Ex Libris Alma is great for the basics and for integration
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We used Ex Libris Alma to track and manage our physical and digital collections across four WSU campuses. We also used it for analytics features like generating circulation statistics. I personally used Alma for basic circulation functions (checking books in and out, placing holds, renewals, etc.) and for doing collections research to put together reports (investigating which of our physical journals we also held digitally and under what types of contracts, etc.).
Pros
- Integrates smoothly with other Ex Libris products (like Primo for patron-facing searching and Esploro for a research repository) and Springshare
- Works well across multiple connected library locations
- You can set many different levels of permissions for different users
- Easy to create and save fairly complicated advanced searches
Cons
- When you conduct an advanced search, there are some of the data points that simply won't export to a .csv, making external analytic work tedious or impossible
- UI is not the friendliest - there is a lot of clicking on subtabs to get the information you want
Most Important Features
- Advanced search with results you can save and/or export
- Integration with other Ex Libris products
- Management for physical and digital collection
Return on Investment
- Ex Libris Alma was in use before I started working at the library, so I can't say for sure
Other Software Used
Springshare, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Teams