WRLC - Journal Volume Overlap Tool

At a glance

• Status: Active
• Environment / Tags: Analytics
• Applies consortium-wide?: Yes
• Runs on: Alma Network Zone (NZ) and Shared Storage Facility (SCF) Alma environments
• Trigger: Manual web form—runs when a user submits a barcode or ISSN
• Primary outcome: Displays all SCF-held volumes for a given journal title based on barcode or ISSN lookup
• Who receives results: The user who submitted the form (interactive display in browser)

Why this exists

When processing journal volumes for accession into the Shared Collections Facility (SCF), staff need to quickly determine whether volumes of the same title are already held.

This workflow provides a fast, self-service lookup tool that eliminates the need for manual searching across Alma. It helps staff:

• Avoid duplicating volumes already held at SCF
• Make informed retention and accession decisions
• Save time during intake and processing

What it does

• Presents a web form asking the user to enter either:
  • A barcode, or
  • An ISSN (but not both)
• Checks whether a barcode was entered
• If no barcode is provided, treats the request as an ISSN lookup
• If a barcode is provided, performs a barcode-based lookup first
• Queries Alma Analytics reports to retrieve matching SCF holdings
• Uses two different Analytics queries depending on input type
• Collects results including: ISSN, title, barcode, call number, description, and provenance
• Formats results into a simple HTML table
• Displays results directly in the browser
• Shows a clear message if the lookup cannot be performed (e.g., missing ISSN)

Where it runs

• Alma IZ(s):
  • Network Zone (NZ)
  • Shared Storage Facility (SCF) institution
• Systems touched:
  • Alma Analytics (reporting system used to query library data)
  • n8n web form interface
• Reports / queries used:
  • /shared/Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) Network/Reports/CannedReports
    • VOLUMES HELD AT SCF - Barcode Lookup
  • /shared/Shared storage institution/Reports/SCF Reports
    • VOLUMES HELD AT SCF - ISSN

How it works

Logic overview

1. User submits the form with either a barcode or ISSN
2. Workflow checks whether the barcode field is empty
3. Branches into one of two paths:

Barcode path

• Runs Barcode Lookup report in the Network Zone
• Then runs ISSN Lookup in SCF (to retrieve all volumes for the same title)
• Formats results into an HTML table
• Displays results

ISSN path

• Runs ISSN Lookup directly in SCF
• Formats results into an HTML table
• Displays results

If results exist

• All matching SCF volumes are displayed in a table with:
  • ISSN
  • Title
  • Barcode
  • Item call number
  • Description (e.g., volume/issue info)
  • Provenance code
• A count of total results is shown at the top

If no results

• The results table displays a row stating:
  “No results found.”
• If the lookup fails due to missing or invalid ISSN:

  • User sees an error message:

    “It appears your item did not have a valid ISSN for lookup. You may need to do a more detailed Alma search.”

Artifacts produced

• No files generated
• Output is a dynamic HTML results page displayed immediately to the user
• Includes a restart button to run another search