Running Manual Jobs on Defined Sets
To run a manual job, you must have roles that enable you to a) access the Run a Job – Select a Job to Run page, and b) run the job.
To access the page, you must have one of the roles listed in the Manual Jobs By Content Type table in the Manual Jobs and Their Relevant Parameters section; see the table for the roles required to run each job. Only jobs enabled for your role appear in the list of jobs.
This section presents how to run a job manually on a defined set of objects, such as a list of PO lines or physical items.
To run a job on a set:
- If there are no sets defined or if you require a specific set for the job you are running, you must first define the set. For information on defining sets, see Managing Search Queries and Sets.
- On the Run a Job – Select Job to Run page (Administration > Manage Jobs > Run a Job), find the job you want to run using the Find search box, filters, sort options, and navigation links. Run a Job - Select Job to Run PageFor more information about the jobs in this list, see Manual Jobs and Their Relevant Parameters. For each job, the following information appears:
Run a Job – Select Job to Run Page Columns Name Description Name The name of the job. Description A description of the job. Content Type The type of set that the job processes. For example, physical titles, digital titles, bibliographic records, and so forth. Type The type of request or job that runs (for example, export, move items, or requests). - Select a job and click Next. The Run a Job - Select Set page appears.Run a Job - Select Set Page
- Select a set and click Next. If there are parameters to set, the Run a Job - Enter Task Parameters page appears. If there are no parameters to set, the workflow skips this page.Run a Job - Enter Task Parameters (Example) PageThe number of members in the set that you selected in the last step appears on this page. Verify that this number is similar to what you expected based on the selected set.Enter the required parameters. The parameters appearing on this page vary according to the job being run. Many of the parameters are self-explanatory. For information about the parameters on this page, see Manual Jobs and Their Relevant Parameters.
- Click Next. The Run a Job - Review and Confirm page appears. Run a Job - Review and Confirm (Example) Page
- Enter a more descriptive job name to replace the default one. The name identifies this job for editing and monitoring.
- The number of members in the set that you selected in the last step appears on this page. Verify that this number is similar to what you expected based on the selected set.
- For more information on the API Information section, see the Developer's Network documentation.
- Review the job information and:
- Click Submit and click Confirm in the dialog box to run the job.
- Click Back to go back and correct any information that you entered. When you click Back, you are taken back one page at a time. You can click Back on any page to go back to the previous page.
- Click Cancel to delete what you entered and return to the home page.
Manual Jobs and Their Relevant Parameters
The following table lists the available manual jobs that can be run on defined sets. To run the job you must have one or more of the roles in the Roles column.
Name | Content Type (set type) | Type | Description and Parameters | Role |
---|---|---|---|---|
Authority MMS |
| Assign cataloging level to bibliographic records. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Delete Local Authority Records | Authority MMS | Withdraw | Deletes local authority records that are not locked for editing. Disconnects the related bibliographic records from the deleted authority records. Parameters: There are no parameters to define. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Export Authority Records | Authority MMS | Export | Exports local authority records. Note that your environment must be configured to support the management of local authorities. Parameters:
| Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator, Cataloger |
* user-defined authority normalization jobs | Authority MMS | Marc 21 authority normalization UNIMARC authority normalization CNMARC authority normalization | Alma provides support for creating jobs that make global Drool-based normalization rules changes to locally managed authorities. For more information, see Performing Global Changes on Locally Managed Authority Records. Parameters: Select the Drools file key. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Add Reminders | Bibliographic title | Metadata Management | Adds reminders to bibliographic records. See Working with Reminders for more information. | Cataloger, Cataloger Extended |
Delete Bibliographic Records | Bibliographic title | Withdraw | Deletes bibliographic records. See Deleting Sets of Bibliographic Records. Bibliographic records with associated PO lines will not be deleted. The Excel file that can be downloaded identifies the records with PO lines. ![]() Records with PO Lines Identified in the Excel File Parameters: Select whether or not to delete:
The job report is limited to 10,000 records. If there are more than 10,000 records for the report to handle, the following report error is generated: The report was not generated due to the number of records required to be calculated. There is a known issue that, when a record is deleted, the headings associated with the record are still available when browsing bibliographic headings. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Export Bibliographic Records | Bibliographic title | Export | Exports bibliographic or metadata records to the user’s PC or FTP site. Parameters:
| Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator, Cataloger |
Identify records that are not used in the Network | Bibliographic title | Metadata Management | Helps you to identify which bibliographic records are not being used. From a titles set of records (All titles, physical titles, electronic titles, and/or digital titles) that you provide (create before you run this job), the Identify records that are not used in the Network job creates a new set that identifies the unused bibliographic records from the set that you provided. The job evaluates if a bibliographic record is not being used based on the criteria of no inventory (physical, electronic, or digital) and any of the following criteria that you may select:
The Identify records that are not used in the Network job needs to be run from your Network Zone. When you run this job, the Run a Job - Enter Task Parameters page provides the following options: ![]() Run a Job - Enter Task Parameters Page Select the criteria that you want the system to use to evaluate if a bibliographic record is unused. By default, the set will include all records with no inventory (physical, electronic, and/or digital). When you submit the job and the Monitor Jobs page appears, select the History tab to view the job results. See the Identify Records that are not Used in the Network Job Report section on the Viewing Completed Jobs page for more information. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Identifying Brief Level | Bibliographic title | Management Tags | Calculates the brief level of records. For more information, see Working with Brief Record Levels. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Link a Set of Records to the Network Zone | Bibliographic title | Metadata Management | Link local records to records from the Network Zone. See Copying and/or Linking Local and Network Zone Biblographic Records. Parameters:
| Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Bibliographic title |
| Runs a set of normalization tasks on a set of bibliographic records. See Configuring Cataloging. (When configuring cataloging, this job is run on records imported using an import profile.) | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Bibliographic title |
| Runs a set of normalization tasks on a set of bibliographic records. See Configuring Cataloging. (When configuring cataloging, this job is run when a record is saved.) | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Bibliographic title |
| Runs a set of normalization tasks on a set of bibliographic records. See Configuring Cataloging. (When configuring cataloging, this job is run when resequencing records.) | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Bibliographic title |
| Runs a set of normalization tasks on a set of bibliographic records. See Configuring Cataloging. (When configuring cataloging, this job is run when resequencing records and clearing empty fields.) | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Bibliographic title |
| Assign cataloging level to bibliographic records. Parameters: Select the cataloging level for the records. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Suppress Bib Records from Discovery | Bibliographic title | MARC 21 Bib Normalization | Marks bibliographic records as suppressed or non-suppressed from discovery (Primo, Primo Central, and Google Scholar). Parameters: Select whether or not to suppress from discovery. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Synchronize Bib Records with External Catalog | Bibliographic title | MARC 21 Bib Normalization | Marks bibliographic records for synchronization or no-synchronization with an external catalog (OCLC). Parameters: Select whether or not to synchronize the records (or only the holdings) with an external catalog. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Synchronize MMS with National Catalog | Bibliographic title | MARC 21 Bib Normalization | Marks whether records should be published to Libraries Australia (by the Upload Holdings to Libraries Australia job). For information, see Publishing to Libraries Australia. Parameters: Select to publish or suppress the bibliographic records. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Unlink a set of records from the Network | Bibliographic title | Metadata Management | Unlinks bibliographic records identified by a specified a set (All titles, Physical titles, Electronic titles, or Digital titles) from the Network Zone. This job takes no parameters. See Unlink a Set of Records from the Network Job Report on the Viewing Completed Jobs page for job report information. For more information on unlinking a set of records from the Network Zone, see the Unlink a Set of records from the Network video (1:47 mins). | Catalog Administrator |
Unlink Bib Records from Authority Records | Bibliographic title | Metadata Management | Unlinks bibliographic records that have been authorized/linked to Community Zone records so that institutions wanting to implement local authorities can subsequently authorize/link those same bibliographic records to local authority records. This job takes no parameters. | Catalog Administrator |
* user-defined MARC 21 bibliographic record normalization jobs | Bibliographic title | MARC 21 Bib Normalization | Alma provides support for creating jobs that make global Drool-based normalization rules changes to locally managed bibliographic records. For more information, see Working with Normalization Processes. Parameters: Select the Drools file key. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator |
Import CZ Records from CN/NZ Members Task | CN import Community Zone member (internal) | CN_IMPORT_CZ_RECORDS | Harvest Community Zone-linked electronic records from members in a Network Zone, and display these records in the Network Zone as linked to the Community Zone. See the publishing jobs below in Publishing Bulk. Also, see Copying and/or Linking Local and Network Zone Bibliographic Records for more information. | Catalog Manager |
Thumbnail Generation | Digital file | Thumbnail | Generate a thumbnail for each digital file in a set. Parameters:
Thumbnail auto-generation is limited to files under 500MB. | Digital Inventory Operator, Collection Inventory Operator |
Export Digital Titles | Digital title | Export | Export digital bibliographic records with details about the files and their storage location. Parameters:
| Digital Inventory Operator, Digital Inventory Operator Extended |
Digital title | Information Update | Implement global changes to the representations in a set of digital titles. Parameters: Under the Apply Only For section, indicate the criteria to determine for which representations you want the changes to apply. The following criteria are available:
Under the Change Fields section, select the parameters to indicate the changes that you want to be made to the representations. The following parameters are available:
| Digital Inventory Operator, Digital Inventory Operator Extended, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator | |
Cancel Physical Items Requests | Physical item | Request | Cancels open requests for physical items. Parameters: Provide a cancellation reason and a note, as required. Select whether to cancel only requests that are still in the pickup stage. | Fulfillment Services Manager, Fulfillment Administrator |
Change Loan to Claimed Returned | Physical item | Loan | Updates item loan status to claimed returned. There are no parameters to set. | Circulation Desk Manager, Fulfillment Administrator, Repository Manager |
Change Holding Information | Physical item | Information Update | Updates holdings information for physical items or physical titles. For more information, see Performing Global Changes on Holdings Records and the surrounding sections. Parameters:
| Physical Inventory Operator, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Change Physical Items | Physical item | Information Update | Updates item information for physical items or physical titles. For more information, see Performing Global Changes on Physical Item Records. Parameters: The parameters (mostly) correspond to the options available on the Physical Item Editor tabs that can be accessed by doing a repository search for physical items and clicking Edit for one of the items in the search results list. For more information, see Using the Repository Search Results List and Updating Item-Level Information. Select the check box at the beginning of each row for which you want to make a change. For each parameter (other than the Change location fields parameters), select if the change is to occur:
| Physical Inventory Operator, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Close Lost Loans | Physical item | Loan | Closes lost loans. All items in the fulfillment set are closed (even if they are not marked as Lost). This job closes both paid and unpaid lost loans, but does not delete the item associated with the loan. Any fines or fees associated with the loan remain on the patron's record. If a lost loan is returned after the loan has been closed, the Lost Item Replacement Fee Refund Ration policy is not invoked; rather, any credit due for the returned loan must be applied manually to the patron's record. After running this job, the item’s job type changes to Missing. Parameters: There are no parameters to configure. | Circulation Desk Manager, Fulfillment Administrator, Repository Manager (with institution-level scope) |
Create Physical Item Move Requests | Physical item | Move Items | Updates item information and initiates moving physical items to a new location. Parameters:
| Physical Inventory Operator, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Create Physical Item Work Orders | Physical item | Request | Creates a work order request for physical items. Parameters:
| Fulfillment Services Manager, Fulfillment Administrator |
Export Physical Items | Physical item | Export | Exports physical items from any title-level set. Parameters:
| Physical Inventory Operator, Receiving Operator, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Export Physical Items Labels | Physical item | Export | Exports physical item labels for printing. Parameters:
| Physical Inventory Operator, Receiving Operator, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Rebuild Item Description | Physical item | Item Description | Generates descriptions based on templates that include enums/chrons, item forms, and rules. Parameters: There are no parameters to define. | Physical Inventory Operator, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Withdraw Items | Physical item | Withdraw | Validates that the items in the selected physical titles or physical items set are eligible for deletion (for example, they are not on loan or linked to an active PO line) and deletes them. For more information, see Deleting Physical Items (Withdrawals). Parameters:
If this job is run on a set of physical titles, the items in the set are withdrawn even if the Keep holdings option is selected and regardless of whether the same bibliographic record has multiple holdings records in different libraries. If this job is run on a set of physical Items, only the specific items in the set are withdrawn. Even if a bibliographic record has multiple holdings records in different libraries and each holdings record has items, only the items that are in the selected physical items set are withdrawn. Other items are not withdrawn. When running the Withdraw items job, Alma checks to determine whether an item has an open order. Items with open orders are not withdrawn by the Withdraw items job. On the Job Report page, items with open orders are identified in the Number of unmanaged items count and an error message appears in the Report Table section of the Job Report page identifying the specific type of error. | Physical Inventory Operator Extended, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Cancel Physical Titles Requests | Physical title | Request | Cancels open requests for physical titles. Parameters: Provide a cancellation reason and a note, as required. | Fulfillment Services Manager, Fulfillment Administrator |
Physical title | Withdraw | Deletes holdings records with no items (and not linked to a PO line). The job uses a set of bibliographic records (Physical titles) and evaluates the holdings records attached to those bibliographic records for deletion. The following handling options are provided for bibliographic records with no holdings and no items:
Since the set you use may contain holdings from different libraries and locations, you have the option to select the deletion to be processed for a specific library or library+location. ![]() Delete Holdings Records with No Items Parameters See Delete Holdings Records Job Report on the Viewing Completed Jobs page for job report information. For more information on deleting holdings records with no items, see the Delete Holdings Records with No Items video (2:15 mins). | Catalog Administrator | |
Change Electronic Portfolio Information | Portfolio | Information Update | Updates portfolio information for electronic portfolios. For more information, see Performing Global Changes on Portfolios. Parameters:
| Electronic Inventory Operator, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Delete Portfolios | Portfolio | Withdraw | Deletes portfolios. For more information, see Deleting Local Portfolios. Parameters: Select the actions to perform:
| Electronic Inventory Operator Extended, Repository Administrator, Repository Manager |
Export Electronic Portfolios | Portfolio | Export | Exports electronic portfolios in the following types of sets: electronic portfolio, electronic title, and all titles. The output format of the export file is either the TXT, KBART, or Google Scholar (which is based on the institutional_holding.xsd file) format. Note that only active portfolios are exported, except in the case of a KBART export, in which inactive portfolios are also exported. (The Number of records without active Electronic inventory (skipped) counter in the job report lists the records that were not exported because they are inactive.) Parameters:
| Electronic Inventory Operator, Repository Manager |
Publishing Bulk (set type is bibliographic title) | Publishing | Republishes Alma records. Used, for example, when a library or institution changes its name. For more information, see Publishing to OCLC, and Exporting Alma Records to Primo. Parameters: There are no parameters. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Portfolio | Publishing | Marks records to be published to Primo by the job Network Zone Republish Set of Titles Job. Run by a member institution in the Network Zone. The impl job is run in the test environment. Parameters: There are no parameters to define. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Portfolio | Publishing | Publishes records marked by the job Mark Records to be Published by NZ Job to Primo. Run by the Network Zone. The impl job is run in the test environment Parameters: There are no parameters to define. | Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator | |
Change PO Lines Status | Purchase Order line: See Reviewing PO Lines and Closing, Reopening, and Relinking PO Lines | Change PO Lines Status | Changes the status of PO lines. Parameters: Select to cancel, close, or delete the PO lines. When canceling or closing, you can select to force the cancel or close of PO lines that have outstanding issues and for which a warning message would be displayed in Alma. When closing, you can select to remove tasks from the e-activation task list. Only PO lines with one of the following statuses can be closed: Waiting for Invoice, Waiting for Renewal, or Waiting for Manual Renewal. | Purchasing Operator, Purchasing Manager, Acquisitions Administrator |
Update PO Lines Information | Purchase Order line: See Reviewing PO Lines and Closing, Reopening, and Relinking PO Lines | Update PO Lines Information | Updates PO lines. Parameters: Select the parameters and conditions by which to update the PO lines. The check box to the left of the field must be selected for the parameter to take effect. Select Manual Renewal to have the PO lines appear in the renewals task list (Acquisitions > Purchase Order Lines > Renew) when the material is due for renewal. For information on the other parameters, see Manually Creating a PO Line This job will perform only allowed updates on the selected PO lines. For example:
| Purchasing Operator, Purchasing Manager, Acquisitions Administrator |
Update PO Lines Transactions | Purchase Order line: See Reviewing PO Lines and Closing, Reopening, and Relinking PO Lines | Update PO Lines Transactions | Adjusts the PO line allocation percentage between funds, or changes the PO line allocation from one fund to another fund. Parameters: Select to change the list price or quantity for the PO lines, either unconditionally or if the list price/quantity is empty/not empty. For prices less than 1, enter a leading 0. For example, 0.44, not .44. The PO line's currency type does not change. Select whether to release encumbrance amounts that remain after paying the invoice. Select to change the PO line allocation percentage between funds, or to change the PO line allocation from one fund to another fund. The check box to the left of a field must be selected for the parameter to take effect. | Purchasing Operator, Purchasing Manager, Acquisitions Administrator |
Update PO Lines Workflow | Purchase Order line: See Reviewing PO Lines and Closing, Reopening, and Relinking PO Lines | Update PO Lines Workflow | Does one of the following:
Select the workflow stage to which you want to set the PO lines. | Purchasing Operator, Purchasing Manager, Acquisitions Administrator |
Withdraw Digital Representations | Representation | Withdraw | Deletes remote and local digital objects. Parameters: Choose whether to delete the bibliographic records, suppress them from publishing, or do nothing. By default, the bibliographic records remain intact in your repository, whether or not you delete the objects. | Digital Inventory Operator Extended, Repository Manager, Repository Administrator |
Update/Notify Users | User | Users | Updates parameters for users and/or notifies users. Only roles that do not contain Role Parameters can be updated by this job. For more information on this job, see the Bulk Actions on a Set of Users video (4:33 mins). Parameters: For the field Added/changed field:
To change internal users to external, or vice versa, select Set Account To and the relevant target account type. If external users are changed to internal users, the users’ passwords are reset to firstname_lastname. If you select Don't Generate Password, no password is set; this field only appears if you select one of the Set Account To options. To email/notify users, select Send Notification to User and select the notification type. To configure notification types, see Configuring User Notification Types and the User Notifications Letter in Configuring Alma Letters. | User Administrator, User Manager |
Legal Deposit Annual Receipt Task | Vendor | Legal Deposit Annual Receipt Task | Sends annual Analytics reports for serial legal deposits to a list of vendors. See Working With Legal Deposits. Parameters: Select the annual report in Analytics. To configure these options, see Configuring Legal Deposit Report Paths. | Acquisitions Administrator, Purchasing Manager, Purchasing Operator |
Export Urls | Versatile (set type can be titles, portfolios, or items) | Export | Exports URLs from bibliographic records, electronic resources, and digital titles. In order to perform periodic validation tests to find broken links and fix them, you can export the following from Alma:
With a file of exported URLs, it is possible to test the URLs using third-party, external link checkers such as LinkChecker (https://wummel.github.io/linkchecker/). To support these third-party options, both the CVS and HTML export output formats are provided. This also helps with setting up EZproxy. Parameters:
| Catalog Manager, Catalog Administrator, Cataloger, Electronic Inventory Operator, Repository Manager, Digital Inventory Operator, Digital Inventory Operator Extended, Repository Administrator, Physical Inventory Operator, Receiving Operator, General System Administrator, Fulfillment Services Manager, Fulfillment Administrator, Circulation Desk Manager, Purchasing Operator, Purchasing Manager, Acquisitions Administrator, User Administrator, User Manager |
Restoring Records Removed or Changed by Jobs
To restore records removed or changed by jobs you must have the following role:
- Repository Manager
You can restore records that were removed or changed by the following jobs:
- Withdraw items
- Delete portfolios
- Delete bibliographic records
- KORMARC/Marc21/UNIMARC normalization
- Change holdings information
- Authorities-preferred term correction (see Authorities - Preferred Term Correction)
The Restore Job functionality can currently restore up to 5000 records. This includes any related records. For example, holdings and item records are counted separately when restoring their bibliographic record.
Be careful when running the Restore Jobs functionality, as it is not possible to roll it back.
The restore job functionality is not currently supported when working with a Network Zone.
To restore records removed or changed by a job:
- Select Restore Jobs from the Alma Main Menu (Administration > Manage Jobs). The following appears: Restore Jobs
- Enter the job ID of the job that removed or changed the records.
- To overwrite changes made after the job ran, select Overwrite later changes.
- Click Restore.The number and type of records to be restored appears. For example: Confirm Restore
- Click Confirm. The removed or changed records are restored.
You can view a report of the restored records from Administration > Monitor Jobs.

Restored Records Report
Click Download CSV to see a report of records restored and those that failed to be restored.