WRLC - Retention Copy Analysis Tool

At a glance 

 

 Status: Active 

 Environment / Tags: Analytics 

 Applies consortium-wide?: Yes (Inferred) 

 Runs on: Alma Network Zone (NZ) (Inferred) 

 Trigger: Manual web form—runs when a user submits a barcode 

 Primary outcome: Displays all copies of a title (same Network ID) along with retention and processing details 

 Who receives results: The user who submitted the form (interactive display in browser) 

 

 

 Why this exists 

 When evaluating retention commitments across the consortium, staff need to understand how many copies of a title exist and which institution is responsible for retaining them. 

 This workflow provides a quick way to analyze all copies tied to the same Network ID (i.e., the same bibliographic record or edition). It helps staff: 

 

 Identify which institution has committed to retain a title 

 Review retention decisions before making changes 

 Understand duplication across partner libraries 

 Support retention reassignment workflows 

 

 

 What it does 

 

 Presents a web form asking the user to enter a barcode 

 Uses the barcode to look up the associated item in Alma Analytics 

 Extracts the Network ID (shared bibliographic identifier) for that item 

 Uses the Network ID to retrieve all matching copies across the consortium 

 Pulls detailed data for each copy, including:

 

 Title 

 Barcode 

 Process type (e.g., item status) 

 Retention commitment status 

 Retention reason 

 Call number 

 Fulfillment note 

 Institution name 

 

 

 Formats results into a table for easy review 

 Displays the results directly in the browser 

 Shows an error message if no valid Network ID is found 

 

 

 Where it runs 

 

 Alma IZ(s): 

 

 Network Zone (NZ) 

 

 

 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 

 

 Retention Reassignment Form - Barcode Lookup 

 Retention Reassignment Form 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 How it works 

 Logic overview 

 

 User submits a barcode via the form 

 Workflow runs Barcode Lookup report to retrieve item data 

 Extracts the Network ID from the result 

 Runs a second Analytics query using that Network ID to find all related copies 

 Branches based on whether the Network ID lookup succeeds 

 

 

 If results exist 

 

 All matching copies (same Network ID) are displayed in a table 

 Each row includes:

 

 Title 

 Barcode 

 Process type 

 Retention commitment (Yes/No) 

 Retention reason 

 Call number 

 Fulfillment note 

 Owning institution 

 

 

 A total result count is shown at the top 

 

 

 If no results 

 

 If the Network ID cannot be found or is invalid:

 

 

 User sees an error message: 

 

 “Your item does not appear to have a valid network ID. You may need to do a more detailed search in Alma.” 

 

 

 

 

 If no matching copies are returned:

 

 The table displays: “No results found.” 

 

 

 

 

 Artifacts produced 

 

 No files generated 

 Output is a dynamic HTML results page displayed immediately to the user 

 Includes a restart option to run another search