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IGeLU 2026 Conference and Developers Day, 19-22 October 2026

June 7, 2026

Expose or Suppress? The Alma Top-Level Collection Dilemma

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 1:00 PM–1:30 PM CST 
6 Nietzsche
Event part

Conference

Abstract

At California State University, Fullerton, a request to create a publicly shareable link to a restricted MSI (Male Success Initiative) collection led to the implementation of a top-level collection in Alma. While this appeared straightforward, it exposed unexpected system behavior.

Creating a top-level collection automatically generated a minimal bibliographic record that lacked meaningful metadata and did not link directly to the collection. Suppressing the record, which is standard practice for maintaining discovery quality, caused the collection link to fail. This dependency between record visibility and access was confirmed through a Salesforce case.

This session examines Alma's handling of top-level collections, the relationship between suppression and access, and the impact on Primo discovery and workflows. It also explores strategies such as enriching records, alternative linking approaches, and considerations for advocating system enhancements.

Track
IGeLU 2026 theme: "Pearls of Technology: Think deeply, explore widely"
Practical Applications
User Experience / Discovery
Products or Areas of Focus

Alma

Presenters

[photo]
Ilda Cardenas, Cal State Fullerton, Electronic Resources Librarian
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