicates why the document needs special handling and the request becomes status “shipped digitally” which is not a flag for staff that the document needs mediation, this label will highlight that this document is in "pit stop" status"
    7. Click Save

DocDel 5.png

4. Linking the statistical category to analytics

If you would like to be able to get usage statistics for the feature you will need to map the statistical category to a code in the Analytics User Statistics table. The field you are mapping can be found in analytics under: Subject area = Borrowing Requests (Resource Sharing) > Requester > Statistical Category (#)  

  1. Log into Alma
  2. Go to the gear bottom left (Configuration)
  3. Ensure your institution scope (YOUR UNIVERSITY) is shown in the CONFIGURING dropdown at the top of the screen
  4. Go to Analytics > General Configuration > Analytics User Statistics
    1. Select a free row, or the row you wish to change
    2. From the Description dropdown select the category type (see step 2) that matches your Conditional Automatic Forwarding rule
    3. Toggle to Enabled, if not already
    4. Save
    5. Note which STATISTICS_# code you just assigned this to. This will be same Statistical category # field in analytics. ie. in the below example, the category is mapped to the field "Statistical Category 01", in analytics