Concerns with the Overlap Tool in Alma

Concerns with the Overlap Tool in Alma

Members have brought several issues to our attention. It is ideal if you can run more than one analysis as a cross-check. Depending on your situation, that could mean trying different options in the Overlap Tool, running reports in Alma analytics or taking data into another tool such as PowerBI or Tableau. Details follow . . .
  1. Alma information for electronic collections is often quite different from vendor information.
    1. Possible workaround - run your analysis both ways.
    2. Note also that some electronic collections don't have portfolio information in Alma, so you would need to upload a list from the vendor.
  2. Mixed collections (where electronic collections have ISBNs, ISSNs and items without either identifier)
    1. Possible workaround - break it apart so you can run the appropriate match method for each chunk.
    2. Note that title matching does not work very well. Matching on primary identifiers is usually a better bet.
  3. Dates - There is extra text in the date fields so you might be told no overlap for ebooks where there is overlap. For example: "Available from 1999" and "Available from 2004 until 2004".
    1. Possible workaround - run your analysis with and without dates.

If you want help running things more than one way or you need some NZ data - put in a ticket.

Specific Example using MegaFILE

We know from EBSCO that there should be 100% overlap if we compare MegaFILE to these three databases because MegaFILE is a combination of these three databases:
  1. Academic Search Premier
  2. Business Source Premier
  3. Masterfile Premier

Usually it is best to use a primary identifier, but when we use ISSN match in the Overlap Tool, it reports 87% with no overlap. That is 87% wrong (16,408 titles!), largely due to missing ISSNs.

Screenshot of report showing 87% titles with no overlap when it should be 100% overlap


While it works better to do a title match in this case, it still reports hundreds of titles with no overlap when the correct answer is 100% overlap. We have submitted this problem to Ex Libris, but in the meantime be sure to cross-check the overlap tool results with some other report or analysis.

Screenshot of report showing 324 titles with no overlap when it should be 100% overlap


P.S. EBSCO says that you do not need to enable MegaFILE in Alma as well as the specific databases and having all of them active might cause some headaches. The specific databases will do a better job of mapping to the content.


Resources
  1. Slides - https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/@api/deki/files/131305/The_New_and_Improved_Alma_Overlap_Analysis_Tool.pptx?revision=2
  2. Documentation - https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/040Resource_Management/070Advanced_Tools/010Overlap_Analysis#Compare_Electronic_Collections_Analysis_in_Consortia



    • Related Articles

    • How to Share Alma Analytics Reports

      You have options here: 1 - You can save a report to your institutional folder in Analytics: Shared Folders/XYZ College/ 2 - You can save a report to our MnPALS shared folder: Shared Folders/Community/Reports/Consortia/MNPALS/ To share a draft report ...

    • What is New with OAS (Alma Analytics)

      We had a session November 17, 2020 and here are the slides and recording: Slides Recording What We Covered I had some technical difficulties at the beginning, so I trimmed that off of the recording. You are welcome to skip ahead or replay as you ...

    • Alma Analytics - Combining Information

      Do you need to combine information from different places such as multiple subject areas in Alma Analytics? Or maybe you need to combine data from outside analytics with data in Alma Analytics? You have several options: Creating a Multi-Subject Area ...

    • The Reports Work Group Recordings

      Members of the Reports Work Group offered webinars on their favorite reports in May 2020. Here are links to the recordings and transcripts with the reports that were covered in each session. Click here for a review on accessing reports and saving a ...

    • Analytics for Functional Areas

      Here are some resources to get you started . . . Acquisitions In Alma Analytics, go to: Shared Folders/Community/Reports/Consortia/MNPALS/Acquisitions and check out these reports: RWG - Expenditure per Reporting Code RWG - Orders by Fund by Type RWG ...