Item templates in Alma

Scope

Item templates in Alma enable staff who have a need to create many item records with similar characteristics to prefill specific fields in those records with desired values, making the item creation process more efficient and accurate.

Item templates cannot be used to modify existing item records.

Due to system limitations in managing public item templates in the UCB Alma environment, do not use public item templates at this time. Unit supervisors are encouraged to assist their staff as needed to create their own private item templates for intraunit consistency.

Contents

• Creating and managing item templates
  • Creating a new private template
  • Updating an existing private item template
  • Deleting a private item template
• Creating a new item record using an existing item template

Creating and managing item templates

For additional information on item templates, see Adding a Physical Item to an Existing Title.

Creating a new private item template

When creating a new item record, instead of finalizing your work as normal by clicking Save, you may instead save the populated fields as an item template. This enables you to use the saved template to populate new item records with the same field values as the template.

To create a private item template:

1. Create a new item record by selecting Add item.
2. Make edits to the new item record that you want to be reflected in the new item template. At this stage, you can only edit fields in the General tab. Editing fields in the Notes tab can be done when updating an existing item template.
   • Reference: Item record basic info for tech processing and cataloging staff
   • Reference: Items - adding, editing, and field coding
3. Click Save as template.
4. In the Template Name field, enter the name of your new template.
5. Select No for the “Public template?” option. UC Berkeley policy is to not create public item templates.
6. Click Save to finalize the creation of your item template.
7. Click Cancel to cancel creation of the new item record.

Some fields, even if populated, will not be retained in the saved template:

• Barcode
• Inventory number
• Pattern information
• Process type
• At (request department)
• Item call number prefix/suffix
• Temporary call number prefix

As a best practice, prepopulate only data that will be shared among all item records created with the template. This will minimize the need to delete any pre-populated data. For example, if creating a private template for serial items, you might wish to enter “v.” in the Description field, but not a specific volume number. Pre-populating with a placeholder (such as “v.[#]”) is not recommended as that prompts the additional work of deleting the “[#]” each time an item is created, and can result in confusing data if not edited properly each time.

Updating an existing private item template

If you need to update an item template after you have saved it:

1. Create a new item record by selecting Add item from template, select the template you wish to modify, and click Create item.
2. Make edits to the populated item record that you want to be reflected in the modified item template. You can edit fields in the General and Notes tabs.
   • Reference: Item record basic info for tech processing and cataloging staff
   • Reference: Items - adding, editing, and field coding
3. Navigate to the item record’s General tab, and click Save as template.
4. From the Existing Templates drop-down menu, select the template you wish to update. The existing template’s name will populate the Template Name field; do not modify it, or a new, separate template will be created, and the existing template will remain unchanged.
5. Select No for the “Public template?” option. UC Berkeley policy is to not create public item templates.
6. Click Save to finalize the update of your item template.
7. Click Cancel to cancel creation of the new item record.

Deleting a private item template

If you no longer have use for an item template that you have created, you can delete it as follows:

1. Navigate to an item record’s General tab.
2. Click Save as template.
3. From the Existing Templates drop-down menu, select the template you wish to delete. If you were the user who created the template, a Delete button will appear.
4. Click Delete to delete the selected item template. You will get a notification confirming deletion of the template.
5. Click Cancel to close the Save as template window.

Creating a new item record using an existing item template

Once you have created a private item template, you can use it to create new item records with fields populated according to the selected template. Anywhere there is an option to add a new item to a holdings record, there also exists an option to add a new item using an item template.

1. Create a new item record by selecting Add item from template, select the template you wish to use, and click Create item.
2. As needed, make edits to the populated item record. You can edit fields in the General and Notes tabs.
   • Reference: Item record basic info for tech processing and cataloging staff
   • Reference: Items - adding, editing, and field coding
3. Click Save to finalize creation of the item record.