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 

 

 User submits the form with either a barcode or ISSN 

 Workflow checks whether the barcode field is empty 

 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