In the fast-paced environment of modern libraries, efficiency is key. Alma, a leading library management system, offers robust features to optimize workflows, and among these, Quick Printing stands out as a significant time-saver. This guide delves into how Alma’s quick printing and printouts queue can revolutionize your library’s printing processes, ensuring smooth and rapid service delivery.
Alma provides two primary methods for handling printouts: the printouts queue and direct email printing. While email printing serves its purpose, the printouts queue, coupled with quick printing, offers enhanced control and efficiency, especially when dealing with physical printers within the library. This system aggregates print jobs, allowing authorized staff to manage and release them directly from a web browser, offering a centralized and streamlined approach to library print management.
To understand the power of quick printing, it’s essential to grasp the underlying printouts queue system. Imagine a digital holding area for all your library’s print jobs – that’s essentially what the printouts queue is. Instead of automatically dispatching every print job to a printer, Alma stores them securely, awaiting instruction. This is particularly useful for managing various types of printouts, from hold slips to circulation notices, ensuring nothing gets lost or misprinted.
Setting up the printouts queue and enabling quick printing in Alma is straightforward:
- Access Printer Settings: Navigate to the Configuration Menu within Alma, then proceed to Fulfillment > General > Printers.
- Configure Printer Details: When adding a new printer or modifying an existing one, you’ll find the option to designate it as a ‘Printouts Queue’ printer. This crucial step directs print jobs to the queue instead of immediate email dispatch.
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Printer Details Page in Alma, highlighting the ‘Printouts Queue’ option for printer configuration.
It’s worth noting that Alma’s flexibility allows for printers to be configured for both email-based printing and printouts queue simultaneously. In such cases, while emails are automatically sent for immediate printing, a copy is also conveniently saved in the printouts queue. This dual functionality provides redundancy and ensures records are maintained.
For libraries utilizing multiple printouts queue printers across different locations, Alma simplifies printer selection. The “Currently At” dropdown menu, accessible from the main Alma interface, lists available printouts queue printers based on the selected location. This ensures staff always print to the correct printer, minimizing errors and confusion.
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The “Currently At” dropdown menu in Alma, enabling users to select the appropriate printouts queue printer for their location.
Understanding printout statuses within Alma is crucial for effective queue management. The system intelligently categorizes print jobs based on printer setup:
| Printer Setup | Outcome | Printout Status |
|---|---|---|
| Only Email Printer | Printouts are directly emailed to the printer | Not Applicable |
| Only Printouts Queue Printer | Printouts are held in the printouts queue | Pending |
| Both Email & Queue | Email sent; copy saved in printouts queue for re-printing | Printed |
Alma’s printouts queue is versatile, accommodating various letter types essential for library operations. Any letter designed for a circulation desk printer can be efficiently routed to the queue. This includes resource request slips, hold notifications, and other physical printouts. However, letters intended for email delivery, such as order claim letters to vendors, are not directed to the print queue, maintaining a logical separation based on delivery method.
Managing the printouts queue in Alma is designed to be intuitive. Staff with the “Printout Queue Manager” role can access the queue via Admin > Printing > Printout Queue. Here, print jobs are displayed with a “Pending” status until actioned.
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The Alma Printouts Queue interface, showcasing pending print jobs and available actions.
Alma provides several actions directly within the printouts queue interface:
- Preview: Allows staff to review an HTML rendering of the letter before printing, ensuring accuracy and reducing errors.
- Print: Initiates printing directly from the browser’s print function, offering immediate output.
- Cancel: Removes the print job from the queue, useful for correcting mistakes or discarding unnecessary printouts.
- Print Selected: Enables batch printing of multiple selected printouts, aggregating them into a single PDF for efficient handling.
- Cancel Selected: Facilitates bulk cancellation of multiple printouts, streamlining queue maintenance.
Importantly, Alma retains printouts in the queue for 30 days, providing ample time for review and printing. After this period, an automated cleanup job removes them, ensuring the queue remains uncluttered and efficient.
Automated Quick Printing takes efficiency a step further. By enabling quick printing, libraries can automate the immediate printing of all printouts generated through user interface workflows. For example, printing a slip from a list action would trigger the printing window instantly. To activate this, simply select “Enable Quick Printing” from the “Currently At” dropdown menu.
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The “Currently At” dropdown with “Enable Quick Printing” highlighted, demonstrating how to activate automated quick printing in Alma.
Even without automated quick printing enabled system-wide, staff can still leverage Selective Quick Printing. When sending a printout to the queue, a “Quick Print” link appears in the confirmation pop-up message. Clicking this link immediately triggers the printing process, offering on-demand quick printing when needed.
A message pop-up window in Alma displaying the “Quick Print” link for selective immediate printing.
In conclusion, Alma’s quick printing and printouts queue system offers a powerful suite of tools to optimize library printing workflows. Whether you choose automated efficiency or selective immediate printing, Alma provides the flexibility and control needed to streamline operations, save valuable staff time, and enhance service delivery in today’s dynamic library environment. By leveraging these features, libraries can ensure print jobs are managed effectively, printed promptly, and contribute to a smoother, more efficient library experience for both staff and patrons.
