Subworkflow - Look up Consortial Item by Barcode

Standard lookup subworkflow used to retrieve item and bibliographic information from the owning Alma Institution Zone. Reuse this workflow instead of duplicating Alma API calls across parent workflows.

At a glance

• Status: Active
• Environment / Tags: Network Zone, Live, CLS Long Lost Items
• Applies consortium-wide?: Yes. The workflow dynamically switches to the owning institution based on the owner_of_item_code passed into the workflow, allowing it to work across participating WRLC institution zones.
• Runs on: WRLC Network Zone Library Open Workflows instance; executes Alma API calls against the owning Institution Zone.
• Trigger: Executed by another workflow (subworkflow). It does not run on its own.
• Primary outcome: Retrieves key information about a consortial item using its barcode and returns standardized item and bibliographic information to the calling workflow.
• Who receives results: No direct recipients. The returned data is passed back to the parent workflow.

Why this exists

Many workflows need to retrieve information about a consortial item before taking further action. Rather than duplicating the same Alma API calls across multiple workflows, this subworkflow centralizes that process.

Given an item's barcode and owning institution code, it automatically connects to the correct Alma Institution Zone, retrieves the item record and associated bibliographic record, and returns a consistent set of fields for use by the calling workflow. Because the workflow always returns data—even when an item cannot be found—parent workflows can handle missing records consistently without needing additional error-handling logic.

What it does

• Accepts two required inputs:
  • owner_of_item_code
  • barcode
• Uses the owner institution code to connect to the appropriate Alma Institution Zone.
• Retrieves the physical item record using the barcode.
• Retrieves the associated bibliographic record using the item's MMS ID.
• Extracts several commonly used item fields, including:
  • item process status
  • retention status
  • retention reason
  • item description
• Extracts bibliographic identifiers, including:
  • MMS ID
  • Network ID
  • Network ID type
• Preserves all incoming fields from the parent workflow.
• Returns the enriched record back to the calling workflow for additional processing.

Where it runs

• Alma IZ(s): Any WRLC Institution Zone specified by the incoming owner_of_item_code
• Systems touched:
  • Alma APIs
  • Library Open Workflows (LibOW)
• Reports / queries used: None

How it works

Logic overview

1. The workflow is called by another workflow.
2. The calling workflow supplies:
   • the item's barcode
   • the owning institution code.
3. The workflow switches context to the appropriate Alma Institution Zone.
4. It looks up the physical item by barcode.
5. If an item is found, it retrieves the associated bibliographic record using the item's MMS ID.
6. Selected item and bibliographic fields are added to the original input.
7. The enriched record is returned to the parent workflow.
   

If results exist

The workflow returns the original input together with:

• final_item_status
• retention_status
• retention_reason
• description
• mms_id
• network_type
• network_id

These values replace any existing values with the same field names while preserving all other incoming data.

If no results

The Retrieve Item by Barcode and Retrieve Bib nodes are configured to Always Output Data, so the workflow continues running even if one or both Alma API calls do not return a record. In this case, the returned fields (such as mms_id, network_id, or retention information) will typically be blank, while the original input fields are still passed back to the calling workflow. This allows the parent workflow to determine how to handle missing items without the subworkflow failing.

Artifacts produced: None. This workflow returns data only; it does not generate reports, files, or emails.