Best Practice Recommendations for Named Users in I-Share

Revised: June 26, 2024

Overview

"Named Users" are active users records in Alma that have been assigned any role that can log into Alma, except for Patron, Instructor, Trial Participant, and roles that are only for Leganto (Instructor, Leganto Course Operator, and Leganto Interface Administrator) or Rialto (Selector, Selector Limited, Super Selector, Rialto Manager, and Rialto Administrator). See also CARLI's Named User FAQ for more information.

Best Practice Recommendations

    1. AS OF JULY 1, 2024, CURRENT RECOMMENDATION: Assign the specific rolls needed for an employee to complete their work in Alma directly to each user's Alma User Record. DO NOT USE shared, generic user accounts.

    Pre-July 1, 2024 Recommendation, DO NOT USE: When possible, create generic user accounts for both student positions and library staff. These accounts are to be shared by multiple users rather than assigning Alma roles directly to each user's personal Alma user record.

    2. Use one of CARLI's Alma Sandboxes instead of creating test user accounts in your Alma IZ.

    • If you must create a test user account in your Alma IZ, use it only as long as it is needed and then clean up afterward by removing the user record or deactivating the user record.

    3. Some I-Share institutions where staff typically login to Alma via a campus single sign-on have created an internal Alma user with login credentials for Alma administrators to use as a backup in case their campus authentication system is offline.  This is a good practice, and such backup users should be limited to one or two per institution.  See CARLI's Best Practice Recommendations for Back-Up Admin Accounts in Alma for I-Share Institutions using Single Sign-on.

    4. Establish local procedures to clean up Alma user records when any staff or students leave your library's employment.

    • At the end of each semester, remove Alma staff roles of student workers who are no longer employed.
    • If the staff member leaves but retains patron privileges at your library, you may leave their user account Active with only the Patron role on the user record; remove all other staff roles from the account.
    • If the staff member has no further affiliation with your institution, deactivate the user record and prepare the user record to be purged from Alma by setting a Purge Date. 
    • Do not DELETE user records as this may affect statistical data in Analytics; Purge users instead.

    5. I-Share institutions should review all Named Users in Alma at least once per year using the Staff Login Report and the Analytics reports to:

    Background

    "Named Users" are active users records in Alma that have been assigned any role that can log into Alma, except for Patron, Instructor, Trial Participant, and roles that are only for Leganto (Instructor, Leganto Course Operator, and Leganto Interface Administrator) or Rialto (Selector, Selector Limited, Super Selector, Rialto Manager, and Rialto Administrator).

    I-Share institutions should use the Staff Login Report in Alma and the Analytics reports to regularly review the Named Users in their IZ and identify records that are longer needed in your institution’s Alma. Once identified, Deactivate the user record or remove the staff roles from the user record.  Each I-Share institution should conduct this review and clean up at least once per year.

    CARLI I-SHARE NAMED USER DOCUMENTATION

    Named User Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
    How to Identify Named Users
    How to Deactivate Named Users
    Best Practice Recommendations for Back-Up Admin Accounts in Alma for I-Share Institutions using Single Sign-on
    CARLI Named User Management, Office Hours recorded July 13, 2023 (28:13)